Cyber Truths By E-mail
28. Practicing Biblical Gatekeeping (July 10, 2007)
Gatekeeping, A Critical Bible Responsibility
—
But WHO is Responsible and HOW Is It Accomplished?
Dear Friends,
The other day Sue was reading the Spring
2007 issue of Viewpoint: Confronting the Issues of America's
Heart and Home published by our friend Chuck Crismier, founder
of Save America (www.saveus.org). Chuck notes 4 reasons for the
Internet being a prominent vehicle of delivering biblical
truth. This particular reason jumped out at us:
"The Internet enables us to
'circumvent the gatekeepers' within the American church who,
believe it or not, are increasingly seeking to stifle the
flow of God's truth both to professing believers and the world
under the guise of "marketing" and being "seeker
sensitive."
This quote reminded us of our July 1997
newsletter, Today's Gatekeepers. Ever since we've tried to share our research
on the Hebraic restoration, we've been confronted by the
so-called 'gatekeepers' of today who control what Christians
are hearing and believing. We know what our friend Chuck has
been up against as he's also tried to proclaim an unpopular
message that doesn't tickle religious ears or make people
"feel good" in their compromise with the world.
Gatekeepers are those who take upon
themselves the responsibility of a position of control and
power to determine what others hear and/or believe. One source
has noted five contemporary gatekeepers in Christendom today:
1. Clergy
2. Seminaries
3. Parachurch ministries
4. Publishers
5. Media (such as TV, movies, radio,
Internet)
Sue and I have encountered most of these
gatekeeping functionaries during our years of ministry.
Thirteen years ago when we sent the Restoring the Early Church
and Demolishing Strongholds manuscripts to publishers, we
received pressure to water-down our message to make it more
widely palatable, thus more marketable. (We refused to alter
what our Lord had given us to share.) In the media arena, we've
participated in several dynamic radio interviews, but still, an
issue with many stations is marketability—money; and
whether we're willing to make our message "user
friendly". (There's no way to confront the darkness of
iniquity and sin except to call for response to God and His
truth: to turn away from sin as detestable and turn to Him for
loving forgiveness and reconciliation! The lifelong pilgrimage
of walking in love-grounded obedient trust according to His
Spirit and His Word is neither popular nor easy!)
As part of his mobile ministry, the
apostle John encountered a type of 'gatekeeping' opposition
similar to what we've experienced. Writing to Gaius, a beloved
brother in Jesus who was part of an extended spiritual family,
John praised this band of called-out ones for their
faithfulness and kind hospitality. However, a letter by John
that was earlier carried to these believers brought about
malicious, groundless gossip and spiteful slander against both
John and the faithful brothers who came to them —
perpetrated by a gatekeeper who insisted on monitoring and
filtering whatever was taught and whoever was welcomed. This
man, Diotrephes, took counsel from no one! Both his motive
— his personal ambition of preeminence — and his
deeds reflected an arrogant, self-centered perspective that the
called-out ones were his personal fiefdom, and that he was
their guardian and master!
This particular gatekeeper had no qualms
about excluding either the brethren from John who held to
biblical truth or those who sided with them!
“I wrote something to the church;
but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not
accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call
attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with
wicked words; and not satisfied with this, neither does he
himself receive the brethren, and he forbids those who desire
to do so, and puts them out of the church” (3 John 9,10).
Sue and I have on occasion met the
‘Diotrephes’ individuals and systems of today
— those who determine what's best for other Christians to
be exposed to, and strictly restrict and reject any view that
differs.
One of the primary issues facing the early
Church was determining and confirming truth so that it could be
lived by. This was vitally important so that new followers of
Jesus could walk according to the Spirit and the Word in a way
that pleased our Father. We refer to this function of
substantiating and confirming truth as “the process of
gatekeeping.” In other words, who or what process(es)
should be used to determine God’s truth and how it should
be implemented in each life situation?
As we've written on previous occasions,
the usual method of confirmation came from two or three
witnesses as they were guided by the Holy Spirit (see
Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1). If
a dispute over a decision was anticipated, the believers could
also cast lots to determine truth (see Proverbs 18:18, 16:33).
On the first page of our website we make a
statement to encourage you to use the biblical process of
gatekeeping to confirm your own faith practices:
Be Sure To Discuss The Truths On This
Website With Others
DISCUSSION Is The Hebraic Method Of
Pursuing Truth And Applying It
Through the material at the website which
is founded on God's Word, we anticipate that you’ll be
able to take appropriate steps of action all along your faith
journey to bring Him praise. We hope that you’ll be
strengthened in your walk with our Lord Jesus and be
revitalized in your relationships of marriage, family, and
load-bearing friends. You can't just read these truths in order
for them become part of your life. You need to discuss them
with others who will earnestly press on in the faith with you.
Discussion is the Hebraic method of pursuing truth and applying
it. In fact, the rabbis of the Hebraic Stream
taught that whenever two or three discussed God’s Word,
the Holy Spirit was with them to give understanding and
application.
Jesus commends the connection between
mutual discussion and agreement by promising His presence when
this takes place:
“I tell you the truth, whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.
I tell you that if two of you on earth
agree about anything you ask for,
it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
For where two or three come together in My
name, there am I with them”
(Matthew 18:18-20).
The presence of Jesus in your midst as you
pursue truth makes all the difference in the world. He confirms
His truth for you and also stirs you to put it into practice to
serve in His Kingdom! So please, don't just read what you find
in this e-mail, discuss it with others!
Thoughts for You to Consider and Discuss:
• Who should be the gatekeepers among
His called-out ones today?
• What process do you use to confirm
God’s truth?
