When we read the bible, it’s fascinating to find that something is missing that we probably would not expect. What’s missing? The answer is that when the church gathers together, preaching is missing.

His writing is probably much better, much softer, much more humble than I could write about the same topic. You can tell he has put a lot of thought into this idea. The idea that there is no model for “preaching” when the Church gathers together.

As I do, Eric, rejects the belief that Acts 2-4, 20:7, Timothy 4:2 or even the Old Testament can be used to support our modern tradition.

So, what does this mean? How should we respond to this idea?

The preacher said, “In your walk as a Christian, if the world doesn’t hate you, then you should think about your walk.” (or something to that affect)

I’ve heard these sentiments before, in fact, I once agreed with them. There are some scriptures that might even support this idea. But the reason I disagree with this is because I do not think it is a hard-and-fast rule – in either direction.

When I was listening to this preacher, I thought back to everything I’ve read about Jesus, everything in Scripture. I remembered Jesus hanging out with the people who we think should hate us – but they didn’t seem to hate him. Oh, there were people who hated Jesus… the religious people hated him. Especially the religious leaders. You might argue that the governmental leaders hated him too, but I think it’s safer to say they were just trying to keep the peace.

Now, later on, the government persecuted the Christians. Even today some governments persecute Christians. With these persecutions you will see common folk who hate Christians. Not because of the Gospel, but because of their dedication to their government’s ideals.

So, after listening to this preacher, I’ve further developed my opinion about our interaction with the world. We’re not called to be hated, we’re called to follow Jesus’ example.

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler–not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

- 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

From October 6th 2008 until December 5th 2008 my top ten searches were:

1. gulshan esther – 21 visits
2. the pursuit – 5
3. jesus talks about money – 3
4. lew ayotte – 3
5. the act of preaching – 3
6. the pursuit blog – 3
7. bible talks about money – 2
8. church covenants – 2
9. compartmentalize thoughts – 2
10. historic church buildings – 2

That represents 5 unique visitors who came to my blog by searching for something to do with money. If you look at all my keywords, there are 16 total visitors who used the keyword “money” to get to this blog.

From January 1st 2009 until February 11th 2009 my top ten searches were:

1. gulshan esther – 42 visits
2. jesus talks about money – 9
3. “gulshan esther” – 4
4. bible talks about money – 4
5. the pursuit – 3
6. the pursuit blog – 3
7. 2350 bible verses on money – 2
8. biblical ecclesiology – 2
9. biography of gulshan esther – 2
10. esther gulshan – 2

That represents 15 unique vistors who searched for (“jesus talks about money”, “bible talks about money”, or “2350 bible verses on money”). For all my keywords that include the word “money”, I have had 54 total visitors more than three times the amount from October-December. For some reason Gulshan Esther is much more popular too!

From October 6th 2008 to December 5th 2009 my top 10 content was:

1. http://lewayotte.com/ – 385 pageviews
2. http://lewayotte.com/2008/03/18/wine-strong-drink-part-3/ – 61
3. http://lewayotte.com/2008/12/03/contract-pastoring/ – 61
4. http://lewayotte.com/2007/06/26/testimony-of-gulshan-esther/ – 47
5. http://lewayotte.com/?p=353&preview=true – 34
6. http://lewayotte.com/about/ – 28
7. http://lewayotte.com/2008/10/10/a-modern-example/ – 27
8. http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ – 22
9. http://lewayotte.com/2008/10/08/the-pursuit-strip-26/ – 21
10. http://lewayotte.com/2008/02/ – 18

From January 1st 2009 to February 11th 2009 my top 5 content was:

1. http://lewayotte.com/ – 556 pageviews
2. http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ – 103
   
3. http://lewayotte.com/2007/06/26/testimony-of-gulshan-esther/  – 80
4. http://lewayotte.com/2009/01/26/gods-revelation/ – 78
5. http://lewayotte.com/2009/02/09/sermon-outlines-a-better-idea/ – 51

Five times as many people visited http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ than they did only a few months ago.

It seems like the church, is starting to ask questions about money. No wonder, given the current recession/depression. We know that church tithing/giving is down. I can only assume preachers are preaching more about tithing/giving. There are probably a number of people who are questioning some of this content, and even questioning whether or not the tithe is biblical for today.

I have written a few posts that touch on the idea of giving and tithing and a few posts that are indirectly related to money among the Church. Here is the list with a brief description:

• The Tithing Pastor – A True Conundrum
  I’ll admit it up front, I don’t think we are called to “tithe”… but many vocational pastors do. And can you blame them, that’s how they make a living, off your tithe. But you have to wonder, is the pastor truly tithing a tenth? This slightly humorous posts looks at the math it would take to make sure your pastor is practicing what he preaches!
• The Bible Talks More About Money Than Hell
  You’ve probably heard this saying, or somethign similar to it. But if you’ve read the bible then you’re probably wondering why you didn’t notice so much financial talk. That’s because it’s not there! The Bible may mention money, but it’s almost always in passing. These statistics about how often the Bible talks about money are tricks and the people who usually use them are just as tricked. Don’t worry, God isn’t going to audit your taxes this year.
• Resources, Conversions, and Priorities…
  Ever wonder where all your money goes, you know, the money you give to the church. Well this survey by LifeWay shows you exactly where it goes. About 5%-23% goes towards ministering to the lost… the rest of it goes to support your building, staff, and vocational pastor(s). I wonder what would happen if we rethought this structure and actually used our resources for reaching the lost.
• Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story
  This post was part of a synchroblog that I took part in. It is intended to question whether or not we should be paying a pastor a salary for the services they render. Since most of their services that we pay for are not biblical, maybe we can cut out the “vocational” part of the vocational pastor and save some money. If we do that, we could use our money, time, and energy towards more noble goals… like actually making disciples.

I know these times are tough for everyone. So if you find that your preacher is telling you that you need to give 10%… just look in the bible, you may be surprised what you find — or — what you don’t find.

Since I want to offer the same services a vocational-pastor offers, I had a vocational-pastor send me his job description. These are some of the services that I plan on offering.

Bible Study, Prayer, and Meditation – 75$/hr
Counseling – 75$/hr
Visit the sick – 125$/hr
Train and equip lay-leaders – 100$/hr
Advise Boards and Committees – 100$/hr
Funeral Services – 300$/Event
Wedding Service – 500$/Event
Proclaim the Gospel – 80$/hr
Plan, Coordinate, and Evaluate Sunday morning services – 135$/Event
Preaching – 150$/Event
Moderate Church Meetings – 50$/hr
Plan and Lead Church Ordinances – 100$/Event

These were all things listed in the pastor’s job description. Any additional services can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. I trust you will find my rates very reasonable and hope to hear from you very soon.

She said, “WOW! I’ve gotta stop cussing in front of you…”

I explained to her that I didn’t want her to censor herself in front of me. Then we started talking about “church” life. She and her husband aren’t really church people. They both went to Methodist churches from time-to-time growing up though. Recently her husband expressed interest in going to a local Methodist church. He wants to go somewhere that he can hear the word preached without feeling pressured into anything weird. She said that she wasn’t really into the idea, but wanted to go with her husband anyway.

Up to this point in our conversation, I had already explained that I am a heretic and defined the word for her, as “a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.” I explained a little bit about my history, what I believe, what I don’t believe, etc. Basically just enough to let her know what I am all about.

Knowing this, and having her recent church experience, she had some questions/concerns for me. This is what they were (in her words).

1) During one songs, they sang about Immanuel… who is Immanuel? I thought they were suppose to worship God?

2) When it was time for prayer, everyone bowed really low with their heads down. Why did they do that?

3) After the community prayer, instead of everyone saying “Amen” they all started to say their own little personal prayers – is that normal?

4) After the service a couple cornered us and asked if we were saved, it was really ackward.

5) The husband of the other couple convinced her husband to fill out a vistor’s card. Then they received a call that afternoon asking if they were going to visit that night.

