Key Question #2: How do they treat the Pastoral Epistles?
All of us recognize the Pastoral Epistles (the letters from Paul to Timothy and Titus) as legitimate parts of our Bible, but not everyone uses them in the same manner. It seems that they are being given less attention these days in the books being written about how to do church. As you listen to people give instructions about how to do church, do they consider the Pastoral Epistles as normative instructions for how to do church in all times and all places? If they are something else, such as artifacts about what the early church did from which we can find principles, on what basis can we conclude that the principles are normative? It may also be informative to think about what they mean by the “Paul/Timothy” model of 2 Timothy 2:2. Is it just about an older guy mentoring a younger guy (talking about whatever the older guy likes or dislikes?) Or is it about a training process that sustains the exponential growth and health of a Great Commission church planting movement?
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