Blog:
Response:
"The church in America is led by scholars."FALSE. The church in America is not sufficiently cohesive to make a generalization like that. A liberal movement in today's church has reflected that of the broader culture, manifesting itself in the "emergent church" movement. This movement seems to be pulling out in front, a push towards relativism, saying anyone can possess a knowledge of the scriptures that is tailored to the individual, that can be equally legit as any other’s interpretation. An example is Rob Bell who I will get to towards the end of my response. None of these men would be considered "scholars." Some are humanists, some "intellectuals" and philosophers. But I can't think of any scholars among them.The conservative faction may arguably be said to be led by scholars. Thank goodness.
"Essentially, the church is a robust school system created around a framework of lectures and discussions and study." Historically, HALF-TRUE. While theological ecumenical education may be set up that way, the institutional church itself is much more than a school system and always has been. The history of the church is steeped in charity, community service and broader social works movements. "
"I think the scholars have done a good job, but they’ve also recreated the church in their own image. Churches are essentially schools. They look like schools with lecture halls, classrooms, cafeterias and each new church program is basically a teaching program. " DISTORTION. Church format grew out of the Jewish format of worship, which includes the mind as much as the heart. (Deut 6:6,7 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.)
"The first disciples were not teachers, they were fishermen, tax collectors and at least one was a Zealot." TRUE. (1 Cor 1:26 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.) God is brilliant!
"We don’t know the occupation of the others, but Jesus did not charge educators with the great commission, he chose laborers." CONTRADICTION. And what is the great commission? To be teachers. (Matt 28:1919 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.)
"And those laborers took the gospel and created Christian communities that worked, that did things and met in homes and were active. They made speeches, for sure, but so do businessmen and politicians and leaders in any number of other professions." TRUE
"Educators make speeches and do little else, except study for their next lecture." FALSE. And furthermore, insulting. That’s like saying that the only thing business people do is make money. Educators are teachers. They are the preservers of culture and tradition, and of history. They are in charge of passing along the collective knowledge of experience of the human race in an effort to keep us from repeating our mistakes. Educators value the improving and refining of the human intellect for the purpose of being a more productive, engaging, and useful member of society and of the body of Christ. As mothers, father, counselors, prayer warriors, gardeners, surfers, authors, humanitarians, athletes, and all the other things pastors and teachers may be, they are in every sense as much a “practitioner” as the next person. Most also believe in the existence of absolute Truth, wherein Mr. Miller’s issue probably lies.
"I wonder what the first disciples would think if they could see our system of schools, our million lectures, our billion sub lectures, our curriculums and our lesson plans. I think they’d be impressed, to be honest, but I also think they’d recognize a downside. Church divisions are almost exclusively academic divisions. The reason I don’t understand my Lutheran neighbor is because a couple academics got into a fight hundreds of years ago. And the rest of the church followed them because, well, they were our leaders." SPECULATION & OPINION. Tricky one to mix statements of fact, or purported fact, with a “version” of history so reduced and one-sided as to be false. So sad too, because the history of church division is really fascinating, as much as it is unfortunate. Perhaps Mr. Miller should look into why his denomination of choice split from his Lutheran neighbors. I’m sure he would find it was not because of a passing fancy.
"So now we are divided under divisions caused by arguments a laboring leadership might never have noticed of cared about." ASSUMPTION That preachers and church leaders are “not practicing” members of the church body because all they do is sit around and think. See previous note.
"Practitioners care about what works, what gets things done. They have to agree because there are projects on the line. Educators don’t have to agree at all. They can fight and debate and write papers against each other because, well, the product they are churning out is just thought, not action." See previous note.
"So why are we led by teachers?" For so many reasons, but above all, because ignorant leaders are dangerous leaders.
"After all, the church and the school system are the only institutions in our culture led purely by academics." FALSE. Obviously. Those government leaders that are scholars are often the most capable. I was a big Condeleeza Rice fan, myself. And all those doctors working on cures for this that and the other? Scholars.
"Well, the reason is the printing press. The government once controlled the church, but that ended when the printing press was invented and people could read the Bible for themselves." Oh, is Mr. Miller a scholar now?
"And the scholars were the only people who could read, so they got the job of church leadership by default. So church leadership went from fishermen, to government workers, to scholars. I wonder who’s next? I’ve got money on music executives, if only because they’re all looking for work." Actually, church leadership began with church leaders and missionaries. Peter and Andrew did not go back to full time fishing. Then the leadership was organized under five administrative bishops, but then the Roman pontiff argued predominance and… well, obviously Miller doesn't know his church history because he is not a scholar.
