PREVIOUSLY, IN (PART TWO) of MISSIOLOGY:
Hello Beloved:
Wayne Grudem describes the Purposes of the Church as follows:
We can understand the purposes of the church in terms of ministry to God, ministry to believers, and ministry to the world. (Grudem, 867)
He further breaks this down into categories he elaborates on: (1) Ministry to God: Worship, (2) Ministry to Believers: Nurture, (3) Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy, and (4) Keeping These Purposes in Balance. (Grudem, 867-869)
So what is the elaboration behind Grudem’s (3) Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy? Stay tuned. It’s a goldmine.
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…AND NOW, PART THREE
Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy. Jesus told his disciples that they should “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This evangelistic work of declaring the gospel is the primary ministry that the church has toward the world.31 Yet accompanying the work of evangelism is also a ministry of mercy, a ministry that includes caring for the poor and needy in the name of the Lord. Although the emphasis in the new Testament is on giving material help to those who are part of the church (Acts 11:29; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 1 John 3:17), there is still an affirmation that it is right to help unbelievers even if they do not respond with gratitude or acceptance of the gospel message. Jesus tells us,
“Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35-36) [emphasis in bold italics by Grudem]
[...and Grudem's #31 footnote reads]:
31. I do not mean to say that evangelism is more important than worship or nurture, but only that it is our primary ministry towards the world. [emphasis in italics by me]
(Grudem, 868)
The above words from Grudem are both echoing and bringing home to us the words of Christ that seem to leap from the pages of scripture, and these words bring me up short.
My propensity is to not even share the Gospel with those who are unkind to me, let alone give them practical help in regard to their health and “daily bread” needs regardless of their response to the Gospel. God forgive me for the Phariseeism that has obviously been birthed in my heart (please understand me: in no way do I blame SGM on this particular bullet); and Christ forgive me for directly disobeying Your command (You did not say, “This is a good idea,” or, “Here is a suggestion.”)
God is merciful to remind me of this! It’s not about Protestant Knight. It’s not about you. It’s not about any of us. It’s about the Gospel. It’s about Him. He is the Gospel. And He is merciful to all.
The context of “mercy” within Dave Harvey’s Missiology booklet -his vision of how Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) would, should, and does acts of mercy- is an interesting picture, to say the least. If one were to watch a PowerPoint presentation of the Missiology booklet, I’m sure it would seem like one of those so-called job interviews that turns out to be an attempt to rope one into an Amway-type schematic of missions. According to Harvey, any type of mercy missions done by SGM must adhere to a pyramidic, alliterative model developed around Harvey’s extrapolations of the Message (the base of this pyramid), Method (in the center of this pyramid), and the Model (at the top of this pyramid). (Harvey, 6)
Within those words that are contained in this pyramid, Harvey gives sub-categories and sub-sub-categories as descriptors. For Message it is The Gospel and Gospel Inspired motives: The Way of Humility and The Way of Servanthood. For Method, it is Church Planting, Apostolic Ministry and Team Ministry. For Model, it is the ASLA (as in Assessment, Specialized Training, Launch Support, and Apostolic Care) Adoption Process and Associate Program. (Harvey, 36) Harvey spends the bulk of the Missiology booklet defining these categories, sub-categories and sub-sub-categories.
I did a word and phrase search -that is, words or phrases that may be pertinent to the subject of missions- for the entirety of Missiology, and below is a list of those words or phrases and how many times they appear within the booklet:
“Charity”: 0 times.
“Christ’s love,” or “God’s love,” or “Holy Spirit’s love” phrases: 0 times.
“Clothing,” and “clothe,” words: 0 times.
“Food,” or “feed,” words: 0 times.
“Love of Christ,” or “Love of God,” or “Love of the Holy Spirit” phrases: 0 times.
“Love your enemies,” phrase: 0 times.
“Rescued,” word: 0 times.
“Samaritan,” word: 0 times.
“Share the gospel,” or “sharing the gospel” phrases: 0 times.
