“Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving [ministry] the word.” Acts 6.4 (NRSV).
There seems to come a point in time in every minister’s life where he stands at a fork in the road and he must choose his path. To his left is the well-traveled theological superhighway that is peppered with fascinating philosophies, soteriologies, Christologies, and systematic theologies. To his right is a forlorn “path” of the real faith. The crags on either side show no room for errancy. The minister’s decision is just how will he approach the Word of God?
On the superhighway:
“On the issue of the resurrection, many preachers and New Testament scholars are unwitting partisans of the Sadducees. Because they deny the truth of Scripture’s proclamation that God raised Jesus from the dead - or waffle about it - they leave the church in a state of uncertainty, lacking confidence in its mission, knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” Richard Hays, “The Art of Reading Scripture” at 216.
While Hays’s synopsis doesn’t sound palatable, the minister can take comfort in his theological treatises, scholarly resumes, and good ‘ole men’s club discussions. He’ll also have the respect of Hays’s Sadducees.
Testimonies of those on the path:
E.W. Kenyon
“Perhaps in all the years of my Bible study, I was never so shocked as I was in my early years to find that the word “atonement” did not occur in the New Testament. I had had a period of darkness and doubt, and there had been many questions as to whether the Bible was the Word of God or not, when I saw this, for a little while it seemed to me as though I must give up everything …
I remember how I walked the floor, debating whether I had better stay in the ministry or go into business.
I remember how I finally said to myself, ‘I am going to look this thing up; I have depended upon books and other men’s opinions long enough, I am going to know the Bible for myself now …
This marked the beginning of my real study of the Scriptures. I gathered all the critical writings I could find on the Old Testament Hebrew, and began a careful study of the words used in the great sacrifices of Israel.” E.W. Kenyon, ‘The Atonement,” Reality, May 1916 at 192.
“Just give me the Bible and some good books written by godly men, and let me get alone for an hour to meditate and pray. There is where God reveals Himself to me. As I wait before Him, in quiet meditation, things unfold, His glorious truths are opened to me.” E.W. Kenyon
J.R. Goodwin:
“I have seen many good ministers but Dad [J.R. Goodwin] seemed to have an insight into the Word with such depth. He studied all the time. He would come into the church office and study and work on his teaching tapes and always check everything in the church so carefully. He was definitely a man set apart from other ministers.” Testimony of Carolyn Smith in A Tribute to Spiritual Excellence.
“Dad told me that in the first two years of his ministry, he fasted, prayed and studied two days during the week, and that during that span of time much of the Bible opened up to him.” Joe Jordan, A Tribute to Spiritual Excellence at 99.
George Mueller:
“I fell into a snare into which so many young believers fall - the
reading of religious books in preference to the Scriptures … I
practically preferred, for the first four years of my new life in
Christ, the works of uninspired men to the oracles of the living God.
The consequence was that I remained a babe, both in knowledge and
grace. I say in knowledge because all true knowledge must be derived by
the Spirit from the Word. And since I neglected the Word, I was for
nearly four years so ignorant that I did not clearly know even the
fundamental points of our holy faith. … This lack of knowledge most
sadly kept me back from walking steadily in the ways of God. … The
Word proves it; the experience of the saints proves it; and my own
experience also most decidedly proves it. For when it pleased the Lord
in August 1829 to bring to me the Scriptures, my life and my walk
became very different.” George Mueller, The Real Faith.Howard Carter:
Carter comprehensively studied the New Testament’s gifts of the Spirit while in prison. He is credited in the Pentecostal/Charismatic for providing one of the most scripturally-balanced understandings and teachings of the gifts of the Spirit that has ever been disseminated to the Body of Christ.
The common thread among these men is that they sought their own revelation from God’s Word. They did not trust their faith to the “theories of men.” Despite their accomplishments, few choose the path even to this day.
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