We stand for Orderly Conduct!



The devil, like the Batman’s Joker, is an agent of chaos.  He loves chaos, thrives upon discord and disorder.

But God is not a God of confusion, but a God of peace.  (I Corinthians 14:33)  He has established His order within His Church.  He has established His order within His creation.  And we are to follow that order.

Some of this order is easier to understand than others.  Parents are to discipline their children, not the other way around.  Teachers are to teach and students are to learn.  Pastors are to forgive and preach while laymen are to gladly receive these gifts. 

But what about hierarchy?  What about order in the Church when it goes past pastors and laymen?  Who tells the pastors what to do?  Who trains them?  Who will step in when the pastor steps out of line?

These are questions that the Bible, by-and-large, does not answer.  Yet, we know that God loves order, and not chaos.  And so we do everything in an orderly fashion.

An example: the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has a “system” (colleges and seminaries) for training pastors, teachers, and others who serve in the church.  This system is not mandated by the Bible, yet it is beneficial.  It provides a manner in which we have well trained church leaders and servants.

Order is good. 

Chaos is bad.

And so everything that we do within the Church is striving after order and peace.

This is the very purpose of the Gospel.  Christ has died and risen to restore the creation to the proper order.  By His grace He grants us faith in the work of Jesus’ death and resurrection so that we might serve each other (Ephesians 2:8-10).  Order is restored.

[Tomorrow: We stand for Creation!]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflections on the Fall of a Pastor

Image
Tullian Tchividjian, the well known pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, has resigned his position.  According to his own statement both he and his wife committed adultery.  This disqualifies him from the pastoral office.  He has willingly acknowledged his affair and peacefully stepped aside. It is a sad day when a pastor must resign his call for any reason, but especially for living an immoral life.  Tchividjian's case gives a great deal of pause for Lutherans in particular since he was highly influenced by Luther's writings and those of contemporary Lutheran scholars such as Robert Kolb.  Tullian, in recent years, has sought to clarify the proper distinction of Law and Gospel in his own preaching as well as to spread that teaching to a wider audience. As Lutherans we have a high view of God's Word in general and of the Gospel in particular.  When a Lutheran pastor falls into temptation does he really need to resign?  Can he not simply be ...
Read more

One Thing Ken Ham Didn't Say, but Should Have

Tonight came the debate between Ken Ham (creationist) and Bill Nye (evolutionist).  All things considered I thought it was a good debate, a debate from which the people who plan out presidential debates could learn a great many things. There was one point toward the end where the moderator, who also did a fine job of remaining neutral, asked the two men questions gathered from the audience.  One question in particular caught my attention.  It was directed at Ken Ham. He was asked if there were any evidence that could be given that would convince him that the Biblical account of creation was false.  I do not recall his exact answer, but effectively he said "no".  No evidence could shake him in his conviction that God created the world in 6 days. As a Christian, as a 6-day creationist, I was disappointed in this.  Mr Ham did not have the questions beforehand.  He did not have the advantage of hindsight (which I have now).  So I don't want to b...
Read more

Why the Resurrection is the Only Answer that Matters

There seem to be some people who are confused as to why the resurrection of Jesus can make or break the argument for a young earth.  On the surface this is not obvious. Why do Christians care how many days it took to create the earth?  I don't.  It could have taken God half a second.  I could have taken Him 40 trillion years.  Why do Christians (myself included) put stock in the fact that Genesis 1 states that it took 6 days? Because Jesus Christ says that the Law and the Prophets (Genesis included) point to Him.  He endorses the Old Testament on several occasions, including a quote of Genesis 2 when discussing marriage and divorce. Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, a clear indication that the claims He made about Himself were true, including His endorsements of the Old Testament.  Jesus rose from the dead showing His followers that He really was the Son of God. If Jesus did not rise from the dead we are, as Paul says, to be pitied above...
Read more