At Home On Piety Hill

When:

1. I’ve learned PHP and MySQL
2. My Revelation Commentary is live
3. I’m spending more than a measley 8 hours in preparation for Bible study
4. I’ve read Break, Blow and Burn by Camille Paglia
5. Cacading Style Sheets are second nature to me
6. My book about Richard Baxter is published or in the can
7. Sean and Camille produce an heir

Oh, my. I found this great little clip of the Electric Flag — Mike Bloomfield is in fine form. I was too young to see the original Flag, but caught them on a reunion tour with Moby Grape in about 1974. Fantastic! We were in the orchestra pit and Mike Bloomfield was right in front of us. His guitars were totally memorable. He played a Les Paul that was beat with the standard white knobs from a Stratocaster replacing the originals which he must have lost somewhere. He also played a blue Telecaster that looked like he had painted it himself — there were drips and runs across it. The chrome cover over the bridge pickup was long gone and the pickup switch was all beat up. But, he screamed. Later, Denise and I would see Mike Bloomfield a lot at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach — always playing a nice looking Strat. I don’t know what changed his guitar hygiene.

In the clip, you will see a young Nick Gravenites on vocals with Buddy Miles on drums, Harvey Brooks on bass, and Barry Goldberg on organ. I don’t know who the horn players were… didn’t recognize them.

Alexander Strauch’s Biblical Eldership (BE) packs the most thorough exposition of relevant passages concerning elders in the Bible into one volume, while offering a spirited and compelling apologetic for the practice of non-clerical, plural leadership in the local church. But, it’s not just for church leaders – all readers will find a clear and well-reasoned appeal to all Christians to practice a humble, relational style of Christianity modeled after Jesus Christ. And, even if you do not find Alex Strauch’s model or paradigm ultimately convincing and advocate a monarchical episcopacy or congregational form of church government, I guarantee you will be challenged, inspired and equipped to take your ministry, whatever it may be, more seriously and you will serve with greater passion and effectiveness.

From the publisher:

With over 150,000 copies sold, this comprehensive look at the role and function of elders brings all the advantages of shared leadership into focus… Written for those seeking a clear understanding of the mandate for biblical eldership, this full-length, expository book defines it accurately, practically, and according to Scripture.

Alex builds his case upon a careful exegesis of the Bible with particular emphasis on the Body of Christ as a loving, caring family – God’s household. Over and over, he appeals to the analogy of elders as household servants, actively engaged in guiding the growth of younger brothers and sisters into maturity:

Of the different New Testament terms used to describe the nature of the church — the body, the bride, the temple, the flock — the most frequently used is the family, particularly the fraternal aspect of the family, brethren… The reason behind this preference for the familial aspect of the church is that only the most intimate of human relationships could express the love, closeness, privileges, and relationships that exist between God and man, and man and man, as a result of Christ’s incarnation and death. The local Christian church, then, is to be a close-knit family of brothers and sisters… The first Christians found within their biblical heritage a structure of government that was compatible with their new family and theological beliefs… The elder structure of government suits an extended family organization like the local church.

Moving from the imagery of the church as a family, Alex addresses the familiar Biblical metaphor of God’s people as His flock. So, elders are designated pastors, shepherding the church in hostile surroundings, where growth and maturity is achieved under the threat of predatory false teachers and opportunists. A local congregation is managed by a team of shepherd / overseers who painstakingly watch over the spiritual well-being of each member, with one eye on the horizon for any wolves that may be circling the perimeter to pick off sickly or straying lambs. Like the Good Shepherd in the Scriptures, elders tenderly nurture the sheep, but remain ready in an instant to pick up the staff and take out after interlopers, who come peddling their infectious, deadly doctrines and practices:

As he bid them farewell, Paul reminded the Ephesian elders [Acts 20] that he had taught them the complete counsel of God… The responsibility for the defense of the gospel and welfare of the church now belonged to the elders… In order to fulfill their task, the elders must first vigilantly protect their own spiritual condition… the command to guard the flock means that the elders must keep their minds on the church. They must be watchful and observant… A good shepherd is never passive. He knows the necessity for acting quickly and decisively in the face of danger. He knows when he must fight and when he must stand his ground. To be aware of danger and not to act is to be a lazy, cowardly shepherd who betrays the flock.