6) They had “children’s church” during which they took up an offering/tithe. Our little girl felt bad because they were trying to build a new church building and gave 10.00$ to the offering. I feel like that’s wrong, that should be up to the parents, not pressured little kids.

Hearing some of these questions and concerns, I had the feeling that I knew exactly what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthins 14, “Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?” Granted, this is about “tongues” not about Christian Music, Childrens Church, Prayer Stance, etc. I think it still relates though.

We hang out with unbelievers when they come to our meetings and programs.
Jesus hung out with unbelievers.

We develop programs to attract the world.
Jesus developed relationships with the world.

We raise funds to build buildings and additions.
Jesus didn’t have a place to lay his head.

We believe that true fellowship with God happens once a week.
Jesus expects true fellowship every day.

We make the gospel attractive.
Jesus made the gospel unattractive.

We create religious systems, doctrines, polity, rules, and more; in the name of being right.
Jesus tore down all those; showing that he was right.

We expect non-followers to act like his followers.
Jesus expected his followers to act like his followers.

We believe that classes equates to discipleship.
Jesus walked with his disciples.

We believe that we cannot perform miraculous things.
Jesus told us that we could perform greater miracles than he did.

There are at least three parts to preaching. The first part is the preparation for preaching, the second part is the act of preaching, and the third part is listening to preaching. In today’s Christian life it is hard to find a place that does not encourage people to preach and people to listen to preachign. So, today I would like to discuss how each of these parts of preaching reflects on and affects our maturity as Christ followers. I am going to ask a few questions that I’ve thought of… questions that I’m thinking about. I will not answer these questions, I hope to get some conversation going about them.

Preparation for Preaching

I have prepared for preaching, I have attended many Sunday morning meetings where there was preaching, I have attended school where I was told how to prepare for preaching, I listen to preaching on CDs and the Radio, I talk about preaching with my friends and family. I’m not saying this to boast, I’m saying this so you understand where I am coming from. Of course, my experiences may differ vastly from others with similar experiences, but I have a feeling any difference will be purely semantic when it comes to how preparation for preaching reflects on and affects our maturity.

There are usually several things a preparer does when preparing for preaching.

1) Prayer that God will speak to him
2) Study a particular passage
3) Study what other commentators say a particular passage means
4) Study similar passages via a lexicon or other commentators
5) Put it all together for your listeners.
6) Practice, Practice, Practice…

None of these things are necessarily bad or wrong. In fact, if someone came up to me tomorrow and said, “I want you to preach two Sundays from now,” I’d pretty much follow this little outline (give or take a few things). To be perfectly honest, sermon preparation is really just glorified Bible Study – in our context it usually comes with compensation.

My questions are these: Does doing these things make you mature? Does doing these things mean you are mature? Does doing these things increase your maturity?

The Act of Preaching

Recently I saw a video of John Piper called “The Gospel in 6 Minutes“… to be honest it was really the gospel in a few seconds with an illustration and a lot of the word “never” – but that really isn’t my point. In this video John Piper said this, “You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel.”1 This quote got me thinking about the need to preach to ourselves… and the need for us to preach to other. It made me wonder about how the act of preaching reflects on and affects our maturity. In most traditional churches there is one man who does the preaching, often times called the Pastor. He is usually considered to be very mature. But sometimes, he will ask someone else to preach, perhaps a deacon or a seminarian. To most the act of preaching means that you have reached a certain maturity level. There is a hierarchy built into our thinking – levels of maturity if you will.

This is how I understand the hierarchy:

1. Layman
2. Layman who serves in some capacity
3. Layman who teaches
4. Layman who preaches
5. Deacon
6. Preacher
7. Pastor

I’m not saying that I agree with this hierarchy, this is simply who I understand it. If you were to corner me, I’d have a much different hierarchy, but this is what I believe others traditionally see in the church.

My questions are these: Does preaching make you mature? Does preaching mean you are mature? Does preaching increase your maturity?

