Particulars
of Christianity:
312
The Church Ethic
Examining
the Models Conclusions
and Study Expectations
Introduction
& 3 Models of Church Gatherings and Leadership
Examining the Models
Examining the Models
Conclusions and Study Expectations
Examining Church Gatherings
in the Gospels
The First Supper, Jesus'
Specific Instructions, Conclusions
Survey of Post-Ascension
Church Gatherings
Apostolic and Eldership
Functions in Acts and the Epistles
1 Corinthians 1-10 &
Introduction to 1 Corinthians 11-14
1 Corinthians 11-13
1 Corinthians 14
1 Timothy 2:12, Conclusions
on Women in Church Gatherings
Conclusions: 1 Corinthians
14, Church Gatherings & Leadership
Conclusions
about Viola’s Insights into Scriptural Analysis and the Bible
as a Guide
Our
examination of Viola’s arguments was not to assess his conclusions.
We will do that as we study the New Testament ourselves. What
we have seen is that Viola has on several occasions now enlisted
scriptural truths to support his model of church gatherings
and leadership, but those scriptures do not actually support
his view (the Trinity, the priesthood of all believers, and
“one-another” passages.) And Viola has twice misidentified
the reason why other models of church gathering and leadership
differ from his own. By examining these arguments from Viola
we have learned a great deal about how Viola himself may have
arrived at the model he offers to the rest of us in his books.
Unfortunately, these events undermine the potential trust
we might place in Viola’s expertise and bring into question
any possible confidence that we might place in Viola’s competency
at critically assessing and accurately articulating the fundamental
issues and texts involved in the subject at hand.
Despite
these failings, Viola does provide some good advice for how
to study the scripture.
Proof-texting,
then, became the common way that we contemporary Christians
approach the Bible. As a result, we Christians rarely, if ever, get to see the
New Testament as a whole. Rather, we are served up a dish
of fragmented thoughts that are drawn together by means of
fallen human logic. The fruit of this approach is that we
have strayed far afield from the practice of the New Testament
church. Yet we still believe we are being biblical. – Frank
Viola, Pagan Christianity, Chapter 11, Reapproaching
the New Testament: The Bible Is Not A Jigsaw Puzzle, page
223
What
is needed today is a theology built, not on the present
canon and its misarrangement, but on the chronological narrative of the early
church. – Frank Viola, Pagan
Christianity, Chapter 11, Reapproaching the New Testament:
The Bible Is Not A Jigsaw Puzzle, page 227
We
have been taught to approach the Bible like a jigsaw puzzle.
Most of us never have
been told the entire story that lies behind the letters that
Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude wrote. We have been taught
chapters and verse, not the historical context. – Frank
Viola, Pagan Christianity,
Chapter 11, Reapproaching the New Testament: The Bible Is
Not A Jigsaw Puzzle, page 231
You
could call our method of studying the New Testament the “clipboard
approach.” If you are familiar with computers, you are aware
of the clipboard component. If you happen to be in a word
processor, you may cut and paste a piece of text via the clipboard.
The clipboard allows you to cut a sentence from one document
and paste it into another. Pastors, seminarians, and laymen
alike have been conditioned by the clipboard approach when
studying the Bible. This is how we justify our man-made, encased
traditions and pass them off as biblical. It is why we routinely
miss what the early church was like whenever we open up our
New Testaments. We
see verses. We do not see the whole picture. This approach
is still alive and well today, not only in institutional churches
but in house churches as well. Let me use another illustration
to show how easily anyone can fall into it – and the harmful
effects it can have. – Frank Viola, Pagan Christianity, Chapter 11, Reapproaching the New Testament: The
Bible Is Not A Jigsaw Puzzle, page 232
Topical
studies can easily lead one astray if the particular texts
that are part of the “topic” are not understood in their historical
contexts. For that reason, it is best to begin with the narrative
of Scripture, seeing the whole fluid story in its historical
context. Once that foundation is laid, topical studies
can prove quite meaningful. – Frank Viola, Pagan
Christianity, Chapter 11, Reapproaching the New Testament:
The Bible Is Not A Jigsaw Puzzle, page 240
In
the above quotes Frank Viola suggests studying topics within
the context of the larger New Testament narrative. Having
read his books and a few of his articles online, one can only
wonder why he doesn’t take this approach himself but instead
chooses to force his readers to accept positions based largely
on proof-texting.
As
we examine the New Testament in this study, we will do what
Viola himself unfortunately does not do in support of his
own views. Specifically, we will look at the larger historical
narrative of the New Testament church in order to understand
the appropriate biblical model for church gatherings and leadership.
As we go we will continue to quote and address Viola’s positions
on the various scriptural passages that we encounter.
Expectations
of the Three Models for our New Testament Survey
As
we begin our survey of the New Testament in order to understand
the appropriate model for church gatherings and leadership,
let us remember some important points where we agree with
Viola.
In
several quotes, which we have already looked at, Frank Viola
has stated his agreement that:
1.
The New Testament provides numerous practices of the early
church that are normative for us today.