Biblical Eldership occupies a lofty place in my library and I’m not alone in my admiration for Alex Strauch’s magnum opus. It comes with recommendations from some heavy-hitters:

What others have to say about BE:

“Our eldership has gone through Biblical Eldership and the guide book twice. It has been the finest investment of our time in the twelve years that I’ve been at the church. It has helped us see what we’re all about and has gotten us to function the way God designed us to. Biblical Eldership is a fine work and a thorough Biblical exposition on eldership.” — Bryce Jessup, President, William Jessup University

“…a very helpful book both on the New Testament pattern and how approximation can be achieved within existing polities. …cogent, scholarly…Strauch makes good use of the best scholarly research”– Robert Duncan Culver, Author, Systematic Theology: Biblical and Historical.

“Mr. Strauch has made a fine contribution to the subject of eldership…” — John MacArthur, Jr., Pastor-Teacher, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA

“At last, a thorough biblical study on the basis of church government and especially the function and ministry of elders! New churches will find it a valuable guideline to effective functioning and older churches will find it a trustworthy corrective.” — Ray Stedman, former pastor and elder, Peninsula Bible Church, Palo Alto, CA

I was pondering this question the other day, after hearing that old chestnut about how the religious right is working tirelessly to impose their will on the rest of us (as if the religious left, scientific atheists, secularists, materialists, pagans and agnostics stand passively on the sidelines, while the great cultural and ethical debates rage).

So, what could we expect to see if Christians imposed their morality on others? Well, duh, it’s not like it’s a big mystery or something. We are standing on the shoulders of hundreds of years of western, Christian, democratic history. You don’t have to speculate. You also don’t have to wonder how the imposition of Christian morality would stack up against the imposition of socialism, atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, paganism or progressivism on society, since there are plenty of those states or governments around to examine, many of which have been funcitioning for a good long time!

Under a dominant western Christian culture, I would expect to see liberals and progressives, scientific atheists and agnostics, as well as a good number of pagans and adherants to other streams of spirituality, along with Christians, at the highest places in government, educational institutions and social welfare agencies. At the same time, robust women’s, gay and minority movements would be thriving, imposing their values on the majority through the media, the arts, government policy and the academy. That’s because, historically and contemporarily, Christianity has proven to be very tolerant of others in promoting justice and fairness. Of course, I’m sure some would be quick to point to the relative few examples of Christian intolerance or bigotry down through time, but that would be… well, that would just be silly. The fact is, the levels of diverstity and tolerance enjoyed throughout Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and others who have adopted western democratic and free market ideals is light years beyond Russia, China, the Middle East and repressive nations in the Pacific Rim.

So, back to the “what if” scenario: In western nations built on Christian notions of fairness and tolerence, Christians would be alternately vilified or lampooned in the dominant media and pop culture, yet slavery would be abolished, while it flourishes in Muslim societies and Africa. Every sort of sexual practice and gender confusion would be allowed or even celebrated, while homosexuality is once more being considered a capital crime in socialist Russia, as it was until 1996. Gays, pornographers and others would be brutally treated in atheist China and majority Buddhist nations. And, what about censorship of the internet and the press? The scientific atheist utopias are the biggest offenders. When it comes to the environment and fouling one’s own nest, I’d say the atheists, pagans and Buddhists win hands down.

No, the fact is that, when it comes to imposing values, morality and ideology on others, Christians are probably the last people in the world we should be fearing. When you look at the propaganda poster at the top of the post, I think you need to ask yourself why all those pagan, Buddhist, Islamic and atheist utopians are walking away from their lands and out into the rest of the world with clenched fists and AK-47s. It doesn’t appear as if they are ready to engage in a dialogue… they don’t seem to be rooting for their favorite on American Idol… and, I doubt if they are heading to their local community college to sign up for Anthropology 27 Gender, Sex and Culture.

Because now, with a little bit of broadband, I can take a trip down memory lane and watch a lot of my favorite bands/artists from the past. For example, Living Colour on the Arsenio Hall show performing Cult of Personality. I once heard Living Colour referred to as the black Led Zeppelin… LZ wishes they were this heavy. Rock, funk, punk, noise, rap, African, reggae, metal, industrial, free jazz… they have it all and stage presence!

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. God hates visionary dreaming; it makes a dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself. Because God has already laid the only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients. We thank God for what He has done for us. We thank God for giving us brethren who live by His call, by His forgiveness, and His promise. We do not complain of what God does not give us; we rather thank God for what He does give us daily… In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for little things receives big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet not so small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer