Irreproachable: a Bible word study

Certainly there are others out there like me that can get stuck over-analyzing things. Too often my mind goes round and round, debating my own perspective on a topic. It usually doesn't produce a helpful outcome, since who ultimately decides the matter? Protestants generally hold to the doctrine of sola Scriptura, which was a response to Roman Catholic dogma that the Pope is the ultimate authority on matters of faith and practice. Protestants hold that the Bible is the final authority. I agree with that, but it does present a problem: how do we avoid the nearly endless variety of interpretations?

Well, I digress. This is not a post about hermeneutics (Bible interpretation theory) or ecclesiology (theology of the church). As I continue to reflect on the idea of a personal syllabus for growth, I naturally turn to Scripture. It is in Paul's writings that the doctrines of grace are arguably most clearly attested, but also much of practical exhortation.

In Paul's first letter to Timothy (so-called Pastoral epistle) we find clear guidance for church leaders. As a former associate pastor, I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about 1 Timothy 3:1ff. In reviewing that text once again, I came across a word with which I have sometimes fallen into that analysis paralysis: “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,” (1 Timothy 3:2, ESV).

Yes, each of those words could be examined in detail. Yet "above reproach/irreproachable" struck me as a profoundly difficult concept. Thus, I decided to see if that word appeared anywhere else in the New Testament:

It turns out this a rare term, only occurring in this letter. Its three occurrences are used in conjunction with expected behaviors of a believer, first in the leadership role of overseer/elder, and then as a mark of every believer as they live as pilgrims in this world. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) renders it as "above reproach" in 3:2, but "so they won't be blamed" in 5:7, and "keep the command without fault or failure" in 6:14. The English Standard Version renders that last one as: “to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Timothy 6:14, ESV).

The first two instances seem to function in the realm of one's earthly journey. Our comportment is to be free from blame as people observe our lives. My analysis can get stuck here: who is ever completely free of blame? The picture of "above reproach" suggests a line is drawn, where anything below is reproachable, meaning it can be scrutinized and shown a certain behavior fails to meet the biblical standard. Perhaps our English word is out of alignment from the author's intended meaning:

irreproachable■ adjective beyond criticism.
—derivatives irreproachability noun irreproachably adverb

Soanes, Catherine, and Angus Stevenson, eds. Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Well, that doesn't help! People seem to criticize others all the time. Even the most faithful of believers are subject to some sort of criticism. It would seem reasonable to take it that it is not the arbitrary complaints from people that is in view. It is more probable to see this as a significant misalignment from the integrity one should demonstrate with what is actually witnessed by others. Too often celebrity pastors have fallen in plain view of a watching world.

Returning to 1 Timothy 3:2 and the surrounding context, it seems clear now that the self-control and faithfulness of the prospective overseer and believer contributes to the public reputation of one who is indeed above reproach. It is best to think in terms of public and private integrity in lock-step with the Bible's call to holy living. The prospective elder should have been demonstrating such integrity for a long time (cf. 1 Timothy 3:6). And as echoed in Titus 1, the overall character of the elder demonstrates godly integrity and is in a position to defend doctrine:

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach [a different Greek word: ἀνέγκλητος], the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:5–9, ESV)

Irreproachable is thus an important concept in the New Testament. How desperately we need to see Christians pursuing this in an day filled with despair and empty living.

Gleanings from the Global Leadership Summit Day 2+

Now what? So what?

Any conference I've attended, no matter how profoundly impactful it feels at the time, tends to acquiesce to patterns that existed beforehand. In other words, when walking away from powerful speakers who challenged my pre-existing notions and invited me to walk a new path, application remains elusive. What does one do in the afterglow to stoke new fires for genuine change?

Grand Avenue for the Main Street of Life

Day 2 of the summit built on the themes of the previous day. There were big ideas shared by some influential leaders. Bill Hybels touched on the idea of a grand vision as major driver for individuals to excel:

There is a grander vision on planet earth with your name on it. When you find it…you’ll say I was born to do this. You’ll feel the hand of God integrated into your daily activities, and say you were born to do it. - Bill Hybels

Bill referenced the Bible again for this theme:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

As a Christian, this verse does speak profoundly to my own personal concept of a grand vision. Below is a diagram I have created to annotate a few observations about that text, particularly highlighting the Greek word ποίημα poíēma rendered as "workmanship/creation/masterpiece" in its common English glosses in various Bible translations:

Thus, the idea of being God's masterpiece/workmanship/creation is absolutely tied to the grace imparted to the believer via faith in Christ. The result is "good works", which is the Bible's short-hand for doing those things that directly glorify God. Bringing the grand vision to everyday life is fundamentally built on the outcome resulting from salvation in Christ. Sin becomes increasingly a past-tense blight, and righteousness and hope more frequently mark the milestones of the person walking by faith and not by sight.

