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church

Each One Has

By Scott L: Guest Blogger

I believe this will be my final post for now pertaining to the topic of church. I can say, for myself, it has been both encouraging and challenging to be reminded what is, or who is, church. If you missed any of these articles and want to start back at the beginning, check out Church 101 – The Basics.

To end out, I wanted to look at one of the most important passages, for me, concerning the topic, and one of my current favorites. It is found in 1 Corinthians 14:26:

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

There is a little phrase in this Scripture that jumps out at me – ‘each one has’. That’s right! Each one has! It doesn’t say a few have, or most have, or all but you have. It says, ‘each one has’.

What a revolutionary idea. But yet, it’s been around for almost 2,000 years! Now, most of God’s people are beginning to realize that we are all called to ministry, we are all called to serve on behalf of Christ. We see Scriptures like 2 Corinthians 5:18 that actually help us believe such life-changing truth:

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

But, when we gather together on Sunday’s (or whenever), do we really believe the truth that each one has. For it is the main church gathering which Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians 14. In that main meeting of the saints together, he says we all come with something – a song, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation. And there are other things we could slide in there.

But have you noticed that Sunday mornings are usually dedicated to one person, or possibly a handful. Yeah, we all sing, or most of us, and we all listen to the ‘preacher’, or most of us. But 1 Corinthians 14:26 seems to teach that all of us have something specific, and special, to give in the meeting. Thus, we must shield ourselves from taking on an audience mentality when we meet together. That means guarding against letting one person, or a handful, do everything and lead everything. For remember, we are the people of God called to share our lives together. And when we gather together, we must embrace the reality that ‘each one has’. We cannot leave it to the professional paid Christian behind the pulpit. It is us together. We are a team, we are a body.

Some of you would be quick to say, ‘Well, we do this. But we save it for home groups. There isn’t enough time to allow people to share, prophesy, or “give a word” on Sunday mornings.’ But we must be reminded of the context in which Paul says ‘each one has’. It is concerning the main gathering, not just home groups. And if your response to that is, ‘Well, we are too big to administrate something like this,’ then I would not necessarily challenge you to downsize, but rather to break out in expansion (one larger group breaking out into several smaller groups). And, in doing so, you will also see the opportunity for the kingdom rule of God to expand into the lives of others who need to be reached.

I do not believe Paul had in mind that every single person in the body Christ has to share. Of course not. But the potential for such is present. For consider, if each member has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and they are looking to continue in that relationship with Him, then they have things that He is speaking and doing in their lives. Or, during the time of corporate worship, a revelation might come to one, and it is like a two-edged sword. We must give room for that to be shared! This is truly part of realizing the truth that ‘each one has’.

So, as I close these thoughts on church, at least for the time being, I end with the challenge, and encouragement, to make sure we are making every effort to walk out 1 Corinthians 14:26. And as we do, I believe we will see a healthier and more mature body of Christ as we make a way for them to freely and safely learn to share their gifts in the midst of their brothers and sisters.

Rey’s Local Church Series.

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church

Church vs. One of the Great Enemies

By Scott L: Guest Blogger

In my last article, Defeating the ‘Hi and Fine’, I continued looking more at what God meant when He meant church, that is, when He meant us, the people of God, the body of Christ. The challenge is that, as we move past the simple conversations on Sunday’s consisting of the ‘hi and fine’ nature, we would now look to develop something deeper in our relationships. This is deeper than discussing theology or the Sunday morning sermon. It’s what David Benner spoke of in his book, Sacred Companions: ‘Genuine spiritual intimacy involves sharing my experience, not simply my ideas.’ Or, as a close friend of mine calls it, ‘touching the eternal in someone else.’

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church

Church and Defeating the ‘Hi and Fine’

By Scott L: Guest Blogger

I want to go back to the reference in my last post in regards to the ‘Hi and Fine’ conversation. It went something like this:

Frank: How are you?
Ted: I’m fine. How are you?
Frank: I’m fine. How is your wife?
Ted: Oh, she’s fine.
Frank: How are your children?
Ted: Oh, they’re fine.
Frank: How’s the dog?
Ted: He’s fine.
Frank: How’s the stock market?
Ted: Oh, it’s fine.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what is known as the ‘Hi and Fine Church’.

