You wrote: “Yes, a public apology would go a long, long, long way. But a general blanket apology (that hopes to silence all future critiques) does not do much either, I don’t think.”
>>> Good point. I wish there was a quick-fix, but I am learning that God’s way is the longsuffering way.

You wrote: “Though seemingly laboriously slow, some changes are actually practically happening. More dialogue is happening. More questions are allowed. More interaction is happening. More collaboration is sought with younger leaders. I am primarily speaking about Chicago…”
>>> Amen. My concern the past 2 years has been the satellite UBF branches outside Chicago…unfortunately the good changes happening in Chicago have not even begun in some places. And even worse the “old Chicago” way of dealing with satellite chapters is still in place.

@MJ: “So my question is what to do in those conflicting views of “mission”?” Good question. I don’t have a lot of answers. But I know the way NOT to deal with conflicting views: don’t hide your head in the sand like I did for many years. Denial doesn’t help matters. I also know that dialogue is a required start to the healing process.

I’m a vegetarian and I would definitely not like it if someone told me to eat beef, yuck. Actually, when I read your comment I was scared. I hope that no one is stuck in the same boat you were.

You said that you learned to say ubfisms just because others were saying it and it was funny. I see this often, the same type of jokes coming from Bible students. I also see the same implied emphasis on mission. Flattery is given to those who sacrifice their wife and kids because they had to get on a stage and read a message. This is not just a UBF thing. A lot of Christian families are breaking down. Hang out with Pastor Kids and Missionary Kids and ask them what their parents are like or look at the way they act. It’s scary how we can so easily become pharisees and create our own sub cultures which can be harmful and offensive to others, even though we claim to do it in Jesus’ name. This is why we must carry out our salvation in fear and trembling. We can have good intentions but that’s not enough; we need wisdom from the Holy Spirit. And have others hold us accountable.

I agree with all you claims. I wanted to add one more. Earlier Joe was saying something about needing a statement for mission. I think the idea of “mission” really needs to be cleared up. It is not a bad word. We just hype it up too much. And people understand it in different ways. Why do people go out as missionaries? It is to help others develop a personal relationship with Jesus, not make them in a sense “ubf” machines who write testimonies, go to meetings every day of the week and SWS. Missionaries should go overseas to edify not conquer. I feel as if so many missionaries have differing views on mission it’s hard to co work. Some consider SWS an absolute and won’t even study the Bible with a student unless he goes to SWS. Others think skipping DB is liable for a jog around the park as punishment. And if you skip a conference, that’s the same as running away. There are many things implied and looked over. So my question is what to do in those conflicting views of “mission”?

But at the same time there was some smell of thoughtful mind and academic thinking in your reports. For that I respected you. Once I was sitting beside you at a Moscow conference. A senior shepherd from Chicago was passing and asked you, “Why are you sitting here? Have you already prepared the message?”. I understood that I shouldn’t respect you too much for though you were a professor you were, may be, a proud man spiritually and still needed much training from senior shepherds.

But let me come back to your 2005 report. I liked it. I believe that you really brought together UBF teaching on the approach to the Bible. You wrote what I really believed and did in UBF. But there are some points in your report that I’d like to discuss with you.

You write. “It contains real commands from God that need to be taken seriously and implemented in real life. For this reason, I suggest that any session of Bible study, wither individually or in a group, ought to end with a solid point, something concrete that we are actually going to do based on what we learned.” I think the Bible contains first of all Jesus, description of him, who he is, what his love is and his power and fullness are, who we believe in. And so I would suggest that any session of Bible study ought to end with something we learnt about Jesus. We should not always be going to do something, Jesus said that “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent”. God doesn’t require any other kind of work from us, the only work we can do to please God is a passive one: to believe in Jesus. And we can grow as we learn of Jesus more through Bible study.

At the second part of your report you write, “Part 2: We should read the Bible in light of our mission”. This doesn’t sound academically for me. Does our mission come from the Bible? Or are we supposed to have a mission even before we study the Bible (and that mission helps us to understand the Bible in a right way)? I think that this title can be criticized. I was taught that we must not have a pre-idea but extract ideas from the Bible itself, step by step, studying the Bible inductively. You prove by many passages that the whole picture of the Bible inductive study is mission. I can not agree. I would call mission a fruit, or a product, or even a byproduct of God’s love to us in Jesus Christ. You rightly say that “God did” and “God made” and “God saved”. It is God who did and is doing and will finish. And all the Bible heroes were heroes of faith only, so that God was able to work in them and through them. (Rom.4, Heb.11) So again if you want to say about mission then you’d better say that our mission is faith.

