Tim Miller - Bishop Committee

[00:00:00] On behalf of the Bishop Committee, I'd just like to give you who those are to refresh your memory before we announce the slate for the election. Roman B. Muller from Holmes County, Ohio, Raymond King from Burgertstown, Pennsylvania, Philip Miller from Holmes County, and David Yoder from Hutchinson are the current committee as well as myself. My term expires this year, and so we'll need to elect someone else to the committee. [00:00:35] We have three brethren nominated who have agreed to accept to be on the slate for this committee. I'll give you those names and ask those who are here to stand, and then we'll give you the opportunity to vote on that. The first one will be Ben Stalsfus from Peckway Congregation in Lancaster, Ben right here, [00:01:06] and Ivan Beachy from Faith Mission Fellowship, Mission Home, Virginia, and also Donnie Swartzentruber Monozuma, Georgia [00:01:43] As you are aware, we did a bit differently in the nominating process for the committee this year. We had just become aware of a pattern where it seemed like the nominations and the election was being decided by which bishop happened to have topic at the minister's meeting that year. And so in order to minimize that effect, we discussed this and consulted also with Paul A. Miller and decided to try to make it a bit more open by giving you the opportunity to give your nominees before the meeting. [00:02:22] And that's why you had that place on your response card and sending it into the hosting committee ahead of time, or the hosting church. Also, it reduces the time that's needed to proceed here at the meeting where this business time is limited. It seems like some didn't notice the instructions that were on the back of the letter that was sent, So not everyone filled out the space on the card, but there was a space on the bottom of the card given for that purpose. [00:02:59] We'd like to continue that practice, and we want to encourage you to prayerfully consider your nominee and give your suggestion when that opportunity is given. We would need each time to have you give both the brother's name, the church he's from, and probably the state as well, as more of us join the ranks here. We have similar names, even names that are the same, and so we need to identify who you are referring to. [00:03:31] So if the ushers could begin collecting those ballots at this time, we'd appreciate it. And while we continue on here, we thank you for your response to the survey that we sent out in February. We received responses from about half of those that we sent them to, which is actually quite good for this group. There are more still coming in, so you're still welcome to send in your responses to give them to the committee. [00:04:13] Still yet, and I'll come back to some comments from those responses a bit later. One issue that was raised to us is in relation to the issue of the mode of baptism. We've historically accepted pouring as our mode of baptism, and we see no reason to take issue with that. It seems more problematic when the mode becomes a more significant issue to us than what seems to be that Scripture and the early church made it. [00:04:46] We're just making that known. If there is need for us to look into issues surrounding that further, we're open to your input and discussion on that. Also, we are aware that there is a promotion of the idea to do away with the second ordination, that of bishop. and we have some concerns that we think should be considered as we evaluate these ideas. [00:05:19] One thing that we fear is that it could be moving away from the seriousness with which the lead responsibility for a congregation is viewed by both the congregation and the leaders. It also could, depending on how it's used, lead to some confusion within the congregation as to who is responsible for what. A question that we have is, is it, how might this contribute to an instability that comes from a lack of consistent long-term leadership? [00:06:02] Maybe some of those of you who have been exposed to our mission churches know that it is a struggle for them at times to have a frequent changeover in the leadership roles. And are we in danger of having that kind of instability experienced by our churches if there is a frequent turnover in leadership? We believe that the second ordination has served our churches well over the years and that serious consideration should be given before discarding this practice. [00:06:37] We recognize that there have been at times some abuses of the role of bishop and that is certainly unfortunate. But our feeling is that in those situations they probably would have occurred No matter what the title given would have been, in other words, to change a title doesn't necessarily change the man. And if, as seems necessary in any organization, there is still a lead pastor, we fear that harm could be done to a church by too frequent rotation of that role of lead pastor. [00:07:19] and there's little accomplished by simply exchanging one role label for another. So that is just some of the things that we think would do well to consider as we look at some of those issues. issues. With regard to your responses on the survey that we sent out, I plan to just give some summary comments this year, and the committee is going to continue to evaluate the responses and the issues that were raised and continue on with the discussion next year. [00:07:59] Again, we appreciate your willingness to put your thoughts on paper, to let us know what you're thinking in regard to the questions that we ask. With regard to the non-use of the radio, we find that a substantial majority of the constituency continues to support the affirmation that was given back in 1999 at the ministers' meeting in Grantsville, Maryland, to that position. [00:08:32] There was some question raised about