Here’s What Makes Ransoming The Captive The Hardest Work Of Mercy To Understand

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Pastor Foley

This month we focus on what is typically the hardest Work of Mercy for Christians to understand and thus put into practice: Ransoming the Captive. We begin with Pastor Foley’s Heuristic Helper for the month:

If something is hard for Christians to understand it is usually because: (1) we haven’t studied the fullness of Scripture on the subject; (2) we did study the fullness of Scripture on the subject but still felt something was missing, so we took it on ourselves to fill in the blank; and/or (3) Scripture seemed to be telling us to do something so contrary to good common sense that we assumed God would of course never ask us to do such a thing, and so we walked away shaking our heads and muttering. (I like to call this The Rich Young Ruler Syndrome.)

All three confusion causers are operative with regard to the subject of ransoming the captive. As we’ll see this month, folks teaching on this subject often:

    • miss some of Scripture’s most crucial verses about ransoming and captives;
    • are tempted to speak where the Scripture is (purposefully) silent on the subject;
    • overlook the fascinating stories in church history of Christians who put this Work of Mercy into practice at the cost of their lives, finances, and reputations.

The one thing that’s for sure is that it’s going to take a good month of posting to identify and then work through the misunderstandings on this subject. The payoff is, of course, that  once we have a solidly Scriptural grounding in the matter we’ll be confronted with the kind of call to life-disrupting practice that will leave us longing for the days of gentle confusion where we could just shrug our shoulders sheepishly and not let the whole thing bother us too much. After all, there is one thing harder than not knowing what God wants from us; namely, knowing what God wants from us.

But, profoundly convinced of the boundless grace of God, let us be wise men rushing in where fools fear to tread as together this month we tackle the subject of Ransoming the Captive.

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Is It A Sin To Do [X]? And How Do We Know?

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Pastor Foley

What is the question I receive most frequently from the Christians I’m discipling?

“Is it a sin to [X]?”

Books may be written about the far more glamorous themes of discipleship–subjects like calling, spiritual gifts, and church planting and multiplication–but by sheer frequency, in the deepest and most authentic discipleship relationships of which I’m a part, what Christians want to know is whether something they are doing–or thinking about doing–is wrong.

When the question comes up, I like to refer people to Susanna Wesley’s definition of sin:

Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.

I learned this lesson not from reading Susanna Wesley but from watching and listening to Rev. Bill Rogers, the first man who discipled me, when I was 19 years old and Bill was pastoring Mt. Olive United Methodist Church in Sweetser, Indiana.

Bill and his gracious wife, Sandy, had invited a bunch of us over to his house on New Year’s Eve. We spent the evening playing various kinds of board games and generally having a good time.

Finally, someone suggested we play a card game–euchre. Not being from the Midwest, I had never heard of euchre before and was eager to learn. As we began, Bill stood up and cheerfully cleared the used plates and cups from the table and took them to the kitchen.

“What’s the matter, Bill?” I jeered playfully in an annoying 19-year old way. “Do you think playing cards is a sin?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Bill, thoughtfully. “All I know is that it is for me.”

Bill explained to me what Susanna Wesley explained above: We above anyone else will know what leads our hearts away from Christ. Something may have no effect on the hearts of others in this regard (or it may and they simply prefer not to admit it, even to themselves), but we need to follow the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:12 in remembering that

“Everything is permissible for me”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”–but I will not be mastered by anything.

In our purported fear of works righteousness we Christians tend to chafe at specific commands for conduct in the Christian life. It’s fascinating that we have the opposite insistence when it comes to sin. We like to define sin narrowly and specifically.

But in matters of discerning right conduct or wrong, as Susanna Wesley noted and Bill Rogers lived out so well, the same principle is at issue:

[W]hatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.

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So What Are These Commands of Christ We’re Supposed To Teach People to Obey?

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Pastor Foley

There it sits, right smack in the middle of the Great Commission. Matthew 18:20a:

…teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you…

Given that this is how Jesus constitutes the discipling task he intends for each of us to undertake, it stands to reason that the best way for us to begin is to ask:

So what are these commands of Christ we’re supposed to teach people to obey?

As a discipler, I would note that there are reasons why we get a book called the New Testament rather than a single sheet of paper entitled Commands of Christ–Summary List. Primary among those reasons is that Christ is at least as focused, if not more so, on the why and how of undertaking his commands as he is on the what. So, yes, context matters (supremely) with regard to the commands of Christ.

That being said, I would also note as a discipler that there is tremendous pedagogical value in coaching those you’re discipling to create their own reference list of the commands of Christ, compiled as they read the gospels. What you mine from the Scriptures is yours forever; what someone else mines for you is theirs forever and never quite yours.

Here are several resources that are worth your review and your having on hand for reference, both as examples of how and what to compile in such a list, and how a list can be utilized in discipleship:

  1. Galen Currah’s 300+ Commands of Jesus. Most lists of the commands of Jesus include 38, or 50, or 125 depending upon which commands the author discerns apply directly to Christians today. For example, throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some fish is a command of Jesus; however, it is likely worth differentiating from as I have loved you, so you must love one another. But determining the generalizability of some of the commands of Jesus is not nearly as easy; what’s more, even in the commands of Jesus that don’t apply directly to us there’s a lot we can learn. So Currah’s list of 300+ commands is both useful and impressive. He lists each command and indicates whether he believes the command is general or specific, as well as whether it is grammatically indirect or direct. Make sure to check it out and print off a copy for study.
  2. Peter Wittstock’s book, Hear Him! The One Hundred Twenty-Five Commands of Jesus, lists each of Jesus’ commands in the gospels that Wittstock contends is addressed to all believers. Wittstock also provides a short explanation of each command (with insights culled from his own study of the Greek text), as well as a statement of the audience to which Jesus first spoke the command and a list of related Scripture verses for further study. Sure, there’s a few interesting additions to the 125 commands, like a prophecy related to the destruction of the World Trade Center, but it’s like having a conversation with that fun uncle of yours who taught you how to change the oil in your car while simultaneously seeking to convince you that Apollo 11 never landed on the moon: You can somehow distinguish between the two lessons, appreciating the one and nodding politely during the other. A bit of viewer discretion is advised, in other words, but this is still a unique and helpful resource.
  3. Tom Blackaby’s The Commands of Christ: What It Really Means To Follow Jesus. Tom is Henry Blackaby’s son, and this 2012 book does a nice job categorizing and contextualizing the commands in order to make sure that no one mistakes them for the Stairway to Heaven. It makes a solid introductory read, as well as a good giveaway book for those you’ll disciple who still get an uneasy feeling about the (in our age sadly novel) idea that doing what Jesus commands is an integral part of the Christian life.

Don’t permit these to become substitutes for creating your own compilation of commands, which is an inestimably valuable exercise. But you’ll find these resources helpful. After all,  considering and growing from the work of other disciples who have gone on before you is an essential aspect of the discipleship enterprise.

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