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Biblical Collaboration in Missions · Reformed Thinking

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You bring a group of believers together they share the same
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Holy Spirit they confess the same gospel and yet they will
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split a local church right down the middle over the color of the
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sanctuary carpet. Oh absolutely or you know the
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specific order of the Sunday morning liturgy it happens all
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the time. It really does welcome to
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reformed thinking today we are looking straight into a very
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painful very confusing reality. Yeah we are pulling excerpts
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from a book called biblical missions.
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Principles priorities and practices by mark tatlock and
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Chris Burnett. Right and we are specifically
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focusing on a section titled can we work together a biblical
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theology of collaboration. Our mission for this deep dive
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is to figure out why it is so incredibly difficult for
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Christians to labor alongside one another.
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Without the entire endeavor collapsing into resentment and
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factionalism. I mean you look at the landscape
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of the modern church or you look at the staggering rates of
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missionary attrition across the globe and it creates this
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massive tension. It really does we have the peace
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of Christ yet unity seems to be. The most elusive state for a
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group of justified sinners to maintain.
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Yeah it is a theological collision of the highest order
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so to accurately understand what tatlock and brunette are
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diagnosing here we have to view this entire conversation through
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a precise theological lens. Right because we adhere to the
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Westminster confession of faith. And that framework is absolutely
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essential for making sense of this tension.
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Definitely I mean chapter 6 of the confession lays out the
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doctrine of the fall of man of sin and the punishment thereof.
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Yeah it plainly states that by our original corruption we are
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utterly indisposed disabled and made opposite to all good.
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Right now as believers we are justified we are declared
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righteous before God because of Christ 's imputed righteousness.
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Which means his perfect obedience and sinless record are
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legally credited to our account as if we had?
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Live that perfect life ourselves yeah so we are secure.
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Yeah we are secure but we are still undergoing the grueling
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daily process of sanctification. Well and the confession also
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teaches that this corruption of nature during this earthly life.
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Remains in those that are regenerated.
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Yes and while it is pardoned and mortified through Christ both
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itself and all the motions thereof are truly and properly
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sin. Right that remaining corruption
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that residual total depravity that still infects our flesh our
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motives and our reactions. Means perfect harmony between 2
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justified sinners is never going to be automatic.
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No not at all it will be an ongoing severe struggle which
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means we cannot even begin to look at the divine ideal for
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unity without first taking a hard unromanticized look at the
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very human reality we are dealing with on the ground.
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Yeah before we talk about how things should be.
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We have to diagnose the wreckage of how things actually are
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right. And this brings us to a
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fascinating and frankly tragic data point that the authors
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raised regarding the human problem in global missions.
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Yeah tatlock and Burnett site a massive comprehensive research
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study published in 1997 by the world evangelical fellowship
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missions Commission. The Commission was investigating
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the growing rate of missionary attrition they wanted to know
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why so many highly trained fully funded individuals were leaving
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the mission field and coming home years before their.
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Terms were finished. Well when you think about why a
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missionary might abandoned the field your mind naturally
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defaults to the external pressures.
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Right you picture the oppressive Equatorial heat or you know the
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threat of dangerous tropical diseases like malaria.
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Exactly or the stress of living under a hostile anti Christian
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government a sudden lack of financial support or even
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outright violent persecution from the local populace.
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Yeah you just assume the physical environment drove them
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away you assume it was the external.
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Opposition. Right but the surprising fact
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from the research was that those external factors were not the
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primary cause of departure. That is just wild to me so the
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leading cause of missionary attrition and this was
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especially pronounced for missionaries sent from the
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United states was unresolved conflicts between the
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missionaries themselves. Yeah it was not the hostile
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foreign government shutting down their visas.
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No it was the person sitting across from them at the strategy
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table it was the fellow believer they were supposed to be
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planting a church with. What's fascinating?
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Here is how perfectly this validates that reformed doctrine
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we just discussed regarding the remaining corruption of nature.
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Oh absolutely we tend to heavily romanticize the concept of
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missions. We do we assume that if someone
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possesses the incredible zeal required to sell their earthly
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possessions. Pack up their family and move
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across the world they must have achieved some elevated level of
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super sanctification. Right like pride irritability
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and stubbornness just no longer exist for them yeah.
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We assume their flesh has been completely subdued but
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regeneration does not instantly erase all selfish tendencies.
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No it doesn't a missionary is still a justified Sinner who
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desperately wants their own way who prefers their own cultural
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methods and who struggles daily with arrogance.
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Yeah. And Paul Aiken who work
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extensively with the international mission board of
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the Southern Baptist Convention illustrated this widespread
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missionary dissension with a brutally simple math equation.
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Oh I love this equation how did he put it again.
