Ministry Produces Fear

I get to be the first person to comment on my own article 🙂

My husband wants to point out (and he is not one who likes to post comments himself) that name calling is a sign of immaturity and not just a weak argument.  A mature person can act with respect towards the opposition without having to attack the man.  An immature person often uses this as his first approach.  This shuts down the opposition without even hearing their arguments.  It is a control tactic and shows their immaturity.

There are a few things that one party in an argument can do to show they are fearful of losing and one is to resort to ad hominem attacks.

I think part of it is a lack of humility.  It goes something like this:  I am a believer and when I read the Bible it seems to say X to me, therefore it should say X to everyone.  If you think about this, this is actually an arrogant claim to infallible interpretation, but it does not seem that way to the believer.  It does not seem like arrogance at all, so it must not be arrogance.  Notice the lack of humbleness forms a chain.

Contrast that with sharing, this is what it means to me and why and I listen to what it means to you and why.  I cannot force you to accept my understanding and vice versa, but we can share our reasons.  Perhaps we think that we could not in faith do what another does, then the answer is to not do it.

Even if the rhetoric and name-calling were to stop today, we still have an issue to resolve. Permanent hierarchy (understood as between 2 adult believers) based upon the flesh cannot coexist with full equality and gift-based service. How would such an Assembly work? How could it function? Even if local assemblies separated on that basis, how could the groups work together, such as training for leaders, when some of the leaders would never recognize others as such?

The “solution” used to be “separate but equal”, and we all know how that worked out.

Unlike the Calvinism/Arminian debate, which has no practical difference concerning the gospel or evangelism or service, the gender war silences half of all believers and imputes sin to women who chafe against being treated like perpetual children or slaves.

The only path I can see is for each group to go their separate ways, and only ask that they agree on the essentials of the gospel. The Body was never meant to be a business or government anyway, such that it needs complex organization. Small groups in the first century did more evangelization than has ever happened since, without walls or programs or bosses.

I do not see the egals surrendering and the non-egals seem to be getting more strident.

Don,

When one is confident of what one believes and one’s own ability to defend that belief from the scripture, there should be no fear in listening to the other person’s point of view.  The loving thing is to listen first of all to walk alongside the person and secondly to act in love to help them see the holes in their own argument.  Attacks and name calling will never soften one up to hear another person’s point of view.  It only produces defensiveness and resentment.  If we truly care about the truth of our position we should be willing to patiently explain, defend and listen so that our ability to persuade is looked on as something valuable.

Paula,

While I do agree that there are times that we must separate for the health of the body, it isn’t because there is no hope, but because of stubbornness and prideful inability to listen (perhaps on both ends).  But underneath it all we are required to love our brothers.

There was a great deal of angry confrontation and inability to get along with the issue of slavery.  Yet as the argument for the abolition of slavery started to receive full acceptance in the church, the body began to mend itself and provide healing.  Ultimately the solution will be love.  The world can separate from each other and hate each other as they separate.  When true believers have an unconditional love for one another yet believe differently about secondary issues of faith, it is a real witness to the world.  It is not our secondary doctrines that will keep our love for each other.  It is our love for the Savior who died for each one of us, that will keep us in a bond of love.  So if we separate, we must learn how to come together again in the gospel.  This is why it is vital that we do not question each other’s Christianity because of the secondary issues of faith.  What will the world of the cults see?  If I am called a “heretic” by some in the evangelical world merely because I affirm women using their God-given gifts for the benefit of all, then how will that help my work with Jehovah’s Witnesses?  Would some feel threatened when I want to share the gospel with a JW when some in the church have called me a heretic?  It is extremely unhelpful to name call and to question the salvation of those who disagree with you on secondary issues of faith.  This hinders the work of the gospel and it may be found to quench the Holy Spirit.  We are united in the gospel.  If we are divided in other things, we need to keep our divisions to ourselves and affirm each other in all of the essentials.  When I ask my brother to affirm me on the essentials of the faith and he refuses because he has called me a heretic on this secondary issue, he now stands against Jesus’ command to love.

Paula, another area that I agree with you is in small groups.  While I really love the church, I love the small groups even more.  In a small group is where we can really get to know one another and where we can all minister to each other.  There is no one person assigned to speak while the others keep silent.  Church was not meant to be a place where we all were silent.  1 Cor. 14 shows the many ways that we can speak out with our gifts and give a word of encouragement to one another.  Surely in this time, we need each other and we can encourage each other.

Don #4,

I agree that this is what is happening.  Egalitarians are moving forward with confidence and courage assured that the bible in context supports women as well as men while the comps are getting more and more divisive and attacking even our confession of faith in the gospel.  This is a point that needs to happen, I believe.  Many have left the hierarchy because they were upset and dismayed by the vitriol coming from that camp.  I believe that God is in this.  It is the vitriol that will be the demise of the strict hierarchical view.  It is not Christlike and those with eyes can see.

I should add that the attacks against me have been very helpful in allowing many people to have their eyes opened.  People who would have never contacted me before are now coming alongside my ministry. They have been greatly offended by the attacks they have witnessed and they are making their concerns known to me.  The people who have contacted me include even those who call themselves atheists. When even atheists can see through the smoke screen and see the ungodly attacks, then God surely is using all of this for his own good. I praise God for even this persecution because it is being used for God’s glory and by God for the exact opposite of what it had been intended by those who oppose me.  This is just the way that God does things.  He takes what was meant for harm and turns it around to be useful to bring people to Himself!  I am simply amazed at how he does this and I give him the glory and honor for his work!

Glory to God!

When we listen to another, it is not only to correct them, we might learn from them, even if we disagree with them or end up disagreeing with them.

Don,
Amen!  That is a good emphasis because all of us can learn.  None of us has everything right so we are to submit to learn from each other.  Even when we fully believe that we are right, when we in love submit to one another to hear what the other has to say, even if it is to correct them, we are opening ourselves up to hearing truth and if we need to be corrected, God’s word will do what it was sent to do and it will become a seed planted that will bring good fruit.

That was a great column and also very positive!  Thanks for sharing that with us, Don.