Steve Senensig wrote:
“As I was talking in that discussion about biblical accounts of New Testament church activities being descriptive or prescriptive, a question came to my mind that I have not allowed myself to fully deal with in the past couple of years. It’s one of those “am I really being honest with the text here” questions, and I thought I would throw it out here for discussion.
“Many times in discussing principles related to simple church, I reference 1 Corinthians 14:26. Now, please understand that my beliefs about simple church do not all hinge on this one verse, so it’s not a “make or break” issue for me. Quite honestly, open participatory meetings are described throughout the rest of 1 Corinthians 14. However, I want to be honest in my dealing with this particular verse.
“Let me quote the verse here in various translations so that we can get a feel for it, and then I’ll ask my question:
What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. (NIV)
What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation Let all things be done for edification. (NASB)
So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. (The Message)
What then, brethren, is [the right course]? When you meet together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an utterance in a [strange] tongue, or an interpretation of it. [But] let everything be constructive and edifying and for the good of all. (Amp)
How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. (KJV)
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize what I am saying. When you meet, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord. (NLT)
“Now, my question relates to the part where Paul says something to the effect of “When you come together….” Is this statement a description by Paul of what was currently happening in Corinth? Or is it what he is telling them should happen when they gather? In other words, were the Corinthians overemphasizing the idea that everyone could participate? Or was Paul saying that everyone should participate? Is it descriptive or is it prescriptive?
“In favor of it being descriptive, there is a similar use of the “when you come together” phrase in this same letter. That is in 1 Corinthians 11, specifically verses 18 and 20. (It also appears in verse 33, but that actually falls under the next idea of being prescriptive, so hold that thought.) In 11:18,20 it is obvious that Paul is describing their current condition. In fact, he even says explicitly in verse 18 that he has received word to this effect (“when you come together…I hear…”).
So, this would lend possibility to the idea that Paul is describing a current situation. In this case, he might be issuing a correction to them when he says, “Let all things be done for edification.”
“On the flip side, however, we have a prescriptive use of this phrase in 11:33 where Paul is correcting the problem identified in 11:18,20. In this interpretation, then, 14:26 would be seen as prescriptive. Additionally, we have the word “whenever” in 14:26, which does not exist in any of the uses in chapter 11. The uses in chapter 11 (from my very limited remembrance of Greek) carry the idea of “coming together…”, whereas 14:26 is more of a “whenever you do come together…” idea.
“An additional aspect of 14:26 which might possibly lend itself to understanding is the way the verse starts. Paul says, “What is the outcome then, brethren?” In other words, this verse ties in very much with what Paul had just discussed. In the context immediately preceding, Paul has discussed tongues and prophecy very specifically. And in the verses following 26, he is again going to speak about tongues and prophecy very specifically. Prior to verse 26, he uses the phrases “if all speak in tongues” (14:23) and “if all prophesy” (14:24). Verse 26 then provides a contrast very much in keeping with his discourse on the gifts in chapter 12. It is a description of the varied gifts that should all be exercised for the edification of the body.”
~ Steve Sensensig, 1 Corinthians 14:26 – Descriptive or Presecriptive?, Theologicalmusings blog
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Participative’ worship
“It is unfortunately true that this open, free and spontaneous meeting, where joys can be shared and burdens can be borne, is sadly lacking in the contemporary church. There is a great deal of organization and formality, but little opportunity for open ministry and enthusiastic sharing of God’s gifts, and the result is that the majority of Christians have become silent spectators, contributing only the correct liturgical response and singing and occasional hymn.
…Much has been said in recent worship literature about ‘participative’ worship. In my view, some authors identify participation too narrowly with scripted congregational prayers and responses. Participation is something much more than that; it is a whole attitude toward the service. In my opinion, that attitude may well be lacking in churches that have elaborate patterns of responsive sentences, and it may be intense in churches that have a relatively simple pattern of singing, prayer, and sermon.”
~ Gary Inrig, Life in the Body 71
…Much has been said in recent worship literature about ‘participative’ worship. In my view, some authors identify participation too narrowly with scripted congregational prayers and responses. Participation is something much more than that; it is a whole attitude toward the service. In my opinion, that attitude may well be lacking in churches that have elaborate patterns of responsive sentences, and it may be intense in churches that have a relatively simple pattern of singing, prayer, and sermon.”