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He formulated it like this. Sinful people plus working with
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other sinful people plus witnessing to other sinful
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people equals lots of potential for conflict.
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Man that is sobering I appreciate that equation because
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it strips away all the sentimental gloss we put on
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ministry. It really does it forces us to
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look at the raw reality of the human heart.
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Yeah but I want to push back on this narrative a bit or at least
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examine the mechanics of it more closely.
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OK sure. What do you think well let me
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give you an analogy imagine you have a carbonated soda can you
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take highly driven highly motivated sanctified yet still
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completely flawed people and you place them in a high stress
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foreign environment right you add the disorientation of severe
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culture shocked the mental exhaustion of language barriers
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the constant financial stress of raising support and the reality
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of intense spiritual warfare? Yeah that is a ton of pressure.
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It is that environment is the equivalent of vigorously shaking
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that. Soda can eventually someone is
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going to pop the tab and the pressure is going to explode all
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over the place damaging the relationships.
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That is a great visual. So looking at those high
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attrition rates I have to ask you is this a colossal failure
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of the vetting process by the sending agencies.
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That is a good. Question like should these
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mission boards be utilizing better psychological screening
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and behavioral analysis before they put these people on an
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airplane. Or is this relational explosion
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just the inevitable collision of human nature that we have to
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accept as a fixed cost of doing ministry.
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Well I would argue based strictly on the Westminster view
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of human nature that while sending agencies absolutely must
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practice rigorous exhaustive discernment.
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No amount of psychological profiling or theological
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quizzing can completely eliminate the reality of
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indwelling sin. Right because you cannot vet the
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residual depravity out of a human being.
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Spot on the confession states that from this original
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corruption all actual transgressions proceed.
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So you can send the most theologically sound rigorously
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trained emotionally intelligent individual on the planet.
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Yeah but when that soda can is shaken by the extreme relentless
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pressures of cross cultural living.
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The remaining sin will inevitably surface.
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Wow yeah the failure is not necessarily in the vetting
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process then. No the failure often lies in our
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incredibly naive expectation that justified people
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automatically cooperate without massive intentional agonizing
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effort. We expect the flawless Kingdom
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of glory right now but we are still operating within the
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Kingdom of grace battling the flesh every single day.
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That makes total sense we are demanding a glorified outcome
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from a sanctifying process. Yeah so since.
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Human nature defaults so aggressively to conflict and
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division where do we find the blueprint for actually working
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together. Well if we cannot look inward to
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our own natural inclinations we have to look upward to the
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creator. Right the bedrock of all
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Christian unity the absolute standard by which all human
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cooperation is measured is the Trinity.
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Yes. The scriptures depict the triune
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godfather son and Holy Spirit as acting according to a single
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undivided divine nature. We see this explicitly in
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deuteronomy 6.4 here O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is
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one. Exactly the father the son and
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the spirit are distinct persons yet they are perfectly eternally
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unified in essence will and purpose.
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There is no jealousy in the godhead there is no factionalism
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in the Trinity. Right they are the supreme
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eternal model of perfect collaboration.
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And because humans are made in the image of God and believers
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are redeemed specifically to bring him glory our methodology
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for working together must reflect that divine reality.
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Yeah and the authors of our source material break this
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divine and human Co laboring down to 4 distinct spheres.
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Revelation creation redemption and sanctification.
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OK let's examine that first sphere revelation God did not
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drop a completed leather bound fully indexed book down from
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heaven. No he didn't he superintended
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multiple human authors across thousands of years of ancient
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history. Right second Peter 1.20 and 21
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tells us that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone 's
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own interpretation. But men spoke from God as they
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were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
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Yeah and even individual books within the Canon like the psalms
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and proverbs had multiple authors contributing to the
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final text. God chose to utilize the unique
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personalities the varied vocabularies and the distinct
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historical context of dozens of men from kings to fishermen to
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tax collectors to produce one unified inerrant word.
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Which is amazing the doctrine of inerrancy means the original
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autographs are without error? Yet they bear the distinct
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fingerprints of their human writers.
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Yeah furthermore when we look at how that divine revelation is
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handled today within the local assembly the New Testament
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demands a plurality of elders. Right first Timothy 3.2 outlines
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the rigorous qualifications for an overseer.
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Yes but the consistent unbreakable pattern of the New
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Testament is plural leadership. Multiple qualified men working
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together to teach apply and protect this revelation.
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The local church is never designed to be a one man show.
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No it really isn't and that required plurality is a
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brilliant divine safeguard against the very depravity we
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were just discussing. Absolutely a single leader no
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matter how gifted is entirely susceptible to his own blind
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spots and unchecked arrogance plurality forces men to submit
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to one another. Yeah that leads us to the second
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sphere of Co laboring which is creation.
