Post by Gods will on Jul 20, 2006 4:36:02 GMT -5
It is obvious from Scripture that church meetings were participatory in New Testament times, and that everyone was allowed to contribute freely and spontaneously to them. It is also obvious that Paul wrote these instructions not just for the Corinthians, but for our benefit as well, because the letter was addressed not only to them, but to "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord".
Since that is the case, many of us will find this passage threatening to our traditional church mindsets. You may even find this passage somewhat threatening to your career, if you, like me, were trained to be someone whose primary job is to bring "the" sermon Sunday morning and evening. Who wants to "shake the boat" and challenge "the way we've always done it"?
That certainly makes 1 Co 14:26-40 tempting to ignore, doesn't it?
Although we may wish to take that easy way out, the apostle Paul does not give us the comfortable option of ignoring his words, if we want to have a clear conscience. Instead, he goes on to tell us that what he is writing is “the Lord’s command.”
“Did the Word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored” (14:36).
Paul anticipated that there would be those who would want to conduct church meetings in ways other than this. His questions are designed to point out to them how presumptuous they would be to ignore his instructions and invent their own customs–as though the Word of God had originated with them, or they had a corner on it!
We know for a fact, however, that there have been those in the history of the church who have presumed to substitute their own customs for the Word of God, since the way of meeting we have inherited is so different from what the Lord commanded. Tertullian, a late second century believer, wrote that “custom without truth is error grown old.”
The question is, are we going to continue ignoring God's word for the sake of "error grown old"?
If we intentionally did that, would not the words that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees ring accusingly in our own ears?
“And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Mt 15:3).
Let's not look down on those who do not understand this passage, and therefore don't practice church this way. Many don't know better. They are merely continuing to abide by the traditions they have inherited. Besides, there may be other scripture passages that they understand and obey better than we do! Let's also not presume to judge those who understand this passage, but intentionally disregard it out of fear. Judgment is God's business. However, there is nothing wrong with encouraging such people to be more courageous!
We also don't want to lay an unbearable burden on those who attend churches that will not change. However, they will never know for sure that their church won't change until they try to get them to follow this passage!
Some churches already follow these scriptural principles, but if you attend one that does not, here are some ideas that might help you to get your church to change:
1. Don't ask people to change without making certain that they understand the biblical basis for that change first. That can take time, lots of teaching (line upon line, precept upon precept), and prayer.
2. Don't be a rebel, or a grumbler or complainer. Be respectful of authority, polite, nonjudgmental, and loving at all times. If the leaders are not behind this change, it will be very difficult to implement it.
3. Be patient. It takes time to turn the Titantic around!
4. Recognize that there were several types of meetings in New Testament times. There were prayer meetings (Acts 12:12), small gatherings in homes (Acts 2:46), apostolic teaching meetings (Acts 19:9), and church meetings (I Co 14:26-40). There is room for all of them. If your church leaders think that there will be too much opposition to implementing participatory meetings during the Sunday morning service, perhaps it can be done on a Sunday or Wednesday night. Some churches have an "After Glow" meeting following a regular service for participatory sharing.
Another excellent option is to have participatory small group meetings. This is usually best done in home cell group meetings. Since the early church met in homes, this can give you a wonderful taste of what New Testament Church life was really like! However, any small group meeting, from a Sunday School class to a youth group, can be made more participatory.
Since the Lord gave us these scriptural instructions for the sake of our spiritual health, any implementation of these scriptural principles can help to foster a healthier functioning church body that affirms the priesthood of the believer not only in word, but in deed.
5. If the ideas above fall on deaf ears, and you have leadership gifts or know someone who does, you could, as a last resort, pray about organizing your own small group meeting as a personal ministry. You don't have to break away from your church to do this.
If all of these options fail and you are attending the church God wants you to be at, it's not the end of the world! You should give it more time and prayer. Meanwhile, you can still get a lot of benefit from church meetings done the modern way.
Sometimes people simply won't change. Appropriately, Paul's next words are,
"But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant,"
If someone stubbornly chooses to ignore the sound instructions that the Apostle has given, there is no need to fret about it, or to keep pestering him. We are instructed to let him to remain in his willfully ignorant state.
Paul concludes with, "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently, and in order."