Listening to Preaching

As normal church-goers we are always encouraged to listen to “good” preaching (among other things). We are encouraged to order CDs from the big named preachers, listened to Christian radio which has preaching, and even join churches where there are properly trained men to preach. There is actually a hierarchy built into this thinking as well. The more preaching you expose yourself to the more mature you are considered.

Consider this layman:

1. Goes to Sunday morning service
2. Does #1 and goes to Sunday School
3. Does #1, #2, and goes to Sunday evening service
4. Does #1, #2, #3, and goes to Wednesday evening service
5. Does #1, #2, #3, #4 and listens to preaching on the Radio or on CD.
6. Does #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and watches preaching on TV or DVD.
7. Does #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and reads biographies about famous preachers.
8. etc., etc., etc.

By the way, I think this list also leads into the list for the Act of Preaching.

My questions are these: Does listening to preaching make you mature? Does listening to preaching mean you are mature? Does listening to preaching increase your maturity?

Before you answer any of these questions, consider these three verses from Scripture:

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. – Hebrews 6:1-3

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. – 1 Corinthians 14:20

For everyone who partakes {only} of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.- Hebrews 5:13-14

—————————————————–

Here is a list of bloggers who are taking part in this month’s synchroblog on the topic “Maturity in the Light of our Faith”:

Phil Wyman at Square No More with “Is Maturity Really What I Want?”
Lainie Petersen at Headspace with “Watching Daddy Die”
Kathy Escobar at The Carnival in My Head with “what’s inside the bunny?”
John Smulo at JohnSmulo.com
Erin Word at Decompressing Faith with “Long-Wearing Nail Polish and Other Stories”
Beth Patterson at The Virtual Teahouse with “the future is ours to see: crumbling like a mountain”
Bryan Riley at Charis Shalom
Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church with “Maturity and Education”
KW Leslie at The Evening of Kent with “Putting spiritual infants in charge”
Bethany Stedman at Coffee Klatch with “Moving Towards True Being: The Long Process of Maturity”
Adam Gonnerman at Igneous Quill with “Old Enough to Follow Christ?”
Joe Miller at More Than Cake with “Intentional Relationships for Maturity”
Jonathan Brink at JonathanBrink.com with “I Won’t Sin”
Susan Barnes at A Booklook with “Growing Up”
Tracy Simmons at The Best Parts with “Knowing Him Who is From the Beginning”
Joseph Speranzella at A Tic in the Mind’s Eye with “Spiritual Maturity And The Examination of Conscience”
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes with “vulnerable maturity”
Liz Dyer at Grace Rules with “What I Wish The Church Knew About Spiritual Maturity”
Cobus van Wyngaard at My Contemplations with “post-enlightenment Christians in an unenlightened South Africa”
Steve Hayes at Khanya with “Adult Content”
Ryan Peter at Ryan Peter Blogs and Stuff with “The Foundation For Ministry and Leading”
Kai Schraml at Kaiblogy with “Mature Virtue”
Nic Paton at Sound and Silence with “Inclusion and maturity”
Lew Ayotte at The Pursuit with “Maturity and Preaching“

We Christians are not transformed simply by hearing sermons week after week. We are transformed by regular encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ. – Page 100

Every Sunday you attend the service to be bandaged and recharged, like all other wounded soldiers. Far too often, however, the bandaging and the recharging never takes place. The reason is quite simple. The New Testament never links sitting through an ossified ritual that we mislabel “church” as having anything to do with spiritual transformation. We grow by functioning, not by passively watching and listening. – Page 77

I was sitting around with some friends and family and told them of my new purchase. Joking, I said I was going to bring it to “church” with me and read it during the sermon, so I won’t be bored. Then something happened, a number of people said, “that’s what I do.”

What they meant was, they *usually* open their Bibles during the Sunday sermon and start reading. Some of them said they will read a completely different book/chapter/verse, some said they read the same book/chapter/verse but still ignore/half-listening to what the speaker is saying. To be honest, I do this regularly. Most of the time, though, I read the same book/chapter/verse, but read it in context and then wonder how in the world Joe Blow got his point from that text. Anyways, the impression I got was, that these people generally don’t get anything from the teaching part of the Sunday service, so my question is, why go?

