"Chronological Snobbery": T.D. Jakes and James MacDonald vs Athanasias and the Nicene Council

James MacDonald's invitation of T.D. Jakes to his Elephant Room conference has created a furor throughout the Body of Christ in the past couple months. The reasons being:



1. MacDonald's abrupt resignation from The Gospel Coalition, an organization known for being commited to the proclaimation of Evangelic Orthodoxy, of which MacDonald was a founding member.



and



2. Jakes' modalistic view of the trinity (stemming from his Oneness Pentecostal backround).




With regards to the latter, much of the controversy borne out of Jake’s involvement and MacDonald’s own interactions have raised a very serious question: “To what extent can a person be embraced as a brother in Christ in spite of them having an unorthodox view of God?”



My own answer is “Why should this even be an issue of contention for us in the 21st century?”



Athanasius of Alexandria [b. ca. (296-298) – d. 2 May 373] was the 20th bishop of Alexandria, Ehypt. His long episcopate lasted 45 years (c. 8 June 328 - 2 May 373), of which over 17 years were spent in five exiles ordered by four different Roman emperors. He is considered to be a renowned theologian and pastoral leader of the fourth century.

He is remembered for his role in the conflict with Arianism. In 325, at the age of 27, Athanasius had a leading role against the Arians in the Nicaen council.  Nicaea was convoked by Constantine in May–August 325 to address the Arian heresy that Jesus Christ is of a distinct substance from God the Father:

___________



The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Athaniasian Creed



Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith:
    That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
    neither blending their persons
    nor dividing their essence.

        For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
        the person of the Son is another,
        and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
        But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
        their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
  
 What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
        The Father is uncreated,
        the Son is uncreated,
        the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
 
       The Father is immeasurable,
        the Son is immeasurable,
        the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

        The Father is eternal,
        the Son is eternal,
        the Holy Spirit is eternal.
            And yet there are not three eternal beings;
            there is but one eternal being.
            So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
            there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

   Similarly, the Father is almighty,
        the Son is almighty,
        the Holy Spirit is almighty.
            Yet there are not three almighty beings;
            there is but one almighty being.
 
      Thus the Father is God,
        the Son is God,
        the Holy Spirit is God.
            Yet there are not three gods;
            there is but one God.
        Thus the Father is Lord,
        the Son is Lord,
        the Holy Spirit is Lord.
            Yet there are not three lords;
            there is but one Lord.

    Just as Christian truth compels us
    to confess each person individually
    as both God and Lord,
    so catholic religion forbids us
    to say that there are three gods or lords.

    The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
    The Son was neither made nor created;
    he was begotten from the Father alone.

    The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
    he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
    Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
    there is one Son, not three sons;
    there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

    Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
    nothing is greater or smaller;
    in their entirety the three persons
    are coeternal and coequal with each other.
    So in everything, as was said earlier,
    we must worship their trinity in their unity
    and their unity in their trinity.

Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

Now this is the true faith:
    That we believe and confess
    that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
    is both God and human, equally.
     He is God from the essence of the Father,
    begotten before time;
    and he is human from the essence of his mother,
    born in time;
    completely God, completely human,
    with a rational soul and human flesh;
    equal to the Father as regards divinity,
    less than the Father as regards humanity.
    Although he is God and human,
    yet Christ is not two, but one.

    He is one, however,
    not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
    but by God's taking humanity to himself.
    He is one,
    certainly not by the blending of his essence,
    but by the unity of his person.

    For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
    so too the one Christ is both God and human.
    He suffered for our salvation;
    he descended to hell;
    he arose from the dead;
    he ascended to heaven;
    he is seated at the Father's right hand;
    from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

    At his coming all people will arise bodily
    and give an accounting of their own deeds.
    Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
    and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.



_____________
 


   If, after serious dialogue and debate, the 4th century’s brightest theologians can develop statements of faith that are accepted as biblically valid to the degree that one’s rejection would invoke anathema, what then should stop the theologians of the 21st century from coming together and after their own personal study, declare “Yes, Athanasius was right!”
   If the Early Church Fathers got it right back then, why is it suddenly an issue now?



Perhaps the main reason why could have it’s roots in what C.S. Lewis in Surprised by Joy described as:

“Chronological Snobbery”:

the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. You must find why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also "a period," and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them.
(emphasis mine)



The cliche‘ “Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it” rings all too true...
 