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Think back to the original mandates given in genesis one
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and genesis 9. God did not just speak the earth
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into existence and leave it in a static untouched state.
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No he tasked human beings to work together to reproduce to
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subdue the earth and to nurture it cultivating the untamed world
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was always designed to be a joint effort.
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Right Adam and Eve had to cooperate physically and
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intellectually to manage the garden.
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And later Noah and his family had to cooperate intensely to
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build the ark survive the deluge and then replenish the
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devastated earth. Yeah the creation mandate itself
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requires collective human effort to properly reflect God 's
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design for order and flourishing.
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Which moves us into the 3rd sphere redemption now obviously
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we must be incredibly precise here humans cannot redeem
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anyone? No only the triune God can atone
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for sin regenerate a dead heart and grant the gift of faith.
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Right but think about the Great Commission in Matthew 28.
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Jesus did not send out one super apostle to independently
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evangelize the entire. Globe he sent out teams he sent
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out a group of disciples who had to rely on one another.
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Yeah when you read through the gospel narratives and the
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historical accounts in the book of acts you see that evangelism
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and church planting were always collaborative efforts.
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Paul traveled with Silas Timothy Barnabas Luke and a massive
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network of other believers the. Spread of the early church was
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never a solo mission it was an intricately connected network of
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believers sharing resources. Suffering together and
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validating each other 's ministries.
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And the final sphere is sanctification the texts of
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ephesians 4 and Hebrews 10 are brilliantly clear on this
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mechanism. Sanctification is definitively a
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work of the father the son and the spirit but the Holy Spirit
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specifically gifts the body of Christ so that it can build
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itself up in love. Right you cannot grow to
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spiritual maturity in a vacuum. You cannot become holy while
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isolated in a cabin in the woods.
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No Hebrews 10.24 tells us to consider how to stir up one
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another to love and good works growth in holiness absolutely
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requires friction continuous interaction and mutual
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edification. It requires the physical and
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emotional presence of the covenant community.
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You need other believers to confront your sin to bear your
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burdens and to teach you the scriptures.
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OK let's unpack this because as reformed believers we hold
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firmly to the absolute sovereignty of God.
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We confess the doctrines of grace.
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Yes we believe that God has unconditionally elected a people
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for himself from before the foundation of the world and that
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his grace in regenerating the heart is completely
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irresistible. He is absolutely sovereign over
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salvation and he is absolutely sovereign over revelation.
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So if we genuinely believe that God possesses all authority and
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strength why does he require flawed bickering arrogant human
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teams to accomplish his will on. Earth that is a tough question.
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Why go through the incredible? Messiness of using people who
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are going to fight offend each other and cause the massive
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missionary attrition rates we talked about earlier why doesn't
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God just execute his plans unilaterally.
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Right he could literally write the tenets of the gospel in the
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stars or send legions of angels to preach it Florida State to
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every nation completely bypassing all human conflict and
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failure. Yeah exactly that is the classic
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tension that reformed theology uniquely answers.
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We have to remember that God ordains both the ends and the
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exact means by which those ends are achieved.
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Yes the Westminster confession teaches that God from all
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eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will
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freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.
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But it also states that he orders things to fall out
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according to the nature of second causes.
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Right the collaborative effort itself the very friction the
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agonizing messiness the relational strain.
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Is precisely designed to bring God maximum glory?
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Wow when 2 stubborn sinful people actually manage to lay
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down their pride confess their sins to one another forgive
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genuine offenses and plan a healthy church together it
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vividly displays the supernatural regenerating work
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of the Holy Spirit. It forces human beings to rely
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entirely on God 's strength rather than resting in their own
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competence. Right if God did everything
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unilaterally we would certainly stand in awe of His Majesty but
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by utilizing frail flaw human vessels he displays the.
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The absolute triumph of his grace over our ruin.
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The glaring weakness of the clay pot proves that the surpassing
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treasure inside is entirely from God.
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I see what you're saying the agonizing struggle to maintain
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relationships is actually part of the divine design to
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continuously crush our self-reliance.
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Exactly so if the triune God is the absolute standard and we are
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commanded by scripture to work together how do human beings
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actually align their daily actions to achieve this.
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Because we know from bitter. Experience that does not happen
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organically or by accident. Right ephesians 4.3 commands
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believers to be eager or diligent to maintain the unity
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of the spirit in the bond of peace.
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And in the original Greek that word translated as diligent or
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eager implies a massive exhausting zealous effort it
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implies sweat and manual labor you have to fight for it.
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Yeah the source material outlines 5 specific pillars for
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actively maintaining this unity in the local church and on the
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mission field. Let's tackle the first 2 pillars
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conviction and character. One is conviction which we can
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understand practically as shared truth.
