A quote from Reimagining Church
I’ve been slowly reading through Frank Viola’s latest book Reimagining Church. So far, in my opinion, this book has been much better than Pagan Christianity. In fact, I think this book should have been published first in the series.
But, before I write a full review, I thought I would share this quote because it expresses my own view on the church meeting as well:
Perhaps the most startling characteristic of the early church meeting was the absence of any human officiating. Jesus Christ led the gatherings by the medium of the Holy Spirit through the believing community. The result? The spirit of “one anothering” pervaded the entire meeting. It’s no wonder that the New Testament uses the phrase one another nearly sixty times. Each member came to the meeting knowing that he or she had the privilege and the responsibility to contribute something of Christ…
Some may object and say, “But in my church, I’m allowed to do some ministry.” My question is, are you allowed to carry out such ministry in the major gatherings of the church when all the members are present? Are you free to stand up at any time and give a word of testimony, a teaching, an exhortation, a song, or whatever else the Lord has laid on your heart? More importantly, are you encouraged to do this?
Let’s be honest. The idea of mutual ministry envisioned in the New Testament is a far cry from the pinched definition of “lay ministry” that’s promoted in the typical institutional church. Most organized churches offer a surplus of volunteer positions for “laypeople” to fill. Positions like cutting the lawn of the parsonage, ushering the aisles, shaking hands at the sanctuary door, passing out bulletins, teaching Sunday school, singing in the choir, participating on the worship team (if you make the cut), flipping transparencies, turning PowerPoint slides, etc.
But these restricted “ministry” positions are light-years away from the free and open exercise of spiritual gifts that was afforded to every believer in the early church gathering. An exercise that benefited the entire church when it gathered together. (pg 55-56)
Like I said, I agree with this statement. I think we have lost the desire and opportunity to truly serve one another through the gifts of the Spirit when the church meets, and we have tried to delegate our own responsibility to others – primarily our leaders.
He will not break a bruised reed
Sunday, I had to opportunity to teach the church. Since we’re studying through the Book of Matthew, I taught on Matthew 12:15-21. Part of that passage reads as follows:
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory. (Matthew 12:20 ESV; a quotation from Isaiah 42:3)
The reed would be used for measurement or support. When the reed was bruised or damaged, it would not be good for measuring or supporting anymore. Therefore, it would be broken and tossed into the fire. When a wick in an oil lamp begins to smoke or smolder, the wick is about used up. The old wick is removed and replaced with a new wick.
But, when the Lord’s Servant comes, Isaiah says that he would not break a bruised reed, nor would he quench a smoldering wick. Instead, Isaiah promised that the Servant would bring justice to victory. Matthew applies this prophetic passage to Jesus. He is telling his readers – and us – that Jesus did not come to judge the damaged and used up people, but instead he was bringing them justice which would lead to victory.
I encouraged others to consider the damaged, bruised, broken, and used up people that they come across from day to day. Jesus desires to bring those people justice which leads to victory; he does not desire to bring judgment and condemnation; he does not desire to break them or throw them out. Our responsibility as followers and representatives of Jesus is to offer them love and mercy as God has offered it to us.
While this was only a small part of my teaching on this passage, it apparently struck a nerve. Several people shared about the damaged and broken people that God had brought into their lives.
One young lady shared about a cafe owner that she had met recently. She had intentionally spent time in this cafe to get to know this man and a woman who works there as well. It turns out that the man is from France. After my friend got to know him and shared the good news of Jesus Christ with him, he told her that he had had a hard time meeting people in this small Southern town. Many of the Christians would not talk to him because he served wine. Then, when they did talk to him, they simply asked him where he went to church and invited him to their church. He said he felt like they were trying to sell him something. After my friend explained the good news, the man said, “If only it could really be like that…”
A couple of other people told about young men and young women that God had brought into their lives. Some were dealing with marital issues, some were being abused, some were struggling with illnesses or poverty or addiction. In every case, my friends expressed a desire to demonstrate the love of God to these broken, bruised, and damaged people.