“Foreign,” or “foreign mission/missions”: 1 time.
“Saved,” word: 1 time. It is from quoted scripture.
“Word of God,” phrase: 1 time.
“Witness,” or “witnessing,” words: 2 times.
“Child,” and “children,” words: 3 times.
“Hope” or any word beginning with “hope-”: 3 times, combined total.
“Medical,”: 3 times.
“Preach the gospel” phrase: 3 times.
“Salvation,” word: 3 times. One is from quoted scripture.
“Holy Spirit,” and “Spirit,” separately, as in referring to the third Person of the Holy Trinity: 4 times, combined total. Two occurrences are quotes from scripture.
“Bible,” word: 5 times.
“Mercy” or any word with the prefix “merci-”: 5 times, combined total.
“Love” or any word beginning with “love-”: 5 times, combined total.
“Country,” and “countries,” words referring to countries other than the U.S.: 6 times.
“Lost,” word: 6 times.
“Earth,” word: 7 times. Five of those are directly from quoted scripture.
“Theology,” word: 7 times.
“Faith” or any word beginning with “faith-”: 9 times, combined total.
“Grace,” not including the name Sovereign Grace Ministries: 9 times.
“Doctrine,” or “doctrinal,” or “doctrinally” words: 10 times, combined total.
“Jesus,” word: 10 times.
“Baptize,” and “Baptizing,” words: 11 times, combined total.
“World,” word: 18 times.
“Disciple,” or “discipling,” or any word beginning with “discipl-” that refers to this in the sense of “disciple” in the Great Commission: 28 times.
“Christ,” word: 37.
“Biblical/Biblically”: 38 times, combined total.
“Serve,” or “serving,” or “servanthood,” words, relating to serving in the church: 67 times.
“God,” word: 77 times.
“Apostle/Apostolic,” or any word beginning with “apost-”: 115 times, combined total.
The name “Sovereign Grace Ministries”: 269. If we subtract the three times their name appears at the bottom of each page denoting copyright info (approx. 150), we are still left with at least 119 times.
“Plant,” or any word or phrase containing this, specifically referring to church planting: 155 times.
While many would fault statistical data like this in forming a conclusion about a written work, I think we can safely note that Dave Harvey is not interested in talking much about anything except how missiology is filtered through SGM’s concept of church-planting: the apostolic team members are in charge. Once again, polity affects even our ministry to the world. It could be seriously argued that Missiology is not about missions so much as it is defending the “apostolic team.”
I was saddened after doing this word and phrase search, and even disgusted by some of it. It’s good to know that in a 46 page document the word “God” was mentioned 77 times. It’s disgusting to know He, the Creator of the Universe, Who is calling us to Himself, is outranked 2x with the 155 total of “Apostles/apostolic/apostolicity,” etc. Harvey does have some mention of medical/mercy missions, but his absorption with the church planting model within his pyramidic matrix all held together by the apostles definitely pervades and sours the entirety of Missiology’s text.
There is a high probability that I have fellow brothers and sisters within SGM that are saddened by the time and energy I put into the above word and phrase search. Beloved, I’m sad that time and energy went into Missiology, a work that loves the sound of its own voice; a work that glorifies the efforts men… a work where God is invited later to the party because it is assumed He is the originator of this pyramid scheme, and the Holy Spirit is virtually ignored.
A Message, a Method, a Model. Proclamation, Integration, Expansion. Focused yet Flexible. Mobile, Purposeful, Relational. Leadership, Plurality, Unity. ASLA. Character, Capabilities, Conduct in the Home, Confirmation in the Church. The Principle of Plurality among elders. The Principle of the Presiding Pastor. The Principle of Partnership with Apostolic Ministry. Musings on the Metaphor. Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. Peter Piper Picked a Peckle of Pickled Peppers. I must confess I’m sick and tired of the principle of the plurality of potent, acrostical, alliterative, asinine and Juvenile Corporate Americanization of decidedly describing what concretely could be solidly summed up admirably adequate as the Great Commission.
