Free for commercial use No attribution required High quality images. Given the awkward way in which verses 8 and 9 go together, it is possible that Mark 16:9-20 was lifted out of a non-canonical Gospel account that is no longer extant. Mark 11: Don’t lose sight of the person in front of you when implementing rules and procedures. The thing is, sinners like us easily abuse the authority that God gives. People with sincere questions were treated as “being factious, deceived, unsaved.” The reviewer himself, apparently, was excommunicated for bringing a registered sex-offender to the attention of the elders. This is another way of stating point two, but this language helps me pastorally. I find it amazing that it has taken so long for me to learn the lessons that I needed. And they might be. Love and integrity are two marks of a healthy congregation. Suddenly she is told that she is not to participate in the Lord’s Supper. The internet, along with younger, sharper rivals, threaten the dominance of the grande dame of retail. In order to become a member, you must sign a confessional statement. Very often, our best ambitions will be combined with other, less sanctified ambitions, such as the desire for control or honor or respect. And God had given them this elder not to complain about them, but to love them toward a better understanding. It slows them down. Mark 4: Beware asceticism, or at least of imposing your asceticism. It caused me to try too hard. After all, we will always invite people to worship what we worship, whether that’s God, a football team, or a pastoral hero. He claims to stand in the place of Christ, and then tramples the bruised reed and extinguishes the smoking flax. He is also the author of several books on the church. You may unsubscribe at any time. The fools!” But these people were untaught sheep. While they mention that the nine marks they outline are not the only important marks of a healthy church, they do believe they are the most neglected. The ending of Mark's Gospel is one of the major textual problems in the New Testament. I doubt that these Hebrew leaders demanded submission based on their office. So it is for us pastors. But here was a church that possibly erred in the opposite direction. In, “…many Baptist and other evangelical churches express a commitment to God and to each other in writing by signing a “church covenant.” This is an agreement members make with each other and with God to live out the Christian life together in a local church.”, He goes so far as to recommend that this written, I cannot stress how inappropriate it is to recite a, Not only do many 9Marks churches improperly recite a legalistic covenant during the New Covenant meal, but they also divide Christ’s body. She is cut off. One of my first forays away from Rome occurred on January 12th, 1992. Pragmatism, like authoritarianism, roots in a reliance on the powers of the flesh. Maybe you should consider leaving the ministry. I have experienced some good preaching at 9Marks churches. Snodgrass says, “Mark ties the parable to the quotation of Isa 6:9-10 more strongly than the other Evangelists, even though his connection is lost in translations. They did not tolerate evil men. 9Marks is a ministry dedicated to equipping church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources for displaying God's glory to the nations through healthy churches. How easy it is to assume that godliness and piety look and sound a certain way, and to question those whose prayers and lifestyles don’t match our own. Now, you and I might disagree about what Scripture requires. Should You Talk About Heaven When You Share the Gospel? The best defense against abusing authority is fearing God. In the next part, I will discuss what I feel must be done to address the 9Marks movement. But beyond these few things, I cannot think of anything else we require not required in Scripture. “…Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”. Below is a screen shot of her review. It relies upon an open statement of the truth, not manipulative or underhanded ways (2 Cor. A group of well-meaning but tired elders might get highjacked by a bad strain of thinking in their meeting at 10 p.m. on a Thursday night. An immature Christian may need to walk a hundred steps before he arrives at maturity, but a wise pastor seldom asks for more than one step or two. In place of true discipleship, the law is used as a mirror to expose false professions. A Textual Criticism Case Study significance, and perhaps the deathblow to the shorter ending’s claim to originality, is the fact that the Byzantine text tradition stands in agreement with various Alexandrian readings (including Sinaiticus and Vaticanus) in rejecting it. But I think I understand what she means—the pastors probably identify with our message. There’s a balance to strike between standing courageously on God’s Word, while also recognizing our imperfect grasp on God’s Word. Abusive rule wilts the flower, starves the herd, crushes the soul. Mandatory confession of sins to a priest at least once per year. Instead, I believe they deserved voluntary obedience based on their character and teaching. Did Mark Write Mark 16: 9-20? But they did not learn the most critical lesson. But brother or sister, these nine marks are biblical, and that is why they are so valuable.”