~ Gary Inrig, Life in the Body 71
Worship as trinitarian participation
For paid clergy and worship leaders, worship as trinitarian participation means their contribution is measured by the extent to which worshipers are equipped to become participants. If pastors and worship leaders take this role seriously, then the church will continuously reevaluate the accessibility and theological veracity of worship.
Following the Reformers’ model, a contemporary plan of ‘education and adaptation’ would be a regular feature of worship life. While adaptation can and does lead naturally to contemporizing worship, education reminds us that the meaning and significance of some of the most basic elements of the ser-vice of worship (Lord’s Supper, doxology, ‘passing of the peace,’ Lord’s Prayer, giving, etc.) will need to be continually taught.
~ Ted Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, p.97
Following the Reformers’ model, a contemporary plan of ‘education and adaptation’ would be a regular feature of worship life. While adaptation can and does lead naturally to contemporizing worship, education reminds us that the meaning and significance of some of the most basic elements of the ser-vice of worship (Lord’s Supper, doxology, ‘passing of the peace,’ Lord’s Prayer, giving, etc.) will need to be continually taught.
~ Ted Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, p.97
We must open up our meetings says one pastor
“In order for us to obey Paul’s clear teaching, we must open up our meetings so that people can share their burdens, or rejoice together in God’s blessings. In many churches, if a brother comes to a meeting with a wonderful blessing from God he wants to share, he must scurry around after the meeting, in order to communicate it to five or six others before they drive home. Similarly, in most churches, if someone’s heart is breaking with sorrow, there is no place in the meeting for them to unburden their hearts and receive the prayer and ministry of the body. Why not open our meetings so that the whole church can rejoice with us in our blessings, and minister to us in our sufferings? In this way, all may be encouraged by the joyful, and minister to the sufferer.”
~ Brian Anderson, Discovering Participatory Church Meetings, Milpas Bible Fellowship
~ Brian Anderson, Discovering Participatory Church Meetings, Milpas Bible Fellowship
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Church among the Waodoni
In the book End of the Spear by Steve Saint, I came across something that jumped out to me. It would likely have been breezed over if I had not been doing this on-going study. Steve wrote:
~ Steve Saint, End of the Spear, p. 206
When the Waodoni get together to discuss ‘God’s thing,’ they don’t have a formal program. They just let what happens, happen. Sometimes people will tell how their lives have changed since they started walking God’s trail. Other times someone will lead in chants or translated songs with outsider’s melodies — rough facsimiles of those melodies. Others tell stories from God’s carvings about God followers from long ago. No one is ever in a hurry to end the meetings, which often go on for hours.
~ Steve Saint, End of the Spear, p. 206
Unbelievers and church meetings
Tim Keller writes about unbelievers coming to the church gathering:
A look at both Acts chapter 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.24-25 will teach us the following:
1. Non-believers are expected to be present in Christian worship. In Acts 2 it happens by word-of-mouth excitement. In 1 Corinthians 14 it is probably the result of personal invitation by Christian friends. But Paul in 14.23 expects both ‘unbelievers’ and ‘the unlearned’ (literally ‘a seeker’ — ‘one who does not understand’) to be present in worship.
2. Non-believers must find the praise of Christians to be comprehensible. In Acts 2 it happens by miraculous divine intervention. In 1 Corinthians 14 it happens by human design and effort. But it cannot be missed that Paul directly tells a local congregation to adapt its worship because of the presence of unbelievers. It is a false dichotomy to insist that if we are seeking to please God we must not ask what the unchurched feel or think about our worship.
3. Non-believers can fall under conviction and be converted through comprehensible worship. In 1 Corinthians 14 it happens during the service, but in Acts 2 it is supplemented by ‘after meetings’ and follow-up evangelism. God wants the world to overhear us worshipping him. God directs his people not to simply worship, but to sing his praises ‘before the nations’. We are not to simply communicate the gospel to them, but celebrate the gospel before them.”
~ Tim Keller, Worship Wars, Evangelicals Now site (http://www.e-n.org.uk/)
A look at both Acts chapter 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.24-25 will teach us the following:
1. Non-believers are expected to be present in Christian worship. In Acts 2 it happens by word-of-mouth excitement. In 1 Corinthians 14 it is probably the result of personal invitation by Christian friends. But Paul in 14.23 expects both ‘unbelievers’ and ‘the unlearned’ (literally ‘a seeker’ — ‘one who does not understand’) to be present in worship.
2. Non-believers must find the praise of Christians to be comprehensible. In Acts 2 it happens by miraculous divine intervention. In 1 Corinthians 14 it happens by human design and effort. But it cannot be missed that Paul directly tells a local congregation to adapt its worship because of the presence of unbelievers. It is a false dichotomy to insist that if we are seeking to please God we must not ask what the unchurched feel or think about our worship.
