Inform Your 'Faith'

  It goes without saying that Christendom is not without its gifted teachers, insightful theologians (both lay and professional), loquatious scholars so forth and so on. The prominence of certain nationally recognized ministerial figures along with the endless supply of christian literature attest to this reality. To be sure we should recognize and embrace the value of such gifts operating within the bounds of the church. They are necessary vessels and instruments in the hands of God to purvey His thoughts and truths. You will find that even within the parameters of biblical history that God primarily speaks through human agency. (Of course there are occasions where there was direct dialogue between God and man. Although this was more common in the O.T. epoch and during the incarnational ministry of the God-man). Even with Christ it was the fullness of diety revealing divine truths by way of a human agency; vis a vis the incarnation. 

  Worthy of note, however, is what Christ emphatically stated in the Johannine corpus about His mission and purpose germane to His "teaching." In the high priestly prayer He states, "Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You. For I have given them the words that You gave Me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from You...I have given them Your word," (see John 17).  Elsewhere He posits, "The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works," (John 14:10). And again, "the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father who sent Me," (John 14:24). Christ is directing the attention of those under His tutalege to the Father. (There are also inter-trnitarian dynamics involved here that will be the subject of another blog at a later time.)  Inasmuch as the authors overarching purpose is to identify Jesus Christ with the Father as being diety/divine Himself (the I am in Him and He is in Me phraseology) it is nevertheless affirmed, economically speaking, that Jesus was associating the words He spoke with the Father. 

  The aforementioned teachers, theologians and scholars within the church are well served to take this to heart and mind as they carry out their ordained duties. The position or role we occupy is not to promote ourselves. We do not exist to serve our namesake but exist to serve His namesake. We should not advocate congregants elevating any minister to a place of "beautification" so to speak, that detracts from Christ's renown. We should always direct the attention to Christ and Christ alone. This was the Pauline attitude when he propounded, "I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle....but by the grace of God I am what I am," (I Cor. 15:10).  Earlier in the same letter he responds to aspersions from the Corinthians by affirming the weaknesses they were using to denigrate his apostolic role in order that their, "faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God," (I Cor. 2:5). His interest was not to receive honor and prestige in order to attract a following of Pauline loyalists but instead to, "know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified," (I Cor.2:2). Paul was not preoccupied with his legacy but with the name and renown of the Lord of Glory.  As he stated, "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake," (II Cor. 4:5). The apostle had a healthy view of his role as a proxy of Christ who was one of  "God's fellow workers." Paul writes, "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth...For we are God's fellow workers," (II Cor. 3:5-8).  It is an incontrovertible truth that Paul was more concerned with directing his audience to the Lord above all else.  He was surely not an egoist more interested in establishing his popularity, influence or reputation above and beyond that of the Lord's.             

   Admittedly, scripture does affirm that we are not to owe a debt of honor (Rom. 13:7-8a, cf.I Tim.5:17), however, that honor should in no way infringe upon the honor due Christ.

   The western church, at least, seems to have an inordinate obsession with the "figurehead" or "personality" of the church they attend. To be sure folk invariably choose what local church they attend not by the content of the message but by the attraction of the speaker. This is the outcome of promoting teachers instead of the Teacher. This is the effect of the cult of personality as the song lyric puts it. When this happens more often than not congregants identify with the minister as opposed to what they are ministering on.  Folk of this class have more in common with what Paul prognosticates to Timothy, "For the time is coming when people...will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth," (II Tim. 4:3-4). This was a problem that the church at Corinth was teeming with (see I Cor. 1:10-17). When this is true of a local church, that assembly of believers will reflect the moods, attitudes and pecadillos of that minister in particular. They will graviate towards his points of emphasis to the exclusion of others. The outcome is that as the minister goes so goes the church. This does not reflect the pattern of Christ or Paul as referred to above. Such a dynamic is more or less cultically minded than Christ-like minded.

  The minister must always be viewed as a representative or ambassador of Christ who develops  followers of Christ, aptly refered to as Christians, not followers of any man. The true Teacher is Christ. The loyalty of a congregation should not be given to a teacher but be unimpeachably given to the Teacher par excellence. A true teacher will be characterized by directing the congregants to Christ and His pedagogy instead of elevating his image and reputation before the people. To do otherwise is a maleversation. 
  This is in accord with the ministration of the Holy Spirit, the apty called Spirit of Truth who leads all ministers to knowledge of God's truth by way of illumination. "The inspiration of the Almighty giveth men understanding." (Job 32:8)  The Spirit of God imbues His people with the capacity to concatenate biblical truth and the perspicacity to apprehend His thoughts.  As the former Princetonian Charles Hodge postulated, "The Spirit is represented as the source of all intellectual life."
  Christ instructed the disciples, "the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you," (John 14:26). Jesus enlarges upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 16 in enunciating, "When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak,...He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you...," (John 16:4-15). Just as Christ directed attention to the Father so the Holy Spirit directs attention to the Son. Ministers then who have the Holy Spirit as their ineffable guide and teacher should ceaselessy aim to do the same.

 Whenever teachers (ministers en toto) occupy their post properly and with biblical dignity they point to the Teacher, Jesus Christ whom they represent for they acutely recognize that, "Theology a Deo docetur, deum docet, ad Deum ducit," (Theology is taught by God, teaches God, leads to God).  These words of Thomas Aquinas need to be re-applied and re-intergrated into the church's ministerial orthopraxy and orthoproxy.  For whenever a minister executes his post uprightly his sole interest is to advance the truths of holy writ, those sine qua none truths that originate in the  mind of God. And if those truths are being espoused then it is no longer a man the church is infixing their attention upon. Instead their attention is indubitably fixiated upon God speaking through the man. The narrative of Job illustrates the sublime truth He, "teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven," (35:11). He is the true Teacher. Who is yours?