Church Education Trust

4.3.2 Matthew’s Background.

Matthew ministered during a period which saw the divisiveness of theological and missiological conflict between the Hebrew and the Hellenists believers. He wrote his gospel at a time when clarity of belief and a crisp understanding of mission or the role of the church in the world was needed. Matthew’s response to the situation in which he found himself, was to write a theology of mission as he understood it, did Warren engage with Matthew’s gospel so as to form his Saddleback ecclesiology? Did he choose Matthew’s gospel simply because of Matthew’s use of the word “ecclesia?”

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Historically Matthew is known to be a member of the Jewish Christian community living somewhere in Syria. The group to which Matthew’s gospel was directed would have struggled with, on the one hand, the severing of the religious relationship with Judaism, and being forced to leave their beloved Jerusalem because of persecution. Did Warren see similarities in the 21^st century’s struggle with his post modern world? Did he identify with Matthew’s challenges as he attempted to grapple with the bigger picture of new found Christianity as it attempted to cope with the declining and fragmenting Judaism?

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To make life more difficult for the Jerusalem believers, the Pharisees “18 benedictius” [1] was an uncompromising attempt to close the door to new born Christianity, if not prepared to live by the new laws it laid down. The Jewish believers would be classified as heretics and no longer would there be an open door to them in the synagogues. Did Warren suspect that the challenges which were coming his way from the traditional declining church, where placing him apart from traditional American Christianity.

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Reading his chapter on “myths”[2] you would believe that possible, he talks about the way the traditional church describes the MCM “as a designation I dislike”.[3] “He sees his movement under siege by people making `inaccurate assumptions, sometimes made out of jealously, sometimes out of fear and sometimes out of ignorance”.[4]The Christian community to which Matthew belonged and ministered was challenged by the Pharisees edicts.

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The new community viewed itself to be the true Israel of God. Warren would certainly have identified with the pain of Matthew’s new community as it struggled with its new identity. Warren suggests, “only when we base our lives on the bedrock of God’s word will we know the truth that sets us free”.[5] Was he emulating Matthew’s distinct trust in the commands of Jesus, who as a Jew took this new found community out of its Jewish roots to bring to birth a new movement called the church.

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Was Warren identifying with the similarities in desire and direction? The Pharisaic challenges to the Christian community and to their identity religiously, introduced many questions. For example, how would they see themselves? As a Christian community did they still need to follow the Law? If their deep historical and religious roots were being cut away from them, would their priorities affect the direction of their mission?

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Would it not be better for them to re-integrate into Judaism? Mathew’s task was to redress the imbalance, dispel the confusion and give clarity of direction to this new movement. Did Warren sense that direction as he researched Matthew’s gospel? If so, did it affect his search for principles? Did he feel he was redressing an imbalance, dispelling confusion and giving clarity to the new and developing movement and ecclesiology?Matthew’s primary concern was to develop the missionary thinking that Christ began in and through his ministry.

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Even within the new Christian community Matthew realised there were various levels of understanding and practices, so the goal of the movement was based on a collective mission strategy. His basic idea was to build a missionary community governed by right principles and a process which would deliver the primitive churches` message beyond its internal conflicts to the world around it.

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To empower that mission the tradition of Jesus became the central feature. In Him a successful future was possible and so the emphasis of a mission strategy to the Gentiles was born. It was into that context that Warren searched for principles for church health and development but was Warren identifying with Matthew’s approach? Warren asks the question, “if Jesus where here today what would He do?”[6] Warren saw Matthew as the ultimate story teller, as Matthew focused in bringing people to a full understanding of who Christ was, it could be argued that Warren took the same approach to his modern 21^st century community.

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His strategy was to have a target group, Matthew’s target group was those from a Jewish background, was Warren influenced by Matthew’s approach or by McGavran HUP? Warren’s target group was made up of the “Saddleback Sams” a legitimate cultural group of middleclass Californians. In the gospel of Matthew we see the introduction of the word “ekklesia” (church), for Matthew, the “ekklesia” was the new Israel of God.

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He supported the belief that in the “ekklesia” of God the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy which suggested that the church and not Israel, was the way that the purposes of God would be fulfilled in his age and also in future generations. His use of the Old Testament scripture was presented in such a form that Orthodox Judaism would be challenged. Matthew cleverly and in a very methodical and an extremely balanced way argues his cause and case with Orthodox Judaism.

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He presents the church as Israel reborn, allowing him to develop his theology of mission for the nations. Is this how Warren saw TPDC in its relationship to the traditional 21^st century church? Was Saddleback becoming the new church re-born, driven from principles recorded by Matthew or maybe driven by principles which Matthew used to develop his minsitry?  The church as a movement would see a great change in its make up by the end of the first century, for its membership was basically Gentile.

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Its geographical centre would be Antioch and not Jerusalem, in fact where ever Christian people would meet in fellowship; there the church would exist. It is interesting that in Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life” that he uses 44 major scriptures taken from Matthew’s gospel to highlight important teaching concerning the heart of church life which is the believer’s discipleship relationship with God.[7]

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It would become a church in transit, a movement unrestricted by language or borders.In so developing the missiological principle of the universality and the exclusivity of Christ’s Gospel, the great commission was the inevitable outcome and the foundation stone of mission. It would seem that the developing challenges of Matthew’s Gospel play a real and vital role in the structuring of the Saddleback ecclesiology.

