Justin Taylor's Blog, page 227

Understanding Complementarianism

Robert Yarbrough, professor of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary, and D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, recently spoke at the EFCA conference, Understanding the Complementarian Position: Considering Implications and Exploring Practices in the Home and the Local Church.

You can listen to the audio of their talks below:

Robert Yarbrough

The Cultural and Ecclesiological Landscape

Hermeneutics: A Biblical Framework

Leadership in the Local Church and a Theology of Pastoral Care 

D. A. Carson

Creation and Re-Creation: Male and Female in the Image of God, the Fall, and Redemption

Family: Husbands and Wives, Love and Submission, Christ and the Church

Church: Teaching/Authority in Context of 1 Timothy 2  [Q&A transcript excerpt]

Panel Discussions

Equal in Essence and Dignity, Distinction in Roles: The Home

Full Use of Gifts within God's Ordained Structure: The Church

Concluding Comments [PDF] (Carson and Yarbrough)

In his closing comments, Dr. Carson recommends a couple of resources:

I'd like to recommend to you the most recent book by Tim and Kathy Keller: The Meaning of Marriage. It's the best book I've seen on marriage in a long time. His wife Kathy writes chapter 6 on submission . . .  It's the best chapter I've seen in a marriage context where there's a deep theological patterning of all of Scripture in a practical, godly sense.

There is another book, not out yet, written by Claire Smith, who has a PhD in New Testament studies. . . . She's written a book on many of the passages that I have covered. In fact, let me acknowledge freely and joyfully that I borrowed from her here and there—not because what she says is new, but she has a way of putting things crisply and simply—she's straightforward. The book is called God's Good Design. Don't let the simplicity of the title fool you. She works through these passages with rare confidence, even-handedness, attractiveness. That's a book that you might want to have on your shelf in some quantity to give to people. . . . This little book is clear, crisp, on the right lines—I strongly recommend it when it comes out.

The book is not available in the U.S. yet (though keep an eye on the Matthias Media store here). You can read online for free the contents, the preface, and chapter 1.

The Gospel, the Book of Ruth, and Adoption

A wonderful talk from David Platt at the Adopting for Life conference at Southern Seminary (March 2010):

You can also listen to the audio here.

Some Recommended Reading on Pastors in Literature

Pastors in the Classics: Timeless Lessons on Life and Ministry from World Literature, edited by Leland Ryken, Phil Ryken, and Todd Wilson, has now been published by Baker.

You can read online for free the table of contents (with all the books they cover), their introduction, and the first chapter (on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales).

Credo recently did a helpful interview with Leland Ryken. Here were a couple of questions that caught my eye, especially for those looking for recommended reading in fiction as it relates to pastoral ministry:

What are some discoveries that you personally made while working on this project?

Writing my chapters and overseeing the handbook entries allowed me to read or reconnect with works that either I had never read or had not read in a very long time.  Books that I now count as favorites but that I would have missed completely without this project include Elizabeth Goodge's The Dean's Watch, Anthony Trollope's The Warden, Bo Giertz's The Hammer of God, and George MacDonald's Thomas Wingfold, Curate.  Even when I was already familiar with a work, the focus of our book led me to look at the story from a new angle of vision.  I learned that the minister's life is extremely demanding and many sided, and I learned that the genre of clerical fiction is much larger than I realized.

. . .

Out of all the pastors and authors that you discuss in your book, which one stands out to as most compelling?

The fact that my answer consists of a list instead of just one item proves my point about the high quality of clerical fiction.  My list of "most compelling" includes the following:  Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter; Swedish author Bo Giertz; Geoffrey Chaucer, our first great portrayer of the clerical life; T. S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral; Thomas Wingfold, curate in George MacDonald's novel.  I was also captivated by the ambiguous title Saving Grace (authored by Lee Smith), a story about wayward Grace Shepherd who returns to the faith of her upbringing at the end of the story, with the result that the motif of "saving grace" applies both to the protagonist and also to the saving grace of God.

What Did You Expect?

Paul Tripp's What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage is now available in paperback with a new cover design.

For 72 hours WTS Books is selling the paperback for $10 (44% off the retail price), and they are also offering the 5-hour conference DVD for $15 (75% off the retail price).

You can read online for free chapter 7 ("Pulling Weeds"), the Leader's Guide, and the Discussion Guide.