3. Non-believers can fall under conviction and be converted through comprehensible worship. In 1 Corinthians 14 it happens during the service, but in Acts 2 it is supplemented by ‘after meetings’ and follow-up evangelism. God wants the world to overhear us worshipping him. God directs his people not to simply worship, but to sing his praises ‘before the nations’. We are not to simply communicate the gospel to them, but celebrate the gospel before them.”
~ Tim Keller, Worship Wars, Evangelicals Now site (http://www.e-n.org.uk/)
Don't stifle fellowship
The tendency of leadership is to stifle fellowship — which means, “to share in common” — by gravitating toward vertical rather than horizontal relationships; professor and student, teacher and disciple, pastor and parishioner.”
~ Howard Hendricks, Some things Every Church Must Do web article
~ Howard Hendricks, Some things Every Church Must Do web article
Mutual edification is the hallmark of corporate worship
Certainly it is true that mutual edification is the hallmark of corporate worship . …And edification must not be understood to be merely the cognitive reception of biblical truth through preaching. Of course, it is true that mutual edification takes place through preaching. But congregational singing, sitting together under the Word as it is read, contemplating god’s Word sung, uniting in Word-centered congregational prayer, corporately confessing our faith, and rebuke and exhortation — all these edify.
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, 141
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, 141
Sally Morganthaller on worship
“Essentially, Christian worship is the spirit and truth interaction between God and God’s people. It is an exchange all relationships revolve around response.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 47
“Corporate worship does not just inspire and hope that people will do more than he activate their brain cells. It provides definitive opportunities for response.... The problem is, we are living in a culture that breathes spectators... As pastors and worship leaders, our job is to enable that, to make participants out of spectators. We have to help people pour out what God pours in. Spectator worship has always been and will always be an oxymoron.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 49
“Worship has more than praise, Thanksgiving, and celebration. It is also a lament. It is making ourselves known to God and crying out to God about our fears, questions, needs, hurts, and greed. Worship that witnesses makes room for the brokenness in all of us. And it heals by the power of the gospel.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 113
Worship that is interactive, both vertically and horizontally, is biblical worship. …Interactive worship not only provides pathways of contact with a holy and loving God, but avenues of nurturing, uplifting relationships with those who are called in God’s name.
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, p. 123
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 47
“Corporate worship does not just inspire and hope that people will do more than he activate their brain cells. It provides definitive opportunities for response.... The problem is, we are living in a culture that breathes spectators... As pastors and worship leaders, our job is to enable that, to make participants out of spectators. We have to help people pour out what God pours in. Spectator worship has always been and will always be an oxymoron.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 49
“Worship has more than praise, Thanksgiving, and celebration. It is also a lament. It is making ourselves known to God and crying out to God about our fears, questions, needs, hurts, and greed. Worship that witnesses makes room for the brokenness in all of us. And it heals by the power of the gospel.”
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 113
Worship that is interactive, both vertically and horizontally, is biblical worship. …Interactive worship not only provides pathways of contact with a holy and loving God, but avenues of nurturing, uplifting relationships with those who are called in God’s name.
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, p. 123
Kent Hughes gives an excellent study of Christian worship. He states:
“ …true worship is demonstrative: it pours from your heart, it infuses your inclinations to please God, and it directs your will to serve him. True worship is not the outcome of a moderate feeling or emotion. It galvanizes your whole being. In a word: it is encompassing!”
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, p. 161-2
“ …true worship is demonstrative: it pours from your heart, it infuses your inclinations to please God, and it directs your will to serve him. True worship is not the outcome of a moderate feeling or emotion. It galvanizes your whole being. In a word: it is encompassing!”
~ Kent Hughes in Worship by the Book, p. 161-2
Worship is the proper response
D. A. Carson defines it like this:
Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so. This side of the Fall, human worship of God properly responds to the redemptive provisions that God has graciously made. While all true worship is God-centered, Christian worship is no less Christ-centered. Empowered by the Spirit and in line with the stipulations of the new covenant, it manifests itself in all our living, finding its impulse in the gospel, which restores our relationship with our Redeemer-God and therefore also with our fellow image-bearers, our co-worshipers. Such worship therefore manifests itself both in adoration and in action, both in the individual believer and in corporate worship, which is worship offered up in the context of the body of believers, who strive to align all the forms of their devout ascription of all worth to God with the panoply of new covenant mandates and examples that bring to fulfillment the glories of antecedent revelation and anticipate the consummation.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, 59
Why the NT church gathered
Peterson…examines afresh just why the NT church gathers, and he concludes that the focus is on mutual edification, not on worship.
