Pattern theology is the belief that God
has given mankind patterns in the Bible and expects, yea, demands that
we follow them. This has been the traditional view of the Scriptures in
the church since the restoration. There are some in the church today
that are questioning this approach to Scripture. In fact, some have come
right out and denied it. The following quote is from a speech delivered
by brother Rubel Shelly at the Missouri Street Church of Christ in West
Memphis, Arkansas, on April 20-21, 1990.
“Are we really looking for a pattern?
We have taken Acts and tried to make it a prison. Acts was not meant to
be a pattern. I reject pattern theology. The Scripture is not a book of
case law to be cited like a bunch of proof texts. The way to teach
people about the Bible is not to quote a series of steps to salvation. I
am not looking for a pattern. I am looking for a Person.”
If brother Shelly is right, then why
did God give us two detailed descriptions of the qualifications for
elders if they are not a pattern to follow? Why did God give
instructions about the specific emblems to be used in the communion and
what they were to represent if they are not a pattern to follow?
If brother Shelly is right, then what
about Jesus and John's teaching about the necessity of doing God's will.
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven"
(Matt. 7:21). "And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever"
(I John 2:17).
If doing God's will does not mean doing
what God has determined should be done and how God has determined it
should be done, then what does it mean?
If brother Shelly is right, then let's
sprinkle babies! To restrict baptism to repentant believers and to
insist that it must be full body immersion is to insist that the Bible
contains a pattern for candidates and a pattern for the method which
must be followed.
A rejection of the concept of binding
patterns is a rejection of the plain teaching of
Romans 6:17
"But God be thanked, that ye were the
servants of sin, but ye have
obeyed
from the heart that
form of doctrine
which was delivered [them]"
(emphasis added). The Roman brethren were no longer "servants of sin"
because they had "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered." Notice they didn't simply believe, nor did they simply obey,
but they obeyed the very "form of doctrine which was delivered." The
Simple English Bible translation is quite clear as to what Paul meant.
It reads "pattern of teaching." If
Romans 6:17
isn't an endorsement of pattern theology, then what is it?
Brother Shelly asserted that he wasn't
"looking for a pattern," but that he was "looking for a Person." The
person we should be looking for is Jesus and Jesus said we must obey
God's will. By telling us that we must obey God's will, Jesus is telling
us that there is a pattern. We find Christ when we follow the pattern.
Jesus said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them [pattern
theology], he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest
myself to him"
(John 14:21).
And "if a man love me, he will keep my words [pattern theology]: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him" (John
14:23). No man can find Jesus
unless Jesus is willing to "manifest" himself to him. No man can find
Jesus unless Jesus comes to him. Brother Shelly and others can look for
Jesus all they want, but without him coming to them and manifesting
himself to them, their search will be in vain.
The person we should be looking for is
Jesus and the Bible says that Jesus is the "author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him"
(Heb. 5:9).
Where there is no direction,
instruction, pattern (call it what you will), there can be no obedience.
If there is no obedience, then there is no salvation. Simply put, no
pattern means nothing to obey. Nothing to obey means no obedience. No
obedience means no salvation! If that is the case, then why bother to
look for Jesus? No pattern theology does more than reject the concept of
patterns, it is effectively also a rejection of salvation.
Other Articles
by Brock Hartwigsen
Arrogance, Humility
and Truth
How "by One Spirit Baptized?"
We Can Know