• Who should be able to minister
communion in their faith family?
• Who should be able to baptize?
Because of our biblical stance against
Nicolaitanism, some of you may think that we are
"anti-pastor". Far from it! The exercise of Godly
pastoring by older men to whom our Father has given loving
concern for nurturing and guiding His children is sorely needed
today. What we're warning His people against is the thing God
hates—the Nicolaitan system which is behind the
clergy-laity distinction in Christendom today. This system of
practice is what's hindering the priesthood of all the
followers of Jesus from being enacted on a daily basis by those
who are wholeheartedly walking in step with His Spirit.
Please, examine your heart honestly. Are
you complacently hiding out in a Nicolaitan system with your
religious life filled with activities while someone else tells
you what to believe, yet you have no ongoing intimacy with
Jesus being evidenced in your life? Tragically, you are in sin.
Don’t force the God Who loves you to painfully raise the
stakes for you to yield to His way and His Word as He did time
and again with His people Israel (see His pattern, for example,
in Psalm 107). Paul warns Timothy that in the last days there
will be those “having a form
of godliness but denying its power.” He goes on to exhort, “Have
nothing to do with them” (2
Timothy 3:5).
God is still speaking through His prophet
Jeremiah to those today who have forsaken His awesome and holy
Self in order to worship at the feet of a god of their own
desire and creation—fed to them by unbiblical gatekeepers:
“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug
their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold
water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
The gatekeepers of religious systems have
created their own programs and practices, a mixture of belief
and tradition that follows the principles of worldly management
systems rather than utilizing the gatekeeping process Jesus
calls for in Matthew 18:18-20.
It can't have passed your notice that
compromise and toleration have become the bywords of the
religious system as worldly goals, self-gratifying values and
man-centered methods have infiltrated man's concept of
"church". So many have forsaken the pattern of
love-grounded obedient trust that would evidence the Church
which Jesus promised to build. But such an intentional life of
wholehearted trust in Him calls for load-bearing family in
Christ who pursue meaningful discussion that leads to applying
God's Word.
Let's look once more at God's pattern for
leading and guiding faith communities. Our God chooses
elders/shepherds to "guard the gate." Elders, the
biblical gray-haired zakens of the synagogue and early Church,
were gatekeepers in the mold of their Hebraic, sheep-tending
forefathers:
“Therefore, I exhort the elders
among you, as your fellow elder [no ecclesiastical position
noted here] and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a
sharer also of the glory that is about to be revealed, shepherd
[guide, guard, lead to nourishment] the [little] flock of God
among you, not under compulsion, but willingly [heart
motivation], according to God [as unto Him and His will and His
ways]; and not from eagerness for sordid gain, but eagerly
[with readiness]; nor as exercising lordship over those
allotted to your charge, but becoming examples [pattern, role
model] to the [little] flock” (1
Peter 5:1-3, from the Greek).
The word "little" we've inserted
comes from a diminutive form of the word for flock that's used
by Peter, giving the impression that these elders had intimate
knowledge of their relatively few "sheep" rather than
oversight of a whole organization of many believers.
Paul clearly portrays the gatekeeping role
of biblical shepherds in his heartrending instructions to the
elders he summons from the called-out at Ephesus, people whom
he'd taught both in public venues and from house to house (see
Acts 20:17,20):
“Keep watch [intentionally hold your
mind toward; beware of danger] over yourselves and all the
[little] flock of which the Holy Spirit has placed you as
overseers [literally, watchers, exercising watchful care] to
shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own
blood. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come
in among you and will not spare the flock. And from among you
yourselves will arise men speaking distorted things [perverting
the truth with intent to mislead or corrupt] in order to drag
away the disciples after them. So be on your guard [vigilantly
watchful]! Remember that for three years I never stopped
warning each of you night and day with tears” (Acts 20:28-31, from the Greek).
Remember, there was a plurality of elders
who cooperated together with no one more important than
another. Their decisions and counsel for nurturing and guarding
a flock were collectively considered and discussed. Then they
were able to offer an appropriate application of God's Word to
a situation facing a particular follower of Jesus or the
extended spiritual family as a whole. Elders used the process
of gatekeeping according to the example and precedent of their
Hebrew ancestors. Such an example would be found in the book of
Ruth, chapter 4. Boaz, eager to uphold the law of
kinsman-redeemer, approached the elders for a halakhic decision
(an application of God's Word) as to whether he had the right
to marry Ruth. (See also Acts 15 for another example of the
process of gatekeeping by those who were watchful on a larger
basis that the flock of Jesus walk according to His way.)
Our research indicates that the true
elders of the early Church who guided and guarded the people of
God were older, wise, gray-bearded men who met the
qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. In other words, in
contrast to the widely practiced roles of today:
• There were no clergy in the
early church who acted as gatekeepers.
• There were no seminaries in the
early church who acted as gatekeepers.
• There were no parachurch ministries in
the early church who acted as gatekeepers.
• There were no publishers in the
early church who acted as gatekeepers.
• There were no media in the early
church who acted as gatekeepers.
Our spiritual forefathers relied on the
gatekeeping process of confirmation by two or three, and the
role of gatekeeping in faith communities by the older men who
shepherded our Father's children.
Truly follow the pattern prescribed in
God's Word. Serve King Jesus our Lord in loving trust through
prayerful discussion that leads to application in your life,
and praying for gatekeepers in your midst who lovingly serve
Him as they serve their extended spiritual family. Do you want
to experience the vitality and fruitfulness of the early
followers of Jesus? Then follow their example as they followed
Him according to the processes established in His Word!
Your servants in the Kingdom,
Mike & Sue Dowgiewicz