Then, a man shared a modern day parable with us. He said that a dog showed up on their front porch a couple of days earlier. The dog looked malnourished, so they decided to feed him, recognizing that the dog would probably stay if they started taking care of him. They have since bought the dog a collar (he didn’t have one) and gave him a bath. The dog probably belongs to someone who will show up one day to take him back home.
After sharing this story, my friend asked: Why is it so easy to take care of a dog that is in need, but so difficult to take care of a person who is in need. I think my friend’s simple story taught us much more about sharing the love of God than my teaching did. I thank God that my friend had the opportunity to speak to the church – even though he was not scheduled to teach or preach – and I thank God that my friend took advantage of that opportunity in order to edify us and to stir us all up toward love and good works.
Hal on Edification
Hal wrote this in a comment on my last post, “Peterson on Edification“. It is much too good to leave in a comment:
Edification involves bearing one another’s burdens. It is building the house of God with different shaped stones. If we don’t care about or love one another enough to get to know each other and then be able to bear those burdens, or meet those spiritual needs through the differing gifts available to the church, then we have to revert to building with uniform, one size fits all blocks. We then have to make an assumption of what it is the body needs.”Well everybody needs food, so lets supply some milk, or some creamed carrots, or some steak.” Because it involves things which don’t come naturally to us, like patience, humility, or transparency, building the church up and meeting together can easily be reduced to just preaching, or just feeding the poor, or just whatever. We want the easiest, most efficient way to “do” church. Most of us know full well the quality of our fellowship together on Sunday, will in large part, be determined during the week, by our obedience to the Holy Spirit in living not just for ourselves, but for the local body of believers He has placed us in. We must move from adhering to an outward form of Christian principles which will benefit our “personal growth” and reputation, to a life abandoned to building and edifying God’s kingdom, house and table, i.e. the people of God! His glorious body! Do we really want more of Christ? If so, then we don’t need to search very far, because we are surrounded by his body. “As you have done to the least of these…..
Peterson on Edification
One of my favorite books is David Peterson’s Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1992). In this book, Peterson traces the concept of worship through the Old and New Testaments.
In one chapter (“Serving God in the Assembly of His People”), he discusses the connection between worship and the meeting of the church. This section is called “Edification and the gathering of the church”. Primarily, Peterson finds that worship terminology is not used in connection with the church meeting. What does he find?
Paul regularly uses the terminology of upbuilding or edification, rather than the language of worship, to indicate the purpose and function of Christian gatherings (e.g. 1 Cor. 14:3, 4, 5, 12, 17, 26; 1 Thes. 5:11; Eph. 4:11-16). ‘Building’ terminology is closely connected with the idea of the church as the temple of God, but it can also be applied without any specifically cultic allusions to the work of God in establishing believing communities (e.g. 1 Cor. 3:9-10; Rom. 15:20). Indeed, the concept of the church as the body of Christ sometimes flows together with that of the house or the dwelling of God, so that the language of construction is linked to that of a living organism. (pg. 206)
As I study the meeting of the church, I find scholars primarily agree with Peterson on this point: the purpose of the church meeting in the New Testament is upbuilding or edification. I wonder why the church at large fails to recognize this?
The teacher in teaching
I often write about spiritual gifts, like I did yesterday in my post “Charismatics“. Because I often write about spiritual gifts, people often reach my blog from search engines when they are seeking information about gifts.
The primary thing that people search for is something like “define the various spiritual gifts”. Thus, they want to know what it means to be a “teacher” or “prophet” or “exhorter” etc. They are probably disappointed if they read any of my blog posts, like a recent series that I published about “Spiritual Gifts“. Why? Because I do not try to define the various spiritual gifts. Why? Because, for the most part, Scripture does not define the various spiritual gifts. As I explained in that series, the authors of Scripture were not interested in defining the various gifts. Instead, they were more interested in HOW those gifts were used – whatever the gift happened to be.