The Gospel, in all of its beauty, power and magnificence, is quite simple. Don’t overcomplicate it.
The following is an excerpt from Missiology that is essentially its heart:
A truly biblical missiology has a sturdy ecclesiology that shapes and guides its methods.18 The New Testament model is for the preaching of the gospel to be directed toward the formation of local churches, which provide for new converts to be baptized, discipled, and taught within the appropriate context of biblical community. Indeed, the Great Commission would make missionaries into church planters—people whose passion for the gospel results in a passion for the church.
It’s not enough simply to preach the gospel and see people converted. The Great Commission is fully satisfied only when converts become anchored in their faith, instructed in the context of the local church, and equipped as ambassadors of Christ. That is, made disciples.
[and Harvey's #18 endnote reads]:
18. Chaney agrees. He writes, “The only way to increase the ratio of Christians to population in any nation is to multiply the number of churches. If evangelicals are to make significant progress in bringing America to Christ, the number of churches must be multiplied.” Charles L. Chaney, Church Planting at the End of the Twentieth Century (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1991) pp.176-177
(Harvey, 16, 43)
Let’s cross-examine Harvey’s text with the remainder of Grudem’s text under the Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy header (picking up right after Grudem’s quotation of Luke 6:35-36):
The point of Jesus’ explanation is that we are to imitate God in being kind to those who are being ungrateful and selfish as well. Moreover, we have the example of Jesus who did not attempt to heal only those who accepted him as Messiah. Rather, when great crowds came to him, “he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them” (Luke 4:40). This should give us encouragement to carry out deeds of kindness, and to pray for healing and other needs, in the lives of unbelievers as well as believers. Such ministries of mercy to the world may also include civic activities or attempting to influence governmental policies to make them more consistent with biblical moral principles. In areas where there is systematic injustice manifested in the treatment of the poor and/or ethnic or religious minorities, the church should also pray and -as it has opportunity- speak against such injustice. All of these are ways in which the church can supplement its evangelistic ministry to the world and indeed adorn the gospel that it professes. But such ministries of mercy to the world should never become a substitute for genuine evangelism or for the other areas of ministry to God and to believers mentioned above. (Grudem, 868)
Grudem and Harvey aren’t just slightly different in their approach… they’re on different planets.
I can’t think of a better way to end this particular post than to quote from Grudem’s QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL APPLICATION at the end of his “The Nature and Purposes of the Church” chapter in Systematic Theology (question number 4):
To which purpose of the church do you think you can most effectively contribute? Which purpose has God placed in your heart a strong desire to fulfill? (Grudem, 869)
…pk
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, Great Britain: InterVarsity; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, HarperCollins, 1994.
Harvey, Dave. Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord (Number 4 of the Sovereign Grace Perspectives Series). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2006.
“I love strong women. I think they are magnificent testimonies to Christ. Because if they are complementarian, which I hope they are at our church, then they are combining things that the world can’t explain. They’re combining a sweet, tender, kind, loving, submissive, feminine beauty with this massive steel in their backs and theology in their brain.
And the world says: “You really want to be at that church? John Piper hates women. Don’t you know that? John Piper hates women.”
I grope in a controversial situation concerning complementarianism and egalitarianism, for ways to celebrate and articulate magnificence in women. “What do you think that looks like because you don’t think they should be elders, so you must think they’re dumb.” Or, “You don’t think they should call the final decisive shots in the marriage but be responsive and supportive, so, what is magnificence here?”
One of the words that has proven to be remarkably vision-giving for me and them. My goal for the women of our church is that they become sages. It’s an unusual word; we all tend to know what it means. It’s a Huldah-like…they streamed to Huldah. She was a prophet, but she evidently didn’t do public prophetic ministry, they came to her in quiet. I don’t know the details.
But I just want our women to study Wayne Grudem’s Theology and read my books and read you guys’ books and have rich, deep, strong, theology; unshakable faith; tender, sweet, kind, supportive, loving hearts towards husband and church.