Under the terms of the new covenant, worship goes on all the time, including when the people of god gather together. But mutual edification does not go on all the time; it is what takes place when Christians gather together. Edification is the best summary of what occurs in corporate singing, confession, public prayer, the ministry of the Word, and so forth. . . .Peterson, of course, allows that when the people of God gather together corporately, they are still worshipping. What he insists is that the distinctive element of their corporate meetings is not worship but edification.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, referring to David Peterson’s Engaging with God, 1992.
Under the terms of the new covenant, worship goes on all the time, including when the people of god gather together. But mutual edification does not go on all the time; it is what takes place when Christians gather together. Edification is the best summary of what occurs in corporate singing, confession, public prayer, the ministry of the Word, and so forth. . . .Peterson, of course, allows that when the people of God gather together corporately, they are still worshipping. What he insists is that the distinctive element of their corporate meetings is not worship but edification.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, referring to David Peterson’s Engaging with God, 1992.
Why Not Ecclesiology? - excerpts
It is an extraordinary thing that those who profess to care so much about Christ should seem to care so little about what His Word says about the church.
Ought we not to concern ourselves more about this great doctrine than we do? Most certainly!
Christ died for the church. It is His bride, His building, His body. When He left the world He commissioned it to disciple all the nations. How, then, can we conclude that the way we view the church is inconsequential in His eyes? We do not honor the Lord Jesus by ignoring His instructions.
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that the gathered church is to reach out to the lost in such a way as to minimize the difference between believers and non-believers. But if you will read the New Testament you will see that the purpose of the gathered church was not evangelism. Indeed, it was not even worship.
To be sure, worship can and must take place when God’s people are assembled. But worship, as it is taught in the New Testament, is a daily activity, not something that is relegated to Sunday. The modern habit throughout the twenty-first century church is to downplay this subject. After all, we have our “worship” services, our “worship” guides, and our “worship” leaders. Clearly, however, the New Testament knows nothing about these man-made terms. When, then, should we worship? Anyone who has read Rom. 12:1-2 will know the answer.
In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is very careful to lay out principles governing Christian gatherings. He makes it plain that believers did not gather for public witness to the outside world. These were not evangelistic services at all. Rather, the church gathered for fellowship and mutual edification. It was a type of gathering in which believers came together with differing gifts. Just read 1 Cor. 14 and you will see that this was a bona fide fellowship meeting. Everything that was done was done in order to build up the church. Whether you came to this meeting with a psalm, a teaching, or some other contribution to make, you exercised your gift in the interest of those around you. “Let all things be done for edification” was Paul’s watchword. This same view of the church is to be found in Ephesians 4, where Paul emphasizes that the church is built up only as each member of the Body does its part. He is emphatic that the fullness of Christ can never be attained by any one Christian. Each believer has a gift, and each one must give that gift away to the whole church.
Paul’s teaching sheds a flood of light on what the gathering of the people of God looked like in the early church.
1 Co 14:26 clearly states [writes Steve Atkerson] the prerequisite for anything that goes on in a church meeting: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
The word “strengthening” is from oikodome and means “edifying, edification, building up.” Certainly as we worship God corporately we are indeed strengthened. However, the ultimate focus of the meeting is to strengthen the church. It is not the Lord who stands in need of strengthening, but the Lord’s people. In this sense, the weekly assembly is for the benefit of the people present. A church gathering is to be designed to edify believers and to this end it is to be man-centered as well as God-centered.
~ David Black, Why Not Ecclesiology? web article
Ought we not to concern ourselves more about this great doctrine than we do? Most certainly!
Christ died for the church. It is His bride, His building, His body. When He left the world He commissioned it to disciple all the nations. How, then, can we conclude that the way we view the church is inconsequential in His eyes? We do not honor the Lord Jesus by ignoring His instructions.
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that the gathered church is to reach out to the lost in such a way as to minimize the difference between believers and non-believers. But if you will read the New Testament you will see that the purpose of the gathered church was not evangelism. Indeed, it was not even worship.