And here is a video introduction:

($15 for a 3-DVD set; $10 for the paperback

10 -25 minute sessions on 3 DVDs

Jesus As the New Israel

The New Testament authors understood Jesus to be the culmination of the Old Testament. He is the Last Adam, true Israel, the suffering servant, the son of David, the faithful remnant, the ultimate prophet, the reigning king, the final priest.

Here is a good, concise summary of the Israel/remnant theme from a New Testament perspective:

. . . Jesus had become a remnant of one. He was the embodiment of faithful Israel, the truly righteous and suffering servant.

Unlike the remnant of the restoration period, he committed no sin (Isa. 53:9; 1 Pet. 2:22).

As the embodiment of the faithful remnant, he would undergo divine judgment for sin (on the cross), endure an exile (three days forsaken by God in the grave), and experience a restoration (resurrection) to life as the foundation of a new Israel, inheriting the promises of God afresh.

As the remnant restored to life, he becomes the focus of the hopes for the continued existence of the people of God in a new kingdom, a new Israel of Jew and Gentile alike.

As the nucleus of a renewed Israel, Christ summons the "little flock" that will receive the kingdom (Dan. 7:22, 27; Luke 12:32) and appoints judges for the twelve tribes of Israel in the new age (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30).

The church is viewed as the Israel of that new age (Gal. 6:16), the twelve tribes (James 1:1), "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession" (Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:9).

A sinful nation, Israel could not suffer vicariously to atone for the sins of the world. The sinfulness of the nation made it unacceptable for this role, just as flaws would disqualify any other offering. Only a truly righteous servant could bear this awful load.

—Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard, "Isaiah," An Introduction to the Old Testament, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 315.

The two best books I've read on this fulfillment theme are Hans LaRondelle's The Israel of God in Prophecy: Principles of Prophetic Interpretation and David Holwerda's Jesus and Israel: One Covenant or Two? (Keith Mathison has a good review of Holwerda's volume here.)

Jesus is the true Israel, and the church becomes the Israel of God as it units to True Israel. The same is true for ethnic Israel, whom God has not abandoned. But their only hope is to be united with Jesus, the ultimate suffering servant.

Creativity, Excellence . . . and Patience

If you want to become really good at your vocation and profession—and if you're a Christian, you should—then I would encourage you to watch this clip below from Ira Glass ("This American Life"), then to read the excerpt from an interview with Thomas Lake (Sports Illustrated). Both are operating at the highest levels of excellence at their craft, and both offer similar counsel on how to get there.

Ira Glass:

Thomas Lake:

No fast start after college, no big-name internships. My hometown paper wouldn't give me a look. Went begging to the Savannah Morning News. Showed up in the office, wouldn't leave until managing editor came down to see me. Handed him a rewritten version of a story from his front page. Got a little freelance work out of that, but no job. Finally landed at The Press-Sentinel, in Jesup, Georgia, a twice-weekly, making 21 grand a year and living with my parents. Covered about six beats and learned to be a reporter.

You know, I think this is why Gary Smith got me my first freelance assignment at Sports Illustrated. He's about the best man in the world, but that's not why. Here's why he called up Terry McDonell and asked Terry to open the door. Because I didn't reach out to Gary Smith until I actually had something good for him to read. And you know how long that took me, after college? Six years, that's how long. Four newspapers in three states. Easily more than a thousand stories. It took me more than a thousand stories to write something worth showing to Gary Smith. That's something young reporters should think about. Networking is fantastic, opportunities are valuable. But you have to get yourself good. You make yourself. Those first impressions are hard to shake. I know someone at a national magazine who took the opposite path I did. This person is about as old as me, got out of college about the same time I did, and had much better luck than I did at first, or so it seemed. Started right away at this national magazine, in an entry-level position, and has how been there nearly ten years, and the editors have trouble seeing this person as better than entry-level, even though this person has become very good. And now this person wishes this person had taken a path more like mine. I didn't show up to Sports Illustrated asking to write half a column. Gary talked to me about this. He said you have to show them who you are right away. Show them you're going to write the bonus pieces. That's just what you do. That's how they'll see you. As someone who writes bonus pieces. And that's exactly what happened. I did that for two years, working on freelance stories for SI on nights and weekends on top of my regular full-time job. It was torture sometimes, for me and my wife, especially when the baby came along. My kid was born on May 18 and I had a deadline of July 1, and we really needed the money. So I missed a major chunk of the first six weeks of her life. I've been trying really hard to catch up since. But after two years, I asked Terry to bring me on staff, because what I was doing was unsustainable. And he somehow found a way to do it. I started at the bottom after college. But I started at the top at Sports Illustrated, as a senior writer, because I followed Gary Smith's advice and defined myself that way. I'm not saying this advice is applicable for everyone. It's totally possible to rise through the ranks; in fact I know someone else who did just that. But that's how it worked for me, and I thank God for it. It's the reason I can pay my mortgage, and the reason my wife could quit her job and stay at home with the baby, which is what she wanted.