You write, “He did teach the crowds, but his primary method was not mass evangelism. It was personal interaction with his disciples on an individual basis. It was a one-to-one ministry”. You know this thing has been bothering me for many years. Can we say that though Jesus did teach the crowds, it was a one-to-one ministry? Every time I read Acts I clearly see that Paul taught in synagogues and market places, etc. Was it a one-to-one ministry? I visited a Baptist church in our city and found out that they have no one-to-one ministry and still they are more fruitful than our chapter, and there are even much more students in their church than we have! Of course we may have hope that one person is a nation, but the reality I see is different. At the same time I can testify that one-to-one Bible study can be very effective. I was a teacher at school and at a university and I taught some students personally. And in a year they made such a progress that became winners in some academic competitions. Again my opinion is that one-to-one Bible study can be effective and helpful only at the beginning of Bible study, to bring people to God. After a student is born again, group Bible studies are more effective and helpful for spiritual growth. And there should be mutual teaching and studying in groups with a different group leader each time. So to say that 1:1 Bible study is the God given method is simply not right. And unfortunately I personally found that in UBF people are not encouraged to influence their relatives and friends, etc, except if they are students. It hinders church growth and salvation of the “household”. I saw many times when people who were not students, married people, etc. were not allowed to come to UBF; or they were demanded to attend every meeting and so they left UBF themselves. I don’t think that a method of Bible study can solve the problem.

You write, “The book of Genesis reaches a climax in the final chapters where Joseph became Bible teacher for his brothers, training them and leading them to repent and return to God.” Joseph was younger than the brothers he trained. So I learn from this passage that I should and must train our missionaries and elders of the church. I don’t know why, but they don’t obey. )) I mean that UBF is in many ways a Confucian church and this passage doesn’t quite fit what you want to say. So I would recommend to delete some sentences and I believe that senior shepherds will recommend you the same.

You write, “They declared God’s word to their generation and taught the Bible on the college campuses of their day”. Sorry, but I can’t understand this sentence. Do you mean that Israel and the whole world is a campus in some sense?

You write, “Jesus shared a common life with his disciples in order to teach them the Bible by his own words and example”. I learn from this that I should share a common life with Jesus. Do I need to share a common life with someone else? I heard that your family shared a common life with another shepherd family. That looks very nice and exemplary. I don’t know but for me there is something attractive in common Christian life. I heard that there is something similar in the Philippine UBF chapter. But in our chapter missionaries teach that in a common life there must be a hierarchy, a leader who teaches. I personally don’t like the idea of a common life with a director or a senior shepherd in it or above it. I’d better live with Jesus and brothers and sisters.

You write, “Raising disciples who can teach and make other disciples is the way that the kingdom of God spreads”. I hope you meant “a way”. I don’t also quite understand the meaning of “the kingdom of God”. Does it consist of disciples making other disciples? I think that in the kingdom of God there is God. And this God is the king in the kingdom. We enter God’s kingdom through faith in Jesus. This is the way to God’s kingdom. Those who have entered God’s kingdom surely like it and are happy in it. So they can sincerely testify about the kingdom of God and their life with Jesus. And others can hear and believe and be attracted by the message of God’s kingdom. And this way God’s kingdom spreads. Did I get you right?

I liked what you say about mission, but your sentence “I believe that our love for Jesus is directly measurable by what we are doing to feed his sheep today” can’t be absolutely right. And you don’t give an explanation of who the sheep are. Jesus spoke about his sheep. Who are they? Are they believers and church comers? Are they students in the nearest campus? If they are students in the campus, then I’d also like to feed them, I have something to share with them, to tell them and to teach them; but it seems that they don’t want to eat. I have worked very hard and preached and fished and taught many students and some of them became Christians. So can I be sure that I have fulfilled my mission or at least part of it? If not, then what am I to do? Can I say that I love Jesus with a good enough measure of love? You know I trained some of my Bible students and followed the directions of our chapter director and sometimes pressed the students very hard. One of them disobeyed and ran away. I told him that he must not go to his parents in Siberia for more than one week in summer, that he must love God more than his parents and native town. He was a very good disciple. But eventually he said that Christianity is a very strict, inhuman and cruel religion and that even shamanism is more attractive to him now after my pressure. What would you say? Can I now boast of my zeal and love for Jesus? Or is there something wrong in such measuring of love?

You write, “It’s important to pray and receive the words of God first, before jumping to other books or commentaries”. I did so for 16 years. I almost didn’t read any commentaries. This year I started to read commentaries especially of Calvin and Henry, every time I prepare a message or Bible study. I have been doing this for about 8 months. And there is a strange thing that I found out: there haven’t been a single Bible lesson of Calvin that would resemble the lesson on the same passage I was taught in UBF. I am patient and I have been reading Calvin only for 8 months. So may be soon I will find some resemblance or even similarity. But by now I have to admit that either Calvin or UBF is strange and not mainline Christian in doctrine.