To be sure, worship can and must take place when God’s people are assembled. But worship, as it is taught in the New Testament, is a daily activity, not something that is relegated to Sunday. The modern habit throughout the twenty-first century church is to downplay this subject. After all, we have our “worship” services, our “worship” guides, and our “worship” leaders. Clearly, however, the New Testament knows nothing about these man-made terms. When, then, should we worship? Anyone who has read Rom. 12:1-2 will know the answer.
In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is very careful to lay out principles governing Christian gatherings. He makes it plain that believers did not gather for public witness to the outside world. These were not evangelistic services at all. Rather, the church gathered for fellowship and mutual edification. It was a type of gathering in which believers came together with differing gifts. Just read 1 Cor. 14 and you will see that this was a bona fide fellowship meeting. Everything that was done was done in order to build up the church. Whether you came to this meeting with a psalm, a teaching, or some other contribution to make, you exercised your gift in the interest of those around you. “Let all things be done for edification” was Paul’s watchword. This same view of the church is to be found in Ephesians 4, where Paul emphasizes that the church is built up only as each member of the Body does its part. He is emphatic that the fullness of Christ can never be attained by any one Christian. Each believer has a gift, and each one must give that gift away to the whole church.
Paul’s teaching sheds a flood of light on what the gathering of the people of God looked like in the early church.
1 Co 14:26 clearly states [writes Steve Atkerson] the prerequisite for anything that goes on in a church meeting: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
The word “strengthening” is from oikodome and means “edifying, edification, building up.” Certainly as we worship God corporately we are indeed strengthened. However, the ultimate focus of the meeting is to strengthen the church. It is not the Lord who stands in need of strengthening, but the Lord’s people. In this sense, the weekly assembly is for the benefit of the people present. A church gathering is to be designed to edify believers and to this end it is to be man-centered as well as God-centered.
~ David Black, Why Not Ecclesiology? web article
Church meeting implications
From blogger:
After reading many of the quotes on this site and considering the New Testament, I would offer these thoughts for consideration as implications for church meetings in our time:
1. It seems clear that God's idea for the church when it met was to strengthen, encourage, and enable each other to grow stronger, face the world about them and reach out to the lost.
2. It seems clear that the concept of community building was paramount in God's mind -- not just preaching and singing.
3. Obviously, preaching / teaching is necessary and a part of the meeting, but it seems it was not the primary purpose. Today it seems everything focuses around the preacher and his sermon. In fact, it looks like the communion remembrance was more important than the sermon back then.
4. It looks clearly like everyone was to have an opportunity to participate as lead by the Spirit, not just when the song leader and the preacher said stand, sit, or give.
5. A serious implication for today's leaders seems to be, at a bare minimum, to work in times and opportunities for the church family to interact, share, offer words of wisdom and encouragement, share what God is doing in and through them. A small group offers that on a "small" scale, but, at least in my church, the church body is largely kept in the dark about anyone outside its small group.
6. Singing is not necessarily worship -- it seems more natural and likely a natural outcome of the worship of the early church gathering and sharing. Isn't there a song about worshipping without music? Our church has never tried that, but some other church has.
That should be enough to get some of the readers thinking. Maybe more later.
After reading many of the quotes on this site and considering the New Testament, I would offer these thoughts for consideration as implications for church meetings in our time:
1. It seems clear that God's idea for the church when it met was to strengthen, encourage, and enable each other to grow stronger, face the world about them and reach out to the lost.
2. It seems clear that the concept of community building was paramount in God's mind -- not just preaching and singing.
3. Obviously, preaching / teaching is necessary and a part of the meeting, but it seems it was not the primary purpose. Today it seems everything focuses around the preacher and his sermon. In fact, it looks like the communion remembrance was more important than the sermon back then.
4. It looks clearly like everyone was to have an opportunity to participate as lead by the Spirit, not just when the song leader and the preacher said stand, sit, or give.
5. A serious implication for today's leaders seems to be, at a bare minimum, to work in times and opportunities for the church family to interact, share, offer words of wisdom and encouragement, share what God is doing in and through them. A small group offers that on a "small" scale, but, at least in my church, the church body is largely kept in the dark about anyone outside its small group.
6. Singing is not necessarily worship -- it seems more natural and likely a natural outcome of the worship of the early church gathering and sharing. Isn't there a song about worshipping without music? Our church has never tried that, but some other church has.
That should be enough to get some of the readers thinking. Maybe more later.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
One reason most do not want a NT church meeting
…most Christians want to be spectators. Most Christians are content to attend church give their money and allow professional staff to “lead in worship” and provide the religious entertainment Sunday by Sunday.” Web blog article. Cp. America’s this does choose churches on the basis, what affirms us, entertains us, satisfies this or makes us feel good about God and ourselves.