A Smart, Creative, Biblical Way to Equip the Poor in West Africa

It seems to me that the strategic initiative ASSET (Advancing Stewardship • Social Enterprise • Training) is a very compelling way to implement holistic, biblically based, church-centered Microfinance with Education in the Majority World. They write, "In contrast to the traditional, credit-led approach to microfinance, the Chalmers Center promotes what's now considered a game changer within the microfinance space: the promotion of savings and credit associations (SCAs) in poor communities."

Their approach to microfinance has the following advantages:

eliminates the need for outside capital
is user-owned and operated
builds on indigenous operated
offers finance for emergencies, life cycle needs, and business investment
is easy to implement
is self-replicating
can operate in rural areas (where 70% of the world's poor live)
has lower cost per beneficiary
can reach the "extreme" poor

 

You can learn more here, and watch a little intro below:

The Intolerance of Tolerance: Mohler and Carson in Conversation

On the latest Thinking in Public podcast, Albert Mohler and Don Carson talk through issues related to Carson's book The Intolerance of Tolerance.

 

 

 

A Conversation on Gospel-centered Discipleship

Jonathan Dodson, pastor of Austin City Life, is one of many bright young pastors today seeking to apply a gospel-centric worldview to all aspects of church, community, culture, and mission. His new book, Gospel-centered Discipleship (with a foreword by Matt Chandler), has now been published by Crossway in the ReLit line. As Jeff Vanderstelt says, "He goes beyond just answering the question: 'What is gospel-centered?' to help us see how the gospel of grace really works in the details of everyday life. His clarification of the unhealthy divide between evangelism and discipleship will bring about a more holistic approach to gospel-centered discipleship."

You can read chapter 5, "Gospel Power: The Essential Role of the Holy Spirit," online for free (also embedded at the end of this post). This is a great book for group study, and toward that end Jonathan has provided some free discussion questions as well.

A few weeks ago we sat down for a conversation about the book, which you can watch below:

Crossway has provided some timestamps:

0:10 – In an ideal world, if Gospel-Centered Discipleship accomplished exactly what you wanted it to accomplish, how would churches, disciple-makers and disciples look different?

2:31 – What does it mean to be a disciple?

5:08 – So many people are using the term "gospel-centered" that it can seem like a buzz word or a fad. Why did you choose to use this phrase in the title of your book?

7:44 – You talk about not only sharing your faith but also your failures. Looking back at the last ten years of discipling others, how has your disciple-making changed? What are the differences? Where did you drop the ball?

11:35 – How are "Fight Clubs" different from the typical accountability partner or accountability group?

14:50 – JT: "I had a hard time putting the book down, and I hope other people not only pick it up but read it and then apply it."

For more resources related to the book and to the whole idea, check out gospelcentereddiscipleship.com.

Complementarian Decision-Making as a Couple

In this talk Wayne Grudem gives some practical counsel on what decision-making looks like in the life of a complementarian couple, and some of the key distortions that need to be avoided:

* * *

In our own marriage, Margaret and I talk frequently and at length about many decisions. I can tell you that I wouldn't be here tonight unless Margaret and I had talked about this and asked the Lord about it, and she had given blessing to it, and said, "Yes, I think that's right." Sometimes we make large decisions such as buying a house or a car, and sometimes they are small decisions like where we should go for a walk together. I often defer to Margaret's wishes, and she often defers to mine because we love each other.

In almost every case, each of us has some wisdom and insight that the other does not have. Usually, we reach agreement on the decisions that we make. Very seldom will I do something that she doesn't think is wise–I didn't say never. She prays; she trusts God; she loves God. She is sensitive to God's leading and direction, but in every decision, whether it large or small and whether we have reached agreement or not, the responsibility to make the decision still rests with me.

Now, I am not talking about every decision they make individually. Margaret controls a much larger portion of our budget than I do because all the things having to do with the household and food and clothing and house expenses and everything . . . she writes the checks and pays the bills. I take care of buying books and some things about the car. I have appointments during the day with students. She doesn't get involved in that. She has her own appointments. She has her own calendar. I don't get involved in trying to micromanage all of that. We have distinct areas of responsibility. I am not talking about those things. I don't get involved in those things unless she asks my counsel.