Mark Driscoll - “All Things to all men... By all means?”

A Conference hosted by Queensland Theological College, University of Queensland
(Videos courtesy of Mars Hill Church youtube channel) 

On Thursday, I had the awesome privelage of getting to see one of my favourite preachers in person face-to-face.

In light of Hope Brisbane's 2008 Oceania Convention: "A Contextualized Church", I was exited about seeing Mark Driscoll upfront.

Those who follow this blog will already know who Ps Mark Driscoll is. For those who don't know, Driscoll is the founder and Ps for teaching at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In the early days of his pastoral ministry, he along with others such Dan Kimball, was part of the early “conversation” on the issue of reaching Generation X along with evangelizing postmoderns. Eventually, others like Doug Pagett and Brian Mclaren also joined; the latter two openly embracing a postmodern worldview and questioning the relevance and authority of crucial Christian doctrines such as the virgin birth, the clarity of scripture, the exclusivity of Christ. As these liberal ideologies grew to become what is now the Emergent Church movement, Ps Mark promptly distanced himself. 

Today, Mark Driscoll is best known for his contemporary, yet theologically strong preaching while Mars Hill now has over 5000 congregants divided among six campuses in a multi-site structure in what has been called America's least churched city.

When I got to the Hawken Engineering building, I was shocked by the number of people crowded outside the lecture theartre. Those who know me well are all too familiar with the fact that I do not enjoy being in a crowd. But here there were close to four hundred bible-believing aussie Christians eager to learn about taking their involvement in the great commission to the next level. As I eavesdropped on the various conversations, it was delightfully obvious that despite denominational differences, everyone took scripture, theology and eangelism very seriously.

After I picked up my name tag, I bumped into Joshua Mitchell who leads the Gold Cost team of the Operation513 open-air preaching ministry. We had a great time of fellowship where we talked about evangelism, ministry and the doctrines of grace. Since Josh was on the P.A. team , he was able to usher me into the lecture theartre before everyone else so I could get good seating.

So without further adieu, here are my notes from the morning sessions:

________________________________________________

Session 1: “Are we as a Church Operating as we should?”

19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

The Corinthian church could be said to be one of the worst churches of the New Testament (the Galatians possibly being second)
- sexual immorality
- secularized, pluralistic society
- demonic influences
- excess of the charismata
- drunkeness

1 Corinthians 9 – Proclaimation AND contextualization

- Most churches tend to lean to one over the other
      - Fundamentalism = Strong Doctrine minus Cultural relevance      - Liberalism = Excessive cultural relevance minus strong doctrine

- Our first priority is to preach the gospel
      - Continually preach the gospel within and outside the church
      - Never assume anything! As a leader, when you're among the Christians under
your care, never assume “they've heard it all before and don't need to hear it
again from me.”
      - Different generations bring about different assumptions and levels of knowledge
which in turn have brought about different ways of preaching the gospel that have had serious consequences upon the body of Christ
            - e.g., the Conservative Evangelical preachers of the 1950s (Billy Graham, J.I. Packer) who had a very strong emphasis on the authority of scripture, conversion as a tangible experience and the essential Christian doctrines
                        - The seeker-friendly model of the 80s-90s (Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels) where in order to make non-believers feel comfortable and welcome, doctrine and the preaching of the full- gospel as done by the Conservative Evangelicals were deliberately undermined in favor of “felt-needs” evangelism and topical preaching related to a non-believer's everyday circumstances. As Bill Hybel's “Reveal Now” report revealed, the statistics show that as a means of long-term discipleship, this model actually does more harm than good and simply doesn't work.
                                    - The Emerging Church (2000-), who as the postmodern generation that follows from the seeker-friendly churches are led to adopt a liberal stance

- Your view of teaching is inevitably tied to your view of scripture
      - I.e., if you believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible and innerrant Word of God, why on earth would you have a small-group discussion where everyone's views are equal to each other in the name of “dialogue”?

- Preach the gospel to both Christians and Non-Christians in the church

- Not all church-goers are genuinely born again, even if they may have responded to altar-calls countless times

- Preach the Penal Substitutionary Atonement of Christ's work on the cross. If there was anything the Calvinists got right, it was their view of propitiation:21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26

Advice for Preachers, Pastors and Ministers
- As a minister, take advantage of holidays and vacations

- Due to the stress commonly associated with ministry, Ps Mark has used up all of the adrenalin his body could produce. Doctors told him last year that for the sake of his well-being, the best option would be to quit ministry.

- Know what you want to preach/teach/emphasise at least one year in advance so that you can have maximum time to prepare your expositions.

- When teaching, anticipate and respond to the objections that will be raised by those on the receiving end.
      - It encourages:
            - Deeper Bible study and Devotions among congregants; people won't do passive quiet time
            - Apologetics: You teach the church how to think through controversial issues
      - What do you do with the nerd who's always critisizing you over what they see as theological and exegetical errors on your part? Why not take them on as an understudy who can help you with research, adding meat to your messages in such a way that it lightens the load of study upon your schedule while allowing them to grow as an asset to the teaching/discipleship sector?

- Guard your church!
      - Membership should only consist of those who are proven to be born-again and actively support the church's doctrine
      - Keep the bar as high a possible!

- Sync the small-group teaching with the pulpit preaching
      - Keeps the “pulse”


The Church must see itself as a missional outpost

- Contextualization is the precursor to evangelism

- Understanding the culture you're reaching out to

- Contextualization is an act of service

- New converts are a great gift, they keep us focused on the important things that matter

- Decision-making should be centred around what will lead people to Christ

- Cut out the things in your ministry that hold back contextualization
      - Can you name 10?
      - Focus on growing the fruit-bearers among your congregants; don't accommodate those who don't bear fruit because they're openly disinterested and hostile.
      - When evangelism is done as a coerced work, it fizzles

- Mars Hill Church does very little in terms of “deliberate” evangelism programs and activities because:
      - Christ-centredness is always a primary aim in preaching and teaching. The gospel is not just tacked onto the end of the sermon's conclusion, but rather it is at the heart of all messages regardless of text or topic.
      - At all Sunday meetings, believers and non-believers are welcomed as two seperate groups. Believers are encouraged in their freedom in Christ while non-believers are told upfront that they will be “preached at” and asked to respond to the gospel.


Two-handed ministry

- Timeless truth held tightly in one hand + timed methods held loosely in the other

- Hold tightly to your doctrine, your theology and the gospel, yet being as flexible with how you apply these practically

- A church that doesn't do this is disobeying scripture(Room went very quiet at that point)- Contextualization should be done by everyone

- Every church contextualizes, the question is “what year?”
      - e.g., Cassette tapes vs podcasts
            - Some churches still use reel-to-reel tape!

- Biblical contextualization is not about making the gospel sound relevant, it's about showing the relevance and concern of the gospel!



Session 2: Missional Churches
Brief autobiography from Ps Mark:- Born in 1970 (38 years old) to a Catholic family
- Came to know Christ at 19: “If you're an Arminian, that's when I made a decision for Christ. If you're a Calvinist, that's when God saved me.”


A Missional church must practice and preach repentance- If we [leaders] won't talk about sin, they [congregants, non-believers] won't want to talk either

- An unrepentant pastor shouldn't expect to have a repentant flock

- You disarm critics who will bring accusation against you

- You have to call both the sinner and the religious to repent of their sin and turn to Christ

- Don't just focus on the sins of the individual. But sins that were committed against them
      - e.g. Rape

 



A missional church practices cultural exegesis

- Observe the culture
      - Try changing your daily transport route so that you can explore the area
      - Watch TV (in moderation)
      - Talk to EVERYONE!
      - Read blogs
      - Get RSS feeds for local news

- Be seeker-sensible, not sinner-friendly

- Consider making the church welcoming to singles, couples and families

- A missonal church has a pastor as a missiologist
      - Studies culture and people

- The goal of missiology is to see conversions, not just being trendy for the sake of looking cool.

- Missional Churches are reproductive
      - Multi-site structure
      - Acts 2 “...and the Lord added to their number daily those that were being saved.”
      - Keep track of numbers
      - Try not to allow a quasi-socialist mindset that tries to level everything and prevents innovators from rising up
            - There is declining enthusiasm among aussie Christians for evangelism and ministry as a result of “tall-poppy syndrome.”

- A missional church is young
      - Youth groups serve as the petrie dish for innovation within your churches
      - Train young leaders who know current trends
            - If you want to reach young people, don't teach the 67 year old senior pastor how to use a skateboard!
      - Stay a player until God calls you to be a coach

- Three kinds of leaders
      - Prophets (doctrine, teaching, discernment)
      - Priests (caring, compassion, charity and encouraging)
      - Kings (Admin and management)
      - The faithful pastor serves as all three just as Jesus does

- Evolution of denominations
      - Movement (launch; lots of momentum and excitement)
      - Organization (formality)
      - Institution (preserves the organization)
      - Museum-Church (only those interested in the traditions of the institution attend out of nostalgia)


Session 3 – Practical Applications (Q&A)


How are services at Mars Hill Church Conducted?

1. Praise and Worship
2. Announcements and Welcome
3. Songs that focus on the cross and repentance
4. Sermon
5. Call to respond
      - Christians pray for each other rather than walk down the ailse
      - Silent Prayer
6. Communion
      - Congregants approach altar to collect elements individually
      - Christians only

- Mars Hill is Calvinistic and Charismatic in theology
      - “Charismatic” tends tends to have different connatations in different countries

- Leadership modeled after the Presbyterian structure (plurality of elders as opposed to a single senior pastor)



How do you reach the 18-35 age group?

- Don't do church FOR them, do church BY them (use those you currently have)

- Australia is a permission-based culture rather than commitment-based

- Encourage regulars to get involved in ministry as soon as possible

- Statistically, the average aussie Christian only goes to church once a month



How do you avoid the trap of a Christian sub-culture?

- A healthy church is a “city within a city” that does things differently to those in the outside world.

- An unhealthy closed-community church is more like a bombshelter where nothing comes in or goes out



With all these new trends, how do we define what a “church” is?

- Technology has changed the scope of the church
      - e.g., the Anglican parrish
            - What is YOUR parrish?
      - Use of video technologies
            - Online gatherings
                  - Is it legitimate?

- People must meet together under the authority of qualified leaders

- There must be biblical church discipline

- If two or three drunks are on a boat out at sea and each shouts “Jesus Christ!”, are they immediately at church?



As a new leader, pastor or church-planter, how do you respond to criticism?

- Listen to your critics and be humble
      - Is there any truth in it or is it unfounded?
      - Sometimes you have to let your critic become your coach
            - e.g. Billy Graham

- Once a criticism of you reaches the internet, it can stay there forever regardless of your repentance and apology
      - e.g., in 2006 Ps Mark was invited by John Piper to speak at the annual Desiring God conference which had the theme “The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World.” Due to Ps Mark's former affiliation with the Emerging Church, news of his participation created a furor on the internet, not just against him, but also John Piper as well.

- Never respond to a critic when you're angry; wait on the Holy spirit

- Get backup from another leader

- Meet the critic on your terms, not theirs, or you might get ensnared in a trap.



Advice for Growing leaders

- Young leaders need encouragement, yet must come under covering

- Don't be quick to stumble an entrepeneur who has new ideas

- It's a calling, not a job

- Humility is always the most important lession
      - All leaders should remember the humility of Jesus
            - 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11     


 - A young leader who isn't humble will only humiliate others and himself



How should a Church Hire staff?

- Try to avoid hiring the most “public” guy who already attracts enough attention - Hire people into ministry who can train and appoint others

- The larger Australian churches tend to have a “professional” clergy

- Mobilise volunteers before hiring full-time paid staff



What should act as the basis for doctrinal unity?


- As a church, know what you will contend for (Jude 3)

- Most church faith statements, while written down, only represent a a minute part of the theology that Christians will be exposed to both within and outside the church. The less specific a faith statement is in light of the plethora of various doctrines out there, the greater the potential for deception to creep in. In this regard, the majority of a church's faith statement is actually left unsaid and subject to the rule of the mob.

- What are the non-essentials in your church that may divide?
      - music style
      - dress code
      - gender roles

Beating the “Dead Horse”


- You will have people who want to constantly argue and argue

- Sometimes you have to cut people loose when they kick too hard against the flow of the church
- At times you will have to help them find the church they want

- Listen to John Piper!

- The door to leadership in your church should be immensely smaller than the doors to members and visitors.