And as they get to be 40, 55, 60, people are streaming to them for wisdom, because they’ve walked through such deep water.
Women, don’t begrudge suffering, you will become a sage. People will stream to you. Men will seek you out, which will not be inappropriate in the right setting, in which they say, “I need your help, I need counsel, I need insight into how to deal with this.”
And you’ve walked through 30 years, and you’ve carried this and your arm has been lamed…
And you’ve loved this husband who’s never believed and he’s with you and you’re with him…
You have this child who you’ve now nursed for 35 years and lives at home with you still and has the brain of a two-year-old…
Talk to me about perseverance, ma’am.”
View the source here
Hello Beloved:
I wanted to include a brief snippet of the last post on missiology, so I guess I can introduce it like a television series:
PREVIOUSLY ON MISSIOLOGY:
In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (1984), Professor Arthur F. Glasser attempted not so much to define what he believes missiology should be as he does documenting what it has been and what five ”Major Issues” have surrounded it and shaped it over the last two millennia and beyond: (1) Apostolic Practice, (2) Church Structure and Mission, (3) The Gospel and the Religions, (4) Salvation and Non-Christians, and (5) Christianity and Culture. (Elwell, 725)
I think this would be a good template in guiding our series on this subject, which launches us immediately into topic number one: Apostolic Practice. Glasser’s entry on missiology briefly elaborates on this subject that provides a solid framing in our approach:
Apostolic Practice. How is the apostolicity of the church to be expressed if it is conceived as embracing the evangelistic practice of the apostles as well as their “received” teaching? What is the church’s collective responsibility touching the sending forth of laborers to “bring about the obedience of faith…among all the nations” (Romans 1:5)? (Elwell, 725)
So what does [Dave] Harvey have to say about the “apostolicity” of the church? A lot. We barely get through page four of Harvey’s booklet when he makes a particular item bluntly clear:
Early in the history of this ministry [Sovereign Grace Ministries] it became apparent that the churches needed to be linked by more than a name and an essentially common vision. A leadership team of gifted and proven leaders was formed and given a dual responsibility: serving the local churches and establishing strategies for future missions direction. (When referring to the overall ministry, “leadership team” is for us synonymous with “apostolic team,” a phrase defined in the following pages.) (Harvey, 4; emphasis in bold mine)
So whatever name change takes place with the apostolic/leadership/whatever team, it’s still synonymous with “business as usual.”
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AND NOW, PART TWO:
Before we go any further, let’s remember the Great Commission from our Lord Jesus Christ:
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20. New American Standard Bible [NASB]).
To be fair to Harvey, let’s take a look at his words in explaining exactly what the “purpose” of the Missiology booklet is:
The purpose of this booklet is twofold: to explain how Sovereign Grace Ministries understands the New Testament teaching on missiology, and to describe how we have sought to apply that teaching in response to the Great Commission. But first let us emphasize the obvious: this is far from the last word on the subject. We are a young family of churches and have much more to learn about missiology than we have to teach. Our gains have been modest and our mistakes memorable. Our understanding and practice of missiology (and indeed of every area) is semper reformanda—always being reformed. Yet, for reasons mystifying to us, there is growing interest in our doctrine and practice of missions. So here in these pages is an attempt to express and explain briefly our position and practice. (Harvey, Missiology, 3; emphasis mine)
So, after three decades, we are still getting the cop-out phrases to justify past, present and future mistakes that are, by Harvey’s admission, “memorable.” Is this careful humility? Others, like myself, wonder if Sovereign Grace Ministries -who has had roughly three and a half decades from its inception to make a stronger announcement on its missiology- will step up to the plate to say anything substantive rather than publish an ambiguous missiology that flies apostolic authority under the radar (barely).
The flexibility of this ”semper reformanda,” used in this context, allows -I believe- for the same mistakes, a.k.a. sin, to be made over and over again with very little to no accountability to the congregation. This results in nothing being in place to put the church back on track in regard to obedience of the Matthew 28:16-20 directive.