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Right you cannot have a healthy functioning joint effort without
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a rock solid mutual agreement on the central doctrinal truths of
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scripture and the final goal of the gospel.
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The authors point us to first John 1.1 to 2 where the apostle
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John writes out that which was from the beginning.
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Which they have heard seen with their eyes and touched with
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their hands concerning the word of life?
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John is laying down a massive immovable doctrinal baseline
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there. Yes the early apostles shared a
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fierce unyielding conviction about the literal incarnation
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the sinless life the substitutionary death and the
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bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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They were willing to face execution for this specific
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truth. And if you attempt to partner in
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ministry with someone who does not share your fundamental
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conviction on the nature of the gospel the total inerrancy of
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scripture or the reality of substitutionary atonement.
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The partnership will inevitably fracture under pressure.
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You cannot build a structurally sound house if the builders
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disagree and what a foundation actually is.
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No you really can't we see stark historical examples of this
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throughout scripture both were shared conviction united diverse
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people and where differences in conviction caused massive
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ruptures. Yeah let's look at a famous
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rupture. The apostle Paul and Barnabas
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parting ways over John mark in acts 15 this is an incredibly
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revealing narrative. It is Paul and Barnabas
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absolutely shared the exact same gospel conviction.
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They were entirely united on the doctrine of justification by
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faith alone. But they disagreed sharply
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almost violently on the execution of the mission right.
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We have to look at the back story earlier in acts 13 John
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mark had abandoned them in pamphylia he quit the mission.
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Yeah and now as they prepare for a new journey Paul who is
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fiercely focused on the strategic task and the severe
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physical rigors of the road flatly refuses to take John mark
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again he views him as a liability.
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But Barnabas whose very name means the son of encourage.
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Wants to extend grace take a risk and restore his younger
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cousin to the work. They share the absolute truth
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but their practical conviction on methodology and personnel was
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so intensely divided that they had to split their working
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relationship entirely they formed 2 separate teams.
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And an even more tragic devastating example is found in
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the Old Testament with the 12 spies of Israel in numbers 13
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and 14 oh. That is a sobering text.
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This was supposed to be a grand unified collaborative effort one
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representative leader chosen from every single tribe sent
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into Canaan to spy out the land God had promised them.
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Right but 10 of those men completely lacked confidence in
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God 's stated decree. Yeah they looked at the physical
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size of the giants in the land they analyzed the massive
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fortified. Walls of the canaanite cities
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and their theological conviction faltered they gave way to
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pragmatism and terror. Joshua and Caleb on the other
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hand possess total radical confidence in God 's promise.
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And that terrifying lack of unified conviction among the
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leadership doomed an entire generation of Israelites to die
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slowly in the dust of the wilderness.
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It proves that a leadership team is only as effective as the
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theological convictions they collectively share and are
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actually willing to act upon when terrified.
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I want to pause right there and ask a really.
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Difficult question about our modern application of this.
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OK go ahead. As Protestants who hold tightly
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to detailed confessional standards we love theology we
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love precision in our doctrine I certainly do but when does
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standing firm on theological conviction cross the line and
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become nothing more than sinful arrogant stubbornness.
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We just established that total depravity makes us naturally
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arrogant how do reformed believers in a practical church
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setting distinguish between the essential hill to die on dogmas
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and the secondary issues where we can actually collaborate with
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believers who might disagree with us.
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That distinction is perhaps the most critical discernment a
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local church elder or a missionary can possess.
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Right. Let's look at the regulative
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principle of worship, for example.
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OK, that principle strictly governs how we approach God
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corporately. We only do what is explicitly
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commanded in Scripture. That requires high precision
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within the local assembly. But when dealing with broader
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cross denominational collaboration, we have to
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distinguish between the core gospel and secondary matters.
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Essential dogmas are non negotiable.
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The triune nature of God, the full deity and humanity of
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Christ, justification by faith alone, the bodily resurrection,
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and the absolute authority of Scripture.
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Yeah, if we disagree on those points, we are practicing 2
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entirely different religions and partnership is impossible.
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But secondary issues, perhaps the specific timing of
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eschatological events like the Rapture, or certain nuances in
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church polity regarding how deacons are organized, should
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not necessarily prevent us from working alongside other
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believers to feed the poor, advocate for the unborn, or
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translate the Bible into a new language.
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The great danger of our remaining depravity is that our
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pride convinces us that every single one of our personal
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cultural preferences is an essential dogma.
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Yes, that is the exact moment when biblical conviction rots
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into sinful, destructive stubbornness.
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Which brings us perfectly to the second pillar of collaboration,
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character. Because godly character is the
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only mechanism that keeps strong theological condition from
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becoming a toxic bludgeoning weapon.