whether our constituency position on that is somewhat obsolete. Because of the advancing technology. And from our perspective, we're simply, as time goes on, adding other things to the negative influences which draw people away from Christ. We believe that radio in the old form, as well as the new ones that you find on the internet, cell phones, etc., it's still an influence to be avoided. [00:09:10] We further believe that the influence of video in most of its forms, TV in all of its forms, and other modern media are simply compounding the ways that the enemy is using to distract, to destroy, to take us away from, rather than toward growth in Christ and obedience to his word. is the result of the influences we are willing to allow taking us toward or away from faithfulness to God and his word. [00:09:52] We believe that American Christian culture has by and large simply modified fallen worldly culture and that any means by which we indiscriminately absorb either of those can lead to our spiritual ruin rather than spiritual health. And we think that a high level of concern is in order in relation to these things. [00:10:24] We continue to be concerned that we may be neglecting to look far enough into the future in relation to the use of these information technologies. And I think Brother Ronald last year gave us some good admonition on those things. The direction in which we are going is more important than where we actually are Is our vision broad enough to see the effects of our choices, the choices of our churches today on the lives of our people to the third and fourth generation, not just how it affects us today or how it might even affect our children, but our children and our great-grandchildren, our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren? [00:11:23] And as we think about these things, and sometimes these things are changing faster than we think we can keep up with, but we're not serving our church's will as leaders if we say that we expect one thing, And in reality, don't expect that at all. [00:11:55] Let's lead our churches into a way of integrity that what we have agreed on, what is our standard of practice, that is in fact what we are practicing. what we expect of each other to simply accept passively that the pressures and the influences of the world they're just going to work their will [00:12:27] all we can do is maybe slow the pace or whatever I believe is to abdicate our call and our responsibility The ability to lead the church in the way of victory over these pressures and influences. There was, in the question that we asked about what are our strengths, what are our weaknesses, there were some consistent themes. [00:13:02] The strengths, a lot of response in some form or the other to that referring to the openness that we have to differences and to input and a broader spectrum of fellowship than maybe others are comfortable with. and an appreciation for our emphasis on congregational autonomy. [00:13:39] On the other hand, a prominent theme in response to the question of what our weaknesses are was that we have a lack of accountability to one another and we're getting farther and farther apart. And so as we look at those two themes or two typesets of themes, We've done fairly well up to now, functioning with both the tension and the strength that our differences bring to us. [00:14:16] Now there's increasing concern that those differences are becoming great enough and fundamental enough that the tension is getting too great. One of our characteristics seems to be that none of us consider our church to be typical Beachy. Beechy. It's typical Beechy to believe that we are not typical Beechy. On the one hand, that's an acknowledgment of what is a defining characteristic for us. We do not believe that each one of our churches needs to be exactly like any other church in our constituency. [00:15:05] So there's that acknowledgement in that But to the degree that that means that we are distancing ourselves from one another And from the constituency, to that degree then, we are lessening our respect for each other Our consideration for each other and for the positions and concerns that others may have. [00:15:36] Another issue that comes up with that is that since none of us are typical Beachy, then typical Beachy sort of becomes whatever we make of it. And we wonder, is that helpful? As we think about the common themes that unite us, obviously there are a lot of themes, things like faith in Christ and certain Anabaptist principles or principles promoted by the Anabaptists, recaptured by the Anabaptists, [00:16:22] however you want to say that, that seem common to us. There are ways in which many of those things are generic enough that they include most of our neighboring churches as well. And the question is, is that how ecumenical we have become, particularly in things like faith in Christ. Now if we understand salvation like Brother Ken was sharing this morning, which I affirm heartily, Then maybe that does have faith in Christ meaning something different from what a lot of people mean. [00:17:00] But it seems important to call attention to two things that unite any group of people. One of those things, and there are more, but one of those things that unites people together is around something that is distinctive. To say that we are beachy means that we are not something else. It's distinctive from. An example would be the fire department in your community is not the rescue squad. [00:17:32] And loyalty to each organization is partially based on its distinctiveness from the others. Some people want to help in one way. Some people want to help in another way. Another thing that unites groups of people is the willingness of each member of a group to accept the parameters that are established, whether it's formally or informally, by the group. [00:18:02] An