~ Sally Morganthaller, Worship Evangelism, Page 19
Care needed in interpretation of NT
It is important in our honest search for NT truth to be open to the fact that we all read into documents from our cuclture and perspective. We have printed this before, but it needs to be a constant reminder.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, 13
The sheer diversity of the current options not only contributes to the sense of unrest and divisiveness in many local churches but leads to confident assertions that all the biblical evidence supports those views and those alone. . . . we unwittingly read our ideas and experiences of worship back into Scripture.
~ Don Carson, Worship by the Book, 13
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The purpose of the gathering - to build one another up
Jon Zens, Building Up the Body - One Man or One Another?
The King James translation has in v.12, “for...for...for.” But there is in the Greek a change in prepositions not reflected in this rendering. The Greek original has pros ...eis...eis [“for...unto...unto”]. Thus, this verse can be rendered, “He gave... pastors-teachers for equipping the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the upbuilding of the body of Christ.” In other words, the function of the pastors-teachers is to equip the saints so that they can minister.
This construction is further borne out in the context. Verse 16 reveals Christ as joining the whole body together. The emphasis here, as in 1 Cor 12, falls on the total body ministry, not the exclusive ministry of pastors.
The elders’ function is a crucial part of the edification process. But the broader body ministry unto edification is specifically mentioned two times in v.16: (1) “every joint supplies”; (2) “in the measure of every part.” Thus, edification is not conceived of as being achieved by the ministry of one part (the “pastor”), but by a mutual ministry of every part. . . .
I am not suggesting in all of this that the elders do not teach in the church gatherings, or, conversely, that all must speak. Obviously, the teaching of the elders is to give backbone and guidance to the flock (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim.3:2). But it is clear that speaking words of edification in the local church is not limited to one “minister.” Where is any opportunity given to others to speak unto edification in our services? What grounds are there in the N.T. to limit public speaking to the elders, especially the “pastor”? 1 Cor.14 teaches the exact opposite of such an idea. Are the basic principles of this passage now obsolete because the canon of Scripture is closed?
. . . Heb.10:25, of course, is cited as a basis for people to “come to church.” It is probably the strongest passage on such a responsibility in the N.T. But what, according to 10:24-25, is to occur in our assembling? Where in 10:25 can you find the idea that we are to come to hear the ministry of one man? We probably assemble together, but do our services allow for the exhorting of one an other? If we are going to employ 10:25 to press the duty of assembling together, must we not also use it as a guide for what transpires in our services? In light of our practice, it appears that we use about half of the verse rightly (“assemble”), but think little about the other half (“exhort” one another).
For example, Thomas Goodwin, in discussing the “communion of saints, which the members of a church ought to have with one another,” states that, indeed, mutual care “is a constant duty, and that we ought to seek all occasions of acting it” (Works, Vol.11, p.355). However, conceiving of the church gatherings as focusing on the minister and the sermon, and believing that “in private occasional converse, one member may not have opportunity to discourse with another once in seven years,” Goodwin suggested that a separate “fixed meeting” was necessary, where the brethren could “know one another’s cases and experiences” (Works, Vol.11, p.353).
“The duty enjoined” in Heb.10:24, he says, “is a duty distinct from assembling together, which follows in the next verse [10:25]” (Works, Vol.11, p.354).
Thus, while the N.T. connects mutual ministry and our gatherings as a church, we have in our practice separated them without exegetical basis. Why? Because we have structured our “corporate public worship” around the “pastor,” and thereby relegated any mutual ministry to occasional meetings, perhaps “once a month” (Colin Richards, “Fellowship,” pp.91, 96, 97).”
The King James translation has in v.12, “for...for...for.” But there is in the Greek a change in prepositions not reflected in this rendering. The Greek original has pros ...eis...eis [“for...unto...unto”]. Thus, this verse can be rendered, “He gave... pastors-teachers for equipping the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the upbuilding of the body of Christ.” In other words, the function of the pastors-teachers is to equip the saints so that they can minister.
This construction is further borne out in the context. Verse 16 reveals Christ as joining the whole body together. The emphasis here, as in 1 Cor 12, falls on the total body ministry, not the exclusive ministry of pastors.
The elders’ function is a crucial part of the edification process. But the broader body ministry unto edification is specifically mentioned two times in v.16: (1) “every joint supplies”; (2) “in the measure of every part.” Thus, edification is not conceived of as being achieved by the ministry of one part (the “pastor”), but by a mutual ministry of every part. . . .