If you implement the apostle Paul’s instructions in your own church, God will be more pleased with your obedience than with the sweat and toil used to prepare for a thousand church meetings not conducted according to His Word. As the prophet Samuel said to King Saul, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sa 15:22).
Since that is the case, many of us will find this passage threatening to our traditional church mindsets. You may even find this passage somewhat threatening to your career, if you, like me, were trained to be someone whose primary job is to bring "the" sermon Sunday morning and evening. Who wants to "shake the boat" and challenge "the way we've always done it"?
That certainly makes 1 Co 14:26-40 tempting to ignore, doesn't it?
Although we may wish to take that easy way out, the apostle Paul does not give us the comfortable option of ignoring his words, if we want to have a clear conscience. Instead, he goes on to tell us that what he is writing is “the Lord’s command.”
“Did the Word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored” (14:36).
Paul anticipated that there would be those who would want to conduct church meetings in ways other than this. His questions are designed to point out to them how presumptuous they would be to ignore his instructions and invent their own customs–as though the Word of God had originated with them, or they had a corner on it!
We know for a fact, however, that there have been those in the history of the church who have presumed to substitute their own customs for the Word of God, since the way of meeting we have inherited is so different from what the Lord commanded. Tertullian, a late second century believer, wrote that “custom without truth is error grown old.”
The question is, are we going to continue ignoring God's word for the sake of "error grown old"?
If we intentionally did that, would not the words that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees ring accusingly in our own ears?
“And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Mt 15:3).
Let's not look down on those who do not understand this passage, and therefore don't practice church this way. Many don't know better. They are merely continuing to abide by the traditions they have inherited. Besides, there may be other scripture passages that they understand and obey better than we do! Let's also not presume to judge those who understand this passage, but intentionally disregard it out of fear. Judgment is God's business. However, there is nothing wrong with encouraging such people to be more courageous!
We also don't want to lay an unbearable burden on those who attend churches that will not change. However, they will never know for sure that their church won't change until they try to get them to follow this passage!
Some churches already follow these scriptural principles, but if you attend one that does not, here are some ideas that might help you to get your church to change:
1. Don't ask people to change without making certain that they understand the biblical basis for that change first. That can take time, lots of teaching (line upon line, precept upon precept), and prayer.
2. Don't be a rebel, or a grumbler or complainer. Be respectful of authority, polite, nonjudgmental, and loving at all times. If the leaders are not behind this change, it will be very difficult to implement it.
3. Be patient. It takes time to turn the Titantic around!
4. Recognize that there were several types of meetings in New Testament times. There were prayer meetings (Acts 12:12), small gatherings in homes (Acts 2:46), apostolic teaching meetings (Acts 19:9), and church meetings (I Co 14:26-40). There is room for all of them. If your church leaders think that there will be too much opposition to implementing participatory meetings during the Sunday morning service, perhaps it can be done on a Sunday or Wednesday night. Some churches have an "After Glow" meeting following a regular service for participatory sharing.
Another excellent option is to have participatory small group meetings. This is usually best done in home cell group meetings. Since the early church met in homes, this can give you a wonderful taste of what New Testament Church life was really like! However, any small group meeting, from a Sunday School class to a youth group, can be made more participatory.
Since the Lord gave us these scriptural instructions for the sake of our spiritual health, any implementation of these scriptural principles can help to foster a healthier functioning church body that affirms the priesthood of the believer not only in word, but in deed.
5. If the ideas above fall on deaf ears, and you have leadership gifts or know someone who does, you could, as a last resort, pray about organizing your own small group meeting as a personal ministry. You don't have to break away from your church to do this.
If all of these options fail and you are attending the church God wants you to be at, it's not the end of the world! You should give it more time and prayer. Meanwhile, you can still get a lot of benefit from church meetings done the modern way.
Sometimes people simply won't change. Appropriately, Paul's next words are,
"But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant,"
If someone stubbornly chooses to ignore the sound instructions that the Apostle has given, there is no need to fret about it, or to keep pestering him. We are instructed to let him to remain in his willfully ignorant state.
Paul concludes with, "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently, and in order."
If you implement the apostle Paul’s instructions in your own church, God will be more pleased with your obedience than with the sweat and toil used to prepare for a thousand church meetings not conducted according to His Word. As the prophet Samuel said to King Saul, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sa 15:22).