House Church Workshop
Tonight and tomorrow I’m attending the North Carolina House Church Workshop in Smithfield, NC. The workshop is being led by Steve Atkerson and Tim Melvin of New Testament Restoration Fellowship. According to the web site, the sessions should cover several topics that I am interested in. I’m also hoping to spend some time with several old friends, and hopefully to make some new friends. Also, my son, Jeremy, is joining me at this conference, so that should make it even better.
I also learned recently that the conference location has Wi-Fi, so I may be able to publish some blog posts about the conference tonight and tomorrow.
House Church Workshop
Session 1 – Apostolic Traditions
Session 2 – Participatory Church Meetings
Session 3 – Elder-Led Congregational Consensus
Session 4 – The Lord’s Supper
Summary Remarks
A week with the church
Last Saturday evening – just over a week ago – we had snow and ice in our area. In order to err on the side of safety, we cancelled our weekly Sunday meeting. So, does that mean that we did not meet with the church last week? Hardly!
A few times before I’ve posted about our meetings with the church during the week. For previous examples see “Church meetings” and “A week in the life of the church“.
Sunday: Although we didn’t have our formal weekly meeting, we invited some good friends to come to our house for lunch. We had a great time eating and talking with them, and hearing what God had been doing in their lives lately.
Tuesday: Margaret and Jeremy (my wife and son) attended a Bible study with several friends. They had a great time studying John the Baptist from the Gospel of Luke. It was a great parallel to our current study in Matthew.
Thursday: A young couple who is planning to get married came to our house for dinner. After dinner – a wonderful potato soup which Margaret cooked for the first time – we talked about marriage and discipleship for the most part. These are new friends, and we have enjoyed getting to know them over the last few months.
Friday: We went to dinner with another couple who are good friends. We enjoy doing things with our children, but it was good to have some time with other adults. Again, we had a great discussion about marriage and discipleship.
Saturday: Several friends came to our house. In particular, a young lady that we have not seen in a couple of years was in town, so she joined us. We were able to hear what God had been doing in her life during that time. It was great to again eat, talk, and laugh with some new friends and some new friends.
Sunday: This morning, we had our weekly meeting. We’ve been studying Matthew, and today we looked at Jesus’ baptism. The young lady who came to our house Saturday night also spoke to the group to tell them about what had been going on in her life. After the meeting, we went to the home of some friends to celebrate the third birthday of their daughter. We’re looking forward to praying with many of our friends tonight.
This times of gathering with the church do not count the times that we speak to one another briefly in grocery stores or on the phone. It also doesn’t include the times that Margaret and the children spend at Tae-Kwon-Do with some of our good friends.
God has blessed us with great brothers and sisters in Christ. We enjoy getting together in both formal and informal gatherings to help one another grown in Christ as we have a good time together.
I don’t share this to put our family or our friends on a pedestal. Instead, I hope that the work that God is doing in our lives – especially in drawing us together as a community in Christ – will encourage others to seek relationships with other believers and to share their lives – not just a couple of hours on Sunday – with them.
Marriage and Discipleship
A couple of months ago, two new friends of ours asked Margaret and me if we would do pre-marital counseling for them. We started meeting with them a couple of weeks ago. It has been a blessing to get to know them more and to encourage them as they prepare to be married.
I don’t treat “pre-marital” counseling much differently that other opportunities of discipleship. My desire is to help them grow in maturity in Christ. As this happens, their relationship with one another will also grow and mature.
The last time we met, we talked about the sanctifying nature of marriage. Actually, they brought this up. They can already see how God is using their relationship with one another to grow them spiritually.
Before two followers of Jesus Christ are married – before they are husband and wife – they are brother and sister in Christ. Thus, the foundational relationship for a marriage is the relationship between believers. Also, since this brother and sister in Christ is spending so much time together, it is by nature a discipling relationship. Of course, it may not be a positive discipling relationship, but it is a discipling relationship nonetheless.
So, marriage is based on a discipling relationship. The husband and wife should encourage one another and help one another grow toward maturity in Christ. Since the two spend so much time together, and since they know one another better than anyone else, and since they are probably more open and honest with one another than with anyone else, marriage is also the most important discipling relationship.
While it is important for this discipling relationship to include activities such as prayer and reading Scripture together, there is much more involved in this. In fact, if a couple (or any two or more people) only pray and read Scripture together, I would not call that a discipling relationship. Instead, in a discipling relationship the people help one another follow Jesus Christ, recognizing that the other person is not perfect, accepting and loving them as they are, and helping them grow through the trials and struggles of life.