For example, Paul exhorts the Romans to use their gifts which the Spirit has given them. If their gift is teaching, then they should use that gift by… guess what?… teaching. In whatever way the Spirit has gifted the individual, then the individual should exercise that gift (not trying to exercise some other gift) to the benefit of the other people in the church.
Interestingly, Paul does not limit the exercise of spiritual gifts to the leaders of the church – either the pastors/elders or the deacons or even the apostles. His exhortation is for all followers of Jesus Christ (indwelled by the Spirit) to exercise their spiritual gifts as the Spirit gives them.
Yesterday, Dave Black also wrote a very important essay called “Are You a Teacher?” He writes about the distinction between spiritual gifts and the responsibilities of all believers. Thus, the Spirit gifts some as teachers, but all are responsible to teach. The Spirit gifts some as givers, but all are responsible to give. The Spirit gifts some as pastors, but all are responsible to care for one another.
Dave writes:
Of course, all of us are to be teachers in one sense; we are to “teach … one another” (Col. 3:16). And in Hebrews we read, “By this time you ought to be teachers” (Heb. 5:11). We all have something to teach others – or should. I can’t tell you how much I delight in hearing my wife or some other member of our Sunday School class utter encouraging words of instruction during our lesson time, or in reading the Bible studies that Nathan has written, or in visiting websites written by “laypeople” that are chock full of good, practical Bible teaching. In fact, sometimes informal conversations around the Word can be more effective, more persuasive, more powerful, more life-changing than formal instruction. But this does not mean that all should be teachers in another sense. As James writes, “Let not many of you become teachers” (James 3:1).
Thus, even though some are gifted by the Spirit to teach, all are responsible to teach. It follows, then, that all of us – even those gifted by the Spirit to teach – can learn from (be taught by) others – even those NOT gifted by the Spirit to teach.
Dave also exhorts us not to leave teaching or other service only to those who have been recognized as elders or specially trained. He says:
Are you a teacher? Do you have something to contribute to the Body by way of “upbuilding, encouragement, or consolation” (1 Cor. 14:3)? I’m quite positive that you are, and that you do. Fear not then to express your spontaneous zeal in teaching others what the Lord Jesus has taught you. It matters not what level of formal academic training you may have had or not had. If we are members of the Body of Christ, we have the privilege and, yes, the responsibility of teaching one another. I emphasize this great truth everywhere I go. You do not need special training in a theological college to be a God-trained and God-taught teacher in the church. Just look at Paul’s use of theodidaktoi in 1 Thess. 4:9: “You yourselves have been God-taught.” Or read John’s instruction in 1 John 2:20, 27 about the chrisma (anointing) you have from God. Or see the promise in Jer. 31:33-34 that God would write His law on the hearts of His people and teach them directly as part of Jesus’ New Covenant ministry.
On the other hand, some of you are specially gifted in the area of teaching. Here is my advice to you: Do not think you need to be an elder or a pastor to teach! As Paul puts it in Eph. 4:11, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. I believe a healthy church will have both shepherd-teachers and sheep-teachers, working together in harmony for the building up of the entire Body of Christ. In other words, a New Testament church will have a host of teachers, not only ready to impart knowledge, but to receive it.
I believe that one of the main reasons that the church is weak today is that service – especially the exercise of spiritual gifts – has been relegated to church officials only. The church as a whole does not exercise their gifts for the benefit of the church as a whole. Thus, the church is not receiving all of the “upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation” that it should. One person – of even a group – of highly trained individuals cannot take the place of the working of the Spirit through the entire church.
How has the Spirit gifted you? Then it is your responsibility to serve other believers in that capacity. If the Spirit has gifted you in teaching, then teach. Are you a pastor? Then teach. Are you not a pastor? Then teach. Do you not have a formal environment in which to teach? So what? Teach anyway in whatever opportunities the Lord gives you.
Is your spiritual gift not teaching? You are still responsible to teach, but you are also responsible to exercise whatever spiritual gifting you have been given.
