Mutuality: Just to Reiterate
In my previous post (“Church Activities“), I briefly stated that mutuality is necessary for maturity.
Arthur, at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia,” makes the same point in his post “Muzzling God’s people.” He says:
The church as we see portrayed in the Scriptures is a place for Christians to come together to minister to and be ministered to. It is a place of participation and mutuality without hierarchy and where Christians can edify, pray, sing, teach, exhort and admonish one another. That phrase “one another†appears so often in Scripture but practically speaking we see the church as “one and all the othersâ€. How have we perverted the very vehicle designed to provide “one anothering†and mutuality into a barrier to Christians ministering to one another?
It’s really sad. We’ve turned a time of mutual talking and listening and teaching and serving and caring into a time of one person talking and everyone else listening.
In Scripture, maturity in Christ comes through every part of the church speaking and serving one another. It doesn’t matter how great your hermeneutics or oratory skills: if you are the only person speaking, then the church is not maturing.
it has been said that if you are the only one speaking, then it is normally because of one of two reasons: you are a needy person or you are a selfish person, in either case you have made yourself an idol.
John,
I think many are the only ones speaking (or only want one person speaking) because they’ve been taught that this is the best way and the scriptural way.
-Alan