Releasing into Ministry

By Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for June 2, 2012 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17, NIV

Strange as it may seem, during the Dark Ages, Bibles were rare and more often than not the few Bibles that were available were chained to reading desks in churches. There are two competing explanations for this.

One which is often offered by those who have conspiratorial axes to grind is that the Bibles were chained to prevent the lay people from having access to the Bible for fear that they might discover how unbiblical the practices of the clergy were. Fearing rebellion by the common lay people, the church leaders, who were usually nobles, suppressed their knowledge of God’s Word. After all there were many words about freedom and also words about meek people inheriting the Earth.

Those who hold to this view can point to circumstances in the early 16th Century in Germany for an example of what the clergy feared. Martin Luther worked to have the Bible made available for the people to read in German as opposed to Greek, Hebrew or Latin. He published his German New Testament in 1522 and only two years later, the people rebelled in what has come to be called the Peasant’s Revolt of 1524. If the clergy feared the laity and the possibility of revolt if they could read the Bible, this would certainly bolster that fear.

However, this could simply be the logical fallacy known as Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc. In other words, one cannot assume because one event follows another, the first event caused the second. The difficulty in determining causation in this circumstance is due to the tangled web of inter-relationships between the clergy and the ruling nobility. The revolt was not simply a case of people demanding freedom of religious exercise. Issues relating more to serfdom and needed land reform were probably more incendiary than religious freedom. Of course, since both sides of the conflict believed that God backed them and their cause, there was an abundance of religious rhetoric woven into the fabric of events as they unfolded. Yes, Catholic churches were desecrated and religious objects were stolen, destroyed or defiled. But how much of this was because the church was oppressing the peasants in exactly the same way as the secular rulers, and how much was because of theological positioning is not easily separated out. There were few, if any, Protestant cathedrals to plunder, so naturally it was Catholic churches that were damaged. One might better say that these attacks were against the church than that they were against Catholicism as opposed to Protestantism.

In any event, some have chosen to see this rebellion in strictly religious terms. This view bolsters their belief in conspiracies perpetrated by one religion against another. While this has certainly happened in the past, to link every conflict in history involving churches as part of an overarching conspiracy might be over reaching. In the end the fear of conspiracies may induce the fearful to become that which they fear most. Their fear may lead them to attempt to exercise absolute control over the faith of others in order to prevent it from happening to them. We see this in secular events when a society which feels threatened curtails civil liberties in order to contain the perceived threat.

That’s enough about that.  I stated at the beginning that there was another viewpoint as to why the Bibles were chained. Prior to the advent of the printing press, all books were copied by hand. Because of the labor involved, they were costly items. The common people had few books because they could not afford them. Since books were so rare and valuable, it only made sense not to leave such a valuable item unsecured in an unattended vestry.

Poverty induced starvation could drive the poor to theft in order to feed themselves and their families. Because there was an inadequate social safety net, the problem was so widespread that extreme punishments were invoked to try to control it. In some cases, stealing a loaf of bread was a capital offense. One can see from this that Bibles which were rare and valuable might be chained without any intent to deprive people of the opportunity to read them. Common sense would have dictated protecting something valuable from being stolen.

No matter the reason for the chaining, the result was the same. While it is so easy to own and read a Bible, today, so easy that we too often don’t even bother, it was difficult to read one in the Middle Ages. That difficulty naturally made it harder for knowledge of what it contained to be widespread. There are, of course, other contributing factors such as the literacy level of the people. Even the nobility were not entirely literate. But even with a 100% literacy rate, the people would not have had easy access to scripture. The first chapter of the Gospel of John equates the Word with light that has come into the world. Of course the opposite would be true as well. As the Word was chained and access controlled, the Dark Ages could only become darker.

Why is this important, today? It is important because just as the chained Bibles restricted access to the good news, there are other ways to restrict access to the gospel message. For example, one can restrict the activities of those who are sharing the Bible with others. While Bibles are widely available today in many countries, and few Christian churches would seek to restrict access to it, many denominations severely restrict the ability of lay members to proclaim the good news to others, especially those who do so outside of official church channels. So called “Independent Ministries” may be restricted in their ability to use denominational badging, and their access to denominational resources may be tightly controlled or perhaps not even condoned, but is this biblical?

Jesus was faced with the challenge of independent ministries. His disciple, John, reported to Him, “Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” Mark 9:38, NIV John did not want the public confusing an independent ministry with the real thing. He wanted to protect the brand. After all, he and his brother James had sacrificed their interest in the family business to become investors in the kingdom of God. Why should they let just anyone go around ministering in the name of Jesus?

Jesus response was not what John expected. Instead of seeing independent ministries as a threat or even as something outside of His ministry, Jesus claimed them as His. “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” Mark 9:39-40, NIV Jesus was willing to recognize the working of the Spirit even in those whom He did not personally send out. Sadly, some denominations do not follow this example as they only recognize the spiritual qualifications of those they have personally chosen. They may even see the independent ministries as a threat to their control over the resources of the church, whether those resources are money, facilities, or simply the good graces of the official church in blessing the activities of the independent ministers.

Jesus went on to say to John, “Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:41-42, NIV In other words, God will reward those who do anything in His name, and He will also reward those who assist them. He also gives a warning for those who place obstacles in their path to cause them to stumble.

We should not be stumbling blocks. We should be enablers of ministry. We should readily recognize the Holy Spirit working in the ministries of those we have not called but the Holy Spirit has. When we refuse to lay hands of blessing or ordination on those we have not personally chosen, we are rejecting the Holy Spirit in that person. Like John, by our inaction or lack of support we are sending the message that we would prefer to forbid that person from ministering. We become like the Pharisees, challenging the ministry of others whom God has called, demanding “By what authority do you do these things?”  (see Mark 11:27-33)  When we make that challenge we clearly proclaim that our authority does not come from God but from man. God’s authority speaks for itself. Man’s authority speaks for others. (See Mark 1:27)

By tightly controlling the permission we grant for others to represent the gospel, we are just as effective in creating a famine for the Word of God as those chained Bibles of old. There are already not enough workers for the harvest, yet we further restrict the labor force by creating a distinction between those who are “authorized” and those who are not. We seek to create divisions in the army of the Lord, just as John did, when we see those who are proclaiming the gospel without the authority granted by us, even though we are only men. We refuse to recognize that the Holy Spirit could ever be poured into new wineskins. (Mark 2:22) We seek to restrict the might agency of the Spirit to the old tried and true channels of our experience and in so doing we deny others the opportunity to be saved. We do not understand that by keeping others from entering the Kingdom of Heaven, we ourselves will not be able to enter. (See Matthew 23:13)

Not only for the salvation of others but for our own as well, we must release into ministry those who are called by the Holy Spirit. We cannot so tightly control His working. Any effort to do so will cause our old wineskins to burst, and we ourselves will be lost. When we cause others to minister alone who have been called by the Holy Spirit, we are not only missing the opportunity to be united in work with our Christian brothers and sisters. We are missing the blessing that Jesus promised in Mark 9:41. In order to receive favor and blessing in our walk with Jesus, we must pour favor and blessing into the ministry of others. As Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Matthew 25:45, NIV

 

 

 

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Scripture marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

 

 

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