If all believers started serving one another and the world as God has gifted us, I think we would see a huge difference in the church and the world today. As long as we relinquish our God-given responsibilities to others because of position or training or apathy, then I think the church will continue to be ineffective in the lives of believers and in the lives of others.
Charismatics
This post is not about charismatic or pentecostal denominations. Instead, its about all of those who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit – that is, all Christians. You see, when the Spirit indwells and fills, He also gives gifts – the charismata.
In my recent reading of modern ecclesiologies, I ran into a couple of interesting quotes about believers serving through their spiritual gifts, meaning “charismatics”. First, in The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology (trans. by Margaret Kohl, New York: Harper & Row, 1977), Jurgen Moltmann writes:
The New Testament knows no technical term for what we call ‘the church’s ministry’. Paul talks about charismata, meaning the energies of the new life (I Cor. 12.6, 11), which is to say the powers of the Spirit. These are designations of what is, not of what ought to be. They are the gifts of grace springing from the creative grace of God. When he talks about the use of these new living energies, on the other hand, he evidently avoids all the words expressing conditions of rule. He does not talk about ‘holy rule’ (hierarchy) but chooses the expression diakonia [service].
There are a couple of interesting and important points in Moltmann’s statements. In Paul’s descriptions of the working of spiritual gifts, the apostle does not talk about hierarchy, or a rule associated with those gifts. Perhaps a case can be made that some gifts are more important than others (although an equal case can be made that we usually place importance on the wrong gifts), importance of gifts does not equate with importance of the individual, nor does it equate with a certain leadership. Instead, the Spirit works his gifts according to his own will – that is, through whom he desires and for the purpose he desires.
Also, instead of focusing on rule or control, Paul focuses on service. Thus, exercising spiritual gifts is not a function of leadership but of service – to service to other brothers and sisters in Christ and service to the world. These gifts exist (in reality, not in potential) for the benefit of other people, not primarily for the benefit of the ones exercising the gifts – although there may be some personal benefit as well.
This leads me to the second quote by Hans Kung in his book The Church (trans. by Ray and Rosaleen Ockenden, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1967). (I discusses another part of this book earlier in my post “Kung on the Church in Corinth“.) Again concerning the charismata, Kung says:
By linking his teaching about charismata with that about the body of Christ Paul at all events made clear that the Church is never – as some people in Corinth seem to have supposed – a gathering of charismatics enjoying their own private relationship with Christ independently of the community. According to Paul, all charismatics are part of the body of Christ, of the community. The fact that all charismatics are members of one body does not of course mean uniformity, but on the contrary a variety of gifts and callings. But fundamentally all individual members, having been baptized, are equal. But, by contrast with this fundamental equality all differences are ultimately without importance.
Here, Kung makes another couple of important distinctions about spiritual gifts which follow nicely from Moltmann’s observations. The body of Christ is not made of individuals who gather and exercise their gifts for the sake of the individuals and “their own private relationship with Christ”. Instead, because of the work of the Spirit, the individuals become part of the body of Christ together. Thus, the gifts are to be exercised for the good of the community, not primarily for the good of the individual.
But, this does not mean that there is uniformity within the community. On the contrary, as Paul points out, the Spirit works in many different way within the community. The variety works to strengthen the body in a way that uniformity could not. The teachers need the prophets who need the helpers who need the exhorters, etc. The difficulty comes when the individual must deny himself and the importance of his own gift and service in order to receive help from someone who is gifted in a different way.
When we gather together with other believers, we should be gathering with people who are different from us. We should expect and encourage people who are different from us to exercise their spiritual gifts. We should recognize that our gifts and giftedness (even teaching!) is neither less important nor more important than the gifts and giftedness of the other people around us. Why? Because the community benefits through the variety of gifts that the Spirit offers.
But, when some people or some gifts are considered more important, or when some people or gifts are not allowed to operate during the meeting of the church, or when we make the church about hierarchies instead of service, then the spiritual health of the community is weakened.
