The Riddleblog

Elders Matter — The Mars Hill Debacle Is Proof

The Mars Hill/Mark Driscoll debacle is well known. Many have listened to Christianity Today’s excellent podcast series, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The fall of Mars Hill is but another incident in a long series of scandals plaguing American evangelicalism. Why do such things happen over and over again?

My response . . . A bad or non-existent ecclesiology. Throughout today’s American Christianity there is little if any regard paid to the biblical model of church government (Presbyterian/Reformed), which is rule by a plurality of elders, approved by the congregation, whose role is, in part, to keep watch upon the life and doctrine of the pastor and their fellow elders.

I wonder if there was ever a moment in the early days of these entrepreneurial churches when the founding members asked themselves, “how did the church in the New Testament govern itself?” Probably not, or else the question was quickly dismissed as an appeal to mere tradition, something too cumbersome or unnecessarily inefficient. Groups like this often view its charismatic leader as taking on (even if indirectly) the role of an apostle. The leader appears to have a direct link to God, which allows the group members (better— “followers”) to let the leader unquestionably assume the role of arbiter of the group’s doctrine, the gifted one who determines the group’s mission and “casts its vision,” as well as the primary decision maker should there be differences of opinion. Without a biblical ecclesiology in place, the visionary leader is able to get his way through manipulation and guilt, and if necessary, will remove any and all who oppose him. Yet nobody blinks. In the end, the once loyal followers are left embittered and wonder, “how did God let this happen?” We have seen this story play out over and over again, often in the media.

To read the rest of this essay, follow the link below.

Wisdom from ConfessionsKim RiddlebargerAugust 31, 2021ecclesiology, Mars Hill Comments

"For the Sake of the Gospel" -- Paul's Apologetic Speeches in the Book of Acts

I am one of the first people to acknowledge that the contemporary debate over apologetic methodology between the “evidentialists” and the “presuppositionalists,” however unpleasant, nevertheless can be a vital and healthy exercise. It is very important to have a biblically based and carefully honed apologetic methodology in place before confronting the learned paganism of our age. In those instances when this is the goal of the evidentialist-presuppositionalist debate, it ought to be greatly encouraged.

I am perplexed, however, that the parties to this in-house debate spend little time analyzing the Apostle Paul’s apologetic speeches in the Book of Acts. It is here, in Luke’s record of the ever-extending reign of the Risen and Exalted Christ, that we are given a clear picture of how the Apostle Paul sought both to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and defend the Christian truth claim, and this not only in the synagogues of the major cities of Greece and Asia Minor—before Jews and “God-fearing” Gentile proselytes—but also before magistrates as well as in the marketplaces of those Roman and Greek cities where little or nothing was known of the God of Israel and the inspired texts of the Old Testament.

To read “For the Sake of the Gospel” — click here

Riddleblog PublicationKim RiddlebargerMarch 22, 2021Paul's Apologetic, Mars Hill, Apologetic Speeches in ActsComment