Healthy Teaching, Healthy Churches, Perry Stepp, Ph.D.

The New Testament uses several images to describe the ideals toward which churches should strive to shape people in the disciplemaking process. In Matthew, the church is a kingdom of servants, where the last comes first (20:26-28; 23:11), the penitent are restored (18.15-35), and the poor in spirit possess the Kingdom (5:3-12). In Luke/Acts, the church bears witness to God’s saving action in history (2:42-47; 4:32-37) for the whole world (2:39; 9:15; 10:1-11:26; 15:1-29). In Paul’s letters, the church functions as the body of Christ, internally and externally. And in the Pastoral Epistles, the church promotes healthy/sound teaching, built on the foundation of Paul’s gospel, which produces healthy faith, which in turn produces godly lives of witness in its members. This (producing healthy faith which leads to godly lives of witness) is disciplemaking. In this presentation, I read the Pastoral Epistles against their literary & philosophical background, paying special attention to their use of the vocabulary of honor and shame. I conclude that the Pastoral Epistles commend particular approaches to ministry which can produce healthy churches, which must by the Pastoral Epistles’ own definition be disciplemaking churches. Research associate Perry L. Stepp, Ph.D. Biblical Institute #bizg #biblicalinstitute #bible #chritianity #discipleship #DiscipleshipInEvangelicalChurches #zagrebconference #theologicalconference #biblical #christian #evangelical #discipleship #godliness #sound doctrine #healthy doctrine #disciplemaking #example #imitation #modeling #PerryLStepp