The Problem with Good Pastors Quoting Good Pastors

Introduction:

In Christian communities today, the defense of the Bible and how it was written comes up in many contexts. The main argument against it is that people wrote it decades, often (arguably not) centuries later in which the event had already transpired. The claim is that this ‘Word of Mouth’ teaching that has been transposed onto papyri and rolled up into scrolls is the product of the ‘Telephone Game’ in which facts and stories have been missed, forgotten, or changed. The telephone game, for those who have never played it, is a game in which you stand in a long line of at least ten people (hopefully more) and the first person whispers into the ear of the second a phrase that is meant to be shared all the way to the last person. Typically, the last person recites a phrase that has nothing to do with what the first person had to say thus proving the inaccuracy of sharing phrases by word of mouth.

While the debate of the time of the writing of certain books of the Bible rages on, that is not the point of this post; though I encourage you to look into it as it is an interesting conversation. The entire point, really, is to introduce this idea of the ‘Telephone Game.’ Pastors of Christian churches are expected to be a source, a mouthpiece, a descriptive element in the preaching of the gospel of God. For example, in Revelation 1:20, John is recounting Jesus explaining the importance of the vision he sees before him. In this explanation, John uses the word angelos (ἄγγελος) which in most translations correlates to the word “angels.” However, this word is also often translated as messengers or Pastors. The significance being that the ἄγγελος of the church are the ones who are to share the message of God to the people of the Church (big C for this explanation being about the Catholic or ‘Universal’ Church; in the Greek this word is koinania (κοινωνία) and simply means the gathering of believers ).

The Problem:

Suppose, however, that instead of sharing what they gather from the Scripture these ἄγγελος of God get their message from other Pastors, albeit good Pastors. Suppose these good Pastors have a great message but strike out on a certain subject. Let me give an example instead of being extremely vague:

Pastor Bill has been tasked with teaching on the subject of John 10:34-38. Pastor Bill loves Pastor John because Pastor John knows his stuff. Unfortunately, John gets this subject wrong and teaches that those who have the word of God in them are gods. Bill picks up on this, trusts John, and proceeds to teach his congregation that they are gods. Instead of researching, referencing, and really diving into the text to determine what was actually going on, Bill and John have now both told their congregation that believers are gods.

Before we move on, let me give a correction to the previous paragraph. Jesus is quoting Psalm 82 in His conversation with the Pharisees. In this Psalm, the unjust judges are referenced as gods in their ability to provide judgement primarily on the case that they have the word of God with them. Their actions and everything about these unjust judges prove they are not gods due to their unrighteousness (Psalm 82:1-2). But the Pharisees, in their outward appearance of righteousness, never provided explanation or clarity or correction on that subject. However, when Jesus claims to be the Son of God, prophesying and healing before them, showing them signs of who He is, the Pharisees call Him a blasphemer (John 10:36). Jesus is using a ploy that He often uses in order to express their hypocrisy. (The Woes and the Cup in Matthew 23:26; Parallels in Luke 11:39)

To define the problem, then, we will put it like so: Pastors who teach from Pastors run the risk of spreading bad information. Or, to phrase it in another way, teaching from the words of others is to express less than a shadow of the word of God. A reflection of a reflection, if you will. This goes beyond the preaching of the word, but also in the writing of songs. Songs written based on songs that are based on Scripture are just as damaging as Sermons based on Sermons that are based on the word of God.

Diving in:

The best way to explain this is to propose an observation alongside another explanation. If you are in a Creedal or Confessional Church then you are in a Church that holds these guidelines alongside Scripture in order to guide parishioners away from the risk of already debated church heresies. For instance, a Church that holds to the Nicene Creed (as all should, even if not implicitly stated) does so not to hold the Creed to the same standard as Scripture but in order to defend parishioners from branching off into something known as Arianism. (Arianism is the belief that Jesus was created by God and was determined to be heresy at the Council of Nicaea in 325.) As mentioned previously, the Creed is not, and never should be, held to the same authoritative level as Scripture. They are primarily used as a framework and guide to point the student of Scripture away from things already determined by previous scholars as false.

However, the church in question who holds to these confessions, holds to them because they have been tried and tested and found to be in line with Scripture. The ἄγγελος could go up to the pulpit on Sunday morning and say “We believe in one God, the Father almighty… and in one Lord Jesus Christ… and we believe in the Holy Spirit.” and the church see that as authoritative because it was defined and attested by Scripture. However, the observation I am witnessing is that pastors today, in all professions and denominations, are quoting men in books that were written, outside of the God Breathed (theopneustos, θεόπνευστος, 2 Timothy 3:16) Scriptures in a manner that suggests that their quotes are more meaningful or authoritative. Often, these pastors aren’t conducting the proper research but are going on the notion that, because these words are in print by scholarly men it must be true.