You write, “We have to fight against these influences and declare God’s absolute truth today with conviction and confidence”. I couldn’t put it better. But I would add that there is nothing new under the sun. I mean that our spiritual enemies are not always new and postmodern. I think the main devilish enemy of UBF is Confucianism. I see that the Bible contradicts the ideas of Confucianism, but Korean missionaries are eager to extract Confucian lessons from almost every Bible passage. So let’s “fight against these influences and declare God’s absolute truth today with conviction and confidence”.

“The word of God empowers us to overcome our individualistic, “I want to be my own man” mentality and, with spirit of humility and simple obedience, maintain the spiritual order in our relationships which is key to a harmonious Christian life.” I think that “Confucian” would fit this sentence better than “Christian”. Again in the sentence “Fifth, deal with questions, doubts and fears in a godly way.” I would better put “”Confucian” instead of “godly” because you say about a Confucian attitude toward doubts. Christian truth is not afraid of doubts, questions, fears etc. The truth will stand. It is a lie that is afraid of doubts and questions. I would suggest that one day you would write a report or an article, something like “Walking in the Light of Absolute Honesty”. I am sure you will.

And I like your passage about cold water very much! I live in Russia and here the water is either cold or very cold. But once I made a decision and started to dive in and swim no matter what the temperature of the water is. It is really refreshing though at first there is a shock to my body. I haven’t compared cold water with Bible study or fishing. Usually I compare cold water with “living water” of the powerful and gentle stream of the Holy Spirit and the blessed river of life in the heavenly kingdom. Now it is summer and I try to go swimming in a beautiful and very pure river full of fish every weekend though it takes time to get there. It is like a fresh pure message from God every week for me. And it is exactly “You swim around, and you find it’s great fun. Your body and soul are refreshed.” Even when nobody swims because of cold I can’t deny swimming and only after a prayer that the Lord may help me leave such a river, go out of the water for a time I can do that! So I am happy that you have such a feeling through your Bible study and your life of obedience and mission. God bless you. And I would be happy to correspond to you more.
Vitaly.

Personally, I want to tackle 3 things:
1) the “authoritarian” issues (which are not trinitarian, weakens relationships and friendships, and has hurt countless people and for which we absolutely need an accounting),
2) the way we make “mission” our gospel, rather than the gospel itself, and
3) the imperative driven way we study the Bible, rather than being Christo-telic and Christo-centric.

For now these are the 3 primary things that I pray to personally begin to address and engage. Each of these 3 topics are HUGE and may take more than a generation to even skim the surface.

Regarding coming back to Chicago, as we often say, we should not have an agenda, but allow for the leading of the Holy Spirit. I would say the “one” reason to come back is for the sake of friendship, relationship and trust building, intimacy, and to somehow find unity in Christ. OK, maybe that’s more than 1 reason.

Yes, a public apology would go a long, long, long way. But a general blanket apology (that hopes to silence all future critiques) does not do much either, I don’t think. Specifics need to be involved, which takes some perseverance and prayer, and more interaction, intercession and incarnational approaches.

Though seemingly laboriously slow, some changes are actually practically happening. More dialogue is happening. More questions are allowed. More interaction is happening. More collaboration is sought with younger leaders. I am primarily speaking about Chicago, since I decided a few months ago to engage and interact again, after a “4 year hiatus,” where I “absolutely” needed to find again my head, my rest, my Jesus, my gospel, and my freedom in Christ.

My 2 new “one word(s)” is Acts 20:17 (“the whole counsel of God” – ESV), and Phil 2:12-13 (“work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you”).

The UBF leader who asked this, asked me also, “What would you want the UBF senior leaders to say they are wrong about?” I said it wasn’t realistic to expect them to say they are wrong about a lot of things. So I said, “Anything. Something. Just admit you were wrong even about 1 thing.” There was more laughter (more subdued this time as we all realized the gravity of the situation). The conversation proceeded in a good way after that.

Ben was there, so maybe he can confirm or deny what I’m saying :)

I think that the question of how we communicate with each other and how we express criticism deserves a separate blog post. It was a regular debate in the old forum already. Some advocated to be blunt, some advocated “sugaring the pill”. I can understand both opinions, and both can be right, depending on the situation. But one thing is clear, even Jesus used “sledge hammers” at times. Just read Mt 23:13ff. I’m not saying this should be our standard way of communicating, I’m just saying it is not unchristian per se.

You asked: “if we are aware of the fact that the way of how we communicate actually matters, shouldn’t we try to make less use of sledge hammers?”

That depends. If there is a wall to knock down, then I say use a sledge hammer. If there is no wall, don’t use a sledge hammer.

“But i know that if i confront them with the “100 points, which stink in UBF” and tell them afterwards that the wounds of a friend can be trusted, i will do exactly the opposite (no matter how true the 100 points might be).”