example would be if you want to be accepted in the skateboarding crowd of youth, which most of you probably wouldn't dare try those things anymore. You wear the right clothes, you have the right hairstyle, you talk the right language, and you are identified and accepted as a part of that group. There's an agreed upon set of parameters to fit within that. And to build on that, I think we need to consider this. The real depth of any relationship is based on the level of submission between the parties involved. [00:18:49] Consider how the relationship in marriage differs from the relationship those same married individuals have with others. A husband and wife will have a significant and high degree of sensitivity and accommodation to each other's needs and desires. If a husband starts to have more sensitivity to another lady's needs and desires than his wife's, she will rightly start to question whether his heart is truly with her. [00:19:32] That lack of consideration brings about a brokenness in any unity and oneness that were there. Romans 14 and other passages give us some particulars about how this aspect of relationship is worked out in the church among a brotherhood. There are certainly aspects of that that we do need to consider as we interact on the constituency level. [00:20:09] The broader the disregard for the needs and desires of another, the more distant the relationship. Some of the people I do business with, I really have little regard for most areas of their life. I don't even know what they are. I ignore them. But the broader the regard, the more broad, the more wide the scope of this regard and sensitivity and care for the needs and desires of another, the more close and the more deep the relationship. [00:20:46] It seems to us that as our constituency grows, it becomes more difficult to have the closeness of personal relationships that in earlier years, 40, 50 years ago, heightened our regard for each other. This group was much smaller. Everybody knew each other well, and that just automatically created a level of regard for what others thought. [00:21:24] Now, this group is so large that we don't all know each other's names. That's why we wear name tags. And it just is something that we need to consider, something that we need to ask questions about. How can we be and maintain this constituency unity? Can two walk together except they be agreed is the rhetorical question of scripture and the obvious answer to that is no to that rhetorical question. [00:22:15] Unfortunately, when there is less agreement, then we find it easy to separate our ways to resolve the problem. I talked earlier about the tension that happens as we get farther apart, the rubber band gets stretched tighter and tighter. Well, the obvious answer is we relieve the tension by cutting the rubber band. Is the only solution to downsize and reunite by separation and division? [00:22:50] Or can we consider that our desire for relationship to one another is significant enough that we're willing to sacrifice in the spirit of Romans 14 for the sake of unity and deeper fellowship with one another? So, do we accept that a solution to some of the differences in the widening spaces between us is to work toward agreement? [00:23:26] We can also lessen the tension on the rubber band by moving the ends closer together. That's more costly, and we take the other route precisely because it's easier. Agreement comes at a price, the price of submission to one another in the Lord, and our human nature would like to avoid that kind of thing. Our plea is to understand these principles and to consider them carefully [00:24:02] and to take seriously Romans 15.2 as it relates to our constituency and our relationship within this constituency. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. Our unity must be centered around our commitment to apply the word of God consistently and directly to our daily lives in such a way that we mature as churches and as people in our own walk with God [00:24:38] and the kingdom of God is built up by our investment in that and by the unity of our constituency. Too many of our people are starving and dying spiritually because the seeds of the gospel are being choked out of their lives by the cares of this world. [00:25:12] the deceitfulness of riches and worldly values and they have become unfruitful because we've not been protecting them and directing them and warning them carefully enough. It seems like it's characteristic of us as beachies to line up all around the edge of the constituency. [00:25:52] And we keep one eye out and one eye in, or one foot out and one foot in. All the way around, on every side of the spectrum. We're apologetic about bringing people into our constituency for a wide variety of reasons. Can we gain the vision for gathering together away from the edges, around the Word of God, [00:26:34] and around the presence of Christ within us. It's already been mentioned here. God is here. We're not the only people of God. But God is here. Among us. With the strength that we gain from uniting together, from stepping in from the edge, We give witness to the transforming work of Christ in a way that stands as a witness both to the world and to worldly Christianity [00:27:14] that it is possible to live out so great salvation in a way that's faithful to the entirety of God's holy word. Brethren, let's first of all rise up and be faithful to God and to his word. [00:27:50] And let us love one another as individual brethren, certainly. But as churches, as a constituency, with a depth that calls us to live out with one another the principles of Romans 14. Let's be drawn together by the common concern to be faithful, both doctrinally and practically, to the desire of God. [00:28:27] for his people and may I even say it this way to the desire of God for his beaches may the Lord bless you