This is a command, and not a suggestion or good idea. When Christ says “Go,” He is not speaking in a way that allows whimsy or convenience to dictate our witness. The record of Scripture reveals a transformation of our souls that gives us a desire to share this Hope with the lost, and Christ is commanding us to run with it. He is not speaking exclusively to the apostles, whom in this passage He addresses as disciples. The Sovereign Grace Ministries Apostolic Team cannot lay exclusive claim to this passage. But the implications of their actions as testified by many here and in their literature (i.e., church planting teams bear a sole witness in terms of a radical spreading of the Gospel) is that they do have the corner on the evangelism market. This implies that unless your evangelistic efforts are directed by their apostolic leadership, your fruit will be minimal at best and sinful at worst.
If there is any doubt to my observations, read pp. 16-17 of Harvey’s Missiology, where he proceeds to lambaste Christian media as being inadequate and producing disciples of a lesser “quality.” I believe many Christians, especially those in Third World countries, would disagree with Harvey and thank God for the trickle of media that can bust through the airwaves and underground pipelines when missionaries’ passports are denied; in these places, Harvey’s concept of the “local church” is stomped out harshly by murderous dictators and their regimes, and media combined with the underground church are the only way these precious brethren receive the Gospel.
Additionally, there are many in our own country that are invalid and/or disabled who have been abandoned by their own “local church.” Where do they get their preaching and teaching? Christian media.
I also find it amazing that statements like this can be uttered with a straight face when SGM has a veritable department store of music, books, video, and audio-message media available online. Can Harvey honestly say to the permanently hospitalized quadriplegic that their consumption of SGM media isn’t enough? Must they be wheeled into the local church and made to sign a member’s contract/agreement/blood oath to get the full benefit of the Gospel?
The arrogance of such statements and the audacity that Harvey has in claiming to know how to better spend $15,000-$17,000 a week (Harvey, 16-17) by planting churches can only make the blood boil of those who work hard in the media to spread the Gospel in this country and the rest of the world. Do efforts legitimize a doctrinal stance? Of course not. But that’s not what we are talking about here, and Harvey makes no doctrinal distinctions when it comes to his approval of Christian media. He views it as a supplement, at best, and nothing more. In my case, I simply shake my head in shame that a leader of our organization can make such pride-filled, unbiblical, man-centered statements as these. Folks, Harvey’s words are there; this is not a simplistic assignation of motives.
Harvey tries to soften the business end of his baseball bat that has been inscribed with his New Testament “local church” observations by adding the following:
Especially in cross-cultural application, added obstacles will surely arise, from seasons of persecution to the enactment of strict government policies that declare a country “closed.” But let us remember that the New Testament depicts a world in which persecution, suffering, and martyrdom were not unusual for Christians obeying the Great Commission. Despite such severe challenges, local churches were continually planted and strengthened. We must not abandon our commitment to church planting simply because a nation appears hostile or closed. (Harvey, 17-18)
The above statement is not necessarily inaccurate, but it is cheapened by the high-nosed we-know-better-than-y’all Phariseeism it is prefaced by! This is like throwing a bucket of water on a house they have already torched. This is not Scripture or the Spirit of the Gospel by any stretch of the imagination.
And notice the word exchange and cross-definitions going on? “Missions,” “Missiology,” “Apostolic Ministry” and “Church Planting” all become the same thing by such encompassing, generic statements. Here’s an example (and these types of statements are littered throughout Missiology):
Apostolic ministry, so often missing from modern missions work, is nevertheless integral to the way of biblical missiology; it goes hand in hand with church planting. (Harvey, 19)
The above statement could have the underlined words rotated around like a volleyball team (try it), and to its core it would be saying the same thing every time. Even George Orwell couldn’t have dreamed this up. No wonder there have been outside “observations” on our “unbiblical” SGM-speak that is not “Gospel-centered” or “God-Glorifying,” particularly “in the context of the local church.” All of this word-exchange and lexicon-building is patent nonsense, doesn’t come close to the heart of an honest treatment of missions, and it needs to stop. I’ve been guilty of it, and God forgive me.
God forgive all of us in Sovereign Grace Ministries for ever thinking we could have an exclusive language, and build a tower to the heavens with our rulebooks as bricks and a mortar made of a pulverized flock.
Wayne Grudem describes the Purposes of the Church as follows:
We can understand the purposes of the church in terms of ministry to God, ministry to believers, and ministry to the world. (Grudem, 867)
He further breaks this down into categories he elaborates on: (1) Ministry to God: Worship, (2) Ministry to Believers: Nurture, (3) Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy, and (4) Keeping These Purposes in Balance. (Grudem, 867-869)
So what is the elaboration behind Grudem’s (3) Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy? Stay tuned. It’s a goldmine.
But let’s end on this note: Re-read the Great Commission. It’s very clear, it’s very Gospel-centered, it’s very biblical, it’s very God-glorifying: Christ commands you, Brothers and Sisters. That means all of us, the saved, the transformed, the born again, the regenerated, the rescued and the called are commanded to go into all the world with the Gospel. There is no parenthetical reference that excludes the flock from the command and defers it solely to a man-made “apostolic authority.” Harvey even admits that the Great Commission is to the church universal (Harvey, 12-13), but then goes on to contradict this point when in the remaining pages he hammers home again and again the “apostolic oversight” that must be in place over churches.
Christ did provide apostolic oversight and His guidance: their names are the Gospels and the Epistles. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, there is no stopping them.
Go into all the world, because Christ your Savior, your Lord, your Everything, commands you to go.
…pk
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Elwell, Walter A. (Editor). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 1984.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, Great Britain: InterVarsity; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, HarperCollins, 1994.
Harvey, Dave. Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord (Number 4 of the Sovereign Grace Perspectives Series). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2006.
Hello Beloved:
A couple of years ago, when I first opened my new copy of Dave Harvey’s Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord, I had to look up the word missiology, because (a) I, Protestant Knight, am not as think as you smart I am and (b) Harvey does not give a paragraph or one sentence toward a simple definition of missiology; not even a quick one that can he can launch from in the booklet’s opening pages. He at least did readers this courtesy in the first paragraph of his booklet, Polity, by explaining polity’s meaning and its Greek roots. Missiology is not so new a word to come onto the scene to warrant this; it landed onto the vocabulary landscape sometime in the early 1920’s, according to dictionary.com.
Instead, Harvey spends forty-six pages defining mis·si·ol·o·gy, or, the study of how missions are carried out according to Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM). Yes, I know, I am stating the obvious: If someone has a booklet titled Missiology, there’s a good chance that expounding on missiology between the covers will take place. My whole point is that this particular subject is one that Harvey wants SGM to own right out of the gate. As we will see throughout this series, it starts off with a type of gee-whiz bewilderment that turns into a not-so-humble orthodoxy toward the end.
“Aw, c’mon PK, are you gonna pick on Dave Harvey again?”
No, just a few of Dave’s statements and conclusions in Missiology.
I believe it would be of particular value if we filtered SGM’s missiology through the strainer of some of the big brains who sit outside -and at times even close to- our camp at SGM. Yes, Harvey’s Missiology details the missionary vision according to SGM, but in following the example of Paul telling the church at Thessalonica to ”examine everything carefully” and “hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21), we must go forward with study while Scripture is firmly in hand and view.
After a recent re-read of our Missiology, I am seeing an umbilical cord between our missiology and polity practices at SGM, as to me they seem to inform each other equally. This makes missiology a topic of enormous importance concerning the purity of the church. Some would make the argument that these two should inform each other equally. Whatever the actual extent of the connection, of particular concern to me is that an infection (sin) in one can spread to the other.