I think it helps a marriage to recognize that the two people are in this type of discipling relationship. When we read Scripture as it defines how believers should interact with one another, we should also recognize that this describes how a married couple should interact with one another as well. For example, consider this important passage from Philippians:
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4 ESV)
While Paul writes this in general to followers of Christ in Philippi, it is especially applicable to a husband and wife in their interaction with one another. In fact, I think it is impossible to understand a husband’s role in a marriage or a wife’s role in a marriage without first recognizing these and other basic responsibilities that one believer has toward another believer.
As I look back over the time that Margaret and I have been married, I can see that Margaret has been my primary discipler throughout that time. I have learned more about God and life from her than from anyone else – and that includes pastors, preachers, and teachers. Why? Because I am with her every day. I see my own faults and weaknesses and sins most clearly in my relationship with her. I learn from her words and examples more than from anyone else.
And, perhaps most importantly, God expresses his love for me through Margaret than through anyone else on earth – in other words, Margaret is the channel through which God most demonstrates his love for me. This does not mean that Margaret is perfect, or that her demonstration of God’s love is on the same level as Christ’s demonstration of God’s love. But, God’s love is real and clear and intimate – and our relationship has been the best reflection of that love.
Have you thought about your relationship with your spouse as a discipling relationship? Have you thought about your spouse as your discipler? What insights can you add to this discussion?
Edification/Participation: Either/Or, Both/And?
I recently became acquainted with Jeff from “Until All Have Heard” when he sent me an email about his latest post called “Edification and Participation: Don’t Have One Without the Other“. I appreciate how Jeff discusses both edification and participation, particularly looking at the results of having edification without participation or participation without edification.
I agree with Jeff that most church meetings today – at least the ones that I’m familiar with – attempt edification without mutual participation. Of course, the concern of many believers is that if they allow anyone to speak, they will end up with participation without edification. Jeff calls for church meetings which include both “maximum edification” and “maximum participation”. I agree that this seems to be the model that we see in Scripture.
Read through Jeff’s article and see what you think. Do you agree that we need both edification and participation? Can we have one without the other? If so, what happens?
If you’re interested, about a year ago I wrote a series on mutual edification and its implications. The first post is called “Mutual Edification and Individualism“. Also, several months ago, I wrote another series on edification that begins with the post “Edification 1 – Introduction“. You can link to the other posts in those series from those posts.
Leader-controlled or Free-for-all
For the last year and a half or so, I have been encouraging “open participation” during church meetings. However, I think there is a misunderstanding about “open participation”. Open participation is not the same thing as a “free-for-all”.
During the traditional meeting of the church, the only people who speak are the ones who have been scheduled to speak. The only people who choose songs or sing are the ones who have been scheduled to choose songs or sing. For everyone else, participation is limited to singing along and listening.
Usually, if someone has something to say, they have to tell the pastor or other leadership. The leadership will determine whether or not the other people should hear what the person has to say. Even if the person is allowed to speak, the speaking remains “leader-controlled”.
However, in several blog posts, I have suggested that leadership is not a requirement for speaking, nor is leadership alone responsible for speaking during the meeting of the church. In fact, Scripture says absolutely nothing about the relationship between speaking during the meeting of the church and leadership. Specifically, Scripture says nothing about leadership being responsible for filtering what is or is not said during the meeting of the church.
In two posts, “Who is qualified to speak during the meeting?” and “Who is responsible for speaking during the meeting?“, I said that there are only three scriptural qualification for speaking during the meeting of the church:
- The person must be indwelled by the Spirit of God, and therefore gifted by the Spirit.
- The person must speak from a motivation of love.
- The person must speak in order to edify the body of Christ.
Furthermore, I said that all believers are responsible for determining whether or not they should speak during the meeting of the church. However, this determination is not made according to a schedule or plan, but according to the work of the Holy Spirit within the life of the individual and the group.
A meeting that includes biblical “open participation” will not be a “free-for-all” where everyone makes sure that they get a word in. In fact, this type of chaos is the opposite of the Spirit-controlled order that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14. Instead of all believers at the meeting trying to say something, Paul describes a meeting where everyone considers the other person first, to the extent that if one person is speaking, he or she will sit down if another wants to speak. This is not a “free-for-all” but an order directed by the Holy Spirit.
However, a “leader-controlled” meeting is also the opposite of the Spirit-controlled order that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14. Instead of only certain people being schedule to speak, Paul describes a scenario where the Spirit reveals something to someone during the meeting, and that person immediately stands up to speak. The person speaking yields the right to speak to his brother or sister.