Power Paradox as a Foil to Self-Serving Leadership Philosophy

Ivan Satyavrata spoke of the paradox of power that exists in effective leadership, particularly when founded on Christ. It is one where, as he defined it, "a leader must be able to wield power, real power, in order to lead effectively" whilst simultaneously (herein lies the paradox) that same leader must "be genuinely vulnerable, subservient and seemingly powerless". 

God's grace is the only means by which real strength is wielded in leadership

In contrast to various worldviews that reject biblical Christianity as the overarching meta-narrative of our existence, the paradoxical principle of grace is the grandest of visions. In a song wrongly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, the counterpoint of Christian paradox is beautifully expressed:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is discord, harmony;

Where there is error, truth;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Final Take-away
I offer no apology for my Christian faith, which is rooted in the revelation of God in the Bible. The Global Leadership Summit was a useful reminder of what is most important to me: bringing glory to God in my life as a response to all that Christ has done for me. I embrace the paradox of strength in weakness. As the coming weeks and months unfold, I will ponder the implications of grace applied and use my blog as a way to explore specific applications.

Perhaps God has answered my prayer on trying to finish my Personal Syllabus series that I began at the start of summer. It has been difficult in reflecting on a personal growth strategy, but perhaps I should work on developing those areas which underscore my dependence on God's grace in every aspect of my life. With the fall season approaching, what better time to final hit the books and study:

“Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, a worker having no need to be ashamed, guiding the word of truth along a straight path.” (2 Timothy 2:15, LEB)

Gleanings from the Global Leadership Summit Day 1

Have you ever gone to an event unprepared for its personal impact? There are many trade shows out there, as well as various business development expos from "experts" claiming they have the silver bullet for your struggling organization. I'm not knocking them. Yet seldom are we expecting a spiritual impact from them, even if hosted by Willow Creek Community Church. This is not a slam against Willow: it's just that my limited knowledge of this event was predisposed to expect feel-good chats from well-known leaders and some exhortations to improve in the leadership arena. All of this is just fine, and I certainly would expect some typical pep-talk jargon and business hoopla. Thankfully, I was disappointed today!

I'll say this up front: Bill Hybels is not my ideal pastor. Don't get me wrong, I don't despise him in any way. Some people like to crucify megachurch pastors. I'll also admit that I'm not really a fan of megachurches. There are several reasons (not really relevant to this post). What surprised me today was that, my regard for Hybels notwithstanding (again, I'm not anti-Hybels), he shared a pastor's heart today and did it with biblical integrity. Those are qualities that get my attention!

Hybels opened by defining leadership in a way I've heard before from Henry Blackaby in his book Spiritual Leadership. I've read that book years ago, so it had a familiar ring. Simply put, leaders see the future ahead of time. That's what people call "vision". Nothing really new here. He continued under the heading of humility, which did get my antenna up. You see, that's a quality we rarely find in leaders. Then he unpacked what this looks like -- my notes below are a basic outline:

A.  All leadership is ultimately spiritual in impact.

1. Objective benchmarking of the organizational culture and human impact.
2. Top leaders need to own the turn-around process.
3. Get serious about ongoing training of people management.
4. Raise level of candor in semi-annual job review. Start. Stop. Continue. Move. Modify. Motivate.
5. Ruthless commitment to resolving relational conflict no matter what. Conflict as an opportunity to deepen the relationship. 

B. Leadership must always focus on development of new leaders. See if emerging leader can be resourceful via fully engaged test case leadership opportunity - pass/fail task-force test.

C. Hireling versus good shepherd (cf John 10). Cares for the well-being of the sheep. Leaders with a legacy mindset, thinking beyond themselves.

D. Endurance. The greater the vision, the greater the price.

The point on endurance really got to me. As I listened to Hybels, I was reflecting on my journey from the time I served as an associate pastor to where I am at now. While it may be true I have some leadership qualities, I did not envision this 5 years ago. I'm not complaining and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been given. There is simply a profound sense of loss when I invested years in seminary and thought I would spend decades at my church as a pastor. I felt I was prepared to pay the price to stay in vocational ministry, but that's not how things turned out.