Focus on what Christ is doing in our lives
Lionel at “A Better Covenant” has written a great admonition to all bloggers (and all Christians) in his post called “I am Looking at the Man in the Mirror!” He begins by pointing out a weakness in his own life – a weakness that I think plagues all of us from time to time:
To be honest this is a huge struggle and what has been convicting me a lot as of late. I started to reflect of all the things I have said about other Christians young and old, mature and immature, carnal and spiritual and how I have always saw myself in the upper echelon and others, well….. not so much.
This is how Lionel concludes:
I think as bloggers and believers, as we write and especially as we talk, lets focus on what Christ is doing in our lives and what we are doing for others in light of what Christ is doing in our lives. If we can find any room to talk about others, then I promised you the mirror is too far from our faces. If we look more attractive to ourselves while being critical of the appearance of others either the mirror is too far from our face or we are in denial. Our goal is to stay in our lane and to be honest with others about our struggles and shortcomings while HELPING others walk this great faith out until death or until our Lord returns. I hope to assist my brothers and sisters in the pursuit of our great prize, our great mark and the fellowship that Paul longs for.
What a great goal! I also want to seek to walk with Lord and see him grow me toward maturity in Christ. At the same time, I recognize that he often uses others – like you, my readers – to help me grow toward maturity. In the same way, he often uses me to help other grow in maturity. But, if my focus is on criticizing others more than becoming like Christ myself, then I’m like the man who stopped looking in the mirror. I can only help others grow in Christ as I myself am growing in Christ.
Jesus’s Yoke: Listening to different perspectives
When we get together with the church at our weekly meeting (meaning we meet with the church at other times, too), someone is scheduled to teach. This person usually teaches for 30 – 45 minutes. After this teaching, we have a time when others can teach or encourage the body, or ask for prayer.
Yesterday, Maël, my friend and fellow-elder from “The Adventures of Maël & Cindy“, taught from Matthew 11:25-30. This is part of that passage:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)
Maël did a great job explaining the meaning of this passage and its significance for us today. He talked about different types of yokes: both animal yokes and human yokes. He talked about how the primary purpose for a yoke was to make a burden easier to bear. He explained that Jesus does give us a burden, but that his burden is easy and light.
After Maël finished teaching, several brothers and sisters encouraged the church from the same passage with their own perspective on burdens. For example, one brother said that when he begins to take his eyes off of God, he starts to focus on himself. He does not think about God and he does not think about other people. Many times, he begins to feel a heavy burden which is caused by his own self-centeredness.
Another brother said that he often bears the burden of hypocrisy. He says one thing, but often lives in a completely different way. He realizes that his hypocrisy has a negative affect on the people around him, especially those who are not believers.
A sister said that she has been studying the Book of Revelation. When she begins to leave her first love (Jesus), life becomes a heavy burden. She no longer wants to draw near to God nor does she want to love other people.
A brother shared that he had problems at work. He wanted to please his boss, but his boss asked him to do some things that did not seem ethical. He said he was burdened by the tension between pleasing his boss and pleasing God.
As I was thinking about these different perspectives, I realized that a heavy burden should be a warning to us. Jesus has said that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. But, if we feel that we are under a hard yoke and pulling against a heavy burden, then perhaps its because we are not under only Jesus’s yoke and pulling only Jesus’s burden. Or, perhaps we are bearing a yoke or pulling a burden that we should be sharing with others. Whatever the reason, when we feel the yoke get hard or the burden become heavy, we should recognize that something is wrong.
I’m glad that Maël taught us from this passage. But, I’m also glad that other brothers and sisters had a chance to teach and exhort the church as well, and that they took advantage of that opportunity. We need to listen to and learn from one another. We also need to give everyone the opportunity to edify the whole church.
An encouraging day…
My wife and I returned home from meeting with the church around 3:00 this afternoon. The last 4 – 5 hours have been very encouraging. There are many things that I could write about this morning and afternoon, but one story in particular stands out to me.