Good point. I think former members like myself should not use “100 points” all the time. Sometimes though, UBF people need a floodlight to dispell the immense cloud of darkness. Other times, UBF people need a focused, laser light of piercing truth. Ben takes the “laser light” approach. I provide the “flood light”.

You might be asking why would I use the “flood light” approach? Here are reasons: UBF people have not fundamentally repented of an upside-down gospel mindset for over 50 years. I’m not talking about 100 points, just 1 point: the gospel. The time for being gentle is way over. 2012 is the year of reckoning.

Here is an example: A couple months ago I visited Chicago (and had an awesome time with Ben and company!!). I also had a chance to meet in person with a couple UBF leaders. One UBF leader asked me: “You have mentioned a lot of things on your blog. What do you really want from UBF?” I answered with this: “I really only want one thing. If I could ask for one thing and if I received this one thing, I would stop my blog and email criticism: I want UBF leaders to publicly say ‘I’m sorry. We were wrong.'”

At that point the entire room burst out in loud laughter (by the way this shocked me and I almost started crying… but I “manned up” :). When the laughing finally stopped, the UBF leader said, “Well how about something realistic? How about something that might actually happen?”

That, my friends, is why I will remain a loud, vocal UBF critic for many more years.

I know people in my generation who are very open to discussion about church, gospel and mission. But i know that if i confront them with the “100 points, which stink in UBF” and tell them afterwards that the wounds of a friend can be trusted, i will do exactly the opposite (no matter how true the 100 points might be).

But I will reply to this, is this your main point? “Impact trumps intent.” I agree.

Also I try to reply only reply to questions. So if you have questions, I’ll give my answers as best I can. You didn’t ask any questions above… well just one which seems rhetorical.

I listened to a lecture by D.A. Carson today. He mentioned that his students don’t remember what he taught. But they remember for years what their teacher was truly excited about. ‘looks like emotions are directly connected to our long-term memory (btw, i was always bad in neuro-biology).

Brian, i still wonder: is the reason why you didn’t respond to my point because you don’t agree with me? And if not, why?

Related to impact I am reminded of this paraphrased quote: “No one remembers what you tell them, but they always remember how you made them feel.” Communicating the gospel clearly may be the most heart felt way to move one’s heart.

But i don’t think you answered the point i was raising. I think that the way of how we communicate our love and friendship to others, matters. Having good intentions is not enough (which is obviously also applicable to UBF people who seek help others to come to Christ).

http://rsqubf.livejournal.com/86003.html

Here is my blog in response to this from last year:

http://www.priestlynation.com/archives/227

After writing my previous comment, I realized that AbNial-2005 was a bit of everything. No doubt he was a genuine convert and passionate about studying and teaching the Bible. But he also learned flattery to make people happy. He loved to use ubfisms that would make ubf people happy even if he did not understand them fully. He learned to keep quiet for the sake of obedience and loyalty to seniors even when he did not like being treated like a robot. He would take pride in sacrificing his Saturdays for memorizing someone else’s message in stead of giving time to his newly married wife. He was feeling frustration within but he would hesitate sharing it with anyone, not even his wife. What is more, his wife Sarah-2005, was taught by a famous senior missionary to stand by the Korean leader whenever there was a conflict between her husband (a native leader) and the Korean leader. And Sarah-2005 meant it!

At this point of my life, like Brian I will point out faults in your report such as treating the Bible like an idol; does the Holy Spirit have any role in a Christian’s formation?; Where does the Bible tell every believer to teach/preach to others?; What about other roles/gifts in building up the Church?; Joe-2005’s high view of Bible study and yet so predictable nature of the GBSs that still go on will make me do something better; Is the Bible really given to find how to carry out mission?; Is obedience to be emphasized only in teaching and disicpling? How about personal holiness and Godly value system?; Even if Joe-2005 presents a histric view of man=mission, I am quite sure that he has not personally studied beyond the gospels, genesis, exodus and very few others. What about those books/passages that talk about the age to come?; and so many other questions!

An elder friend of mine used the phrase (sorry for citing yet another ‘phrase’): “Impact trumps intent.” I might have the best intentions and motives towards others. But it will be useless if i – by what i say and do – only end up hurting others. If people emotionally shut down in response to my ‘love’ it is a good indication that i should re-think the way of how i translate my best intentions.

You are right in saying that wounds from a friend can be trusted. But wounds from a person, who might be a friend but who is perceived as a person with questionable intentions, will not only last longer but in addition lead very often to the very opposite reactions than desired.

Could this be one of the reasons why in one of my favorite verses of the bible (John 1:14), the word ‘grace’ is mentioned before ‘truth’?

I feel like I need about 10 sentences to describe any aspect of what UBF is, or what UBF believes, or what UBF teaches or what UBF does, or what I used to be in UBF. The twists and turns are extremely tough to navigate!