2.
Normative apostolic commands
and practices are
binding on the contemporary church and have prescriptive force.
3.
The Book of Acts and the Epistles are awash with references
to apostolic traditions that are normative for the early church
and the church of today.
4.
The New Testament confirms that the apostles taught the same
things in all churches everywhere.
5.
The traditions that the apostles delivered to the New Testament
church and that the New Testament church learned, received,
and saw in the apostles should be held firmly and should be
considered as a guide for our church life.
Viola’s
agreement to these five truths will be extremely relevant
as we examine exactly what the New Testament says about church
gatherings and leadership. Here again are the quotes in which
Viola expresses his agreement to these truths.
The
truth is that there are numerous practices of the early church
that are normative for us today. These practices are not
culturally conditioned. – Frank Viola, Reimagining Church,
Chapter 14, Reimagining the Apostolic Tradition, page 248
Point:
Normative apostolic
commands are binding
on the contemporary church. But normative apostolic practices are as well. By normative, I mean those practices that
contain a spiritual subtext and are the outworking of the
organic nature of the body of Christ. Such practices are not
purely narrative. They carry prescriptive force. This means
that they reflect the unchanging nature of God Himself. And
they naturally emerge whenever God’s people live by divine
life together – irrespective of culture or time. In
that connection the Book of Acts and the Epistles are awash
with references to the apostolic tradition. In
1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul declares how he taught
his ways “everywhere
in every church.” To Paul’s mind, doctrine and duty – belief
and behavior, life and practice – are inseparable. In
short, that which is included in the apostolic tradition is
normative for all churches yesterday and today. The exhortations
of Paul to “hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered
them to you” and to practice what “you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me” are the considerations that should
guide our church life. – Frank Viola, Reimagining Church,
Chapter 14, Reimagining the Apostolic Tradition, pages 247-248
As
we study the New Testament we can agree with Frank Viola that
what we find in the New Testament church will provide a guide
of binding commands and prescriptive practices for our church
life, for church gatherings, and for church leadership today.
All we need to do now is find out what the New Testament has
to say about church gatherings and leadership.
But
before we get to that scriptural investigation, it is important
to have some idea of the expectations that are created by
each model. By first identifying what each model predicts
from the New Testament record, we will be better prepared
to identify which model the scripture is portraying as we
encounter information from the New Testament on church gatherings
and leadership.
The
first model that we listed in the beginning of this study
was the Pseudo-traditional model for church gatherings and
leadership. Below are the defining features for the Pseudo-traditional
model.
1.
The concept of church leadership is chiefly limited to a single
individual.
2.
The church gathering is formatted so that speaking and teaching
are exclusively reserved for the pastor while participation
by anyone else is entirely restricted.
Similarly,
the key features of the Viola model for church gatherings
and leadership were as follows:
1.
One, two, or three people should not dominate the leading
or teaching at church meetings or take up the majority of
the speaking.
2.
Church meetings are not defined or dominated by leading and
teaching from elders/pastors/bishops/overseers.
3.
There are no long teaching components during a church gathering.
4.
Every member, whether man or woman, has the right and the
responsibility to share and speak at the church gathering
by singing a song, reading a poem, acting out a skit, giving
a short bible commentary on a passage they read that week,
saying some encouraging words, giving a testimony of something
good God has done, or praying.
And
lastly, the defining elements of the Elder-Leadership model
for church gatherings and leadership were:
1.
A group of capable teachers dominates the church gathering
through the teaching of the Word. These men could correctly
be referred to biblically as elders, pastors, overseers, or
bishops. They share the leadership with one another rather
than having a single person over the entire church community.
One of their goals is to train up other men in the congregation
to join them in this important role.
2.
Speaking at the church gathering is not limited to the teaching
of the elder(s), instead the men (but not women) who are present
can interrupt with questions, comments, clarifications, or
even counterpoints. Dialogue is permitted and encouraged as
useful.
Using
the specific features of each of these three models we can
construct a chart of expectations for what each model predicts
we will find as we examine the New Testament. The following
chart is a slight refinement and adaptation of the above features.
It is categorized for the purposes of head-to-head comparison
on specific issues. Additional components dealing with the
communion meal and church leadership have been added. As such,
the chart is designed so that models may be retained or rejected
as we encounter information in the New Testament that either
fits with or contradicts their distinguishing features.
Church
Gathering and Leadership Models and New Testament Expectations
Chart:
Category
A: Church Leadership.
1.
The Pseudo-traditional
Model – New Testament church communities will be lead
by a single individual head pastor. New
Testament church communities will not involve shared leadership
distributed to a group of elders or overseers who together
share the leadership of the church community.
2.
The Viola Model
– New Testament church communities will be lead by a group
of individuals called elders or overseers who together share
the leadership of the church community. New
Testament church communities will not be lead by a single
individual head pastor.
3.
The Elder-Leadership
Model – New Testament church communities will be lead
by a group of individuals called elders or overseers who together
share the leadership of the church community. New
Testament church communities will not be lead by a single
individual head pastor.