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The Gospel was introduced in such away as to remind people of the stories of Jesus, especially how He made disciples and how those same disciples left to seek to make other disciples wherever they went.Matthew’s Christological[8] understanding may not seem to reach the heights of Johannine interpretations. It could be argued that Matthew’s lower Christological interpretation was such, so that Jesus would be presented in a more Jewish priestly fashion.

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While this is possible, Matthew presents Jesus as “Immanuel” [9] translated “God with us” indicating the closeness of God to all his disciples.The disciples knew Jesus in the flesh and from this they modelled their ministries while realising that even when He returned to heaven the Spirit would be given to empower them for their mission. The Lordship of Jesus is clearly identifiable as being an important element in the mission vision.

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In a unique way Matthew transcended the two traditional missiological thoughts of both Hebrew and Hellenist believers by emphasizing, that the law fulfilled in Jesus called the believers to rely only on the Holy Spirit for life and ministry. The creative tension between the two emphasises, helped the 1^st century church to work out her various differences as well.

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For Matthew bearing fruit in the life of the believer and clarification of their mission individually and collectively as the “ekklesia” of God is the ultimate outcome of the working of the Holy Spirit. Warren confesses that “it is his dream to see people develop to spiritual maturity[10] and sending out hundreds as career missionaries and church workers”.[11]Warren re-enforces the need for conversion, commitment and guidance which is the equivalent of Matthew’s teaching on discipleship.

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Bosch[12] makes a key point that is worthy of inclusion, he says, for Matthew, then, being a disciple means living out the teachings of Jesus, which the evangelist recorded in great detail in his gospel. It is unthinkable to divorce the Christian life of love and justice from being a disciple. Discipleship involves a commitment to God’s reign, to justice, to love, and to obedience to the entire will of God.

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Mission is not narrowed down to an activity of making individuals new creatures, or providing them with blessed assurance so that, come what may, they will be eternally saved. Mission involves, from the beginning and as  matter of course, making new believers sensitive to the needs of others, opening their eyes and hearts to recognise injustice, suffering, oppression, and the plight of those fallen by the wayside.

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It is unjustifiable to regard the great commission as being concerned primarily with `evangelism` and the great commandment as referring to social change. For Matthew, being a disciple meant living out the teachings of Christ, this is central, for it not only incorporates the Great Commandment but also the Great Commission.

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Warren expresses this mission concept in modern parlance by suggesting that his mission is designed “to minister to the total person, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and socially”.[13] That ecclesiology goes beyond what Bosch referred to as a too narrow a concept of the gospel ministry.

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Jacques Matthey[14] suggests,According to Matthew’s `Great Commission`, it is not possible to make disciples without telling them to practice God’s call of justice for the poor. The love commandment, which is the basis for the churches involvement in politics, is an integral part of the mission commandment. Matthew does not seem to be interested as much in conversion as a one of experience, as he is with discipleship as a constant commitment to Jesus Christ and his mission.

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This is a serious observation; clearly Warren seems to follow carefully this pattern of thought as he builds his structure for discipleship. In the section on “applying your purposes”[15] Warren suggests that to become a purpose driven church, one should focus “on progress not perfection”[16] Matthew’s interpretation of how Jesus discipled his followers carried them through a designer process of “watching, hearing and learning”, Matthew himself delivered many Jewish converts from the traditions of Judaism to the life of faith as members of a new and vibrant community of believers.

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He uses a series of terms which indicates as Bosch[17] suggests,that Matthew is not interested in Missionary terminology as such; he sets out to describe the missionary practice of Jesus and his disciples and by implication, of the community of his own time and of later times. The terms used in this regard include the following,`send`,`go`,`proclaim`,`heal`,`exorcise`,`make peace`,`witness`,`teach`, and `make disciples.

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While one may not be able to categorically develop a missionary strategy, but most assuredly Matthew opens up the door of mission to the Gentile world as the supreme challenge facing the church. In Bosch’s[18] view, Christians find their true identity when they are involved in mission, in communicating to others a new way of life, a new interpretation of the reality of God, and in committing themselves to the liberation and salvation of others. 

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Warren was so committed to mission and the reaching of the unchurched that he  was, “determined to begin this new ministry with unbelievers, rather than a core of  committed Christians”.[19] Frankemolle[20] sums it up when he remarks,  A missionary community is one that understands itself as being both different from and committed to its environment; it exists within its context in a way which is both winsome and challenging. 

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For Warren, the challenge was not only to discover principles that would govern ministry but also to being driven back in a purposeful way to Christian roots to discover the nature of existence and calling which are fundamental to his search. As he sought to clarify mission principles, Warren researches Matthew’s Gospel using two main scriptures[21] to underpin all that he teaches with regard to the church and its mission.

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Matthew’s Gospel became the focus of attention when assessing the validity of “The Purpose Driven Church” through its principles and process of development. Like so many church developers and mission strategists, mission has tended to be driven by the challenges of Matthew’s Gospel ch. 22 and ch. 28 [22] and usually at the expense of evaluating the context out of which the scriptures find their ultimate reason for existence.