As Paul continues his
farewell charge to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:17-38), the third aspect of
the life and work of the pastor is a warning to be on guard against false
teaching (vv. 28-31). From its beginning
the church has had to face the threat of false teaching. It is the pastor’s responsibility, as the
shepherd, to protect the flock from the wolves seeking to destroy the flock.
How does the pastor do
this? First, the pastor must be a
student of scripture. To recognize the
counterfeit, one must be an expert in the authentic. Pastors should be experts on the Word of
God. This requires time devoted daily to
the thorough study of the Bible. This
protects the pastor from the unintentional error of teaching falsely himself
and gives him the ability to recognize false teaching when confronted with it. Congregations need to ensure the pastor has
time each day to do Bible study as his primary job. They need to insist that he does it.
This should include the
study of theology and church history.
God has graced the church for two thousand years with great
teachers. Pastors need to be well-read
and well-schooled in this rich mine of spiritual, biblical and theological
understanding. Pastors need be thinkers
who can answer questions or know where to find the answers.
As Paul says elsewhere,
we are to study to show ourselves workmen…rightly dividing the word of
truth. The challenges faced by the
church today demands that pastors devote themselves to providing deep answers
and not spiritual clichés.
Second, the pastor must
teach. Yes, pastors are to encourage but
also to rebuke, to exhort, and to challenge (2 Timothy 3:16-4:5). We must challenge our flock to deeper
understandings of scripture so that they will be able to recognize false
teaching when they encounter it. Congregations
need to appreciate pastors who teach deeply and not just praise those who
encourage and entertain.
Third, the pastor must
serve as a watchman. He must know that
anyone who is invited to speak in the church passes the test of orthodoxy. He must make sure that lay teachers in the
church’s programs are prepared theologically to teach. Yes, we should teach them how to teach but we
must make sure the content of the teaching is sound.
Paul points out that the
false teaching can come out of the church itself. We have two types of teaching in the church
in America today that runs the danger of degenerating into types of false
teaching. On one hand, we have those who
have watered down the Gospel and the demands of righteous discipleship. This approach compromises on sin and is
moving increasingly in a direction of a sugar-coated God who will save all
humans (universalism). On the other
hand, there is a growing emphasis on presenting God as the great genie who
fixes all our problems, makes our lives great, grants us success, etc.
Both extremes are rooted
in a similar error—a focus on humanity instead of God. The church, and its teaching, should be based
on a goal to glorify God and not humanity.
Yes, God is there for us and we should be grateful for all he does. However, we should follow the example of the
Reformers who signed everything with the phrase “only the glory of God.” In many of the religious, moral, and cultural
debates around us today, too many who claim the name of Christ based their
position and arguments on humanity and not on divinity.
Pastors have an
imperative from Christ to feed and protect the sheep by teaching the Word and
keeping the focus on the glory of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment