In a mirror, dimly

More on the homegroup

When it comes to the interpretation of scripture I owe a debt of thanks to the Methodist movement for coining the term “Wesleyan Quadrilateral”. To borrow a very American metaphor, we can think of the interpretation of scripture as being like the 4 bases of a baseball diamond.

We start and end with scripture. It’s God’s word and His primary method by which He speaks to us today, the measure by which we measure other forms of communication and totally authoritative on matters of faith and practice. We must remember the simple principle that scripture interprets scripture, for example the book of Revelation contains upwards of 200 references to Old Testament passages.

First base is tradition. We have 19 centuries of believers behind us, and we’re not the first people to read a given passage of the bible. Obviously we must let the scriptures speak for themselves, but we can look down the years and see what the vast majority of other believers saw in the passage also. The appeal to tradition allows the weight of orthodoxy to bear down on us, for sure, but that cannot be a bad thing when all is said and done.

Second base is experience. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit, the 3rd member of the trinity, to lead us into all truth. As we walk through life we will experience His presence and hear His voice speaking. We must measure our experiences in the light of tradition and scripture, but we can also let our experiences speak when interpreting what the bible has to say. For example, I picked up a liking for the theory of quantum mechanics as I have gone through the various levels of schooling. According to quantum theory, a photon of light is both a wave and a particle at the same time and the kind of observation you make of the photon of light will determine how we see it. In light of this experience I have learned that it is perfectly possible, and often mandatory, to hold 2 seemingly contradictory truths in mind at once. It was Niels Bohr that said “The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” This experience of science affords me the mental tools to be able to hold 2 profound truths in tension - free will and predestination.

Third base is reason. We know that God created the universe we see, imparting order and structure to His creation; the world around us is a pale reflection of the order and perfection of the God that created ex nihilo. God gave us the power to think and reflect, so we should never be afraid to engage our brain when it comes to reading and interpreting scripture. God says in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” So, as we approach scripture we should apply logic and avoid category mistakes (applying a concept outside the domain in which it can meaningfully be applied - like asking what the colour blue tastes like), and offering illogical impossibilities (can God create a rock so heavy He cant lift it?).

Finally we return to scripture. We must ask, what do these other tools tell us that God is saying through a particular passage, and once we understand it in its context, what does that say to us today. Beware that as we hear the word of God, we should also try to put it into action too.

Alison and I were talking about a BHAG that I heard other night: there was a guy on the radio said something about planning to “reach 3.9 by ‘09″. To me that’s a BHAG. It certainly is audacious and it’s catchy too. A world-wide listening audience of 3.9 billion? Anyhow, Alison turned and asked me “So, what’s your BHAG?”

Thats a tough question! I dodged it with a comment that made her laugh pretty hard - “I dont have a BHAG - I shaved it.”

We’re learning about church history in VLI right now. Fascinating stuff! I find it amazing to see the historicity of the faith, to see just how early that orthodoxy crystalized and how it has endured since that time. It gives me a warm feeling (perhaps that’s the Indian food I ate, I dunno) to read Irenaeus of Lyons [who died in about AD 200] refering to an almost fully formed canon of scripture. It throws interesting light on the process of deciding the canon - if Irenaeus (and others) were already using the canon virtually as we have it today, it says to me that the process wasnt an arbitrary decision or the result of politics / military might as some might have us believe. No, the process of creating the canon was merely ratifying something that was already in widespread agreement. The fact that this agreement goes all the way back to the second century is striking.

OK, so I’m sure that it’s obvious to all - I’ve tweaked with the look and feel of the site. Basically, I got fed up with stripes and wanted a nicer texture. Once I saw that I went on a quest to customize a bunch of the rest of the look and feel - date/time banners and the comments/permalink boxes.

I’m going to be starting a homegroup in church sometime soon. There’s a meeting at the end of the month for all the new (prospective) homegroup leaders that I was invited to, so I guess there’s no backing out now.

I think the hardest thing so far was looking for a place to host the group - host homes are a commodity akin to gold-dust! As I prayed about it, one couple kept coming to mind, so I asked them. To my surprise (why should I be surprised, if the calling to start the group was in fact God, surely He would prepare the way?) they said that they’d already been discussing group and came to the conclusion that they didnt feel ready to lead one themselves but they did feel that they wanted to host a group. That was a huge confirmation for me!

So here I sit tonight having been thinking about what shape the group should take. There’s a vision for what group should be like - its character - or to borrow a term, the group’s DNA. Specific scriptures I can see defining things:

General elements of the group

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Major things characterizing the believers:

• devotion to
  • the apostles teaching
  • the fellowship
  • breaking of bread
  • prayer
• characterized by signs+wonders
• regular open meetings
• worship+praise of God
• salvation growth, not transfer growth
• charity to one another
• ate together
• enjoyed the favour of the wider group of people

Philosophy of evangelism

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

Acts 17:26-27

• God knows the when + where of our lives
• God is close to us all, and wants to be found
• We should have an anticipation, an expectation of people coming to faith, but not pressure them to do so
• God is already at work in people
• People will belong before they believe
• There will be seeds of faith already in them (altars to “an unknown god”)
• evangelism should be with gentleness and respect

On ministry in the group

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.”

(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:1-13

• We should be humble, gentle, patient and desire unity
• one baptism, one faith, one Lord (etc) - avoid the denominational wars
• “Verbo dicam: Si nos servaremus IN necesariis Unitatem, IN non-necessariis Libertatem, IN UTRISQUE Charitatem, optimo certe loco essent res nostrae.” [In a word, I'll say it: if we preserve unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials, and charity in both, our affairs will be in the best position.]
• Everyone has received the grace of God - the reformation principle of the priesthood of all believers
• Jesus assigns roles: pioneer/planter, prophet, evangelist, pastor/teacher
• group is to prepare people for the works of service God’s prepared in advance for them to do
• group exists to build up and serve the wider body of believers
• strive for unity
• promote Christlike character, valuing character over giftedness

Expectations

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Jude 17-23

• divisions and conflicts are to be expected, its how they’re handled that’s important
• the Holy Spirit leads us toward unity
• build one-another up (see Ephesians 4:1-13)
• pray in the spirit (see Ephesians 6:18)
• allow the different circumstances of people to modify our means of communicating truth, but never compromising the message
  • merciful to those who doubt, providing a place of nurture
  • snatch others from the fire - applying discipline
  • reach out with acts of mercy to others - love them into the kingdom