A well-balanced study of Scripture
I liked this short post from Laura at “Laura’s (Tangential) Writings” called “Communal Bible Study is Like a Potluck.” She says:
If everyone brings the same thing, it’s a boring meal.
If only a few bring something, there may not be enough food.Solution: All prepare.
Since more people have started taking part in our study of Scripture on Sunday mornings (and other times), I’ve noticed something interesting. After our time of study, I end up with a broader perspective of the passage, not just the perspective that I had during my own study. So, continuing Laura’s potluck metaphor, the study is also more “balanced”.
By the way, concerning Laura’s solution of “all prepare,” several months ago I decided that I would study Scripture each week so that I would be prepared for our time together on Sunday morning. I do this when I am scheduled to teach, when I’m going to facilitate our discussion, when someone else is scheduled to teach, or when someone else is going to facilitate our discussion. It has made a huge difference in my own understanding of Scripture and teaching and learning.
Who edifies whom?
Continuing my discussion of edification this week (see “Salvation as the motivation for mutual edification,” “Acceptance and edification,” and “What is Edification?“), I thought I would tackle a different question: Who is responsible for edifying whom?
Let’s begin with the definition from my previous post: Edification is using words and deeds in the context of familial relationships and fellowship to help one or more followers of Jesus Christ grow in their understanding of Christ, their love for and unity with their brothers and sisters in Christ, and their faithfulness in living like Christ.
In reality, many words can be used synonymously with edification, such as encouragement, discipleship, shepherding, etc. Any concept that carries the idea of helping others grow in maturity in their beliefs, their relationships, and their way of living relates to edification.
So, who is responsible for these things? To me, the answer is quite simple: If someone is a child of God, saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, then that person is responsible for edifying others. There are several passages to help us understand this, both passages that include edification terminology (Romans 14:19, Romans 15:2, 1 Corinthians 14:26, Ephesians 4:16, Ephesians 4:29, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, and Jude 1:20-21) as well as passages that carry the same concept without specifically using “edification” language (Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Colossians 1:28, Colossians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:24-25).
Besides these direct instructions for all believers to work toward edifying one another, there are other types of exhortations as well. For example, the authors of the NT often present themselves and their work in edifying others as an example to follow. Leaders among the church are instructed to edify others both as their own responsibility toward the Lord and as examples to others. Finally, Scripture often speaks of the work of God himself in edifying his children with the intention that we would follow his work.
Thus, Scripture is clear in many different ways that the work of edification is the responsibility of all of God’s children, all the saints.
However, we must be very careful. The work of edification is not something that is to be added to the life of a believer, like a suitcase that can be picked up, carried around, or dropped whenever the person pleases. No… instead, the work of edification is the natural outgrowth of the supernatural work of the Spirit in a person’s life.
Edification begins with love and concern for others. But, just as God’s love for us did not end with good thought, but continued in his expression of that love in Jesus Christ, our love for one another cannot stop with good thoughts toward one another. True love as developed and expressed by God’s Spirits leads one to give of oneself in order to help others. We learn by the work of the Spirit to be more concerned with others than with ourselves (Philippians 2:1-4). This is all part of the process of edification.
To whom, then, do we direct this work of edification? To our brothers, our sisters, and our neighbors. In fact, the Spirit drives us toward a desire to see anyone we meet grow in Christlikeness, both believers and unbelievers. The Spirit drives us to love and care for and serve those who are hurting, hungry, thirsty, etc. This is all included in the work of edification.
But, once again, we cannot see edification as another task to be added to our to-do list and checked off when appropriate. Instead, as we read earlier in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11, our life of edification and exhortation toward others flows from our salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. We are to live for the benefit of others, the growth of others, the discipleship of others, the edification of others.
I can look back on my life and see many, many instances where I was not concerned with the spiritual growth of the people around me. Today, there are times when I do not care whether or not I am edifying others. Often, if I see others making disciples, then I coast about my day, happy that someone else is taking care of it.
There are many excuses that I could give for living like this. In reality, the problem is that during those times I am not allowing the Spirit to supernaturally work through me to impact the lives of the people around me. I could blame church structures, or leaders, or education, or ability, or gifts, or time, or money, or any number of things. But, the reality is that in this case, as with many other problems, I am my own worst enemy.
I must continually die to myself and allow the Spirit of Jesus Christ to live and work in and through me in order to edify others.
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Some Thoughts on Mutual Edification:
The Kingdom and the Church
In the gospels (and occasionally in the epistles) we read alot about the kingdom of God (or kingdom of Heaven). However, when we get to the epistles, we most ready about the church.
I think there is a relationship between the kingdom of God and the church. But there may be some distinctions between the two also – at least there seem to be some distinctions in the way that the NT authors use the phrases “kingdom of God” and “church.”
So, what is the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church? Do the phrases refer to the same thing?
Acceptance and Edification
In one of my previous posts, I wrote that Paul’s commands to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 to encourage and edify one another should be prompted by their shared salvation through Jesus Christ. (see my post “Salvation as the motivation for mutual edification“)
There is another interesting occurrence of edification language in Romans… specifically in Romans 14:1-15:13.
In this passage, Paul’s primary goal seems to be to instruct his readers in how to deal with differences of belief and doctrine. Paul gives two examples of differences in this passage: what someone eats or doesn’t eat (Romans 14:2-3) and whether or not someone sets aside a specific day as special to God (Romans 14:5-6). These two examples are interwoven throughout the passage.
Also, interwoven throughout the passage, we find exhortations from Paul that are not specific to these two issues, but can be applied to almost any difference of opinion between believers (for example, see Romans 14:1, Romans 14:4, Romans 14:7-9, Romans 14:10-13, Romans 14:18-19, and Romans 15:1-13). Here is Paul’s final exhortation concerning differences of belief between brothers and sisters in Christ:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:1-13 ESV)
As we read, Paul ends his instructions with a reminder that Jesus Christ is our example of “bearing with” those whose faith may be weaker and who fail. Instead of judging brothers and sisters because they disagree with us, we are to serve them and accept them, just as Jesus Christ served us and just as God accepts us in Jesus Christ. If God has accepted them, then we are to accept them also.
This leads us to the two occurrences of edification language in this passage: Romans 14:19 and Romans 15:2.
Romans 14:19 follows from what was just said concerning eating different foods and observing certain days (i.e. “so then” or “therefore”). When we find that brothers and sisters have differences of opinion (even about very important issues) we are to “strive for” peace and edification. We are to seek unity with those with whom we disagree and we are to seek to help them grow towards maturity in Jesus Christ.
In the following verse – Romans 14:20 – we see that the opposite is possible if we focus on our differences and require that everyone hold to our beliefs. Instead of unity and edification, our actions can lead to destruction and stumbling.
Similarly, we find Romans 15:2 at the beginning of Paul’s final exhortation about differences of belief. He tells us to “strive to please” or even “accommodate” our neighbor with the goal of seeing him or her grow for the better. The following verse (Romans 15:3) sets our “striving to please our neighbor” in the context of Christ’s “striving to please” by accepting the reproaches that should have fallen on us. Thus, in order to help our brother or sister grow, we should be willing to be reproached even and to serve them, recognizing them as accepted by God.
How will we be able to do this? Only because God (who is the master of both perseverance and encouragement) lives with us in harmony and unity. It is only in unity (even in spite of our differences) that we can glorify God together (Romans 15:5).
When we find that we are “at odds” with brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul is saying that we have two choices: 1) we can require that the other(s) yield to our understanding which may lead us to separate ourselves from one another, or 2) we can submit to them and seek their good and their maturity even at our own expense. Paul exhorts us to the second option, which is also the example that we have been given in Jesus Christ.
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Some Thoughts on Mutual Edification:
Learning with the Fathers
I like this quote that Scot McKnight includes in his post called “Lengthening our Memory 1“:
My evangelical roots, first planted during the Jesus Movement of the late sixties and early seventies, have been nourished by the fathers’ perspectives. The Jesus Movement, for instance, had no ecclesiology. In many ways, Jesus freaks like me, though we loved Jesus himself, were highly suspicious of the church and authority in general, whether institutional or individual.
I have learned from the fathers that the church is much broader and deeper than I had ever imagined. My individualistic, evangelical bent has been tempered by a historical, theological and spiritual lengthening of memory. … This is not to say that I always find myself in agreement with the fathers. We still have our disagreements, but our quarrels now resemble family squabbles and in-house arguments.
My roots are not in the Jesus movement, but I also appreciate the writings of the church fathers. Like Chris Hall (the author of the quote), I do not always agree with the fathers, but I love to read how they dealt with the issues of their day and in their context.
