In previous blogs I reached the conclusion that when the NCFIC calls the church a family of families they are talking about their “philosophy of ministry.” Here is what I said: “To make a long story short, I hear Scott and Voddie affirming that when they say the church the church is a family of families, they are referring to their ‘philosophy of church ministry.’” I invited someone from their viewpoint to correct me if I was still misunderstanding the controversial assertion that the church is a “family of families.” No one has seen fit to correct me so I am going to proceed in this and future blogs under the assumption that I am least close to what they mean in my understanding. So here is my question. Is it not somewhat strange and even surprising that we should derive our philosophy of ministry for the church primarily from the Old Testament?
Now I think my conversation partners know me well enough to know that I have no problem with the Old Testament, and I certainly do not hold Dispensational views of how we ought to approach the Old Testament. I reject the contemporary notion that unless something is repeated from the Old Testament in the (post-Pentecost portions of the) New Testament it is not for us. I rather hold the Reformed approach to the Old Testament which takes the opposite approach and says that unless something commanded in the Old Testament is abolished in the New Testament it remains obligatory for the Christian. Hence, let me say that I appreciate that the leaders of the NCFIC seem to be approaching the Old Testament from a traditionally Reformed direction. They are right to do so. They are right to say, for instance, that “the New Testament supports the use of the Old Testament in the church today.” (Scott Brown, A Weed in the Church, 76) Further, I could not agree more when Scott adds: “It is therefore the critical supposition of this book that we ought to use the same methods of handling the Old Testament as we see Jesus and the writers of the New Testament using. There are millions of people in churches who have a dark view of the Old Testament, and are therefore unwilling to interpret it in the same way the New Testament writers did.” (Scott Brown, A Weed in the Church, 77)
This means that, when Scott, Voddie, or the Apostle Paul quote the Pentateuch’s commands to fathers about their families, I am glad to acknowledge that they are right to think that such texts are ethically obligatory for Christians where and as they stand in the Old Testament. You will get no argument from me against the idea that Christians should obey the command, for instance, of Deuteronomy 6:6-7: “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
But gladly acknowledging this, I am still not convinced that these texts are adequate to provide us with the church’s whole philosophy of ministry. When you read their books, there is a weight of Old Testament quotation on these issues. These texts, while relevant to the families of Christians, are also peculiarly related to the distinctive nature of Old Testament Israel. They are, thus, ill-suited to provide us with the church’s whole philosophy of ministry.
I am aware, of course, that these brethren also quote New Testament texts about the family. That is, however, just my concern. It is still only texts about the family which they are quoting. If the New Testament church is not the family, if it is more than that, if indeed it is other than that, how can such texts provide us with the heart of the church’s philosophy of ministry?
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
