Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Guarding the sacred trust...

When I went to seminary, Dr. Paige Patterson my seminary president challenged all of us studying for pastoral ministry to always be vigilant against doctrinal error and remain faithful to the Word of God. Dr. Patterson of course has many battle scars from the war in the Southern Baptist Convention over the inerrancy of Scripture in the 1970’s and 80’s. He and others who labored with him are heroes to me for keeping our denomination from staying on the liberal theological course it was headed. In his tutelage of us preacher types, Dr. Patterson knows well the dangers, pitfalls and ramifications of doctrinal error and the high cost of ensuring our denomination would stay true to our Lord Jesus Christ and His inspired, inerrant and infallible word. Dr. Patterson assembled a team of professors at SEBTS who faithfully taught myself and  many others like me that we must take seriously our responsibilities before the Lord to guard the sacred trust of Scripture and to “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).  Dr. Patterson and the faithful professors I learned under were following through with what the great Apostle Paul challenged Timothy, his young son in the faith to do.

Timothy was the pastor of the church at Ephesus when Paul wrote to him; giving Timothy instructions for his ministry in Ephesus. Those letters (Epistles) God preserved in the New Testament and are identified as 1st & 2nd Timothy. In 1st Timothy 6:20-21, Paul concluded his first letter to the young pastor with this prophetical warning: “Oh Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge – by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you, Amen.” What Paul was referring to primarily was the Gospel message but also the truth of Scripture that was entrusted to Timothy by the Apostle Paul himself. Timothy had to stand against false teachers roaming around claiming to have more knowledge, teaching salvation was obtained through intellectual and philosophical means, not by faith in Christ. This heresy was known as Gnosticism after the Greek word for knowledge called gnosis.

The word “guard” in that text means to watch closely and keep secure. A Roman guard was typically four squads of four soldiers, a total of 16 highly skilled and trained warriors who would lay down their lives to protect what they were guarding! The phrase “Committed to your trust” is all one word in Greek. The word means a deposit, similar to a bank deposit and the person responsible for watching/guarding/keeping secure the deposit – in this case the truths of Scripture. The guard was none other than this young pastor named Timothy. Paul was expecting Timothy to be a spiritual Navy Seal, a spiritual warrior committed to guarding the truth of the Word of God. Safeguarding the truths of Scripture continues to be a sacred trust this pastor is committed to.

I’m sharing this with you because our church was about to implement the use of a Sunday School curriculum from Lifeway Christian Resources called “The Gospel Project.” This is the flagship new curriculum Lifeway has been advertising for months. It is a curriculum that would provide Bible Study resources for preschool, children, and youth, all the way through senior adults in our Sunday School/Bible Study classes. Upon hearing of this new curriculum, Pastor Mike and I were encouraged and excited about it as the advertised aim of the curriculum was to show that the message of the Gospel is woven throughout the Scriptures. Dr. W. A. Criswell, the great long time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas called it “The Scarlet Thread of Redemption” in a famous sermon he preached through the entire Bible. We were under the impression this curriculum would take a systematic theological approach, would tackle tough issues and give Christians tools to use in sharing the Gospel in everyday life.  The concept as we understood the aim of The Gospel Project is a great one. However, we’ve uncovered a big problem with this curriculum. The advisory council, many of the writers and much of the supplemental sources cited throughout are from people who are Calvinists or Reformed Theologians who teach at reformed seminaries.

In short, Calvinism or Reformed Theology is a theological system that elevates the Sovereignty of God and His grace to a point that the free will of man is of no consequence. On the other end of the spectrum is what is called Arminianism; which elevates the free will of man and espouses among other things that you can actually lose your salvation. Those adhering to these theological systems have been arguing about these ideas since the 1600’s! Yet the Scriptures teach that God is sovereign, a God of grace, as well as the truth man has a choice to make to accept or reject the grace of God and His provision for salvation. This understanding of Scripture is one among many reasons we exist as Baptists. Historically, we are happily in the middle of these polar extremes as we consider ourselves to be “people of the Book”; embracing both Biblical truths of God’s sovereignty and grace along with man’s choice. As Baptists, we have historically seen problems with both extremes and the dangers of using a theological system of belief as the lens to interpret Scripture. Many Calvinists and Arminians use their systems as a filter of Scripture. However, Scripture should be the filter for the system of belief one adheres to. Typically this debate has been mostly confined to seminary campuses and is not something the average person in a Baptist church hears much about.

After we were made aware of this Calvinistic/Reformed theological approach of the curriculum; Pastor Mike and I have spent literally hours and days digging through this curriculum once we received the shipment to see for ourselves. We found it to be biased in how it explains and interprets the study themes. There are numerous subtle seeds of the Calvinistic approach to Scripture and many that are overtly obvious. The more we read and studied the curriculum, the more convinced we have become that this curriculum is not suitable for use here at Calvary. I am greatly disappointed because there is nothing wrong with healthy dialogue and wrestling with theological issues. But when a curriculum is designed to teach only one side of the issue; it is no longer a healthy debate but indoctrination and we cannot allow that indoctrination to take place here at Calvary. I do not believe extreme Calvinism accurately represents the truth of Scripture. We are not Calvinistic or reformed in our theology, something Presbyterians would be more comfortable with. I don’t appreciate Lifeway producing curriculum that promotes a flawed theological system to interpret Scripture. My biggest problem with extreme Calvinism is that it views salvation as deterministic where God divinely chooses who will be saved and who will not. It follows then that God is going to save some; He can and will do so without my personal involvement so there is no need for me to be a witness for Christ. This idea clearly violates the commandment to be witnesses in our Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The Great Commission then becomes more of a Great Suggestion and only whosoever God chooses may come and have everlasting life! Yes there is a doctrine of election taught in Scripture, but God’s desire is that no one would perish but that all would come to repentance.

Honestly, I was in shock for several days as I wrestled with this curriculum. I feel as though the sacred trust has been violated because the publishing arm of my convention seems to be embracing reformed Calvinistic theology. You should know Lifeway does not depend on cooperative program dollars and they are a for profit organization based on what they sell. They are guided by a President and Trustees who’ve been duly elected by our convention so there is accountability there. We are sending this curriculum back to Lifeway and I’ll be writing letters to President Thom Rainer and the board of trustees expressing my disappointment over this curriculum and explaining why we’ve pulled the proverbial plug on “The Gospel Project” curriculum. I encourage all SBC pastors I know to examine this for yourself and see the agenda within The Gospel Project curriculum. I hope you’ll send it back to Lifeway as well with your observations.

I want you to know as your Pastor, I will do my best to guard the sacred trust of Scripture and the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The Bible is our primary curriculum and any supplemental material we use must be faithful to interpret Scripture without imposing upon Scripture a flawed theological system of any kind. If you’d like to discuss this with me further; please call or email me for an appointment. Committed to guarding the sacred trust, from my little corner of the world to yours…

Ralph Green

Senior Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church

www.calvarybelair.com 

Subscribe to Pastor Ralph's Blog: http://pastorralphgreen.blogspot.com/  

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Posted via email from Pastor Ralph

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Summer Reflections...

I like to drive to a certain extent. Since we have 5 children and when they were all still home with us, air fare was typically not something we could consider, driving was our only option. My family has made numerous cross country trips from the east coast or the far north east back to see family and friends in Texas. From New Hampshire, it was a hard 3 day drive just to get to Texas and then another full day of driving to the Rio Grande Valley to see Cheryl’s parents. I have to admit there were times in that season of life I didn’t look forward to those brutal drives because of the stress on the kids which in turn would test the patience of us as parents. But there were lots of times of adventure and fun along the way. Attempting to find two hotel rooms side by side late in the night at a safe hotel with a tired family in the car always seemed to be a formidable challenge and adventure as well. Well this year Cheryl and I and our boys drove to Fort Worth Texas to be there with our daughter Rachel as she gave birth to our 4th grandchild Cameron Tate Miller (I’ll show you pictures if you ask me). This particular drive was still as long as I remember but we had a nice time.  I enjoy looking at the different states and a 3,158 round trip road trip provides you lots of time to reflect on some things.