Salvation as the motivation for mutual edification
This week, I read through 1 Thessalonians. The following passage jumped out at me:
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 ESV)
Paul begins by reminding the Christians in Thessaloniki that they (and Paul and his friends and us) have been destined for salvation through Jesus Christ. He says that Jesus died “on our behalf” so that we can live with him both now and after we die. (Eternal life begins now, not after we die.)
This should give them hope and peace because they are not “destined for wrath.” Of course, Paul has already told them some of the implications of their salvation and their new life in Christ (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8 for example).
Next, Paul gives a command that follows from his previous statement. You could almost say it like this, “Because God has destined us for salvation, we should encourage one another and build up one another.” Thus, mutual encouragement and mutual edification are motivated by our mutual salvation.
If Paul is correct, then our salvation in Jesus Christ should urge us toward caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ with a desire to see them grow in maturity both in their relationship with Jesus Christ and in their common identity and unity with one another (Ephesians 4:13).
This passage alone is a good indication that we can’t separation our understanding of soteriology (our understanding of salvation) from our ecclesiology (our understanding of the church). In fact, if we continued to study various passages of Scripture like this, we would find that we cannot separate our understanding of the church from our theology proper (understanding of God), our Christology (understanding of Jesus Christ), our eschatology (understanding of the last days), and any other doctrine. They are all interrelated and interconnected.
Paul does not simply tell the Thessalonians to encourage and edify one another, he gives specific examples. He starts by reminding the people to respect those who labor tirelessly among them, who lead them, and who admonish them. They are to hold them in high esteem, love them, and live in peace with them (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
But, Paul doesn’t stop there, and encouragement and edification doesn’t stop with the work of their leaders. Instead, Paul tells the Thessalonians that they themselves are responsible to “admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, [and] be patient with all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV). And, the commands continue from there.
These commands are not just good ideas. They are not just the instructions of a mature believer and an apostle.
We are to encourage and edify one another in this manner as a response to our mutual salvation through Jesus Christ.
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Some Thoughts on Mutual Edification:
Almost meaningless phrases
I’m beginning to think that there are several phrases we use as churches that have almost become meaningless. They are not meaningless because they are unimportant. The phrases probably began with much meaning. But, I think they’ve become meaningless because they usually remained undefined, or they are defined in such general terms that the definitions are unhelpful.
Unfortunately, these are terms or phrases that we often use to describe our purpose or our way of life or our priorities. I’m thinking of phrases like “We worship God,” or “Let’s do everything for God’s glory,” or “We must follow Jesus,” or “Let’s focus on God’s mission.”
These phrases sound great, and they can probably attract alot of “Amens” if said with enough zeal and at the right moments. But, what do they mean?
You know, I think I would also add one of my favorite phrases to this list: “We should meet to edify one another.”
Every church believes that they worship God, bring glory to God, follow Jesus, are focused on God’s mission, and edify one another. But, people who are part of these churches act in drastically different ways… sometimes contradictory ways.
Perhaps I should look into Scriptures… do we find phrases like this in Scripture? I know what I think is the answer, but I want to do some investigation first.
Do you agree that phrases like these are almost meaningless? Do you think they’re helpful? Can you think of other phrases like these?
Virtues
Cultivating seemingly ordinary virtues can prepare one to face extraordinary challenges. – Captain Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger
Yesterday, the crew and passengers of Flight 1549 “celebrated” the first anniversary of the flight that crash landed in the Hudson River in New York City. In a news report, the captain of the flight spoke the words above.
How would you measure a church’s success?
So, I was reading a pastor’s remembrance of the “launch” of his church. When the church first launched he was concerned because there were less than twenty people for him to preach to, and the offering was just over $100. Because of those numbers, he didn’t think the church would succeed.
Apparently, he measured success (at least in part) based on the number of people in his audience and the amount of money they gave to his ministry.
How would you measure the success of a church?
Your will be done
Yesterday, my friend Adam from “darnellia” taught the church from Matthew 26:31-46. His teaching led to a great discussion with several excellent comments concerning this passage. Last night, Margaret and I talked about it again. What keeps standing out for me? “Your will be done.”
Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus prayed, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:39; Matthew 26:42). James taught people to pray, “If the Lord wills” (James 4:13-16).
But, what does it mean to pray, “Your will be done”? Is it just something to tack onto the end of our prayer to cover our bases? Or does it mean something more?