Category
B: The Communion Meal.
1.
The Pseudo-traditional
Model – New Testament communion meals will consist of
only a small portion of bread and a small portion of wine.
New Testament communion meals will not consist of a full meal.
2.
The Viola Model
– New Testament communion meals will consist of a full meal.
New Testament communion meals will not consist
of only a small portion of bread and a small portion of wine.
3.
The Elder-Leadership
Model – New Testament communion meals will consist of
a full meal. Testament
communion meals will not consist of only a small portion of
bread and a small portion of wine.
Category
C: Format and Common Features of the Meeting (not including
Communion.)
1.
The Pseudo-traditional
Model – New Testament church gatherings will consist of
a large segment of musical worship and a large segment devoted
to an absolutely uninterruptable teaching from the head pastor.
New Testament church gatherings will not involve any participation from
anyone besides the main speaker.
2.
The Viola Model
– New Testament church gatherings will consist of every person
participating, functioning, and contributing equally. New
Testament meetings will involve various types of activities
including: singing a song, reading a poem, performing a skit,
giving a short teaching, giving a word of encouragement, providing
a testimony, or offering a prayer. New Testament church gatherings will not contain special roles or tasks
reserved for certain, distinct individuals including pastors
or elders/overseers. New
Testament church gatherings will not involve one, two, or
three individuals dominating the time and contributions of
the meeting while all other attendees contribute and participate
to a much lesser extent (primarily in the role of an audience).
New Testament meetings will not contain long sections of musical
worship or teaching.
3.
The Elder-Leadership
Model – New Testament church gatherings will consist of
a large teaching component lead by one to three male leader(s)
called elders and may be interrupted by other men with questions
or comments. New Testament church gatherings will also include
prayer (and possibly some singing). New Testament church gatherings will not consist
of a large segment of musical worship or an absolutely uninterruptable
teaching from a head pastor. New Testament church gatherings
will not consist of every person participating, functioning,
and contributing equally.
Category
D: Gender Participation.
1.
The Pseudo-traditional
Model – (Views on the participation of women in leadership
and church services will vary depending on the denomination.)
2.
The Viola Model
– New Testament church gatherings will include the participation
of both men and women with no distinctions or limitations
based on gender. New Testament church gatherings will not be
limited to participation from men only and will not restrict
the participation of women.
3.
The Elder-Leadership
Model – New Testament church gatherings will limit participation
to men only. New Testament
church gatherings will not include examples of women speaking,
teaching, or asking questions.
Note
that the Elder-Leadership model and the Viola model have the
same expectations regarding categories A and B. For this reason
it will be important that we keep in mind the differences
that distinguish each of these two models from one another.
These differences can be found in categories C and D. If we
were to find that New Testament church gatherings contained
a full communion meal and that church leadership in the New
Testament was shared by multiple persons we would not be able
to determine, on these points alone, whether the Viola model
or the Elder-Leadership model was correct. In that case, we
will have to turn to the format/common features of church
meetings and gender participation to determine which of these
two models is presented in the New Testament.
With
these models in mind and their expectations clearly outlined,
we can now begin our examination of the New Testament teaching
on church gatherings and leadership. As we begin our survey,
we should be clear that the chief issue for all three of the
models is the prescribed biblical structure for church gatherings
and leadership without Jesus or the apostles physically present
to lead or conduct the gatherings.
Because
this is the central issue of our study, it might at first
seem logical to start with the Book of Acts, which traces
the earliest history of the Christian community as it developed
from the day of Pentecost. However, though this period of
church history is indeed critical to the questions under review,
it is also helpful to establish the manner of the gatherings
that the apostles themselves had become familiar with during
their time with Christ. After determining this we will be
better qualified to determine whether the manner, which they
had experienced with Christ, was continued, modified, or replaced
entirely with new formats and structures. After all, as Frank
Viola himself says, the apostles learned their model for church
gatherings and leadership from Jesus during the three years
they spent with him.
Jesus
provided the initial model for this “on-the-job” training
when He mentored the Twelve. – Frank Viola, Pagan
Christianity, Chapter 12, A Second Glance at the Savior:
Jesus, the Revolutionary, page 249
So,
instead of starting in the Book of Acts, we will begin instead
with a survey of the four gospels to determine the nature
and manner of the disciples’ gatherings for the three years
or so when they were with Christ prior to His death, resurrection,
and ascension. We will learn how Jesus’ trained the disciples
“on-the-job.” As we proceed we will move through each passage
of the gospels so that we can be sure that we are not missing
any important events which might inform us of the early experience
of the disciples during their gatherings with Jesus. This
may seem tedious at first, but it will be eminently helpful
in building the foundation of what the disciples had learned
about the manner and conduct of gatherings during their time
with Christ. In addition, it will also allow us to examine
this issue within the context of the whole historical New
Testament narrative, rather than “proof-texting” by removing
passages from that overall narrative context. So, we will
start in Matthew’s Gospel with John the Baptist and the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry.