One thing I reflected on as we drove mile after mile on interstate highways was the freedoms we take for granted. Crossing state and county borders without meeting armed guards and having to produce papers that give you the right to enter the state or county is something every American should appreciate. Having been overseas now several times, much of the world doesn’t live that way. Routinely being stopped and questioned as to where you have been and where you intend to go is something many citizens of other countries believe is normal. Being secure in your person and your effects against search and seizure is something we take for granted. At many a checkpoint I’ve passed through, it was nerve wracking even though innocent, to have a soldier there with a machine gun looking through your luggage and examining your papers. We speak English (well at least variations of it) in every state, we don’t have to try and remember a phrase in a different language to express what we’re doing to a soldier with a machine gun. Watching fireworks last night here in Bel Air in celebration of the freedoms we enjoy caused me to be thankful for the men and women who have fought and died to give us the freedoms we so often take for granted. Folks, we need to guard our freedoms and the liberty we have. We are rapidly heading toward giving up those freedoms because of our apathy. If we’re not vigilant, if we don’t use the power we have in the voting booth, those liberties and freedoms will vanish.

Another reflection I had on my drive was an appreciation for my family. I am grateful to God for the wife, the children and the grandchildren God has given me. Riding a roller coaster with my sons or sitting in my daughter’s living room drinking coffee, watching her interact with one of my grandsons, listening to her teaching him, talking to him about Jesus as she feeds him breakfast was so special. Remembering how that daughter in particular used to test me to my wits end made me marvel at the grace of God and how His word sown into the lives of our children and grandchildren will produce men and women of character who honor the Lord Jesus Christ. The tears I’ve shed and the prayers I’ve prayed for my family are worth every drop as my children grow into maturity. I was also reminded because of something that happened while I was away that I still have a long way to go as dad and my children still need me to be faithful to correct, discipline and teach them to honor the Lord with their life choices. Whether they are 15 or 25, I am in a unique position to influence them for Christ.  I reflected that as my role changes with them and they leave the nest and begin life on their own, I can still set a faithful example for them and encourage them to honor Jesus. As parents and grandparents, you have the same encouragement and opportunity I have with your children and grandchildren, no matter if they are currently honoring the Lord or not.

I reflected on God’s provision for us with thanksgiving. Even though it was going to add mileage of another 300 miles to our already long trip, I felt as though we needed to go to Houston to see our home that I’ve not seen in person since we moved to Maryland. For reasons God alone seems to know, He has allowed us to carry that home for nearly 43 full months without it selling. While there was definite work Cheryl and I needed to do and it set us back from intended travel time and arrival back to Bel Air, the home was not in as bad a shape as I thought it would be having now had two families rent from us. Our house is vacant and actively for sale once again so we invested 6 or 7 hours cleaning up and fixing things and are praying it will sell. Stopping there allowed me once again to connect with our kind neighbors who’ve been picking up the circulars, junk mail, and phone books that make it unsightly. What a privilege to pray God’s blessings upon this sweet couple in their living room before we left town.  I believe they were moved and so pleased we came by to thank them. I still don’t know God’s purposes for that house that He owns. Our neighbors, real estate agents and anyone familiar with it are buffaloed as to why God has not allowed it to sell. As much as I’d love to sell it today, I’d rather ask you to pray for God to show me what His intentions are for it and that I’ll continue to have the patience needed to continue with it. I don’t mind telling you at this point I am weary with the stress of it; but I marvel that we’ve not lost it and God continues to provide for us and I am truly thankful.

Upon returning home much later than we planned, I have reflected that the work of the kingdom of God is not just the pastor’s and staff, it is the work for all believers to engage in and be committed to. I was pleased to learn of the ministry taking place with our supper summer of service, our youth mission trip to Philadelphia we’ll hear about soon, our summer mission trip to Maine and even as you read this, we have a team of high school seniors and leaders in Haiti sharing the greatest news ever that Jesus saves. I am so proud of you my church family and I marvel at the great church the Lord allows me to pastor. Seeing other ministries as we went to worship was wonderful and going to church just to worship and not lead was a blessing. It made me reflect on the blessings of being part of God’s work right here at Calvary.

Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth where my married children are members is a great church. Each Sunday, their call to worship is that wonderful hymn of the faith “Jesus Saves.” I am reminded as I saw the host of Harford County gather yesterday to watch our 4th of July parade and see the fireworks, that Jesus saves. He wants to save every man, woman, boy and girl right here where we serve Him. He’s placed us here for such a time as this and we must be faithful to engage our community with that wonderful news that Jesus Saves! I’m glad to be able to share some summer reflections, safe at home, from my little corner of the world to yours…

Ralph Green

Senior Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church

www.calvarybelair.com 

Subscribe to Pastor Ralph's Blog: http://pastorralphgreen.blogspot.com/  

Follow Me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RalphGreen  

Posted via email from Pastor Ralph