Something that must be understood when reading and researching Christian material is the material in which you read, if it is outside the Bible, is subject to fallibility. Origen, for instance, was a second and third century theologian who wrote many books still in print today. A few things must be considered with Origen. First, his message closely correlates to the time of Jesus in a way that other contemporary theologians cannot. However, Scripture blatantly teaches about a selectivity in salvation that Origen ignores. Origen declares a Universal salvation that just doesn’t exist. How can this be? Because Origen, like everyone outside of the θεόπνευστος word of God, is fallible. Origen is able to be wrong. And just because he is in print and close to the time of God Incarnate does not mean we should ever teach strictly from his (Origen’s) words unless we are the teacher of a class called “All About Origen.”

In the style of a Pauline query, what shall we say then, that there is no helpful information from the quotation of others? May it never be! To explain, Origen has given us helpful tidbits of information. Quotes such as “What each one honors before all else, what before all things he admires and loves, this for him is God.” There is nothing wrong or untrue with that statement and it very similarly mimics a verse in the Bible. “...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) I will not deny, however, that if you viewed the quote a different way it could become more mystical and extremely false; I’m going to steer away from that in the hopes that Origen means the former instead of the latter.

The same thing must be considered when we talk about worship music. We would be remiss if we did not discuss how poor theology in music for the sake of sparking a certain emotion purely for the sake of “Wooing” a Christian to a certain emotion in order to “be more receptive to the message of the pastor” has caused a bleeding over of that poor theology into worship. Without naming specifics, you can often hear the remnant of the chorus of many a beautiful hymn or psalm buried beneath the layers of a contemporary worship song. The problem, however, is that this newly remade song goes beyond the beautiful remark made and created by the hymn to say something well outside of the realm of Scripture. Again, not naming specifics, but to suggest that the word of God could ever fail, on any given time frame, would be to suggest that He very well could fail. A student of the Holy Scriptures who have read beyond the first page knows that our faithful, holy, and sovereign God will never fail.

I want to be clear, however, that we are not nitpicking or being legalistic when we call for worship that meets certain qualifications (to be Scriptural in nature). The addition of unbiblical content into any form of worship, whether it is the preaching of the word of God or the praising of God in song, is outside of the scope of what God calls for and is thus wrong. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, offered strange (zuwr, זוּר) fire to God. This, God did not command. In their disobedience, God burns them alive with the same fire they attempted to offer to God (Leviticus 10:1). Why? It went beyond the scope of the worship that God called for from the sons of Israel (specifically, Levi). How, then, is it any different for us to make, not just incorrect Scriptural references in the preaching of the word of God, but to go beyond and share almost contra scriptura content (contrary to Scripture) for the sake of a rise in emotion? Simply put, it is no different.

Conclusion:

At some point in the pragmatism of contemporizing the music and method of sharing the immutable message (Malachi 3:6) the thought of someone agreeing with our message makes the message more meaningful. We have forgotten that our authority and confirmation does not come from men (Galatians 1:10) and our message is not that of which is wisdom to men (1 Corinthians 2:5) but we are to do things that are pleasing and bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We are not to worry about how men perceive what we have to say because it is not our message that we are sending out. Paul says that He is a servant, or doulos (δούλῳ), of Jesus Christ set apart unto (for) the Gospel (euaggelion, εὐαγγέλιον) of God (Romans 1:1). This isn’t Paul’s good news and therefore he has not to worry about how his message is received. This is God’s message which is an aroma of death to those who are perishing or an aroma of life to those who are living (2 Corinthians 2:16). And we have been promised by God through the prophet Isaiah that His word never returns void but it accomplishes whatever so pleases God (Isaiah 55:11).

If the problem be born from fear of being wrong, as is a common issue for a man of God before teaching things spiritually discerned from the word, or if the problem be from laziness, which is an inexcusable trait that is unbecoming of the man of God, it is thusly a problem that must be dealt with lest our laypeople (I included) may be led astray by the teachings of those less knowledgeable and yet more charismatic. For the sake of the hearts and souls of the sheep you shepherd, I beseech you, leaders, to study the Holy Scriptures, to prayerfully study the history of the κοινωνία. You cannot close your eyes on Sunday morning, point to a verse, and hope to pull something from it without any preparation. To quote Luke 12:12 (“… for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”) in an effort to remain in a state of perpetually being unprepared would be to grossly take the verse from its context in order to remain lazy. The context of that verse is that when you (you being the disciples) are brought before your persecutors and tried for your convictions, the Spirit of God will speak for you. Therefore, ἄγγελος, I beseech that you put in the time, put in the effort, and speak the word of God as it is presented to you in the Holy Scriptures without filtering it through other fallible men.

Solution:

The solution is obvious: study the word of God for yourselves, pray for discernment, and seek the commentary of trusted and affirmed sources beyond only after you’ve done it all for yourself. From the charge of Scripture (and a laymen), stop quoting self-help books and other preachers as authoritative affirmations of your lack of studying and shepherd your flock to the actual best of your ability. You have been called, man of God, so perform your task worthy of your calling (Ephesians 4:1). Have faith in the God of your calling who has delivered you from the hands of His own wrath into the light of His countenance. Do not fret the charge, only be obedient and fear not the hand of the world. For if it hates you, and it will, remember that it hated Him first (John 15:18).