But in every decision that we make that affects us together or affects our family, the responsibility to make the decision rests with me. If there is genuine male headship, I believe there is a quiet acknowledgement that the focus of the decision making process is the husband, not the wife. Even though there will often be much discussion and there should be mutual respect and consideration of each other, ultimately the responsibility to make the decision rests with the husband. And so, in our marriage the responsibility to make the decision rests with me.

This is not because I am a wiser or more gifted leader. It is because I am the husband. God has given me that responsibility. It is very good. It brings peace and joy to our marriage, and both Margaret and I are thankful for it. Now, I need to add very quickly, men, this does not mean that a husband has the right to be a selfish leader.

Just about three years ago, maybe four years ago now, we started the decision making process. Margaret had been in an auto accident in Chicago. As part of the aftermath of that accident, she was experiencing some chronic pain that was aggravated by cold and humidity, and Chicago is cold in the winter and humid in the summer. Chicago was not a good place for that. Some friends said to us, "We have a second house in Mesa, Arizona, if you would ever like to go there and just use it as a vacation place, we would like you to do that."

So we did. We visited Arizona. Mesa is a suburb of Phoenix. Margaret felt better. It was hot, and it was dry. And so I said, "Wow, Margaret I would love to move here, but I am only trained to do one thing; I can teach at a seminary and that is it. There aren't any seminaries here." The next day Margaret was looking in the yellow pages—literally. She said, "Wayne, there's something here called Phoenix Seminary." One thing led to another and God was at work in that seminary, and it was starting to grow.

Then we went through a decision making process. When we were in the middle of that decision making process, on the very day that we were focusing on that, I came in my normal custom of reading through a section of scripture each day, I came to a Ephesians 5:28, "Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies."

I thought if I would move to take a job in another city for the sake of my body, if I were experiencing the pain that Margaret had, and husbands should love their wives as their own bodies—then shouldn't I move? Shouldn't I be willing to move for Margaret's sake? That was really why we moved to Phoenix.

I just say that by way of illustration, husbands, headship doesn't mean selfishness. It means being willing to give of yourself for your wife and care for her as well. God has brought . . . I think that was obedience to Him and God has brought blessing. But there are dangers, there are dangers of distortion in male headship and female submission to or support of that headship.

There are dangers of distortion in one direction or another. There are errors of passivity and errors of aggressiveness. I put this on a chart of husband and wife. In the middle is the biblical ideal for a husband as loving, humble headship. That's the ideal. For a wife the ideal is joyful, intelligent submission to that headship. Intelligent, that means she is contributing her wisdom and her counsel to the decision making process.

On the right side of the chart there are errors of aggressiveness. A husband can be a tyrant. "Everybody serve me." He's selfish; he's harsh, and he's abusive. That's an error of aggressiveness. Or a wife can be a usurper, resisting and rebelling against and being hostile toward her husband's leadership time and again and challenging for it. When a tyrant is married to a usurper there is conflict all the time.

But there are opposite errors. There are errors of passivity. A husband can be entirely passive. He comes home from work; he clicks on the TV; he plops down in his chair, and he wants everyone to wait on him. The children are disobedient; he does nothing. He's entirely passive. There is a hostile neighbor that needs to be dealt with and addressed, but his wife is dealing with the conflict all by herself. He is a wimp. That's an error of passivity.

There is an error of passivity on the wife's part. Day after day, month after month, year after year in their marriage, "Yes dear, whatever you say . . . yes dear, whatever you say." She doesn't contribute at all to the decision making process. She has no preferences, no desires. She's a doormat. That is an error as well. That's not the biblical pattern.

If a tyrant gets married to a doormat you get all sorts of abuse, and it's dehumanizing for both of them, but particularly for the wife.

If you get a wimp married to a usurper, well, he follows her around all day long, six steps behind just doing what she takes the leadership in. If you get a wimp married to a doormat, everything runs like the energizer bunny running out of batteries, finally. It just all goes downhill and everything goes wrong in the family. There's nobody taking responsibility.

The biblical ideal is loving, humble headship and joyful, intelligent submission.

Now, you have personalities and backgrounds that predispose you to make mistakes on one side or the other of this chart. For those of you, you could think perhaps about marriages you know or relationships you know. You can see people making errors in both sides of this, but those are distortions. Those are distortions of the biblical pattern.

You can read or listen to the whole talk here.