Operation of Spiritual gifts within the Church

- There are merits of the cessationist position in that it encourages focus on the authority of scripture  
      - e.g., B.B. Warfield's writings on the subject of Inspiration, which while serving as a
great defence against the rise of liberalism, layed down the foundation for
contemporary cessationist theology
             - John Macarthur

- Mars Hill's position: All Gifts (Tongues, prophecy, healing, miracles, et al) are for today and should be encouraged, however most cases within the church are probably not the real thing

- The true evidence for being spirit-filled is growing in love for Jesus!

- At Mars Hill, the operation of prophecy is restricted to elders and above rather than “open mike”

- Some Charismatics can be very individualistic and selfish in their worship rather than using the gifts to edify and encourage others as Scripture instructs (cf.Rom 12, 1Cor 12-14)



What should be the standard for Church discipline?


(Ps Mark asked how many people come from churches where they feel that Church Discipline is operated properly. Very few hands went up.)


- Should only be for members who have pledged submission to the authority to the church and not just casual visitors

- Disciplining a visitor must be done with extra care as it can actually be counter- evangelistic

______________________________________________


After the conference:


I eventually mustered up the courage to break through the crowd and ask Ps Mark for an autograph (to understand how I felt towards the prospect of talking to him, think of the “WE'RE NOT WORTHY!” scene in Wayne's World when Mike Myers gets to meet Alice Cooper).
BV: “You must have been asked a hundred times already.”
MD: “That's okay, brother.”
I offerered the souveneir pen I got from Oceania Convention. He noticed that it had the “Contextualized Church” logo printed on it.
MD: “Hey, that's awesome.”
At that point I asked the question that motivated me to attend the event:
BV: “Ps Mark, I attend an international fellowship where local aussies make up less than 10% of the church body. We've been active for 15 years now. What advice would you give so that we can make the transition to being a church that effectively reaches locals?”
As someone who leads a church of over 5000 in one of the least churched cities of America in addition to supporting local churchplanters, I thought his answer had to be a good one.
MD: “I'm sorry, I've never heard of that kind of situation before. I honestly don't know how to answer. I must apologize.”
I thanked him for his time, and stepped aside so others could approach him.

I sat outside the lecture theartre to pray. It was not exactly the answer I wanted to hear, no doubt. I prayed and cried out to God, the Lord of the Harvest. It was then I realized the purpose of the conference: to raise up the harvest workers. There just may be hope for this generation living in Brisbane after all.

Stewardship, Service and Surrender

A testimony printed in the bulletin of Hope Brisbane Christian Church, 25 May 2008


    Even since I became a believer, I’ve always felt a desire to serve God and to see others learn more about how to live in such a way that is consistent with knowing the height and wonder of Christ’s glory and supremacy. From the onset, I knew that my primary spiritual giftings were in teaching and intercession. Teaching, because I loved God’s word plus my tertiary studies fostered a passion for Systematic Theology. Intercession, because I felt a burden to discern the specific will of God and how it applied to the health of the church.

   Having been among the aussie Eureka Group’s “veterans”, I’ve seen upfront people rise and fall, come and go. In 2007, I was asked to take on the role of leading the  Burning Bush student ministry. While I already had intermediate skill as a lifegroup discussion leader and had aspirations to perhaps one day be the pastor of my own church, I honestly found the thought of stepping up into leadership to be daunting. I read 1^st and 2^nd Timothy plus the book of Titus intently, sometimes feeling positive, other times pessimistic. How would I ever be able to meet the criteria God set for his leaders within his church? What about those I loved who God would place under my care? Would I become their stepping stone or their stumbling block? To top it off, how would I support myself and my ministry financially since I was still looking for permanent employment? But one thing was certain: God put me in this position for a reason.  

   In the years that I have attended, served and ministered within Hope Brisbane Christian Church, the vision of the Hope Movement has resonated a resolve in my convictions towards evangelism, discipleship, theology and understanding what the gospel truly is.
   Help Fulfill the Great Commission. Build Strong, Biblical Christians. Plant Strong, Biblical Churches.
   Anyone who has been with the Hope Movement long enough would have at least once looked at the above three statements and asked “...How?” Our vision represents not just a call to see the great comission fulfilled through evangelism, discipleship and church planting; but it creates a parameter for the philosophy of ministry wherein scripture not just dictates our theology, but it serves to regulate the resulting methodology in such a way that when a church decides to grow that which is “strong and biblical”, they must immediately confront that which is weak and unbiblical.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:11-16 (English Standard Version)