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Right. The authors define this pillar
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as trust and maturity. Trust is the absolute currency
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of human cooperation. If I do not trust your motives,
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I cannot work with you, no matter how flawless and precise
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your systematic theology is. We see this heavily featured in
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First Timothy 3 regarding the specific qualifications for
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elders and deacons. Paul does not list a bunch of
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corporate business acumen, charismatic speaking ability, or
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high level administrative skills.
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No, he lists raw character traits.
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A leader must be sober minded, self controlled, respectable,
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hospitable, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not
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quarrelsome and not a lover of money.
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A man's moral character sets the tone for the purity, the safety,
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and the unity of the entire local assembly.
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When character is absent, selfish carnal motives
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immediately take over the ministry.
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Look at how often Jesus had to aggressively correct his own
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disciples competitive ambition during his earthly ministry.
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Oh. Constantly in Mark 9 and Luke
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22, the disciples are literally walking behind Jesus, arguing
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amongst themselves about which of them is the greatest.
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They were acting like Pagan Roman politicians, jockeying for
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rank, prestige and cabinet positions in an earthly Kingdom.
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Yeah, Jesus had to constantly rebuke their flesh and point
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them back to the model of a suffering servant who washes
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feet. When godly character is
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minimized in a church, factions immediately result.
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We see this terribly in the Corinthian.
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Church. Yes, First Corinthians 3 shows a
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congregation completely fractured by spiritual
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immaturity, splitting into hostile factions based on
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personality cults. Some saying I follow Paul,
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others saying I follow Apollo's. Compare that disaster to the
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church in Philippi, where Paul openly praises their humility
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and calls them to imitate the selfless, sacrificial mind of
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Christ and Philippians 2. If we connect this to the bigger
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picture, wait, let me actually ask you to connect this to the
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bigger picture, especially in the context of global missions.
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Sure. How does this demand for
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character play out when you cross international borders?
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The authors point out a very common friction point.
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Western missionaries typically possess a highly aggressive,
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task oriented mindset. Right.
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They arrive in a country and they want to get things done
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quickly. They want to check off the
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strategic boxes, plant the church, construct the physical
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building, and send a glowing statistical report back to their
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financial donors in the United States.
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But many other cultures around the world are vastly more
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relational. Oh, completely.
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They prioritize spending hours sitting in a room drinking tea,
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establishing personal trust and honoring family connections long
23:58
before they ever stick to a rigid operational schedule.
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And that cultural clash is where character is truly tested.
24:04
If a Western missionary lacks the character trait of deep
24:07
humility, they will view that relational slow paced culture as
24:12
lazy, inefficient or obstructive.
24:15
Yeah, and they will simply bulldoze right over the local
24:17
believers to achieve their strategic goals.
24:20
A lack of humility destroys trust instantly.
24:23
The missionary must deliberately, consciously
24:26
consider the host culture as valuable as their own western
24:30
efficiency. It requires massive self denial.
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Because if you prioritize the task over the relationship, you
24:37
might successfully build a brick building, but you will
24:40
completely destroy the spiritual partnership.
24:42
Right. You'll be acting like those
24:43
carnal Corinthian believers, conforming more to the secular
24:46
world standard of corporate efficiency than to Christ's
24:50
standard of of patient servant leadership.
24:52
That is a harsh, necessary reality check for anyone
24:55
involved in ministry. So conviction and character form
24:57
the base of the structure. They are the prerequisites,
24:59
yeah. But daily operations require the
25:02
next three pillars to prevent the relationship from collapsing
25:05
under the relentless daily stress of actually doing the
25:08
work. Right, let's examine pillar
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three, communication. The authors point to a very
25:13
specific, uncomfortable text here.
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Philippians 4.23. In this letter, Paul publicly
25:19
calls out the tension between two specific women in the
25:22
church, Ewodia and Satyesh. Paul literally names them in a
25:27
letter that he knows is going to be read aloud to the entire
25:30
gathered congregation. He writes.
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I entreat Ewodia, and I entreat Santish to agree in the Lord.
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Imagine sitting in that crowded house church in Philippi,
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listening to the scroll being read, and suddenly your personal
25:43
conflict is broadcast by the apostle to everyone in the room.
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I know. So I have to ask you, why did
25:49
Paul choose such a drastic method?
25:52
Why call them out publicly? Why not just write them a quiet,
25:55
private letter, or let the tension naturally fade with
25:57
time? Well, because ignoring
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relational tension in the body of Christ is exactly like
26:02
ignoring a gangrene infection in a physical body.
26:04
It never fades with time. It only ferments, spreads and
26:07
kills the surrounding tissue. Wow.
26:09
Yeah these women were not marginal figures.
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They were Paul's former Co workers in the gospel.
26:14
Their dispute, whatever theological or practical issue
26:17
it centered on, was hindering the joint effort of the entire
26:20
Philippine Assembly. People were likely taking sides.