Brian-2005 was also living in such a shell. And I now use the reality-check approach to try to reach people like Joe-2005. Mostly, my words are for the future, trusting that the Spirit can penetrate the thick covering that surrounds Joe-2005 (and knowing that the Spirit did in fact penetrate the covering aroudn Brian-2005!).

By the way, is it just me or does anyone else see how easily we UBF-trained people can slip in and out of an imaginary discussion? I don’t think most people can do that. Perhaps it is a good thing that we are flexible, but I find it heart-wrenching to realize how easy it is for me even now to dictate my own reality and seal myself off in a casing of perception.

I believe Joe-2005 needs a healthy dose of emotion, even if that emotion starts out as anger.

At a recent ubf meeting, there was a breakout session where someone was talking about the importance of having Christian friends. Some people in the audience responded positively. But others were wondering why this was even being discussed; they thought it was irrelevant.

I don’t think this would be the end of the story for my relationship with Joe-2005. Later, perhaps years later, Joe-2005 will come to a realization that we are not enemies and that my words, though bitter to him, were said out of love and hope. I don’t doubt that Joe-2005 is under the grace of God and that we will see each other in Heaven.

I engaged Joe-2005 based on the Bible’s teaching that flattery and politeness are not always “good”. As in Proverbs 27:5-7, I believe that wounds from a friend can be trusted. What is bitter at the moment can become sweet later on.

If some former member (who I considered an enemy at the time) had not critiqued my message publicly online, I would not have thought about the arrogance, pride and severe doctrinal errors I had in my journey of faith.

I believe Joe-2005 is a thoughtful person. One day Joe-2005 will read these words and give more thought and ask questions. And I believe unity in Christ is possible when we speak honestly and share each other’s troubled hearts. Feelings do matter and I expect one day Joe-2005 may share his feelings with me because even though he thinks I’m “just bitter” or “problematic”, deep down he knows I can be trusted to speak my thoughts and share my feelings honestly. And he also knows that I am someone with whom he could share his feelings with freely.

Joe-2005 can’t respond to you. He feels as though he is being knocked down. He doesn’t get visibly angry. But his blood pressure is going through the roof. He thinks you are being hostile toward him and he doesn’t know why. This attack from you came out of nowhere. Why are you criticizing him so much? He has a physical sensation that the ground under his feet has been suddenly taken away. This is too much for him to process. The fact that you went through his message and critiqued him on so many points is overwhelming. You didn’t just shoot him with a pistol. You riddled his body with bullets from a machine gun. That’s how it feels to him.

Joe-2005 is pretty good at making arguments. For any one of your points, he could easily defend what he wrote with multiple paragraphs. But to do that for all your points would take hours or days. And he senses that, if he were to provide you with a detailed defense, that it wouldn’t convince you, and you would just fire back and give a lengthy critique of his response. And this could go on for a very long time.

Instead of responding to the points that you made, Joe-2005 shows this to his wife and tries to get some comfort and support from her. He comes up with a theory about you. He explains that your hostility comes from an unsolved spiritual problem that has been growing in your heart.

Joe-2005 decides that he needs to take the high road. You took the low road by shooting at him with all your criticism. He, therefore, will take the high road and not shoot back. When Jesus was standing on trial before Herod, he remained silent. Joe-2005 decides to do what Jesus would do, which is to not to respond to you at all. He decides to deal with this thing “spiritually,” not “humanly.” He tries to forget about it and he buries the conflict. But his relationship with you has been shattered. He will harbor a silent resentment toward you for a very long time.

Here is my detailed response to your report. The more I read your report the more disturbed I have become. You make several good-sounding points, but your words reveal that your understanding of the gospel is upside-down.

If I am wrong, please correct me. I don’t claim to know everything about Christian life and the Bible, but these days my journey of faith has become filled with overflowing peace and joy because of the grace of God! Below I share my thoughts about what disturbed me in hopes that we may continue this dialogue. I would very much like to hear your honest thoughts about this.

“The condition of our souls and the trajectory of our lives is largely determined by how we approach the Bible.”
>>> I don’t understand why you are connecting my soul and my life to how I approach the Bible. Are you saying that we need to fully understand the great doctrines of the faith in order to be saved? Whose approach is good enough?

“The Bible needs to be read, and it needs to be studied….The Bible should also be read frequently.”
>>> Your words here sound like you have made the Bible into an idol.

“We now have the Bible as the primary means through which we communicate and interact with God.”
>>> I have come to realize that the Holy Spirit is our guide into all truth. The Spirit is a person, a real, living Third Person of God. Jesus said the Spirit would be our teacher and our guide. What role does the Spirit play in our communicating with God?

“Part 2: We should read the Bible in light of our mission”
>>> Jesus said that all the Scriptures are about Him. I have always been so confused by several passages when I tried to see them in light of “our mission”. But when I try to see Jesus in the Old Testament, for example, I find amazing truth and hope!