Again, neither extreme – neither a leader-controlled meeting nor a free-for-all meeting – is described by Paul or by any other author of the New Testament. For leaders who refuse to give up their position as the sole speaker to the assembled church, it is the responsibility of mature believers to point out to those leaders that every brother and sister in Christ should be allowed to speak toward the edification of the church. For those who take advantage of open participation in order to always have their say, it is the responsibility of mature believers to help them understand they should consider others instead of themselves.
So, what I have been suggesting on this blog and in person – what I call “open participation” – is neither a meeting that is controlled by those in leadership positions, nor a meeting that is a free-for-all. Instead, I suggest that each meeting should be controlled by the Holy Spirit, and that he should be allowed to choose who will speak and who will not speak. Since he knows who is present, what gifts they have, what has been revealed to them, and what the people need to hear, I think the Holy Spirit is the only person qualified to lead and control a meeting anyway.
New Testament Church Workshop
Steve Atkerson of the New Testament Reformation Fellowship (NTRF) is holding “A Biblically-based workshop on New Testament Church Life” in Smithfield, NC on Friday, February 8 and Saturday, February 9 (Note: The dates have changed). The conference is free, but registration is required.
While the conference is called a “House Church Workshop“, the topics appear to be applicable to many different meeting locations. Here are some of the topics:
- The Lord’s Supper as a Celebratory Fellowship Meal
- Participatory Church Meetings
- Elder-Led Congregational Consensus
- Apostolic Traditions & New Testament Patterns
I have not decided if I am going to attend this conference. If you decide to attend the conference, please let me know. (HT: House Church Unplugged)
Ecclesiology FAQ
Ecclesiology is one of my interests, and my primary academic pursuit. Ecclesiology is the branch of biblical and theological study that deals with the church. Since this blog is primarily about ecclesiology and since people often ask me what I think about certain topics, I thought I would give links to my blog posts that deal with the most common aspects of the study of the church and the answers to the most comment questions that I’m asked.
1. The Nature of the Church
“Definition” label
“Defining the Church (part 1)“, “part 2“, “part 3“, “part 4“, “part 5”
“Minimalist Definition of the Church”
“Historical Ecclesiology“
2. Local/Universal Church
“Local or Universal?”
“How does God view the church in your city?”
“The ekklesia in context”
“Local church in Scripture“
3. Church Leadership (Pastors, Elders, Bishops, Deacons, etc.)
“Elders” label
“Elders (part 1)“, “part 2“, “part 3“, “part 4“, “part 5“, “part 6“, “part 7”
Series – Should elders/pastors be paid a salary? “part 1“, “part 2“, “part 3“, “part 4“, “summary”
“What does a bishop oversee?”
“What does a non-bishop oversee?”
“Exercising Authority”
“Ruling or Leading?”
“Obey and Submit? (Hebrews 13:17)”
“To Deacon or Not to Deacon“
4. Institutions, Structures, and Organizations
“The Church or the Organization”
“Am I against church programs?”
“Models and Mehods and Forms, oh my”
“Creating Church Organization”
“Old Testament Structures and the Church“
5. The Church Meeting and Edification
“Gathering” label
“Edification” label
“Messy Meetings”
“What if we met to edify one another?”
“Distractions to Worship?”
“Here I am to worship”
“But I have perfect attendance”
“Edification (part 1)“, “part 2“, “part 3“, “part 4“, “part 5“, “part 6“
6. Fellowship, Community, and Unity
“Fellowship” label
“Community” label
“Unity” label
“Community in name only?”
“A Common Table”
“The depths of community”
“The unhypocritical church (part 1)“, “part 2“, “part 3”
“Look also to the interest of others“
Who is responsible for speaking during the meeting?
This blog post and the previous post were published in May of 2006 (see “Who is qualified to speak during the meeting?” and “Who is responsible for speaking during the meeting?“). I thought my newer readers might enjoy these posts. My thoughts in this area have not changed much in the last year and a half.
———————————————————————-
Yesterday, I asked the question, “Who is qualified to speak during the meeting?” Today, I want to take this farther: Whose responsibility is it to speak during the meeting? Within most groups of believers, this responsibility falls upon one man (or at most a few men). What does Scripture say?
1 Corinthians 12-14 teaches that every believer is gifted by the Holy Spirit, and during the assembly of the church, these gifts are to be exercised in order to build up (edify) the body of Christ (not the individual). So, all believers are qualified to speak during the meeting.
