DEACON - CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACKET - Ryan Fields

Regarding non-essential doctrines which are not specified in the EFCA Statement of Faith, how would you deal those who disagree with you regarding an important, yet non-essential doctrine? The beauty of the EFCA statement of faith marking out what we understand as the essentials is that it frees us to recognize that disagreements about other matters are "disagreements within the family," things that God's people have a difference of opinion about but always with the recognition that the other position is a legitimate evangelical position to hold. This doesn't mean that these doctrines "don't matter"; these doctrines are quite important for articulating the proper implications of the gospel for what God's people should think and how they should live. Rather, it means that we respect our brothers and sisters who come to different conclusions on these matters even though those different conclusions may manifest in important differences between our church communities. This is especially the case when these brothers and sisters come to those different conclusions because they are convinced from the Word of God that they are so. We must continue to seek the truth of God's Word by really listening to each other while ultimately being willing to "agree to disagree" on these as non-essentials. The church should also seek to partner in gospel ministry to the fullest extent possible amidst these disagreements, knowing that everyone will stand before God to give account for their position and that we are united in the most essential aspects of the faith. Christ calls his people to exhibit a unity before a watching world to the fullest extent possible (John 17:20-23). Briefly explain your views on the inerrancy of Scripture and how those views impact your preaching? To say that the Scriptures are "inerrant” means that they do not err in any matters upon which they speak, be they matters of faith and practice or history and science (2 Pet. 1:20- 21). This derives from the fact that everything said in Scripture is ultimately said by God Himself, who cannot err or deceive (Num. 23:19, 1 Sam. 15:29, Tit. 1:2). Inerrancy is important because it reinforces our confidence in the full authority of God’s Word, which our Lord affirmed again and again in his ministry (Matt. 5:17, 15:1-6, John 10:34-35). We affirm that “the Bible is without error in the original writings” in that it is the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts which can be said to be inerrant; modern translations of the Bible are reliable only to the degree that they are faithful in communicating the message of these original writings. Thankfully the work of gifted and competent Bible translators gives us great confidence that when we exercise Word ministry from our English Bibles we are indeed hearing from the Word of God. This directly impacts preaching because we can be confident that as God's Word is proclaimed, inerrant truth is being proclaimed, and this truth goes forth in the power of the Holy Spirit to do the work of transformation for which it was intended (Isa. 55:10- 13). Our confidence in preaching comes not from the giftedness of the preacher nor the readiness of the congregation, but from the fact that God promises to use preaching to bring his inerrant Word home to the hearts of his people. Are there any doctrinal positions you hold which might be regarded as outside the mainstream of the EFCA? If yes, please explain. No.

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