“It is when we study the Bible within the context of our own purpose and mission that the application becomes relevant and the word of God really comes alive.
The Bible begins with the book of Genesis.”
>>> I have learned that all “approaches” to the Bible fall into one of two categories: exegesis and eisegesis. We can extract teachings from the text of the Bible, or we can insert our own ideas from our context into the Bible. It seems you are teaching here that our context can change what we learn from the Bible. I agree that our purpose, mission, etc. does influence our approach. I am seeking now, however, to understand the context the Bible was written in and for, and listening to God’s voice and Spirit’s guidance to understand what various passages are teaching. Most importantly, I learned that we need to examine our “lens” through which we see the Bible. As J.I. Packer wrote once, “grace is the key that unlocks the Bible.” We can learn so much more when grace is our lens!

“Through Abraham and his descendants, God raised a new nation, the nation of Israel.”
>>> I’ve read the book “Once An Arafat Man”, and interacted with many Muslims over the years. I think we Christians should remember that God blessed Hagar also. God’s vision is about unity through the bonds of peace. When I see Abraham’s life in light of grace, I see God’s hope for Ishmeal and Isaac to be at peace. We see a clear picture of this unity when Ishmael and Isaac both bury their father.

“Eventually God’s people were invaded by foreign armies; their temple was destroyed and the people were carried off into exile. When they their mission, they lost everything.”
>>> I can’t subscribe to making mission into such a valuable treasure. It is Jesus we need to hold onto. Your words here sound like you have made mission into an idol. I think the book “Counterfeit Gods” would help explain my point about the Bible and mission becoming idols. Only Jesus is worthy of such praise.

“Note the similarity between this verse and Exodus 19:5-6. The two are really saying the same thing. God saves us and makes us his people in order to serve him by declaring his glories to the world.”
>>> The entire book of Hebrews contradicts this idea of tying Exodus 19 and 1 Peter 2:9 together. Another principle of Bible study I recently adopted is to let the Bible teach about the Bible. If we understand Hebrews we can start to understand the relationship here.

“All these activities are good. But at the end of the day, there is no eternal benefit to people unless these activities happen within the context of preaching and teaching.”
>>> One of principles of Bible study these days is “keep reading”. You quoted James 1:22 as your key verse for this report. If you keep reading, you find James 1:27, which teaches that God accepts “all these activities” as pure and faultless religion. Nothing is said about preaching or teaching.

“A Bible teacher is not merely an instructor; he is also a leader and a trainer. He is a shepherd. This emphasis on teaching and shepherding is one of the unifying themes of the whole Bible.”
>>> You sound like you are describing “parenting”. Such a concept is from Eastern philosophy, not from the Bible. I reject the idea that a shepherd is to be a parent.

“The life of mission as a Bible student and as a Bible teacher and shepherd is the most refreshing and satisfying life that you can imagine. Praise be to God!”
>>> I lived such a life for about over 20 years. During that time I often felt that if “mission” is anymore refreshing or satisfying, I’ll be dead… We are human beings. When we become Christian, we do take up our cross, but we are not called to crucify our conscience or give up our humanity. In the end, I have found that it is the grace of God, Jesus Himself, who is our peace, our joy, our new wine.

Swimming in the ocean of grace,
Brian-2012

By the living words of God I met Jesus as my personal Savior and from a Hindu I became a Christian and a shepherd and Bible teacher for Indian campus students. Ever since the msns. in India UBF came under persecution, I have a special responsibility now to deliver Sunday messages every week. God has blessed my decision to be a messenger by granting me a beautiful wife whom I married last year and a full time Assistant Professor position in a respectable Institute. I am still very young to understand Bible passages and to write my own message, but M. ML helps me by writing messages for me. As I understood, we do not need any commentaries but what our seniors pass on to us from their many years of studying and teaching the Bible is enough to supply spiritual food to our sheep. So, every Saturday I stay late night in the Center and struggle to accept one word from the manuscript by reading, memorizing and praying over it. I believe that it is not important who writes the message but what is important is to accept it and pass on to our sheep especially through one to one bible studies. Last year I was a morning devotion messenger at the MSU international conference. I had no time to come and receive message training in Chicago, but I received a written message and with some rehearsal delivered it to the best of my ability. Many later said that they received much grace from my message.

