Vital Signs (Part 2)--Direction
We continue our hospital emergency room analogy by
considering the second vital sign that was both operative and
observable within Paul’s gospel team—direction. As noted in Part I,
Acts 16:1-34 provides a real-life case history of a church planting.
What is true of the planter should also be true of the planted. Any
local church that presents with the same vital signs as those
exhibited by Paul and his associates is in good spiritual health.
Direction has to do with the entity that actually
calls the shots in a church ministry. In the Pauline gospel team,
there was one and only one individual calling the shots and
providing direction—the Holy Ghost. Fifteen years of pastoral
ministry taught me that a lot of churches have self-appointed power
brokers that insist on running the show and calling the shots.
At times the pastor can be that power broker. The “My
Way or the Highway!” mentality is all too common in men that ought
to exude a spirit of servanthood under the Lordship of Christ. Some
spend their first six to twelve months in a pastorate
identifying power threats, and then doing what's necessary to send
them packing so they can rule the roost with minimum
opposition. A church is in shaky spiritual health when the pastor is
the one usurping the role of the Spirit in dictating congregational
direction!
Does the name Diotrephes ring a bell? He was a
prominent member of a church to which the apostle John wrote a
letter and of which his friend Gaius was a member (III John). It’s
not clear whether he was the pastor. But we learn from John that he
was the ultimate power broker. He loved to have the preeminence, was
verbally abusive and accusatory, and acted as a committee-of-one in
casting folks out of the church (9-10). John reckoned him an evil
doer (11). Regrettably, men like Diotrephes are still
around and causing havoc, especially in the lives of young preacher
boys
who are trying to cut their pastoral teeth.
Pastors do have a God-given authority to “take care
of” the church in a manner befitting a husband and father who “rules”
his own house well (I Timothy 3:4-5). The spiritual authority to “rule
over” a church is designed to elicit obedience from members
inasmuch as the man of God is tasked to “watch for” their
souls as one “that must give account” (Hebrews 13:17). In
1980, I wrote in my Bible the following statement from Morgan Noyes
regarding pastoral authority: “A minister can have as much authority
as the truth of his message deserves—no more. That is all the
authority that any minister who is concerned about his mission
rather than his prestige wants.” When it comes to the matter of
pastoral authority, the words of Noyes pretty much sum it up and
nail it down.
Some churches have that infamous deacon who’s been
around since God created dirt. He’s the perennial Deacon Chairman...and
perhaps Church Treasurer and Sunday School Superintendant because no one else wanted those jobs. He might even
consider one of his great responsibilities that of protecting the
church from its pastor. I actually had one of these deacon types
tell me that very thing.
The text of Acts 16:6-7 provides for us a practical
view of the team’s direction under its Director, the Spirit of God.
Paul and his team were always in tactical planning mode…and
strategizing is fine. After all, this was the second missionary
journey, the stated objective of which was to “visit our brethren
in every city…and see how they do” (15:36). They worked their
way through Syria and Cilicia, Derbe and Lystra, Phrygia and the
region of Galatia with decrees in hand. I have no doubt that at
every transition the Spirit infused his sanctioning peace.
But following Galatia, they were “forbidden of the
Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia” (16:6). Forbidden
is the Greek kolyo, meaning “to hinder or prevent, deny or
refuse.” It is an aorist passive participle in nominative case.
Literal translation: “they were ones having been denied their
tactical plan to proceed to Asia.” The aorist suggests an abrupt
slamming of the door. The Spirit imposed his will and the team got
the message. There was no Asia option that the Spirit would
sanction.
The tactical planning continued as they arrived in
Mysia (16:7). Assayed is peirazo, meaning “to try,
attempt, put to the test.” It represents a calculated attempt to
ascertain the next best direction for ministry. The imperfect
captures the durative nature of the planning and decision-making
process. Nothing was ever decided by a coin toss. With Bithynia now
in the crosshairs, the Spirit “suffered them not.”
Suffered is eao, which means “to allow or permit one to
do as he wishes without restraint.” The negative modifier indicates
the opposite. The Spirit did indeed impose a restraint upon the team
regarding the latest plan…and they got the message.
The same Spirit who limited their options
led them on to Troas. It was there that Paul received his
Macedonian vision that brought the team to Philippi. A church is
perfectly within the realm of proper conduct when it assays to move
forward in a logical and calculated manner. It is entirely possible
for the Spirit of God to work his peace within the hearts of those
engaged in the assaying process to sanction a direction. The problem
arises when we insist on having it our way rather than his. Blessed
is the church that is listening when the Spirit is
directing!
Who’s calling the shots
in your church? Is it the Spirit of God…or merely the best that the
minds of men can assay to do? The vital sign of direction within
Paul’s gospel team teaches us that even a stalwart with apostolic
authority is obliged to take a seat at the feet of the Master
Director, the Spirit of God. In the next Pen article, we’ll consider
the third vital sign: dynamic.
Top |
