What's in a Signature...

Before we get to Who Do You Belong To, Part Deux, a bit of explanation about something I have been asked about: my signature at the end of my blog posts.

Yes, it appears I am putting on airs, as opposed to putting on the dog. Airs means I am trying to appear special or superior. Putting on the Dog, by some strange quirk of idiom, means the same thing as putting on the Ritz.

Well, I'm not. Putting on airs, that is. My signature:

† Scott, V.D.M. ev

Let's read Hebrew style - right to left. "ev" is the Latin abbreviation for episcopus vagans - wandering or stray bishop. Here's a tiny piece of what the Encyclopedia Britannica of our time, Wikipedia, has to say under its entry for episcopi vagantes (the plural of episcopus vagans):

"...are persons who have been consecrated as Christian bishops outside the structures and canon law of the established churches, and who not in communion with any generally recognized diocese."

Most of what you'll find googling episcopus vagans is going to relate to one of three communions: the Roman (Latin Rite) Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox (Catholic) Church or the Church of England/Anglican Communion. You might find some little discussion on the episcopi in the conservative branch of the Lutheran church but, very little.

I belong to none of the aforementioned communions. I am a product of the Reformation; I am a Protestant. In my community of Faith - the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, founded by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, in the 1800's - we had/have ministers or pastors, elders & deacons. Careful to avoid the titles and practices of the heretical Roman Church, we didn't have priests or bishops, although we apparently couldn't figure out a way around deacons for Rome has a diaconate with...surprise! Deacons. Oh well, two outta three...

My Bona Fides

I made my confession of Faith and was baptized at the Town and Country Church of Christ, Ottawa, Kansas on April 18, 1969.

From the fall of 1977 through approximately 1980 I attended Ozark Bible College in Joplin, Missouri. (It is now Ozark Christian College)

From 1980 to approximately I maintained a ministry by being an announcer of the College's FM radio station, KOBC 90.7. Paul told Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture. I'm sure Timothy fulfilled his charge admirably but with 30,000 watts of Effective Radiated Power I was heard from Ft. Scott, Kansas in the North to almost the Arkansas line in the South over into Southeastern Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma on the West to half way to Springfield, Missouri in the East. (Not that I'm bragging. I'm just, you know, saying.)

After returning to Kansas City in 1992 I attended Country Hills Christian Church in Lenexa, Kansas and when their minister resigned suddenly I was chosen to preach until a full time replacement could be found. I filled in for roughly a year and a half.

What happened between dropping out of Bible college and my ordination in 1996, approximately 16 years later? Life. Life happened. Sickness, poorer, learning what the Scripture and God was all about and when He thought me ready... But as I said in my ordination sermon, ordination was not the cumulative end point of my ministry but only a stopping point along the way. And it has been. 

On March 10th, 1996, the elders of the now former Country Hills Christian Church in Lenexa, Kansas, laid hands upon me and ordained me to the Gospel ministry. Boyce Mouton, then minister of the Carl Junction Christian Church, Carl Junction, Missouri presided.

My ordination certificate says I am ordained a minister of the Gospel. Huh. Ain't no such "office" established by the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Ephesians 4:11-12:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ...

No "minister of the Gospel" or even "bishop" there but stay with me. Alan Hirsch of the Churches of Christ in Australia, a pastor, speaker, teacher and church organizer had this to say about the calling in Ephesians 4:11. He has developed an acronym: APEST. It stands for Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers.

A postles - extend the Gospel.

P rophets - know God's will. They are particularly attuned to God and His truth for today. They bring correction and challenge the dominant assumptions we inherit from the culture. They insist that the community obey what God has commanded. They question the status quo. (And I believe I have been called a prophet under Hirsch's definition. I have looked around me after so much personal tutelage/difficult situations from God the Father and I say, "Uh, wait just a second. The dominant assumptions that the Church has sucked up from the culture - hey, THIS IS WRONG! We should be doing what God has commanded and not what some marketing genius has dictated for Church growth. Finally, this all clicks for me.)

E vangelists - recruit. They are dynamic communicators who bring others into the Church.

S heperds - (pastors) Watch over God's flock, nurturing and seeking to mature the flock. (This too has always been part of what I have been called to and I think a pastor's role goes somewhat hand-in-glove with being a prophet.)