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Right. Paul knows that passive
26:25
aggressive silence destroys ministry faster than open
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persecution. In our Reformed understanding of
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sin, we know that unconfessed, unaddressed sin ferments.
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Therefore, it is always better to over communicate.
26:38
You must drag the conflict out of the shadows and into the
26:41
light of the Gospel. And this principle is especially
26:43
vital on the mission field. Missionaries, by absolute
26:47
necessity, often possess very tough, highly resilient,
26:51
stubborn personalities. You need a certain level of
26:54
sheer stubbornness to survive severe culture shock, learn a
26:58
complex new language with different syntax, and endure
27:01
physical hardship without quitting.
27:03
Right. But that very asset, that
27:05
stubborn resilience, becomes a massive liability when dealing
27:08
with delicate team dynamics. A stubborn personality is
27:11
incredibly rigid and teamwork requires extreme flexibility.
27:15
So constant, humble, brutally honest communication is the only
27:18
mechanism that keeps those strong, rigid personalities from
27:21
fracturing the team into pieces. Which?
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Flows naturally into Pillar 4 dedication.
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This is the steadfast resolve to actually execute the work you
27:28
said you're more going to do. Yeah, the authors quote a
27:30
fantastic, highly descriptive verse from Proverbs to
27:33
illustrate the pain of working with someone who lacks this
27:36
dedication. Yes, Proverbs 10.26 says like
27:39
vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes.
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So is the sluggard to those who sent him.
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Think about that physical imagery for a moment.
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You take a sip of something expecting water, and it is pure
27:50
acidic vinegar, making your teeth ache and your jaw clench
27:54
involuntarily. Right.
27:55
Or you stand too close to a campfire when the wind shifts
27:58
and the thick smoke burns your eyes, making them water so badly
28:02
you are physically blinded and cannot see what you are doing.
28:05
That intense, painful physical irritation is the exact
28:09
emotional equivalent of relying on an unreliable, lazy Co worker
28:13
in ministry. It is a brilliant, terrifying
28:16
proverb. Working together in any ministry
28:18
context requires tremendous personal sacrifice, the ability
28:21
to set realistic goals, and then actually possessing the grit and
28:24
resolve to finish the assigned tasks.
28:26
Right there is a deep, agonizing frustration that occurs in
28:29
ministry when one party consistently fails to meet their
28:32
responsibilities. If we are planting a church
28:35
together and I am entirely relying on you to handle the
28:38
legal logistics and secure the meeting space while I prepare
28:42
the theological curriculum, and you just drop the ball because
28:45
you lack dedication, the entire project stalls.
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Exactly. It creates immediate, justified
28:51
bitterness. Dedication means you show up on
28:54
time, you carry your own weight, and you maintain your resolve
28:58
even when the initial romanticized excitement of the
29:00
mission fades into the mundane, unglamorous grind of daily
29:04
labor. And when that inevitable
29:05
frustration hits, when someone does drop the ball, we
29:08
desperately need pillar five care.
29:11
This principle mandates valuing people over tasks.
29:14
The authors stress that ministry goals must never, under any
29:17
circumstances, be accomplished at the cost of destroying the
29:20
people involved in the work. Right.
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Nurturing the heart and resolving the deeper anger that
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bubbles up during stressful projects is absolutely
29:27
paramount. Here's.
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Where it gets really interesting, let me offer a
29:29
metaphor here. Care in ministry is like
29:31
maintaining the suspension system on a heavy duty truck.
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OK, I like that. You can have a massive, powerful
29:37
engine which represents since your theological conviction.
29:40
You can have a highly skilled driver behind the wheel
29:43
representing godly character. But if there is no suspension
29:47
system to absorb the brutal, violent shocks of the Dirt Rd.,
29:50
which represents our daily encounters with human depravity
29:53
and failure, the metal chassis of that truck will eventually
29:56
snap in half under the strain. Care is the shock absorber.
30:01
It is the daily act of bearing with one another's burdens,
30:04
forgiving offenses, and absorbing the friction so the
30:07
relationship does not shatter. That is a much more accurate way
30:10
to understand the mechanism of care than simply being polite.
30:13
If you only care about the final destination, the church
30:16
attendance numbers that completed building, the
30:18
statistical output, you will drive your vehicle until it
30:22
shakes itself apart. Right, you have to care for the
30:23
laborers. Are we displaying A genuine
30:26
servant spirit when someone fails?
30:29
Do we value the contributions of those whose gifts might be less
30:33
visible or less celebrated than the main teacher?
30:35
Do we stay in contact and care for the emotional well-being of
30:38
the person even after the specific ministry project is
30:41
complete? Because if a relationship only
30:43
matters to you when someone is practically useful to achieving
30:46
your goals, you are treating them like a disposable tool, not
30:49
an eternal brother or sister in Christ.
