狄马可，《认识教会带领》，书摘20条20Quotes from Mark Dever on Church Leadership

Matt Smethurst 摘錄, Duncan Liang 翻译

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/20-quotes-dever-church-leadership/

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DXNYFV4gGjDpPZxWfRCGtg

狄马可写的一本对人有帮助、应用性很强的小册子，《认识教会带领》（B&H,2016），以下是我读这本书时让我留意的20条书摘。

The following 20 quotes caught my attention as I read Mark Dever’s helpful and practical little book Understanding Church Leadership (B&H, 2016).

 “请想想，新娘的随从是何等小心预备她走上婚礼的红地毯。基督要教会领袖预备祂的新妇时小心翼翼，丝毫不亚于前者。”(1)

“Think of how care-full a bride’s attendants are as they prepare her to walk down the aisle. Christ wants his leaders no less careful as they prepare his bride.” (1)

 “在神旨意之外的能力总是属魔鬼的。” (4)

“Power apart from God’s purposes is always demonic.” (4)

 “像我们今天许多人那样拒绝权柄，这就是目光短浅、自我摧毁。一个没有权柄的世界，就像不加限制的欲望，没有控制的汽车，没有交通灯的十字路口，没有规则的比赛，没有父母的家，没有神的世界。这能运行短短一段时间，但不久就不得要领，然后是残忍，最后是悲剧。”(4)

“To reject authority, as so many in our day do, is short-sighted and self-destructive. A world without authority would be like desires with no restraints, a car with no controls, an intersection with no traffic lights, a game with no rules, a home with no parents, a world without God. It could go on for a little while, but before long it would seem pointless, then cruel, and finally tragic.” (4)

 “你不应让对教会不满的人担任执事服侍。执事绝不可是最大声抱怨，用他们的行动或态度让教会起冲突的人。完全相反！执事应当作消声器和减震器……你不应提名看不到讲道和教导事工重要性的人担任执事，而要提名心急要保护这重要事工的人。更广泛地说，你要教会当中最支持的人担任执事服侍。所以当你考虑谁可以担任执事服侍时，要找有鼓励人恩赐的人。”(13, 14)

“You don’t want people serving as deacons who are unhappy with your church. The deacons should never be the ones who complain the loudest or jar the church with their actions or attitudes. Quite the opposite! The deacons should be mufflers or shock absorbers. . . . You don’t want to nominate deacons who don’t recognize the importance of the ministry of preaching and teaching, but people who are anxious to protect it. More broadly, you want the most supportive people in the church to serve as the deacons. So when you’re considering who might serve as a deacon, look for people with gifts of encouragement.” (13, 14)

 “看圣经时留意到关于一家地方教会牧师和长老的第一件事，就是他们是众数。”(17)

“The first thing to note [in Scripture] about the pastors or elders of a local church is that they are plural.” (17)

 “代求祷告也许是长老最基本的事工。长老要代表神对人说话，就必须代表人对神说话。” (24)

“Intercessory prayer is perhaps the most basic ministry of the elders. In order to speak to men for God, elders must speak to God for men.” (24)

 “牧养就像教养儿女，要求人有耐心。这种工作不是单单一篇讲道或一天之内就能做成的。当然，有时神确实用一篇讲道，或一次至关重要的交谈促成突破。但通常长老的工作是重复性，是天天进行的，就像带一群羊去一块新鲜的草地吃草，就像每天做饭，或带孩子上学。”(25–26)

 “Shepherding, like parenting, requires patience. This kind of work is not done in a single sermon or in a day. Sometimes, of course, God does cause breakthroughs in a single sermon or crucial conversation. But usually the work of eldering is as repetitive and daily as walking the flock to a fresh field for grazing. It is like making the daily meals, or taking the kids to school.” (25–26)

 “我的会众可以有另一位牧师，但我的孩子不能有另一位父亲，我的妻子不能有另一位丈夫。” (27)

“[My] congregation can get another pastor, but my children cannot get another father, or my wife another husband.” (27)

 “执事不应作为单独的权力机构，或需要由它通过议案的立法机关另一部门发挥作用。如果长老说，“让我们开车去匹兹堡，’那么这就不由得执事回来说，‘不，我们要开车去费城。’他们可以正当地回来说，‘我们的汽油不够我们开到匹兹堡，也许我们应该重新考虑。’这对人很有帮助。但通常来说，他们的工作是支持长老设定的目标。” (33)

“Deacons should not act as a separate power bloc or second house of the legislature through which bills need to be passed. If the elders say, ‘Let’s drive to Pittsburgh,’ it’s not up to the deacons to come back and say, ‘No, let’s drive to Philadelphia instead.’ They can legitimately come back and say, ‘Our engine won’t get us to Pittsburgh. Perhaps we should reconsider.’ That’s very helpful. But in general their job is to support the destination set by the elders.” (33)

 “作为一位主任牧师，也许对我教牧事工最有帮助的单独一件事，就是认出其他长老……他们补足我的恩赐，弥补我的一些缺陷，让我的判断更全面，在会众中营造出对决策的支持。” (34)

“As a senior pastor, probably the single most helpful thing to my pastoral ministry has been the recognition of the other elders. . . . They round out my gifts, make up for some of my deficiencies, supplement my judgment, and create support in the congregation for decisions.” (34)

 “新约圣经中找不到提名委员会或受托人，你要找财务委员会，或小组带领团队，这也是找不到的。相信圣经的全备性，这并不禁止我们设立这样的架构，只不过是让它们的权威变得只具有相对地位而已。” (36)

“Neither nominating committees nor trustees are found on the pages of the New Testament. You will look in vain for finance committees or small group leadership teams. Belief in the sufficiency of Scripture doesn’t forbid such structures; it just relativizes their authority.” (36)

“会众制治理合乎圣经，但会众却并非无误。” (36)

“Congregationalism is biblical, but the congregation is not inerrant.” (36)

 “一家教会有成员无法信任的领袖，或有不能信任领袖的成员，这都是一种严重的灵命缺陷。”(37)

“It is a serious spiritual deficiency in a church either to have leaders who are untrustworthy or members who are incapable of trusting.” (37)

 “作为教会成员，你需要信任你的领袖，要不然就找人取代他们。但不要说你承认他们是领袖，然后却不服从他们……与其不信任教会领袖，倒不如让我鼓励你，在你领袖背后议论他们：秘密会面，策划如何鼓励你的领袖。制定策略，让教会领袖做工不至忧愁，而是有快乐。”(37–38)

 “You as a church member either need to trust your leaders or replace them. But don’t say that you acknowledge them and then not follow them. . . . Rather than distrusting church leaders, let me encourage you to talk behind your elders’ backs: meet in secret and plot to encourage your leaders. Strategize to make the church leaders’ work not burdensome, but a joy.” (37–38)

 “撒但的谎言，就是绝不可信任权柄，因为权柄总是暴政和压制人；但长老仁慈地使用权柄，就推翻了这谎言。”(38–39)

“Satan’s lie—that authority can never be trusted because it is always tyrannical and oppressive—will be subverted by the elders’ benevolent exercise of authority.” (38–39)

 “教会成员制并不只是写在纸上的名字，或我们宣告喜欢我们成长的地方。它必须反映出一种活的委身……否则就没有价值。” (43)

 “Membership is not simply a name on a piece of paper or our declaration of affection toward the place we grew up. It must reflect a living commitment . . . or it is worthless.” (43)

 “不参与的‘成员’让真成员和非基督徒都感到糊涂，不清楚作基督徒意味着什么。我们这些‘活跃的’成员，若是容许‘不活跃’的成员继续成为教会成员，这就是自愿不造就他们了，因为教会成员制是对一个人得救的集体认可。请明白这一点：教会成员制是教会对一个人得救的集体见证。因此，一家教会如何能诚实见证一个从未见过的人，见证这人是忠心奔跑神为他安排的路程？” (44)

“Uninvolved ‘members’ confuse both real members and non-Christians about what it means to be a Christian. And we ‘active’ members do voluntarily ‘inactive’ members no service when we allow them to remain members of the church, since membership provides the church’s corporate endorsement of a person’s salvation. Please understand: membership is the church’s corporate testimony to an individual’s salvation. So how can a congregation honestly testify that someone it never sees is faithfully running the race?” (44)

“如果你不加入一家教会，就不要说你属于教会。” (45)

“Don’t say you belong to the church if you won’t join a church.” (45)

 “你不应为了得救而加入一家教会，加入教会，是帮助你确定自己是得救……你在一家地方教会的成员身份，就是会众公开见证你的生活证明你已重生。成员身份不能救你，但它反映出得救。如果没有反映，我们如何能肯定我们说自己得救的宣告为真？”(45)

“You should not join a church to be saved, but to help you make certain you are saved. . . . Your membership in a local church is that congregation’s public testimony that your life gives evidence of regeneration. It doesn’t save, but it reflects salvation. And if there is no reflection, how can we be sure about our claims of salvation?” (45)

 “加入一家教会，这帮助我们对抗我们自己错误的个人主义，发现基督教信仰的集体性质。”(46)

“Joining a church helps us counter our wrong individualism and discover the corporate nature of Christianity.” (46)

 “今天太多的教会呈现出一种版本的基督教信仰，按照这种版本，所有苦难都可以找到原因，所有牺牲都得到赏赐，所有奥秘都能在今生找到解释……如果你想评价一个基督徒在永恒这一边的生命，这是不能完全做到的。基督没有这样做，保罗没有这样做，我们也不应这样做。”(51)

“Too many churches today present a version of Christianity in which all sufferings are accounted for, all sacrifices rewarded, and all mysteries explained in this life. . . . If you evaluate a Christian’s life this side of eternity, it will not add up. Christ’s didn’t; Paul’s didn’t. Ours shouldn’t either.” (51)