T eachers - understand and explain. Communicators of God's truth and wisdom, they help others remain biblically grounded to better discern God's will... (Again! Me. Way back in 1977 I found myself wanting to teach as much as shepherd and prophesy - in my vision, all a part of being a minister of the Gospel or an episkopoi, bishop.)

I don't agree with everything Hirsch puts forth but on balance I think he is "tuned in," the Spirit within me is not kicking me in the gut saying, "DANGER, Will Robinson!" I would suggest you google Brother Hirsch and read up on APEST and other items in his theology.

Well, back to bishops and elders, episkopoi and presbuteros: Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words has this to say about presbuteros, translated as "elder."

- (3) in the Christian churches, those who, being raised up and qualified by the work of the Holy Spirit, were appointed to have the spiritual care of, and to exercise oversight over, the churches. To these the term "bishops," episkopoi, or "overseers," is applied (see Acts 20, ver. 17 with ver. 28, and Titus 1:5,7), the latter term indicating the nature of their work, presbuteroi their maturity of spirtual experience. The Divine arrangement seen throughout the NT was for a plurality of these to be appointed in each church, Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 5:17; Titus 1:5. The duty of "elders" is described by the verb episkopeo. They were appointed according as they had given evidence of fulfilling the Divine qualifications, Titus 1:6-9; cp. 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 1 Pet. 5:2; (4) the twenty-four "elders" enthroned in heaven around the throne of God, Rev. 4:4,10; 5:5-14; 7:11,13; 11:16; 14:3; 19:4. The number twenty-four is representative of earthly conditions. The word "elder" is nowhere applied to angels. See OLD.

I believe what I was ordained to was to be an episkopoi, a bishop. Also, as I mature in the Kingdom, I am a presbuteros, an elder, having been also ordained as one even though that it not what it says on my ordination certificate..

As I am without a specific congregation (parrish in the Roman order) but having been duly ordained, I am an episcopus vagans. To be clear it's vagans and NOT vegans.

Continuing to read to the left, we encounter the acronym, V.D.M. Alexander Campbell is said to have gotten a little miffed with the Presbyterian ministers in his area who loved to flaunt their degrees; their Doctors of Divinity's (D.D.), Doctors of Theology's (D.Th.), Doctors of Ministry's (D.Min.), etc. Campbell was degree-less. But he wanted to show whom he worked for, so to speak. So, as was a custom among some Protestant preachers, especially among the Calvinists, Campbell took the initials V.D.M., Latin for Verbi Dei minister or Verbi Dei magister. Both variations represent Minister or Master (Magister) of the Word of God. There is a third meaning of V.D.M. and that is Verbi divini minister or Minister of the Divine Word.

When I use V.D.M., I am using verbi dei minister or magister. I think it reflects better whom/what I am working for. Jesus is THE WORD of GOD ( John 1:1-5) and the Bible is the word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

No, I am not putting on airs or the dog. In using the initials after my name I am asserting my right and qualification to teach and preach but more than anything I need a reminder of the responsibility I have been called to by God the Father and to handle it with prayer and humility.

Until later, may the peace of Christ be upon you,

† Scott, V.D.M. ev

Who Do You Belong To, Part One

Who do you belong to?

What are you to whomever owns you?

How do you know how to think, live, act for your owner?

Strange questions? Well, you know, it's like me. Your king, King Julien! (Sorry, my inner lemur comes out occasionally.)

Let us assume you know what the first question means and you're a Christian sooo, the answer is you belong to Jesus. Good. You're 1 for 1, batting a 1,000.

Question Deux: You are "saved." Well, that's a big Duh, eh Cubby? And by being saved you are a child of God, brother of Jesus. And, you are not going to Hell when Jesus whistles everyone out of the pool at the end of time. So you got that going for you. Ehhhhhh! You are on a roll! Oh, and you're a member of God's Church, at least of "this" flavor (denomination). Mysteriously, though no one may call you this, according to Scripture you are a disciple of Christ. Must be something obsolete or encompassed into being a member. Don't sweat it, Cubby; no points off for not knowing about discipleship.

Question Three (You're going for the Prize Pack: a bottle of Biblical wine (Grape Juice from Welch's), a gift certificate for $5 good at any McDonald's in Alaska, Hawaii or Winnipeg, Manitoba, and, drum roll please, two free nights at any Motel 6 along the

Monongahela River, not including Pittsburgh & Allegheny County. Wow! What a stunning prize pack! Good Luck!)