"Because we’ve been led by scholars for so long, we have slightly distorted ideas about Christian discipleship. If you want to grow in Christ, you should study more." TRUTH PRESENTED AS DISTORTION. What does Mr. Miller think discipleship is?
"Christian growth, then, is an academic path. And like educators, we only advance to become higher level educators." DISTORTION Academia is partially defined by a sort of impracticality, non-vocational education. Education does not equal academia and Mr. Miller fails to make that distinction.
"The point of learning is always teaching which produces further learning and then more teaching." FALSE. Mr. Miller may not know there is a distinction...Think about this comment. Ridiculous.
"The only difference between the church and another educational institution is that nobody ever graduates from the church. We just keep going to school." SARCASM, TRUTH PRESENTED AS DISTORTION. We are always to be students of Christ. There is so much to learn.
Col 1:9 “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience”
2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
"But if normal people like you lead the church, won’t the church be read [sic] by heretics? Yes, and it already is." Half-true… but what exactly does Mr. Miller mean by this cryptic statement?
"In the great commission, Jesus graduated his first group of students. He pushed them into the world and said, 'you don’t know everything, but you know enough. You’ll have a guide and that guide will be with you always. Go and teach the world to obey my commands.' Because they were fishermen and tax gatherers, they went and did it." Or maybe they did it because they were convinced that Christ was Lord, regardless of their occupation. They didn't all follow. What of Judas?
"Did Jesus teach them for three years? Yes, he taught them by doing, in action, with people, by touching stuff, not by taking over a school and recruiting educators." Um, he taught them by teaching, as well. A lot of teaching. A lot of lectures. Sermons, if you will.
"I wonder what they would have done if they had been professional scholars? My guess is they would have talked the command into a tailspin, dissected it into a million pieces, then divided themselves into different intellectual camps, and built a bunch of schools to teach their various interpretations." Or perhaps they would have responded the same. Tax-collectors were not ignorant people. Matthew was educated. Nicodemus was perhaps the closest account we have of a scholarly response but, as far as I can tell, we are never really certain what came of his “dissecting.” We know that he had respect for Jesus and possibly was a believer, having assisted Joseph of Arimathea at the burial.
"So maybe if you’re a doctor or a plumber or a carpenter, you should lead the church." Maybe, if you’re a Christian. That seems like a pretty important qualifier. Knowing the Bible might help... and being called to ministry is certainly the Biblical precedent...
"Maybe the church needs some of you who don’t write and speak and teach for a living to step up and put some action to our faith." ASSUMPTION That people who write and speak and teach for a living don’t put action to their faith. Not very nice or truthful as previously noted.
"I wonder what your churches would look like?" If what Donald Miller is after, is a church that deems doctrine to be of negligible significance, then his answer is already before his eyes. Mars Hill pastor Rob Bell went on national television just last week saying that he didn’t believe in hell, that a loving God could not send people to such a place. Over 50,000 people a week listen to Rob Bell, either in person or by pod-cast. Many more than that heard Rob Bell contradict the Bible. Such a statement negates the purpose of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It negates the very Gospel itself. That is more than just unorthodox, it is blasphemy. It is the denial of God’s holiness and his plan for redemption. Doctrine matters.
"Let me ask you this: Aren’t you a little tired of scholars and psudo-scholars fighting about doctrine? Is it worth it that you are divided against other denominations because scholars picked up their ball and stomped off the playground?... Let the academics go to an island and fight about the things that matter to them, and we will be united based on the things that matter to us." It sounds like Miller is still stuck in the playground. The Bible condemns foolishness, childish rebelliousness, and willful ignorance. Read all of Psalms, all of Proverbs. Read the letters of Paul and of Peter. Or Hebrews 5:12, “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Shall we continue to defy the proven track of history by ignoring it? Shall we continue to defy precedence? Authority? Have we reaped the benefits of this mentality in the past two generations? I think our national debt, the state of our environment, our health, and our teen pregnancy and addiction rates can speak for themselves. This is why we teach, why we educate, why we train our children in the way they should go. Christians, pray for discernment. The last days are here.
1 Timothy 4
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron…6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
Would have much rather been blogging about our Disney vacation. Coming soon.
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron…6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
Would have much rather been blogging about our Disney vacation. Coming soon.
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