I suppose I've been thinking I had completely recovered from the trauma of leaving a church ministry post. After Bill's message the worship team got up and we started singing (I don't even recall the song). I just realized after a minute I couldn't sing -- I was completely overcome. The outpouring of emotion caught me off-guard. As my boss (and friend who knows all this) was standing next to me, I was feeling very vulnerable at that moment.

That vulnerability is actually a leadership trait also mentioned today. Susan Cain also spoke about "Quiet: Challenging the Extrovert Ideal", where she expounded value of introverted leadership. As a self-proclaimed introvert, I share this vulnerability publicly as a way to remain connected to those I know I can trust: you.

These gleanings are simply meant to continue that transparency and encourage others to do the same. Life is hard enough without feeling guilty that we threw away precious opportunities to be real with one another.

Personal Syllabus: Part 3B "Amplified Application"

If you were to eavesdrop in our office conversations, you'd frequently hear the phrase, "people often don't know what they don't know." When it comes to business technology, this is a challenge for us as a IT service provider. Very often business professionals are devoted to their areas of expertise and simply are not aware of impending disaster to their computer systems. While I am not intentionally plugging QSS, our goal is to provide businesses with insight and improvements to their IT that should help their entire business flourish.

Yet I'll say it again, we don't know what we don't know. It's almost as if we need an amplifier. The message seems to get lost with all the noise of life. There's so much static and interference that disrupts reception.

The same is arguably true in biblical application. In part 3A of the Personal Syllabus series, I attempted to demonstrate how people learn new things. While much of learning can happen automatically when one is exposed to concepts (for example, from biblical exposition in a sermon), if we're honest we would admit that we miss quite a bit of what is said. Even more frustrating, when it comes to God transforming us by means of applying Scripture, there's so much that gets in the way. It's like barely hearing a radio station from far away and only getting bits and pieces. Eventually we just change the station!

Recently my pastor shared with me an observation over a cup of coffee. He said I have a significant need for affirmation. As I have reflected about that and tried to be honest with myself about it, I believe he was right. Perhaps over time I might have discerned that about myself. God does reveal things when I study the Bible or listen to a sermon and see an area of my life that needs to be more closely aligned to God's holy calling.

Of course, he could have been wrong...or at least only partially correct. As humans we are all finite and cannot really see all that there is to see about anything. We can always improve a theory. We can always see things from a different perspective. That's the essence of growing: discovering something you did not see before. That's what I was trying to portray in discussing Bloom's Taxonomy. The longer we ponder, perceive, press, and otherwise pursue learning, the more we can truly grow. It's a journey.

There is a concept in psychology called the Johari Window. I won't go into details here as much has been written about it. It is simply interesting that we are often blind to our own self and we also fail to see things in others clearly. The window sizes vary depending on how open or private we are, and also the degree where we may even be a mystery to ourselves:

However, as Christians we need not stay in the fog! 

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable (Hebrews 4:12–13, NLT).

We have a faithful and loving God who cuts through all the noise. This is why Hebrews 4:16 is such a wonderful hope in the midst of God's exposition of us: "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

At the risk of getting really practical on you, here's a list I hope will help:

1. Rehearse the biblical gospel. The Bible is full of hope that we can change by the power of God applied in the gospel. The most critical path of applying Scripture starts with the power of the gospel. Unfortunately, the clear gospel frequently gets lost in the haze. One book I'd recommend is "What is the Gospel?" by Greg Gilbert. The big take-away here is that only through the power of the gospel at work can any meaningful application take place. Pray as you study Scripture and ask if you have deviated from the gospel. This is the foundation for all application.
2. Regularly confess your sins with the brethren as part of a healthy community. As James 5:16 instructs us, we should not hide our personal sin from others (and notice the mutual prayer associated in that relational matrix). In trusted Christian community we need admit our failures to one another. Luke 17:3 likewise instructs us to forgive a fellow Christian who repents. Intimate personal relationships are key to recognizing areas where we need to grow. By establishing safe places of confession and inviting others to speak into our lives, we will find opportunities for the Lord to grow us up.
3. Recognize that there may not always be a personal application for you in every verse! One church we attended pushed application so hard that it was expected every verse or paragraph must have a personal application. An astute Bible student will see a literary flow to Scripture. Like any good literature, the Bible will develop a narrative or exhortation. If your pastor preaches in small segments (e.g. verse by verse), they may over-reach the authorial intentions vis-a-vis the assumed reader response. In other words, the biblical author certainly had an expected outcome of their writings. Allow the text to function as a complete unit and to flow naturally.
4. Recognize also there was an original expected application. Following from point 3, it is a good idea is to try to identify what the author's original objective was in writing. Keep in mind, as Dr. John Walton puts it, that "the Bible was written for us, but not to us." Good hermeneutics warns the reader to understand the distance between us and the text before we attempt to draw application for our lives. Modern preachers often get stuck in contemporary quadrants of application: relationships, careers, finance, and health. For my part, this has a lot to do with our American ideals and to some degree prosperity thinking. While it's true the Bible does speak to these categories, there can be something quite self-serving in them. In the original context, it was how believers partook of the gospel collectively, demonstrated in personal holiness and showing love for each other in response to what Christ has done.
5. Reflect carefully in an attitude of prayer and humility. This may be the hardest thing to do, since we are so busy we don't usually have the time to meditate on Scripture. Meditation is not a mystical, New Age practice. It's a time of inspecting our lives in light of what Scripture says. Look for things in which you might be obviously resisting a clear command. There are many passages in which the author is making it clear there is a moral choice. Pray through Psalm 19. God will answer that prayer!