. But make sure you’re not grounding your sense of righteousness in some self-manufactured picture of the pious lifestyle. Wow. Mark 7: Cultivate a willingness to be corrected. The pastor pointed out that there were birds that nested in the large mustard plant. Wrong approaches to church leadership can occur whenever we rely on regulated processes instead of personal pastoral care. How Does the Hope of Heaven Drive Missions? Mark Dever’s paradigm is “Do not assume that the sheep are believers.” This exposes, It has been over 37 years since my last “date.” One of my problems in dating was that I was too self-focused. Ironically, an emphasis on numbers and outcomes presumes upon the power of human wisdom, human will, human strength. Testimony of faith – “There is no god but Allah. And the more charismatic and powerful a leader is, the more this is a risk. We definitely need to learn to live with tensions when it comes to assessing repentance in matters of admitting members or disciplining them from the church. You want their good decisions to grow (super)naturally out of changed hearts and love of Christ. The theology concentrates on the sheep’s faults. Editor’s Note: This is a guest post authored by Dale Rudiger. Part of trusting God and his Word, and avoiding abusive pastoring, is learning to live with tensions. The point is, keep both lists in your mind. Our church requires membership classes and interviews and signing a statement of faith to join the church, for instance. 9 Marks churches do not discern the body of Christ. Mark would have been written on a scroll. Sometimes living with a tension is a sign of unfaithfulness. So we push too hard. Godly authority therefore relies exclusively on the power of God’s gospel Word and God’s Spirit. Iâ m sure congregational churches have failed in this area as well. These 9Marks leaders misunderstand the issue of submission. They tithed to the very last herb. It was like “the Salem Witch Trials.”. God will resist the proud. Which brings us to the next point…. One “fruit” of this is the creation of mandatory church covenants. And so is the work of discipling and training our fellow members. It was slightly contemptuous, as in, “How could they?! They also adopted other unbiblical authority structures. 9 A . It’s the path to the dark side of authoritarianism. But the paradigm of 9Marks is to purify the church. Treating each case uniquely and thoughtfully becomes difficult. Keep in mind Dever’s Puritanical paradigm as I share the lessons that I learned attending 9Marks churches, and expose its problems. 9Marks churches tend toward a stifling form of self-righteous legalism. 102ff. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) and 9Marks co-hosted a micro-conference April 1 during The Gospel Coalition’s 2019 national conference that included a question-and-answer session with Jonathan Leeman and Sam Allberry to address recent concerns surrounding a ministry Allberry co-founded called Living Out. Think of how God indicts Israel in Hosea 4:3: “Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” Adam and Eve were to rule over those three domains—land, sky, sea—so that all would flourish. Remember that. ), the extant manuscript evidence contains essentially four different endings for the book of Mark: (1) the omission of 16:9-20; (2) the inclusion of 16:9-20; (3) the inclusion of 16:9-20 with the insertion of an additional statement between verse 8 and verse 9 that reads: “But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told. So even as 9Marks encourages churches to avoid the squishy complacency of nominal Christianity, we also don’t want churches to err in the direction of being doctrinaire and authoritarian. That could be how you vote. He does this at the weekly service review, for instance. So beginning at 11:30 p.m, I radically redrafted my applications: disciple, yeah, sure, I suppose, but remember grace and Christian freedom. And suppose he or she asks my counsel. A pastor may have prophecy and great insight, but without love he is nothing. 9:13, 12:7. I’d even say he cultivates a sanctified irreverence toward so many evangelical false pieties. His writings stand as a strong evidence for his humanitarian outlook on the American society. Can a church member vote for a pro-choice candidate. Thus, it is the God-given right for the "church" to decide who is or is not a Christian. When a church becomes self-focused and has turned their eyes from the Savior, the inevitable result is legalism. She looks forward to sharing the covenant meal at her new church. We don’t manipulate. While the words and concepts may be biblical, the application of the concepts is unbiblical. Mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca at least once per lifetime (Hajj). Perhaps a member wants to do something that I perceive to be foolish or a sign of immaturity: leave the church for another; pursue this woman; take this job; adopt such-and-such a fashion statement; watch such-and-such a television show. But they might also be very humble, and they don’t fear you and your opinions like you want them to. I remember overhearing a church elder complain about a family who let their unbaptized children receive the Lord’s Supper when the plate of communion crackers was passed down their pew. Part of abusing authority, however, is claiming to know something you don’t. Anyone wanna go