In India the percentage of Christian population is very very low compared to the Hindus. And those Christians also do not have any sense of mission to teach the Bible to others. Even my one to one shepherd who was from a Christian background left the ministry a few years ago. He seems to be serving some other ministry as a pastor but I think he made a great mistake by leaving campus mission. For such reasons, I have decided to teach the Bible to many Hindus and raise them as Jesus’ disciples so that India can be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Especially we pray with the prayer topic given by Dr Lee: “Hindus may eat beef and believe in Jesus” and this is possible only through teaching the Bible to as many Hindus as possible. Please pray for me to be an Abraham of faith for one billion Hindus and a good bible teacher and shepherd for India. AbNial-2005

Thank you for your report, which I happened to check on ubf website. You’ve really remined me about great importance of loving the word of God and it’s power. That’s true that we need to study the Bible diligently. That’s also true that I don’t have just to be Bible student, but to teach Bible others. That is word should feel my life with dynamic power. The life of Bible mission is like the ocean with fresh water, and it’s just exciting. So your words were encouraging to me. Thanks.
However let me share with you some of my struggles. You know during last two years I can not love the Bible, read it and meditate on it daily as much as I surely have to and as much as you’re suggesting. Hard to tell, but deep in my heart I feel like I already know what the Bible should teach me, or what I should learn from it, so, honestly I’m not really motivated to read the Bible and meditate on it. I already know that I need to feed sheep and I know how to do it it God’s pleasing way. I know that I should participate in campus world mission.
The bad thing that I feel like my Bible studies are also loosing it’s power. So I can not really teach my Bible students how to love the word. Yes I know what to tell them, how they should undestand and apply the word of God, but it is not really interesting for me myself, b/c I hardly learn from those BS. So I hardly motivated to teach the Bible to others as well.
How can I be motivated for loving the word again? How could I live the life when I can always learn from the word of God and be thirsty to it? Can you give me some advice? And please pray for me.

In Christ,
David-2008.

Probably it is my fading memory, but I do not seem to recall that you were at the Mon evening fellowship meeting. Was that before Harvard? What year was that?

Both Ben-2005 and Ben-2012 would love being described as “He was always hilarious, sarcastic, blunt, and outrageous.”

Christy often laughs and tells me that I may be one of a few Christians who treat descriptives–whether positive, negative or neutral, whether complimentary or unflattering–as uplifting compliments. So both Bens would have loved and love your astute description. Thanks Joe.

In your first paragraph, you wrote, “i was especially moved by the fact that you really seem to love the word of God and that you truly seem to spend a great deal of your time to read and meditate on it in a devotional manner.” It’s very interesting that you used the word “seem.” Yes, it seemed that Joe2005 loved the word of God. In this instance, however, things were not as they seemed. More about that later…

I had to ponder for a very long time whether and how i should write to you. Whereas i agree with much of what you said, there was a fundamental issue that gave me a very hard time.

In part 2, you mentioned that we should read the bible in light of our mission. To me, it gave the impression, that mission as expressed in the Great Commission, is the all-important thread of the bible and that we should read and understand everything in Scripture as a quasi-instruction of how to serve in mission. I agree with you that mission is an important theme that goes through the entire bible.
But when i read Jesus’ conversation with the Emmaus disciples in Luke 24, i was struck by Jesus’ approach to OT scripture. If i understood correctly, Jesus was in essence saying that all of Scripture is about Him. And if this is so, the real thread through the bible is Jesus Christ and the good news of the atoning work of Christ.

I am at the very beginning of understanding the implications of seeing Jesus and the gospel on every page of the bible. But thus far, it was the gospel in the word of God that has become my daily bread and which has started to nourish my soul in a way that i had not known before.

It would be a great pleasure for me to hear in another report from you of how i can see more of Christ in the bible.

God bless you,
Henoch2012

Henoch2005 is response to the introduction on hermeneutics: “Herman who?”

My “paradigm shift” began when a former UBF member critiqued my message sometime in 2005 or 2006, about “rest”. This was painful at the time, but the most helpful. -Brian-2012 if you’re wondering :)

But I do get what you are saying. Back then, I didn’t know myself very well. I had several different identities — one for church, another for work and professional life, another for dealing with my wife and kids, another for my extended family, …

Actually, you did not only talk about how to study the Bible, but told us about the meaning of our life. In summary, you claim that our goal in life is to be engaged in some activity which you name as “ruling”, “serving”, “teaching”, “training” and “feeding”. But first, do you really think God needs or expects us to *do* something for us and that he loves us only if we *do* these exact things? Second, all these terms are very vague and sometimes contradictory. How can we be sure we do not rule where we should serve or do not serve where we should rule? How can we teach and train others without judging them (something that we shouldn’t do according to Jesus)? What does “train” and “feed” exactly mean? If training and feeding others is really our ultimate goal in life, you should talk much more and explicitly about how to do that properly.

But isn’t the real, ultimate goal to love God and our neighbors? Don’t you think that there is much more to that than just engaging in training and feeding activities? I noticed that you belittle social activities as being “not beneficial” in terms of eternal revenue, claiming we should rather engage in discipling and Bible study activities. But did you ever read Mt 25:43? Nowhere I read that Jesus worried that people would not study the Bible or teach others the Bible. I do not even see that Jesus worried about the Bible being written down carefully. He was more concerned about the heart of people, whether it is a heart that is sincere, repentant, upright and filled with love. Not whether it follows a given spiritual program.