30:52
And treating a Co laborer like a mirror, well, like just a tool,
30:57
is a severe grievous violation of the spiritual unity the Holy
31:00
Spirit has already established. Yeah, we have spent a lot of
31:03
time looking at the theology, the triune standard of perfectly
31:06
unified action, and the five practical pillars, conviction,
31:11
character, communication, dedication and care.
31:14
Now the authors provide us with a brilliant extended historical
31:17
case study of these principles in action.
31:20
Chris Burnett provides A detailed analysis of the Apostle
31:22
Paul, designating him the Apostle to the outskirts based
31:26
on the texts of Romans 15 and 16.
31:28
Paul had a massive continent spanning goal.
31:30
Romans 15.1 and 24 tells us his burning ambition was to preach
31:34
the gospel where Christ had not already been named, and his
31:37
ultimate target was Spain. He wanted to push the message of
31:40
justification by faith to the absolute farthest Pagan western
31:44
edge of the known Roman world. But before he could head W to
31:47
Spain, Paul had to make a massive detour and head east to
31:51
Jerusalem. He had to complete a very
31:53
specific, highly symbolic, incredibly dangerous project,
31:58
the Famine Relief Fund. Right Gentile believers in the
32:01
regions of Macedonia and Akaya had gathered significant
32:04
financial resources to assist the Jewish believers in
32:08
Jerusalem who were suffering terribly from a severe
32:10
widespread famine that occurred under the reign of the Emperor
32:14
Claudius. Paul was acting as the chief
32:16
Courier and administrator for this massive financial
32:18
collection, risking his own life to transport the funds across
32:22
the empire. This brings up a crucial point
32:24
about the necessity of visible, tangible unity.
32:28
Think about the historical and cultural context here, because
32:31
it is staggering. Jews and Gentiles despised each
32:33
other. It was not just a mild
32:35
disagreement, it was a visceral cultural hatred.
32:37
There were centuries of strict dietary laws, religious
32:41
superiority and ethnic hostility separating them.
32:44
Gentiles view Jews as bizarre, antisocial isolationists.
32:48
Jews view Gentiles as unclean Pagan idolaters.
32:52
And now, through the strength of the gospel, you have Gentile
32:55
believers in a place like Corinth voluntarily giving up
32:59
their hard earned Roman currency to feed starving Jewish
33:02
believers hundreds of miles away in Judea.
33:05
We connect this to the bigger picture.
33:07
This raises an incredibly critical question for the modern
33:10
church. How does financial giving
33:12
reflect actual theological unity?
33:15
Paul did not view this collection as just a nice
33:17
humanitarian aid project to alleviate physical suffering.
33:21
No, he viewed it as a highly visible, undeniable, practical
33:25
demonstration of Gospel unity across a massive ethnic divide.
33:29
The Gentiles had shared in the spiritual blessings of the Jews,
33:32
namely receiving the gospel of the Jewish Messiah.
33:35
So they felt a profound moral, well, a massive moral obligation
33:40
to assist the Jewish believers in material blessing.
33:42
Right when the Jewish believers in Jerusalem received those
33:44
funds, they could hold those foreign coins in their hands and
33:47
see undeniable physical proof that the gospel had completely
33:50
shattered the dividing wall of hostility.
33:52
It proves that their partnership in the Spirit was real.
33:56
It proved that the Reformed doctrine of justification by
33:59
faith actually produced tangible sacrificial love for former
34:03
enemies. It put actual flesh and bone on
34:05
the systematic theology, and we see this deeply personal
34:09
relational connection continue right into the final chapter of
34:13
his letter, Romans 16. Yes, the final chapter of Romans
34:16
is essentially a long, detailed list of personal greetings.
34:20
Paul lists over two dozen specific names.
34:22
When you study the linguistic origins of those names, you
34:25
realize it is an incredibly diverse, multicultural mix of
34:28
people. You have Jewish believers, Greek
34:30
believers, current slaves, Friedman, wealthy patrons, and
34:34
common laborers all gathering together in various Crowded
34:37
House churches throughout the capital of the Roman Empire.
34:40
And Paul instructs them to greet one another with a holy kiss.
34:43
In that highly stratified, class conscious Roman culture, a kiss
34:47
on the cheek was a greeting strictly reserved for immediate
34:50
family members or social equals. For a wealthy, aristocratic
34:54
Roman citizen to intentionally greet a lowly household slave
34:58
with a holy kiss was a radical, almost scandalous, tangible sign
35:01
of affection and total spiritual equality before God.
35:05
It was a visual, shocking representation of their shared
35:08
conviction and the regenerated character.