So, at the beginning of Missiology, since Harvey isn’t quoting a dictionary or thesaurus or Greek lexicon or etymological word finder in regard to the word missiology, how does he in fact begin? Missiology starts with a not-so-subtle cautionary tale as Harvey tells a story about getting lost on his way to a church in a nearby town (Harvey, Missiology, 1). Remember, this anecdote is coming from a man who all but refuses to listen to “anecdotal” war stories regarding polity; that is, he has a particular distaste for cautionary tales -even if they are true- that warn of the abuses of those hijacking the authority and title of the apostles (Harvey, Polity, 21). My whole point is this: Harvey is not afraid to use anecdotes to further his point, or condemn anecdotes when they deter his point. This makes for a whimsical defense and offense that come off as Harvey being self-serving, i.e. he can use anecdotes, but the rest of the population of earth can’t. If this was not his intention, my only advice for him is to stop it. I personally have never been anti-anecdote as long as a scriptural basis informs it throughout, but Dave, don’t condemn a writing technique that you wish to employ before or after your own condemnation of it!
A BRIEF SIDENOTE: DOES PROTESTANT KNIGHT HAVE AN AXE TO GRIND WITH DAVE HARVEY? No. I have never met Dave Harvey, so I cannot comment on him personally, nor would it serve any purpose to do so on this website or in any other fashion, period. What I can do is make an assessment of what Dave has said or written based on audio messages, outlines, booklets, books and articles he has produced. While I do employ sarcasm from time to time, it is no different than the sarcasm employed by pastors -within and without SGM- on a regular basis to further a point or to illustrate things ranging from silliness to heresy. If you have a problem with sarcasm, you have a problem with men like the prophet Elijah and the apostle Paul. Dave Harvey happens to be in the crosshairs on my last two series because he is the author several of the SGM Perspectives booklets I am reviewing. These booklets are held up in high regard within SGM churches, and are handed to anyone asking about the subjects with which they deal.
In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (1984), Professor Arthur F. Glasser attempted not so much to define what he believes missiology should be as he does documenting what it has been and what five ”Major Issues” have surrounded it and shaped it over the last two millennia and beyond: (1) Apostolic Practice, (2) Church Structure and Mission, (3) The Gospel and the Religions, (4) Salvation and Non-Christians, and (5) Christianity and Culture. (Elwell, 725)
I think this would be a good template in guiding our series on this subject, which launches us immediately into topic number one: Apostolic Practice. Glasser’s entry on missiology briefly elaborates on this subject that provides a solid framing in our approach:
Apostolic Practice. How is the apostolicity of the church to be expressed if it is conceived as embracing the evangelistic practice of the apostles as well as their “received” teaching? What is the church’s collective responsibility touching the sending forth of laborers to “bring about the obedience of faith…among all the nations” (Romans 1:5)? (Elwell, 725)
So what does Harvey have to say about the “apostolicity” of the church? A lot. We barely get through page four of Harvey’s booklet when he makes a particular item bluntly clear:
Early in the history of this ministry [Sovereign Grace Ministries] it became apparent that the churches needed to be linked by more than a name and an essentially common vision. A leadership team of gifted and proven leaders was formed and given a dual responsibility: serving the local churches and establishing strategies for future missions direction. (When referring to the overall ministry, “leadership team” is for us synonymous with “apostolic team,” a phrase defined in the following pages.) (Harvey, Missiology, 4; emphasis in bold mine)
So whatever name change takes place with the apostolic/leadership/whatever team, it’s still synonymous with “business as usual.”
Being that the above statement alone is worth chewing on for awhile, we’ll take a brief break here for comments, Beloved. For further discussion about the office of “apostle,” click on this link. Next time we’ll discuss Harvey’s assertions on the apostles serving-and-caring-and-caring-and-serving and how this all fits into the work of missions.
In the meantime, remain in the grip of His grace. Test all things! Hold fast to that which is good!
…pk
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Elwell, Walter A. (Editor). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 1984.
Harvey, Dave. Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord (Number 4 of the Sovereign Grace Perspectives Series). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2006.
Harvey, Dave. Polity: Serving and Leading in the Local Church (Number 2 of the Sovereign Grace Perspectives Series). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2004.
“missiology.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 29 Sep. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/missiology>.
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