I am not suggesting in all of this that the elders do not teach in the church gatherings, or, conversely, that all must speak. Obviously, the teaching of the elders is to give backbone and guidance to the flock (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim.3:2). But it is clear that speaking words of edification in the local church is not limited to one “minister.” Where is any opportunity given to others to speak unto edification in our services? What grounds are there in the N.T. to limit public speaking to the elders, especially the “pastor”? 1 Cor.14 teaches the exact opposite of such an idea. Are the basic principles of this passage now obsolete because the canon of Scripture is closed?
. . . Heb.10:25, of course, is cited as a basis for people to “come to church.” It is probably the strongest passage on such a responsibility in the N.T. But what, according to 10:24-25, is to occur in our assembling? Where in 10:25 can you find the idea that we are to come to hear the ministry of one man? We probably assemble together, but do our services allow for the exhorting of one an other? If we are going to employ 10:25 to press the duty of assembling together, must we not also use it as a guide for what transpires in our services? In light of our practice, it appears that we use about half of the verse rightly (“assemble”), but think little about the other half (“exhort” one another).
For example, Thomas Goodwin, in discussing the “communion of saints, which the members of a church ought to have with one another,” states that, indeed, mutual care “is a constant duty, and that we ought to seek all occasions of acting it” (Works, Vol.11, p.355). However, conceiving of the church gatherings as focusing on the minister and the sermon, and believing that “in private occasional converse, one member may not have opportunity to discourse with another once in seven years,” Goodwin suggested that a separate “fixed meeting” was necessary, where the brethren could “know one another’s cases and experiences” (Works, Vol.11, p.353).
“The duty enjoined” in Heb.10:24, he says, “is a duty distinct from assembling together, which follows in the next verse [10:25]” (Works, Vol.11, p.354).
Thus, while the N.T. connects mutual ministry and our gatherings as a church, we have in our practice separated them without exegetical basis. Why? Because we have structured our “corporate public worship” around the “pastor,” and thereby relegated any mutual ministry to occasional meetings, perhaps “once a month” (Colin Richards, “Fellowship,” pp.91, 96, 97).”
God’s divine intention - community
God’s divine intention is not, as we so often declare, to save people from their sins. At least it’s not the ultimate intention. God’s purpose in election is that we’ll become like Christ. And not just you or me, but all of us, so that Christ might be the firstborn within a large family. The purpose of election is to have a whole family of the human family look like our big brother (who looks like our heavenly Father). God’s intention from the beginning of time was that every human would look, in character, like Jesus.
This being, the case, the divine intention for our churches is to be a community of conformity, transforming all people into the image of Christ. I often tell my church, ‘The purpose of San Clemente Presbyterian Church is to ensure that all people who come in here alienated from God find a relationship with God, take on the very character of God, and eventually look like God.
~ Tod Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, p.45
Mutual edification - the focus of the NT church
Don Carson, Worship by the Book, referring to David Peterson’s Engaging with God. He offers other references of those who support a similar view that I have not read on page 25.
Peterson…examines afresh just why the NT church gathers, and he concludes that the focus is on mutual edification, not on worship. Under the terms of the new covenant, worship goes on all the time, including when the people of god gather together. But mutual edification does not go on all the time; it is what takes place when Christians gather together. Edification is the best summary of what occurs in corporate singing, confession, public prayer, the ministry of the Word, and so forth. . . .Peterson, of course, allows that when the people of God gather together corporately, they are still worshipping. What he insists is that the distinctive element of their corporate meetings is not worship but edification.
What was the purpose for gathering?
“What was the specifically Christian aim of the gathering for worship? The occasion served for the ‘building up’ of the community as the Body of Christ, the spiritual body of the risen Lord . . . Everything that furthers a ‘building-up,’ so understood, and only this, belongs to the Christian service of those elements which serve only to satisfy profane, egocentric human needs, but at the same time excludes all excessive enthusiasm which would empty the service in its attempt to purify.”
“It is an extraordinary thing that those who profess to care so much about Christ should seem to care so little about what His Word says about the church. Ought we not to concern ourselves more about this great doctrine than we do? Most certainly! Christ died for the church. It is His bride, His building, His body. When He left the world He commissioned it to disciple all the nations. How, then, can we conclude that the way we view the church is inconsequential in His eyes? We do not honor the Lord Jesus by ignoring His instructions.