After our morning meeting, we break for a few minutes to allow people to talk and fellowship. Then, after about 30 minutes to an hour – depending on how talkative people are – some people leave while others stay to have lunch together.
As one couple was leaving, they met an older lady on the street who asked them for money for food. They didn’t have money, but they invited her back inside to have lunch with those of us who were staying. (First, it was very encouraging that they felt comfortable inviting this lady to share lunch with other people. We try to treat each other as family, and that’s exactly what they did!)
When this couple brought the lady back upstairs where we were meeting, I immediately recognized her. Her name is Rita, and she’s a professional pan-handler. She goes around from place to place and asks for money. Her story has always been the same in the two years that I’ve known her: she’s recently lost her job; she’s recently had the flu; she wants a few dollars to buy groceries. If you offer to buy food for her, she’ll begin to ask for more and more.
I’ve bought her food before, gave her a ride home, and offered to help her find a job and to help her with financial planning. She wasn’t interested in any of that – she just wanted the money or the food.
I talked to Rita for a few minutes – she told me the same story. I mentioned that I had talked with her before, but instead of condemning her, I invited her to stay for lunch. I told her that my wife had made chicken salad and that she was welcomed to join us. I told her that we would be eating in a few minutes. She said she would come back in a few minutes to eat with us, and she left. I did not expect to see her again, and I didn’t. I explained the situation to the young couple, and thanked them for caring about Rita and bringing her back in for food. I told them that they did the right thing.
A few minutes later, another brother came in to have lunch with us. He was not able to meet with us that morning because he was giving a man a ride to the hospital to visit his dad. This man’s dad was in ICU and they were taking him off of the ventilator this morning. I’m glad that my friend decided to minister to this family instead of meeting with us this morning.
When my friend sat down to eat lunch with us, he told us he witnessed another conversation between Rita and another man who had been meeting with us, but could not stay for lunch. As this man was talking with Rita, he recognized something about her. He begin to tell her that he had once struggled with alcoholism, and that he thought she was struggling with that as well. He explained how he was able to withstand the temptation to get drunk because of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He then shared the good news of Jesus Christ with her. He also invited her to come in and eat with us as well – even though she rejected the gospel – and told her that she is always welcomed to join us, either for our church meeting or for lunch afterwards.
I am so glad that God has surrounded me with brothers and sisters who truly care for people. Both the young couple and the man was concerned that Rita said that she needed something to eat, and both attempted to meet her need. While I know the young couple was concerned about her relationship with God, they did not have an opportunity to say anything because she left. But, our brother found a way to connect with her through their mutual struggles with sin, and used it as an opportunity to care for her spiritual needs as well as her physical needs.
I pray that God will continue to give us opportunities to serve him by loving other people.
Mutual Edification: What are the implications?
For the next few days, my son and I will be hiking and camping part of the Appalachian trail in Pennsylvania. While I’m away, I’m going to re-publish some of my older posts – posts that many of you have not read. As you can tell, I wrote some of these during my earliest examinations of the church in Scripture. Feel free to comment or discuss the posts among yourselves. I’ll try to reply to your comments when I return.
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Mutual Edification: What are the implications?
If mutual edification is the purpose for the gathering of the church in the New Testament (and if edification is the responsibility of every believer as they gather), what are the implications for the contemporary church? This is a topic that I am currently studying, so I will not offer many answers. Instead, consider the following:
1) How should our meetings be structured?
2) What role should leaders play during the meeting?
3) What if a brother or sister never participates in the meeting?
4) What if a brother or sister dominates every meeting?
5) What if a brother or sister speaks false doctrine during a meeting?
6) What if the gathering becomes too large for all to participate?
7) Is shyness an excuse not to participate in the meeting?
8) How does edification affect meetings besides the “main” meeting (i.e. Bible studies, prayer meetings, business meetings)?
There are so many other questions to be raised. I hope you bear with me as I continue to study the church through Scripture.