Furthermore, Ephesians 4:1-10 confirms this. Gifts are given to each believer by Christ (through the Spirit). Gifted individuals are given to the church (Eph. 4:11-12) to equip the body for works of service in order to edify the body towards maturity, which is measured by the stature of Christ himself.
Ephesians 4:16 is an interesting verse. Removing the modifying phrases, the main clause is “the body… causes the growth of the body” (to soma … ten auxesin tou somatos poieitai…). Adding the modifying phrases, this body growth only happens when the body is in Christ, the head, and when each member of the body is doing his own part, which is “measured” by Christ.
Combining these two passages (1 Corinthians 12-14 and Ephesians 4), every member is instructed to take responsibility for the growth of the body.
Are pastors responsible for being filled with the Spirit and speaking during the meeting in order to edify the body? Yes! But, so is every other member. If one man (or a few men) dominates the meeting time, then he is not allowing the body to function as God desires it to function-he is usurping the responsibility given to every member of the body. If a group of people allows one man (or a few men) to dominate the meeting, then they are not fulfilling their God-given responsibility to edify the body.
Who is qualified to speak during the meeting?
This blog post and the next post were published in May of 2006 (see “Who is qualified to speak during the meeting?” and “Who is responsible for speaking during the meeting?“). I thought my newer readers might enjoy these posts. My thoughts in this area have not changed much in the last year and a half.
———————————————————————-
“For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.” (1 Corinthians 14:31)
Does Paul really mean “all”? Does he really mean that every believer in the meeting has the potential for speaking edifying words during the assembly of the church? Does he really expect that a new believer could speak words that would “teach” a pastor?
The answer to all of these questions must be “Yes!”
Consider the ones to whom Paul is writing. For the most part, they do not have a personal copy of the Scriptures. And yet, Paul expects all of them to be able to speak during the meeting. “Knowing” Scripture must not be a prerequisite for speaking during the assembly.
So, what qualifies someone to speak during the meeting? In the context of 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul offers three different qualifications:
1) The person must be endwelled by the Spirit of God, and therefore gifted by the Spirit.
2) The person must speak from a motivation of love.
3) The person must speak in order to edify the body of Christ.
These are the only qualifications. Education is not a qualification. Experience is not a qualification. Speaking ability is not a qualification.
Who is allowed to speak in our assemblies? Perhaps there are times when those “qualified” should be silent in order to allow others to speak “that all may learn and all may be encouraged.”
Guaranteed church building program
I have been part of many church building programs. I’ve heard the book of Nehemiah preached as an example of a successful church building program. However, there is a church building program that I have rarely heard mentioned, and yet, this church building program is guaranteed! That’s right, this program is guaranteed to build the church without going into debt one penny.
I like to call this program “God’s Guaranteed Church Building Program”:
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV)
Did you catch that last phrase? By following this simple procedure, the church is guaranteed to “build itself up”! Isn’t that awesome! Isn’t that amazing! But, what is this procedure?
1. Put Christ in his proper position as the head of the church.
2. Allow, encourage, and expect all believers to serve one another.
3. Do not allow a single person or a small group of people (including leaders) to do everything.
4. Help each person to work properly among their brothers and sisters.
That’s it – four easy steps to guaranteed church growth.
Yes, I know what you may be thinking: This is not the kind of church building program that I had in mind. I understand your problem. However, it does seem that this is the kind of church building program that God has in mind. Perhaps its time to change your mind.
Perhaps there are others among you – leaders especially – who may be thinking something like this: But, those other members of the church could never do what I do; they just don’t have the experience, the talent, the training, or the education. My suggestion: You’re doing the wrong things. According to this guaranteed church building program, the church will grow only when ALL parts of the church are doing their part, not when you are doing everything the best you can.
Then, there is another question that rises about this church building program: But, if I let other people do the work, they may not do it correctly. Again, you are absolutely correct. People are going to fail. That’s why God has provided mature brothers and sisters like yourself to help them learn from their mistakes and to grow toward maturity in Christ. Perhaps you can do everything better than others – that’s good. But, according to God, that’s not best. God’s solution is for everyone to work together.
There you have it: God’s guaranteed church building program. And, the best thing about this program is that you do not have to buy a book or attend a conference. You simply trust God to work through the people that he has brought together. You allow him to use you and others to teach, lead by example, and encourage others to work together. And God says that when we do this, the church will build itself up in love. Guaranteed.