35:10
The Gospel was not a theoretical academic philosophy discussed in
35:14
the elite halls of Rome. No, it was a lived reality that
35:18
bonded people who had absolutely no earthly socio economic reason
35:22
to associate with one another. However.
35:24
Paul also establishes a very severe, non negotiable boundary
35:28
to this unity. In Romans 16.1720 he issues a
35:32
stark, urgent warning to the church.
35:34
Right. He urges them to constantly
35:36
watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles
35:39
contrary to the specific doctrine they have been taught.
35:41
He explicitly tells the church to avoid those people.
35:44
True biblical unity requires strict, uncompromising
35:47
boundaries. You do not extend Christian
35:49
affection, and you certainly do not extend ministry partnership
35:52
to those who actively work to undo the true gospel with false
35:56
teaching. He tells them to be wise as to
35:58
what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
36:01
He knows that the more the the true Gospel takes root and
36:03
flourishes, the more Satan will actively try to infiltrate the
36:07
Church and destroy that beautiful unity through subtle
36:10
false teaching, ego driven leaders and selfish division.
36:14
But he anchors all of these instructions and warnings with
36:17
that massive stabilizing promise in verse 20.
36:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
36:23
Our guaranteed victory over that division and false teaching is
36:27
secured by the sovereign decree of God Himself.
36:30
And that reality ties everything we have discussed right back to
36:33
God's absolute sovereignty. We strive for unity.
36:36
We do the agonizing manual labor of resolving conflict.
36:39
We enforce strict boundaries against false teaching to
36:42
protect the flock. But the God of peace is the one
36:45
who secures the final victory. Right.
36:47
We work at our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that
36:50
it is God who is at work in us, both to will and to work for his
36:53
good pleasure. We have covered a massive amount
36:56
of theological and practical ground in this deep dive.
36:59
Let's summarize the core truths we extracted from Tatlock and
37:02
Burnett's work. Human depravity, that lingering,
37:05
stubborn corruption of our nature, makes working alongside
37:08
other believers incredibly volatile and frequently
37:11
frustrating. But the try in God models the
37:13
perfect eternal standard of unified action.
37:16
By actively applying the pillars of shared doctrinal conviction,
37:20
Christ like character, exhaustive communication,
37:23
steadfast dedication to the work, and genuine care for the
37:27
souls of our Co laborers, believers can actually overcome
37:30
the violent impulses of their flesh and accomplish the Great
37:34
Commission together. Paul modeled this perfectly,
37:37
demonstrating that visible sacrificial unity across hostile
37:40
cultural lines was absolutely required to push the gospel to
37:44
the farthest outskirts of the Roman Empire.
37:47
So what does this all mean for you?
37:48
Listening to this right now. Right, How do you apply this?
37:50
I want you to think about your own immediate life.
37:53
How are you viewing your Co laborers at your own local
37:55
church? Yeah, when you sit in a tense
37:57
deacons meeting, or you help organize an exhausting youth
38:00
retreat, or you go on a stressful short term mission
38:03
trip, are you prioritizing the accomplishment of the task over
38:07
the spiritual health of the relationship?
38:09
Are you acting like a demanding taskmaster who only values
38:12
efficiency? Or are you acting like the shock
38:14
absorber, extending grace and bearing the burdens of the
38:17
flawed, irritating people sitting next to you?
38:20
I want to leave you with one final, very challenging thought
38:22
to consider as you examine your own actions.
38:25
OK, what is it? Paul firmly believed that highly
38:29
visible, practical sacrificial unity across massive cultural
38:34
and ethnic lines was an absolute prerequisite to pushing the
38:37
gospel into the Pagan outskirts of the empire.
38:40
He believed the watching world needed to see the church
38:43
actively loving each other before they would ever listen to
38:46
the theological message. Yes, if that is true, what does
38:50
the current factionalism, the bitter infighting, and the
38:53
constant squabbling in our local assemblies preach to an
38:56
onlooking, unbelieving neighborhood?
38:58
Wow. When the unsaved community looks
39:00
at how quickly we divide and attack each other over secondary
39:03
issues, does our aggressive disunity sabotage our
39:05
evangelistic witness before we even open our mouths to speak a
39:08
single word? If our interpersonal
39:10
relationships do not look any different, any more gracious or
39:13
any more forgiving than a cutthroat corporate boardroom,
39:17
why would the world ever believe our gospel possesses the
39:20
strength to save their souls? That is a heavy, necessary
39:24
question to wrestle with as we examine our own hearts and our
39:27
own motives. Thank you so much for joining us
39:29
for this deep dive on Reformed thinking.
39:32
May you have the grace and the endurance to pursue true
39:35
biblical unity in your local body this week.
39:38
Until next time, keep your focus on the Word and your hope in the
39:40
sovereign God.