You claim “A Bible teacher is not merely an instructor, he is also a leader and a trainer.” But you did not quote any Bible verse that talks about being leaders and trainers. Can you find one?

From the fact that Jesus dealt with people personally, and “trained” some of them, you conclude that we should also interfere into the lives of people personally, and train them. Your top leader is famous for having invented many kinds of such trainings, kinds that even Jesus could not imagine. Do you really think Jesus wanted to teach people to train other people?

You say “The best methods and practices to follow are those of Jesus.” But remember you said Jesus was not just man, he was also God. Therefore not all things that Jesus did in his life can and should be done by ordinary men who are not God. I see many people who claim to have the authority of Jesus, but I see not a single one who would be able to do just the smallest of the miracles Jesus was able to do. Jesus himself explained that there is a huge difference in the relationship between himself and his followers, and the relationship among his followers. For example, he taught “do not be called Rabbi; for One is your teacher, and you are all brothers.” Why did Jesus say such a thing if he expected us all to be teachers, and not only teachers, but even trainers and leaders, as you are claiming?

You claim that “every Christian can be a Bible teacher; every person can be a shepherd and a disciple maker”. Why then asks St. Paul in 1Cor 12:29 “Are all teachers?” Isn’t that a rhetorical questions to which the answer must be “no” and not “yes”?

Thanks for giving me so much time to ponder about your talk and not putting pressure on me to “accept one word” immediately on the conference.

I thought it was my close-to-exact and accurate sentiment in 2005 and before, and thus like a parody. At least that was what I was attempting to do.

Perhaps, it is really hard to truly pull off a Screwtape Letters, for the Ben-2012 might be intruding itself upon the Ben-2005. In the past I did really despise anyone who “ran away” and criticized UBF, because “How dare you!” I would caricature them in ways far worse and harsh than most UBF people. I think I was quite the UBF Pharisee of pharisees.

You must be busy as you prepare to leave for the Philippines. But if you have a spare moment, I’d like to hear from you as you are today. When I wrote my imaginary report, I tried to make it an accurate example of how I would have spoken. It’s not a straw man. Although it may seem that I’m looking back in time to confront the errors of my past, I’m actually looking forward, trying to define a paradigm for approaching Scripture that will serve me better in the months and years ahead.

For sure, we must always just study the Bible, and ONLY if necessary refer to commentaries. Those who refer to commentaries do not find themselves or their own voice. Their testimonies are just empty head knowledge and human thinking. Also, they become proud for nothing. Knowledge puffs up (1 Cor 8:1), as we all know. Those who study Bible commentaries become like a grotesque creature with the head of an elephant, the body of a cat, and the legs of a flea.

As you so eloquently said, our Bible study must always focus on living a life of mission. My favorite point in almost every Bible study and fellowship meeting is “Man = Mission.” I must have already used that phrase 100s of times since I became a Christian in 1980.

Regarding Brian-2005’s comment, the ex-UBF people who ran away are just simply ungrateful and unthankful people. They are so proud and immature. They are unfaithful and uncommitted people. They are really selfish Americans. They don’t want to sacrifice for mission, but only want to enjoy their own American dream. After they grabbed everything they wanted from UBF, they left to live a selfish family-centered life, thus abandoning their calling and mission.

On top of that, they dare to criticize UBF, after we loved and served and sacrificed for them soooooo much. We introduced to them a wonderful spouse they could never ever find anywhere else in the world. (I hope they really feel bad and guilty about this!) But soon after they enjoyed their honeymoon, they want to abandon their mission for campus students. May God deal with them, be it ever so severely, if they do not shut up and stop slandering God’s holy people and spreading endless gossip and lies about UBF. Even though they were once our close co-workers they became liars like the devil (Jn 8:44). They have no idea how to keep spiritual order and just obey. They are representatives of rebels. May God have mercy on them. And yes, let’s not waste our precious time to read the garbage that they write against us.

I’m sorry if I sound quite upset and extreme. Those who ran away from UBF do make me so incensed, because they are soooooo unthankful. I just want to choke them, but as a Christian I know that I should not think or do such things. But I believe that God will forgive me because I am soooooo much more holy and spiritual than those who ran away.

Joe-2005: “I’m glad you shared your thoughts in writing. It is often difficult to find documentation about what UBF actually teaches. You raise several valid thoughts which both intrigue me and trouble me. I have been thinking a lot about the same kinds of things lately, especially in light of the grace of God. I will reply later with my thoughts in more detail. I hope we can have a dialogue that mutually edifies!” Grace and peace, Brian-2012