Let me take a crack at it for you.

You belong to a congregation of a denomination or if it's a non-denominational congregation, it is all by its lonesome and it has what's called "congregational polity," meaning they can run their own show. And They Do. And, you Cubby, you're a member. Well, assuming, that is, you sign the - excuse me, gotta sneeze - HereticalBlasphemousBullShitofSatan - "membership covenant" that basically says: (depending on your denomination or congregation - let's just abbreviate this as Your mileage may vary or YMMV. ) a) You don't know squat about our congregation or God or Jesus or any other stuff like the Bible or the Illuminati writings of a certain mega church pastor, so b) You need to sign this which says, in short, you will in no way question or challenge the leadership (read pastor & family but YMMV) of this congregation. Congratulations, L'chaiim!

Sadly, the above is your Base Line Thinking and here's what it get's you. It's how you live.

You are pro-Israel, pro-life, generally Republican (and if not, you learn quicker than you can say, "Bob's your uncle," to keep your political opinions to yourself and smile and nod a lot. YMMV.

This is sort of reversed for liberal main line denominations and non-denominationals who are "into" social justice, seeking God (what? they can't find Him?) and creating community. You root for the Palestinians, you volunteer or give money to Planned Parenthood and counsel 8th graders on birth control that does not focus on abstaining. (Wink, wink) Oh yeah, and you really aren't sure if you believe in God or Jesus but it helps to say you go to church if you're climbing the corporate ladder.

You go to church on Sundays OR if your congregation is "progressive" maybe they have Saturday evening worship services and you go then so you can sleep in Sunday morning, read the Sunday New York Times in bed with your missus or significant other or...you know, other things (Wink, wink). That is pretty cool. No getting up on Sunday mornings.

You put some money in the collection plate. If you're familiar with the tithe (giving 10% of your gross, well, okay, your net income) you put your tithe in. If you want the tax deduction at the end of the year, you write a check. The congregation's treasurer then sends you a statement of what you've given over the tax year and you can write it off on your taxes. That's pretty cool, too.

If your congregation has communion, whether weekly, monthly or quarterly, you take communion.

Finally, somewhere along the line, after you declared that you believed in God and you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior it should have been impressed upon you that you were to try to be, try to have or behave in a fairly morally upright manner with character to match.

Bada-BING! You're done!

Oh, maybe if a congregation has a small group ministry you attend (you may be forced to attend but YMMV). Maybe, if you're really into the congregation and what it represents you may volunteer for odd jobs that need to be done around the building (mow the grass being the biggie, assuming lawn care has not been contracted) or you may volunteer to be a chaperon for mixed gender field trips (maybe a youth retreat at a city three hours away over the Christmas holiday) or boys week at church camp.

Then, comes Monday. Just another manic Monday.

It's back to work, ain't it, Cubby?.

Back to real life.

For the most part (and I have no idea when this began) most of us live a highly compartmentalized life.

If you google "compartmentalized life" you're gonna get a lot of business sites promoting compartmentalization as a way to be a winner in business and life. And they pooh-pooh the psychological concept that compartmentalization is a defense mechanism and nothing more, "connoting it as" bad.

Here, take a piece of paper and draw a big box with little boxes inside it. Label the big box "you." Label the small boxes: Religion or Church, Work, Kids, Wife, Family Life, Sports and whatever BUT you must leave Religion Or Church as the first box. Label the boxes more appropriately if you need to, just don't change the first box.

How this works is this: You've "done" church, now to the next box, maybe School. You have to deal with it. Then so on and so forth until you're back at Religion or Church. Pretty superficial, ain't it Cubby?

And what's the point here? Remember the question:

How do you know how to think, live, act for your owner?

The way you think is the way you live, the way you act.

Proverbs 4:23 says:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

In Scripture you will find that your heart means mind a lot of times.

I found the following in a frame on an office wall on one of my computer jobs:

As we Think so we Speak

As we Speak so we Are

As we Are so we Act

As we Act so we Reflect our True Nature

Luke 6:45 & Mathew 12:34 both confirm whoever wrote the motivational wall hanging.

Here's Jesus in Matthew 12:33-35:

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of evil treasure what is evil...

Finally, this from James Baldwin:

The making of an American begins at the point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history, and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land.