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church

Church 102 – A Further Step Forward

By Scott L: Guest Blogger

So, I have now trodden the well-worn theological path of what is, or WHO is, the church. I put forth that the Greek New Testament word for ‘church’ is ekklesia. It simply means a ‘called out people’. Biblically, church is not a building, a day of the week, or great programs. It is the people of God called together for a purpose. Though the first blog might have seemed somewhat theologically dry for some, I believe such foundational knowledge of Scripture regarding the topic of church can actually change our mindset and help breathe life and passion into knowing God’s heart for His Bride. Click here to see the last article, Church 101- The Basics.

Now that we have somewhat established a foundation from which we can work with, it would probably be best to move on to more practical matters. If church is truly about the people of Christ, obviously committed to God’s heart and kingdom purposes, then we have to ask what that means for our everyday lives, right?

To start off, one of my favorite passages concerning a description of God’s intention for church is found in Acts 2:42-47:

‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.’

When we take a moment to look around, does the church today look much like this? Maybe, or maybe not? One might say, ‘Well, we live in the 21st century today. That was 2,000 years ago. We aren’t supposed to look like that.’ And granted, I understand that we do not dress like those people, we have a bit more technology, and much more opportunity for buildings. But, ironically, this passage never mentions dress or technology, and, it is interesting to note that the main place of meeting was their homes or a temple that they did not even own. The passage seems to mainly focus on the life of the church, the life of the people — how they wanted to learn what the apostles were teaching, how they wanted to share life together, pray together, celebrate communion, share possessions as needed, go from house to house, and God was even displaying some pretty miraculous wonders in their midst. Looks a little different from the western church today, does it not?

As a friend of mine aptly stated it once:

In Biblical times, the greatest institution upheld was that of the family, and therefore God’s people were referred to and functioned as a family. In 21st century America, the greatest institution of our culture is that of the business, and thus, the Church tends to function as such.

When I heard that statement, it put into words what I had been feeling for quite sometime. If we function as a business, then everything plays out in a pyramid where so and so is at the top, a few slightly lesser important people are under that leader, until we get down to the ‘regulars’ at the bottom. Now, trust me, I believe in God-ordered leadership, and we need it. But consider the greatest leader in the history of time, that being Jesus, and we see His leadership model was a little different than what is currently expounded in most leadership books today. But I will save that subject for a later time.

When we function as a business, we have to wear our best suits rather than dress as we are. We have to shake hands and simply ask, ‘How are you?’ with the other answering, ‘I’m fine.’ We are fearful of answering much more than that because it might get in the way of business mode. And we then become the ‘Hi and fine church’.

Frank: How are you?
Ted: I’m fine. How are you?
Frank: I’m fine. How is your wife?
Ted: Oh, she’s fine.
Frank: How are your children?
Ted: Oh, they’re fine.
Frank: How’s the dog?
Ted: He’s fine.
Frank: How’s the stock market?
Ted: Oh, it’s fine.

No, wait…You see, we become the ‘Hi and fine church’. Now, of course, we cannot possibly expect to have a deep, God-initiated relationship with everyone. But we want to guard against the danger of being one of the thousands within an institution that functions like corporate business America. (Let me assure you, I have nothing against good businesses and all they provide in the world; I’m just arguing that church is not to look like such.)

Functioning as a business will ultimately see church become mainly about task and not relationship. Yes, I know we have a task to be completed. I want to see the kingdom rule of God extended in all the earth, I want to see others enter into the worship relationship we have entered into, I want God’s purpose accomplished in the earth. But if we have task without relationship, an unhealthy church will be formed. As I have challenged elsewhere, simply consider the Trinity — they get on nicely with the task they have committed to, but their relational love for one another is first, and actually makes the task more enjoyable.

Just imagine that, if the Spirit wanted to draw someone to the Son, He first had to fill out a request form to do such, complete with insurance coverage in case things did not work out the way the one being drawn so desired.

You see, we do have a call that needs to take place — to come in line with a Biblical understanding of God’s heart for the church, His Bride, His people, His flock. It’s something that is burning in my heart, and I long for it to burn within the church worldwide. We might just need to take a little more time reading through the New Testament to discover God’s purpose for church, instead of reading the next top-selling self-help or leadership principle book on the shelf. And, as God’s Spirit breathes while we read, something will begin to happen in our hearts. A renewed passion for the church will arise.
I’ll share some more thoughts in the future

Rey’s Local Church Series.

Categories
church

Church 101 – The Basics

By Scott L: Guest Blogger

The word ‘church’ shows up 106 times in the New Testament. The first occurrence of the word is found on the lips of Jesus in Matthew 16:13-20. Though we could spend a little time on this Scripture alone, I am going to move on to something else, and maybe I will revisit this specific passage in the near future.