Do we need the original languages?

I'm re-reading some portions of John Piper's Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. It's a solid assault on the professionalization of the pastoral office, one that I'm sure I will turn to again and again to beat back the temptations that seek to turn the ministry into mere management.

Of note today was Piper's chapter, "Brothers, Bitzer Was a Banker." In it, Piper makes a plea for pastors to become well-versed in the original languages of Scripture- Greek and Hebrew. He tells of a man named Heinrich Bitzer, who was ardently committed to knowing the original languages of the Bible. And the kicker was this: Bitzer was a banker. Not a pastor. Not an Old Testament professor. A banker. How much more, Piper contends, should pastors be committed to Greek and Hebrew, seeing as it is the nature of their office to expound the Word of God with accuracy and power!

Piper goes on, then, to show some of the reasons pastors need to know the original languages. I thought it perhaps helpful to give them here...

1. Without the original languages, "the confidence of pastors to determine the precise meaning of the Biblical text diminishes" (82).
2. "...the uncertainty of having to depend on differing translations- which always involve much interpretations- will tend to discourage careful textual analysis in sermon preparation" (82).
3. As a result of all of this, "[expository] preaching...falls into disuse and disfavor" (83).
4. "Another result when pastors do not study the Bible in Greek and Hebrew is that they, and their churches with them, tend to become second-handers. The harder it is for us to get at the original meaning of the Bible, the more we will revert to the secondary literature" (83).
5. "Weakness in Greek and Hebrew also gives rise to exegetical imprecision and carelesseness. And exegetical imprecision is the mother of liberal theology."
6. "...when we fail to stress the use of Greek and Hebrew as valuable in the pastoral office, we create an eldership of professional academicians" (84). By this Piper means that it is no longer pastors who are the masters of the Word, but only those outside the church, those in seminaries and universities.
7. As a result of number 7, then, Piper contends there results a "depreciation of the pastoral office" (84).
8. Finally, in quoting Martin Luther, Piper warns that "if we neglect the literature [i.e. the Scriptures in the original languages] we shall eventually lose the gospel" (87).

What think you? Is Piper off course? Are the original languages that necessary?

Jesus our Life

Jesus compares his ministry at one point to a doctor working with the sick. It is really a wonderful illustration. But it only goes so far. You see, a doctor gives to his patients something outside of himself- some medicine or something- to make them well. But Jesus - he gives us himself. He himself is our cure, our life.

The Drama of Redemption

The Drama of Redemption in Ephesians 2:11-22

v. 11- The Main Characters: Jews ("the circumcision") and Gentiles ("the uncircumcision").

v. 12- The Conflict: Gentiles are "separated," "alienated," "strangers," "having no hope," and "without God in the world."

v. 13- The Turning Point: "...in Christ Jesus" the Gentiles "have been brought near."

vv. 14-18- The Twist: Jews and Gentiles "both one" in Christ.

vv. 19-20- The Resolution: Gentiles "no longer strangers and aliens," but are "fellow citizens." 

v. 21- The Climax: Jews and Gentiles in Christ together a "holy temple in the Lord"

v. 22- The Moral: "...you also"?

Preaching Christ

"Him we proclaim...." Colossians 1:28

Christ was the continually spotlighted element in Paul's ministry. Even if we did not have an explicit  statement telling us this, as we do here in Colossians (see also 1 Corinthians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:5), we would still know it to be true from what is the general tone and content of his many sermons and epistles: Christ is simply everywhere.

But why is this so for him? The Bible is a very large book, much of it not explicitly mentioning our Lord. So why was Paul's life and ministry so explicitly "Christ-focused"?

The answer is this: because the Bible itself is "Christ-focused."

Christ is the centerpiece of all God's revelation. All of salvation history moves toward Christ, and all the parts find themselves tied together in him. The whole of the biblical plot-line (if we understand the big picture), features Jesus of Nazareth as its main character. Whether explicitly (as in the Gospels for example), or implicitly (as in the Prophets for instance), in God's divine redemptive drama, Christ has the lead role.

Tim Keller expresses this truth concisely and draws out the implications of it in such a way that I think Paul would heartily agree with:

"There are two ways to read the Bible. The one way to read the Bible is that it’s basically about you: what you have to do in order to be right with God, in which case you’ll never have a sure and certain hope, because you’ll always know you’re not quite living up. You’ll never be sure about that future. Or you can read it as all about Jesus. Every single thing is not about what you must do in order to make yourself right with God, but what he has done to make you absolutely right with God. And Jesus Christ is saying, “Unless you can read the Bible right, unless you can understand salvation by grace, you’ll never have a sure and certain hope. But once you understand it’s all about me, Jesus Christ, then you can know that you have peace. You can know that you have this future guaranteed, and you can face anything."

So you think you're tough, eh?

Soon I will be making the transition from being a full-time delivery driver to a part-time church staff member. As I said yesterday, I am eager to take hold of this opportunity given me by my church, but I also possess some (I think) healthy fear: it is an awesome thing to minister in and among the flock of God, which he purchased with his own blood, and to stand before both the Almighty and before his people. It is also a difficult thing. Only a fool would think that to wage the good warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil will take little effort, little time, and little suffering.

Because ministry is a difficult thing, then, it is no wonder that the Bible speaks often of the strength needed by the one ministering. We could turn to many places to see this, but the following three references found in First and Second Timothy are my favorite.

1.     1 Timothy 1:12

Here the emphasis is on Christ’s identity: literally, the Lord is “the one who has strengthened” Paul. In the context, the apostle is discussing his appointment to ministry. Not only, then, is Jesus the one who puts a person into ministry, he is also the one who empowers for it.  We learn in this verse, therefore, to see Christ as our strength in ministry.

2.     2 Timothy 2:1

Paul instructs Timothy in this verse to “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The emphasis is upon Christ as the source of power, in contrast to ourselves, who are weak. Reading on in verse 2 (and indeed in the whole epistle), we see that strength Paul is referring to is strength for Timothy to carry out his ministry. We learn here, then, to seek Christ for our strength.

3.     2 Timothy 4:17

Finally, in this verse Paul reflects upon the fact that Christ met his need for strength at a critical moment in ministry, helping him to persevere when it was most necessary. The emphasis is not so much on Christ’s identity, so much as on the fact that he was faithful to his identity in the given situation. Here, then, we learn to stand in Christ as our strength.

New position

It is my tremendous joy to announce to anyone tuning in to my blog that beginning in September I will be taking a part-time staff position at Woodlands Church. I will be working with pastor John Jordens in the area of small groups and (hopefully) helping to develop a series of classes that will further the cause of adult Christian education in our congregation.
I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to my pastors and elders for giving me this opportunity to serve Christ and his body. I am filled with both eagerness and holy fear as I make this transition and will try earnestly to keep you updated on the progress of things.
Pray for me.
Grace be with you all.

To pastor is to suffer

Richard Baxter, in his The Reformed Pastor, has the following to say about pastors who would avoid suffering by avoiding their duties. This is nothing short of a blaring alarm to not take the task of ministering lightly.

"...the common way of escaping suffering [is] to neglect the duty that would expose us to it. If we did our duty faithfully, ministers would find the same lot among professed Christians as their predecessors have done among Pagans and other infidels. But if you cannot suffer for Christ, why did you put your hand to his plough [sic]? Why did you not first sit down and count the cost? This makes the ministerial work so unfaithfully executed, because it is so carnally undertaken; men enter upon it as a life of ease, and honour [sic], and respectability, and they resolve to attain their ends, and have what they expected right or wrong. They looked not for hatred and suffering, and they will avoid it, though by avoiding of their work."