- James Baldwin

Notes of a Native Son, 1955

In the above quote replace American with the mysterious words disciple of Christ and see what it means. You see, what you really have done by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is rejected ties and history of America and you take on the clothing of a disciple of Christ. By taking on the vesture (clothing) of your adopted land, the Kingdom of God, vesture is metaphorical for way of thought. Do you see the "circularity" of it all? You quit thinking, ergo you quit acting like an American and take up the way of Your Lord, Jesus Christ's thinking and acting now as a disciple of Christ.

James Baldwin was an American by birth, however because he was both black and gay in a time where you could get summarily lynched for being either one, he spent a good part of his life as an ex-pat in Paris. Consider how many ties, how much history he had to reject and the "clothes" (vesture) he had to wear to be a "true American" in his day.

So...

What you may find puzzling or disturbing or both is that before you became a member of a congregation by accepting Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you find your life really hasn't changed that much because you are not thinking like a disciple of Christ. But now, instead of sleeping in on Sunday morning's you go to church.

You did not just join the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, Cubby.

Truly take a crack at answering these questions for yourself:

Who do you belong to?

What are you to whomever owns you?

How do you know how to think, live, act for your owner?

More in Who Do You Belong To in Part Deux, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

May the peace of Christ be with you,

†Scott, V.D.M ev

Luke 6:30 Rather More or Less

Recently on Facebook I saw a minister seeking the return of a bale of hay stolen from the end of his driveway. He confessed it was only worth $5 but... He must have wanted it back on principle? I posted this in response to his post: Luke 6:30, just the reference, not the text, which reads as follows:

Give to everyone who asks of you and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

I did not get a response to my post. 

For the most part we've been taught to ignore Jesus' command in Luke 6:29-31 and Matthew 5:42. For the squeamish, afraid of telling Jesus, um, I don't think so, we've figured out, apparently by some mystic transport and face to face meeting with our Lord, what HE really meant, because, well, Jesus just couldn't mean what he said. Stress, the lack of airconditioning and our modern conveniences, having to walk the length and breadth of Palestine made the Lord of the Universe just a bit loopy.

I have lost count over the last 36 years how many preachers and teachers have preached the work around of the command that gave the audience a sigh of relief. A "work around," by the way is a way to get around a roadblock or problem. It's sort of like the Professor was always doing in "Gilligan's Island:" making a shortwave radio out of two coconut shells, some wire and water made alkaline by Mrs. Howell's perfume. He worked around the problem of not having a radio by building one. Of course it didn't work. And neither does the work around for Luke 6:30 and Matthew 5:42.

The Work Around

We assume the worst of people, in violation of I Corinthians 13.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. I does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, (General violation #1) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.(Bingo! Go Directly to Jail! Do Not Pass Go! Do Not Collect $200! Yahtzee! Violation #1) (I Corinthians 13:4-6)

If you need it explained, Love always trusts in good, in the judgment of our Master. Love always hopes in the good. Yeah baby, panhandlers/grifters/beggars may smell like roadkill and have bugs crawling out of their clothing, make you seriously consider the reality of cooties, but you hope the money you give them will help them. Always perseveres, that is it's always patient, long suffering as it says in the Old Book, in the world around you. The zombies may be rampaging, civilization has gone to Hell in a hand basket, BUT there are survivors (among them you) and if survivors find YOU and ask for help - YOU are going to help them BECAUSE YOU PERSEVERE!

You see if someone asks for money, especially on a sidewalk, at a stop light, a freeway on ramp, it is, of course, a street person. Dirty, smells like boiled goat, homeless, a junkie or an alcoholic - or maybe a Vet of our Middle East wars who may have found life more hospitable in the high deserts of Afghanistan than sleeping in card board boxes. OR, if they call the church seeking money to fix their car because their car broke down on the way to Omaha or Des Moines - garden spots of the Midwest where nice Christians go - and they can't get there till they get a new $1,000 transmission; these folks are generally clean, even acceptable but we know, (wink, wink) they're con men, grifters.

Hey, we've been panhandled/conned before so we know (I Corinthians 13:5). We've vowed, never again! Consequently, we don't trust nor hope nor persevere - if we see the guy coming and we can't get away in time - we already know - this guy is just going to buy something...illicit. At least that's what we've been told.