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that the gathered church is to reach out to the lost in such a way as to minimize the difference between believers and non-believers. But if you will read the New Testament you will see that the purpose of the gathered church was not evangelism. Indeed, it was not even worship. To be sure, worship can and must take place when God’s people are assembled. But worship, as it is taught in the New Testament, is a daily activity, not something that is relegated to Sunday. The modern habit throughout the twenty-first century church is to downplay this subject. After all, we have our “worship” services, our “worship” guides, and our “worship” leaders. Clearly, however, the New Testament knows nothing about these man-made terms. When, then, should we worship? Anyone who has read Rom. 12:1-2 will know the answer.
In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is very careful to lay out principles governing Christian gatherings. He makes it plain that believers did not gather for public witness to the outside world. These were not evangelistic services at all. Rather, the church gathered for fellowship and mutual edification. It was a type of gathering in which believers came together with differing gifts. Just read 1 Cor. 14 and you will see that this was a bona fide fellowship meeting. Everything that was done was done in order to build up the church. Whether you came to this meeting with a psalm, a teaching, or some other contribution to make, you exercised your gift in the interest of those around you. “Let all things be done for edification” was Paul’s watchword. This same view of the church is to be found in Ephesians 4, where Paul emphasizes that the church is built up only as each member of the Body does its part. He is emphatic that the fullness of Christ can never be attained by any one Christian. Each believer has a gift, and each one must give that gift away to the whole church.
Paul’s teaching sheds a flood of light on what the gathering of the people of God looked like in the early church.
1 Co 14:26 clearly states the prerequisite for anything that goes on in a church meeting: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” The word “strengthening” is from oikodome and means “edifying, edification, building up.” Certainly as we worship God corporately we are indeed strengthened. However, the ultimate focus of the meeting is to strengthen the church. It is not the Lord who stands in need of strengthening, but the Lord’s people. In this sense, the weekly assembly is for the benefit of the people present. A church gathering is to be designed to edify believers and to this end it is to be man-centered as well as God-centered.”
~ David Black, Why Not Ecclesiology? web article
“It is an extraordinary thing that those who profess to care so much about Christ should seem to care so little about what His Word says about the church. Ought we not to concern ourselves more about this great doctrine than we do? Most certainly! Christ died for the church. It is His bride, His building, His body. When He left the world He commissioned it to disciple all the nations. How, then, can we conclude that the way we view the church is inconsequential in His eyes? We do not honor the Lord Jesus by ignoring His instructions.
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that the gathered church is to reach out to the lost in such a way as to minimize the difference between believers and non-believers. But if you will read the New Testament you will see that the purpose of the gathered church was not evangelism. Indeed, it was not even worship. To be sure, worship can and must take place when God’s people are assembled. But worship, as it is taught in the New Testament, is a daily activity, not something that is relegated to Sunday. The modern habit throughout the twenty-first century church is to downplay this subject. After all, we have our “worship” services, our “worship” guides, and our “worship” leaders. Clearly, however, the New Testament knows nothing about these man-made terms. When, then, should we worship? Anyone who has read Rom. 12:1-2 will know the answer.
In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul is very careful to lay out principles governing Christian gatherings. He makes it plain that believers did not gather for public witness to the outside world. These were not evangelistic services at all. Rather, the church gathered for fellowship and mutual edification. It was a type of gathering in which believers came together with differing gifts. Just read 1 Cor. 14 and you will see that this was a bona fide fellowship meeting. Everything that was done was done in order to build up the church. Whether you came to this meeting with a psalm, a teaching, or some other contribution to make, you exercised your gift in the interest of those around you. “Let all things be done for edification” was Paul’s watchword. This same view of the church is to be found in Ephesians 4, where Paul emphasizes that the church is built up only as each member of the Body does its part. He is emphatic that the fullness of Christ can never be attained by any one Christian. Each believer has a gift, and each one must give that gift away to the whole church.
Paul’s teaching sheds a flood of light on what the gathering of the people of God looked like in the early church.
1 Co 14:26 clearly states the prerequisite for anything that goes on in a church meeting: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” The word “strengthening” is from oikodome and means “edifying, edification, building up.” Certainly as we worship God corporately we are indeed strengthened. However, the ultimate focus of the meeting is to strengthen the church. It is not the Lord who stands in need of strengthening, but the Lord’s people. In this sense, the weekly assembly is for the benefit of the people present. A church gathering is to be designed to edify believers and to this end it is to be man-centered as well as God-centered.”
~ David Black, Why Not Ecclesiology? web article
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