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Questions & Answers
Reading
your statements of faith, I
am curious as to your position
on Israel and Jewish people today. Another
church says that Christians are “spiritual Israel”
and have replaced the Jews in God’s overall plan.
Where do you stand?
Our
viewpoint on this intriguing issue assigns
more significance to modernday
Israel than some do. Replacement theology,
which you cited, teaches that Christians have fully
replaced national Israel as recipients of biblical
promises.
On the other hand, we attach less modern significance
to being Jewish than some others. Dispensationalists,
for example, teach that God has
two sets of people — the church and the Jews —
with a different plan for each, present and future.
We believe that, in the ultimate sense, God
has only one “chosen people” — the church, His
people in Christ (Eph. 1:4; 1 Peter 2:9). We resist
the thought that the old covenant remains valid as
God’s religious plan for Israel, or that anyone may
be saved through the old covenant alone without
the redemption that is in the death and resurrection
of Jesus. Christians are, in a spiritual sense,
the true Israel of God (Gal. 3:29; 6:16b).
The truth of the previous paragraph, in our
opinion, does not negate a continuing role for
physical Israel. God is not yet finished with the
Jewish people (Rom. 11:1, 2). Some of His promises
through the prophets (Isa. 11:11, 12; Jer. 31:7-
12; 32:37-44; Ezek. 37:21-28; 38:8-16; Amos
9:11-15) and His words through Christ and Paul
(Luke 21:20-24; Rom. 9, 10, and especially 11:25-
29) speak to literal Israel’s role in the last days.
It is unclear from Scripture just how the role of
Israel will develop among the nations at the end of
this age. We watch and pray for God’s final fulfillment.
— Elder Calvin Burrell
Do
you allow women to serve on boards —
as pastor, leader, elder, or deacon? Are
there Bible verses for this?
The
Church’s position is a moderate one:
Women serve in various leadership
positions, but not as elder or pastor. Many texts
relate to this complex issue.
We find the many Bible examples of women
in lead roles: Miriam, a worship leader (Ex. 15:20,
21); Deborah, a judge (Judges 4 and 5); Esther,
a queen; Huldah, a prophetess (2 Kings 22:14;
several more prophetesses in both testaments);
Priscilla, a teacher (Acts 18:26); and Phoebe, a
deaconess (Rom. 16:1, 2).
We find general reports of women active in
worship and other forms of service. In the New
Testament, women were last at the cross, first at
the empty tomb, first to evangelize Samaria, and
first to convert in Europe. The Holy Spirit inspires
both men and women to dream and prophesy for
the Lord (Acts 2:16-18; 1 Cor. 11:5a).
Leading women labored in the gospel with Paul
(Phil. 4:2, 3), who cited several feminine names
for recognition in Romans 16:1-16. Phoebe (v. 1)
is called “deaconess” (RSV) — a female servantleader
of the church. Deacon and servant translate
from the same Greek word, diakonos.
On the other hand, we also find Paul’s restrictions
on women’s teaching and preaching (1 Cor.
14:34; 1 Tim. 2:11-15). Reading these as firm
church policy for all times and places can be problematic,
since that would conflict with the examples
and general statements reported above.
In an effort to deal fairly with these diverse
strands of truth, CoG7 encourages women to
serve in a variety of congregational and denominational
roles: teaching, music and worship leading,
boards and committees, children and youth work,
and many more — while the roles of elder and
pastor are restricted to men.
— Elder Calvin Burrell
July-August 2011 • 7