And we've been preached at in church and taught in Sunday School and/or conventions, ad infintitum, that we are to be stewards, no, we are to be good stewards of God's money. And these same preachers and teachers, smart enough to know they can't simply set aside a command of Jesus, teach that there's one of two things to look for when accosted by one of "these people": Need and Motive. And if they strike out on one or both counts, well, you're a good steward of God's money. Walk on, jog on, drive on with a clean conscience, money in pocket, spared from some filthy beggar.

Chances are excellent, these smart folk say, that all they want is money to buy some drugs or a bottle of cheap wine. Or, if they call the church asking for money, they're grifters. They like how they live. They are unrepentant. (Bet you didn't know there were so many people, your pastor included, who knew the needs and motives of every homeless person out of 300 million people.)

Though they've probably never said it, maybe they've thought it to themselves, or told their wives but what it boils down to is this: There's THEM and then There's US!

So the Work Around works like this:

If the person says they're hungry and are asking a $1. Huh uh. You DO NOT give the person what they are asking for lest the person spends it for booze or drugs, etc. Instead, take the person somewhere and buy them a meal. And if they don't want to dine with you? Well you then KNOW that the request is for illicit purposes and you may put away your wallet and move on, confident that you have saved God's money. Besides, that dollar you may have given to an alkie or junkie, or grifter might be needed for tax on the Pizza Hut pizzas you're picking up for the family. 

But here's where the Work Around collapses, like the Professor's coconut and perfume water shortwave:

No where in the surrounding context of Luke 6:30 or Matthew 5:42 is there a qualifier to the simple command/sentence: 

Give to everyone who asks of you and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

No where in the Gospels does Jesus put a qualifier on the command. No where in the Pauline letters or the letters of Peter, John, James or Jude does the Holy Spirit qualify the command. No where are we to assess need or motive. Notice the command. Notice its simplicity:

Give to everyone who asks of you and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

Give. What is asked. No qualifications.

Most Christians perceive the first part of the verse (Give) as Jesus commanding us to give to the poor. We highly esteem ourselves, don't we, eh? While we're afraid to give our, er, um, God's money.

But I think this is a test for the disciple. A test to judge our maturity level in Christ. To see whether we've really dumped the old human and have begun thinking and acting like the "new creation" we are supposed to be.

Filthy Beggar asks you for $5 bucks do you gladly reach into your pocket and give it to him OR, no cash in the wallet? No, really? Then do you tell the filthy beggar to hop in the car with you and the kids and y'all will go to the ATM and give him a $20? (Because ATM's only give out $20's)

Or do you avert your eyes, mumble "Sorry" as you shake your head and breathe a sigh of relief that you "got away?" 

You see we're all disciples (at least we're supposed to be) in the process of becoming like our MASTER, Jesus. Disciple, Mathetes in Biblical Greek. It means, "a learner, indicating thought accompanied by endeavor." - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Vine's says a disciple is not only a pupil but an adherent and hence a disciple is spoken of as an imitator of their teacher or Master. (John 8:31; 15:8)

As disciples of Christ we have to be mature before our Lord may get full use of us. In terms of Confederate Slavery, the Massa gets no use of a baby or child. Massa needs strong slaves to do as they are told.

As disciples, do we do what we're told? Or do we just put in the "minimum payment," do we "do" church as we've been shown: go to church on Sunday. Don't even have to dress for the occasion. I don't know why. Well, actually I think it was a marketing gimmick of Bill Hybels at Willow Creek in Chicago. But, for the most part, we've forgotten (If you ever knew) why we seem to think we can come to worship the omnipotent Creator of the Universe in a Polo shirt, khaki shorts and boat shoes (no socks). If there are small groups, attend one. Give to the congregation and when asked for people to volunteer for this or that, you volunteer. Sign their membership "Covenant" to prevent you from challenging the congregational leadership, etc. (It's like you don't know squat to be questioning how this church is run so, relax, we've taken that heavy weight off your shoulders. I think that's a Rick Warren gag.) That is pretty much the "minimum payment."

Probably don't know a lot about the life of Christ, who is your Master, and consequently, how do you know how to think like Him, develop the Love He has for the world, filthy beggar and grifters alike; how do you know how to act like Him? And the kicker? It's not your fault you don't know about the life of Christ and that you are to think differently and emulate His life. 

But.

Do we bear the same love toward those in this life as He does toward us?

And there's the rub.

May the Peace of Christ be with you,

† Scott, V.D.M., ev