dancing? Attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Examine yourselves! SHOW NOTES: […] Perhaps they are new Christians that do not have a firm understanding of their new-found faith. To put the Pharisaical impulse in the best possible light, the Pharisee doesn’t want to break God’s law or to even risk breaking God’s law, but to play it safe. I believe that the flip side of the self-focus mentioned above is that 9Marks churches have turned their focus away from Jesus. Muhammad is the Messenger of God” (Shahadah). But they might also be very humble, and they donâ t fear you and your opinions like you want them to. Please listen to what I am about to say. I’m sure congregational churches have failed in this area as well. The good news is that I will soon be entering a new age bracket! They desire to be seen as healthy and holy churches. When you know that the people under your authority are God’s, and that you will give an account for your stewardship, you are less likely to take advantage of them; less likely to prize your own wisdom over God’s; less likely to demand respect and honor for yourself, because you know that, when you decrease, he will increase. The need for economies of scale is met with consistent and tidy procedures and precise codes of conduct. And then we rest. 155), Sympathetic: “I’m so sorry you went through that.”, Defensive: “What you’re describing, if it’s accurate, is certainly not what we’ve been teaching, but is a perversion of what 9Marks says.”, Humbled: “I suspect we could do a better job of saying what we’re. A. 8:11). We want to cultivate the humility and freedom of honest uncertainty. But I have found that I am a much more mature person at age 60 than I was at age 25. It believes that God always has the power to change people and that he will if he so determines. I longed to be like one of those extroverts who could easily interact with their date. You either have women pray publicly or you don’t. Okay. That said, I have to combine a couple of logical steps to reach this conclusion. Wise discipline and discipleship treats each member individually. In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Jonathan sits down with Mark to chat about receiving criticism well, the dangers of avoiding criticism altogether, and how to build into a church structures that cultivate a culture of giving and receiving godly criticism. Mark 2: Be a strong advocate for Christian freedom. 9Marks is an organization that seeks to promote nine marks (or characteristics) of a healthy church, based on biblical teaching. Are you in the faith? It’s just a witness to how easy sit is to impose our non-biblical ideas on others or ourselves. I’ll explain each. One of the best defenses again authoritarianism—perhaps unexpectedly to some people—is Reformed theology. Let me give an illustration (and the important thing here is not that you agree with my posture on the illustration itself): Suppose a church member asks me, “Can I attend the wedding ceremony of my gay son?” I personally would not attend, since it seems to give approval to the sinful relationship. Discussion on the Long Ending of Mark - Presentation for New Testament Class In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. In the 9 Marks eJournal the most consistent criticism of multi-site churches seems to focus on the issue of the church being an "assembly." Moore’s Voyeurism, Patterson’s Generosity, and White’s Belief in Restoration! Notice how sensitively Paul puts it: “each should should put something aside as he may prosper” (1 Cor. And they will learn to trust him, in part, as they learn to trust you because you demonstrate that you are trustworthy. Here’s something unexpected I’ve discovered by watching Dever. The church at Ephesus had it all. David Platt, in the Foreword of Dever’s book, writes this about the nine marks: “You may think some of them are questionable and others of them are controversial. Last fall I wrote an article comparing two legalistic religions that demand improper submission: Roman Catholicism and Islam. True humility, and the true fear of the Lord, doesn’t necessarily mean what Christians often think it means: not having strong convictions, always being willing to shrug your should and say, “Oh, I don’t know,” and always deferring to what the group thinks. But here is something that should belong to our pastoral instincts: except in those places where Christians have agreed for centuries that a doctrinal or ethical position is a legitimate implication or application from Scripture, as with the doctrine of the Trinity, I want something inside of you to feel nervous about binding people’s consciences when you’re out on the tree branch of a logical extension from Scripture. Anecdotally, most (or all?) I don’t often hear criticism with language this strong; maybe one or two other times. Legalism and non-biblical rules are a short-cut that might produce good decisions today, but pride or resentment in the long run. Think for a moment about the issue of the wounded Christian. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. I attended, It is now almost 25 years later. The organization was born out of the ministry of Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. It is to shepherd real people toward life-giving, gospel-reminding relationships where they learn to trust God. The Greek … What struck me was the elder’s tone. If you think it proper to pursue a pure, regenerate, Puritanical church where a controlling, unloving, immature, unqualified pastor (who stands in the place of God) constantly preaches legalistic sermons that question your conversion, who assumes the worst about the sheep, who improperly administers the Lord’s Supper, who requires you to make improper oaths, that excommunicates your friends for not being pure enough, who point you away from Christ, who quenches the Holy Spirit, and who demands unquestioned submission, then a 9Marks churches may be for you. They lacked love. Mark Dever and 9Marks claims that the "church" holds the keys to the Kingdom. My applications aimed to stir up the complacent. If the Holy Spirit has been quenched, you will not see much “new blood” entering the church. Here’s what’s tricky. D. Why did no one in the ancient world understand Mark’s intention? Explains the basics of Marxist Criticism. It’s our judgment that these are prudential forms for implementing the biblical element of church membership. Heavenly Helps for Pastoral Problems: 7 Ways Heaven Helps Us Overcome Challenges in Ministry, On Remembering 2020 (Pastors Talk, Ep. Twice Jesus warned them:”It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. Then, there is the restrictive. If you want to join us, YOU WILL SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE. Ah, how often we win the battle but lose the war, the marriage counselors tell us. To be sure, we want to people to make wise and good and godly decisions. You have to adopt some form, after all. I longed to be like one of those extroverts who could easily interact with their date. In theory, 9 Marks seemed like a viable plan for how a church should be run. It doesn’t rely on the power to persuade, or the power of ethnic similitude, or the power of personal charisma, or the power of intellectual prowess, or the power of good rhetoric, like the super apostles who criticized Paul. 4:1–3). No one should ever submit to an unqualified, unloving pastor who questions their salvation, points them back to the law, mandates improper oaths, and improperly celebrates the Lord’s Supper. Mark Twain Criticism 2222 Words | 9 Pages. If you’re a pastor, you’re used to being criticized—both fairly and unfairly. 9-20. From personal experience, I can say that disciplining and training my children is slow, inefficient work that consumes hours. I became a Christian at a relatively late age (34). As noted by the OP, the "problem" is whether the end of Mark (16:9-20) was originally part of Mark's Gospel. It is my humble opinion that the most damning issue at the 9Marks churches that I have encountered is a lack of love. Social Criticism Experiencing the Gospel of Mark Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. We shouldn’t bind the conscience where Scripture doesn’t, but be strong advocates for Christian freedom. Decisions to be covered included where to live and work, whom to marry, or even whether to make a doctor’s appointment. A serious problem that I have encountered at 9Marks churches is immature leadership. This is the natural result of the Puritanical paradigm. I guess if I can’t deal with that, I should just get out of under-shepherding.” Mr. Dever, if that is your experience with God’s people, maybe you are doing something wrong. She describes it as “insufferable, authoritarian, rigid, legalistic, abusive, controlling, [and] spiritually abusive.” Members were “infantilized.” Power was “concentrated at the top” and had no accountability. Ironically, saying “I don’t know” can help a pastor earn trust. He or she treats each child individually. He lives with his wife and four daughters in Cheverly, Maryland, where he is an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church. I found it interesting that both had a set of five legalistic demands. Receive the Eucharist at least during the Easter season. the sequence of the narrative, to Mark's order of presentation. They also hold the keys in the matter of excommunication. â Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.â (Attributed to Aristotle.) But Sunday’s congregational meeting will serve as a useful reality check. church. We’d do well to do the same. I was a member of a 9 Marks church in Northern California, which I will never do again. Therefore, godly authority is exceedingly patient and tender, knowing that only God can give growth (1 Cor. Thirty-five years ago! In the video below, I chat with Mark McGuinness about how the importance of the right types of criticism, as well as how we can build resilience as writers in order to deal with the more difficult side of the inevitable. Mark 1: Embrace the sufficiency of Scripture for leading churches and pastoring people. Don’t Break the Ninth Commandment! Mark Dever has made a grave error. Better to kick out ten true Christians than let one false “Christian” slip into the church! They’ll point to the Bible…and say true things from it. Dale’s blog is titled “The Ex-Catholic Journal”and may be found here. “If I’m really holy, I’ll only buy old cars and previously owned-clothes.” Not only that, “I’ll sort of look suspiciously at Christians who buy nice new cars and clothes.”. Sometimes, we have to make a decision by logical extension from the text. 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