Sidebar

I cited Dr. Walton above as helping us recognize original author and audience are fundamental. He is known for in recent years for wrestling with Ancient Near East (ANE) issues as it relates to Genesis account of creation. It is not for the faint of heart, but his approach is instructive:

"Rather than re-reading the Bible scientifically or ideologically, we need to allow the Bible to be what it is—not a book of instruction about current issues telling us what to do to fix the world. It is God’s revelation of himself, and he is the one who is fixing the world. We are responsible for taking the knowledge of God that the Bible gives us and applying (not re-reading) it to the situations we face in a fallen world. In this way it can be living and active; dynamic not static."

In sharing this sidebar, I'm aware that I'm opening myself up to criticism. After all, isn't it clear Genesis is a simple story of God creating the world in 6 days, and that evolutionary science is the atheistic alternative in opposition to that account? Walton argues that the ancient Israelites simply would not have been contemplating that question at all, and Moses' purpose for writing the account was to communicate an important message as the covenant was being established -- a message that says God is intent on creating a sacred space and sanctifying a people for himself (http://biologos.org/blog/john-waltons-world-tour-part-1).

Again, we don't know what we don't know. Our blindness to our modern western thinking prevents us from thinking like an ancient Hebrew (or Greek). It may shock you to realize this: there is a huge gap between the ancient world and our contemporary world.

I'm the first to admit it's unsettling to rethink a long-held position -- and I'm by no means settled on a final answer to what Dr. Walton presents. If you take the time to watch his videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR82a-iueWw) or read his books, what I think is more important than his conclusions (with which we can fundamentally disagree), his methodology in going back to the ancient culture of the Bible is sound. Moreover, if we are serious about understanding the Bible for what it really said (yes, past tense), then we need to time travel (as it were) and think in ancient paradigms.

This is a daunting task. Most modern Christians would prefer to think of the Bible as speaking to us (more particularly, me). Yet just as so often the New Testament letters start (e.g. 1 Peter 1:1, "...to the chosen who are residing temporarily in the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia..."), we must needs see we were not the originally intended audience. All that I suggest is we wrestle with the implications of that truth: never forget that we moderns have a much different world than did the ancients. Back to Dr. Walton's theory, he argues that

"...when we read texts like Gen 1 in light of modern science, and in the process neglect the meanings that the words had for the Israelites, we are not reading ethically. Those who would claim that “Let the land produce living creatures” (Gen 1: 24) can be taken as support for an evolutionary process are not reading in light of an Israelite understanding. But neither are those who read the phrase “according to their kind” in the same verse as arguing against evolution. The ancient Israelite text does not have evolution in mind to either accept it or refute it by these illocutions."

Averback, Richard; Beall, Todd; Collins, C. John; Davis, Jud; Hamilton, Victor P.; Longman, Tremper III; Turner, Kenneth J.; Walton, John (2013-05-31). Reading Genesis 1-2: An Evangelical Conversation (Kindle Locations 4200-4204). Hendrickson Pub. Kindle Edition. 

I would simply invite you to do the harder work of wrestling with the Bible in its original setting with the goals the authors had for its intended audience. Then pray that God would show you what eternal principles can be applied to your life. If Walton's approach to Genesis is correct (and I'm not arguing with certainty that it is), one significant application for us is God's design to create sacred space within which he lives in right relationship with his people requires reconciliation. Humanity rebelled and yet God pursued us (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17ff). The direct application:

"Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as if God were imploring you through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20, LEB).

It doesn't get much clearer than that!