If y’all remember, the last time I taught, during a Sunday service, I was told that I went above the heads of most people in the audience. Apparently it was frowned upon to teach the “meat”. What was funniest is that I had a number of people come up to me and tell me what a great job I did and how much they learned. One lady even showed me a full sheet of notes that she took. By the way, the majority of these people were in the same demographic that I was told wouldn’t understand what I said. I wonder, at what point did we all become stupid? Was it when we walked into the building? Or is it the fact that the teacher is just smarter than everyone else?

In a more recent conversation, a close friend of mine was explaining why she doesn’t go on Sunday mornings. Her complaint, “I just sit there and don’t learn anything new”. I agree. How many times can you be told what the Bible says? I know what the Bible says. For the most part, even when I don’t know what the Bible says, I still know what God would say about a certain topic. This same girl decided that she has better things to do with her time than sit around listening to some guy feed her milk. So she asked herself, “Why Go?” and stopped going.

As far as I can tell, the best answer to “Why Go?” is that these buildings are full of other believers on Sunday mornings. So it is the best possible place to meet other believers. The problem is, most of these meetings are sit-n-go’s. We all sit, listen, and go – fellowship only exists in hand-shakes and smiles.

Why do you go?

Here is the email:

Integrity In Ministry: A Word From The President’s Heart

By

Daniel L. Akin

For 30 plus years I have been burdened for the personal integrity of those in the ministry. The reasons are simple. Integrity is a biblical requirement (1 Tim 3:1). And, the respect for those in ministry is at a low ebb, especially in our nation. Of course one major area of importance is how ministers conduct themselves with the opposite sex. I have always challenged fellow pastors to make a rock solid, non-negotiable commitment: “I will never be alone with a woman who is not my wife.” This commitment and conviction has not always been applauded. I have been accused of being a Pharisee, legalist, sexist and Neanderthal. I was once accused of having “psycho-sexual hang-ups in need of therapy!” But praise God and by His grace, I have never been accused of adultery because in almost 30 years of marriage, I have never been alone with a woman other than Charlotte. I have no plans to change this.

Sexual temptation is a powerful reality, and a wise person will never forget that no matter how much you love Jesus, “the wrong person plus the wrong place plus the wrong time will equal the wrong thing happening.” Look no further than to the tragic story of King David, a man the Bible says was after God’s own heart.

Sexual immorality exacts a heavy price tag. It will cause you to dishonor Christ, wound the church, break the heart of your mate and lose forever the respect of your children. That is a price only a fool would pay.

This issue was brought to my mind again in a recent blog by my friend Ed Stetzer. By the way, I am excited to tell you that Dr. Stetzer is going to join our faculty as a visiting research professor. Personally I am thrilled we will get to share him with our friends at LifeWay. In Ed’s blog he referenced the “The Commandments for Saddleback Staff” by Rick Warren. Here is Rick’s list.

1. Thou shalt not go to lunch alone with the opposite sex.*

2. Thou shalt not have the opposite sex pick you up or drive you places when it is just the two of you.*

3. Thou shalt not kiss any attender of the opposite sex or show affection that could be questioned.*

4. Thou shalt not visit the opposite sex alone at home.*

5. Thou shalt not counsel the opposite sex alone at the office, and thou shalt not counsel the opposite sex more than once without that person’s mate. Refer them.

6. Thou shalt not discuss detailed sexual problems with the opposite sex in counseling. Refer them.

7. Thou shalt not discuss your marriage problems with an attender of the opposite sex.

8. Thou shalt be careful in answering emails, instant messages, chatrooms, cards or letters from the opposite sex.

9. Thou shalt make your co-worker your protective ally.

10. Thou shalt pray for the integrity of other staff members.

*The first four do not apply to unmarried staff.

These are wise words for any minister of any sex or age. These are principles that will help us in finishing the race well for King Jesus. Integrity as it relates to your sex life is not optional for the minister of the gospel. It is essential. Take the high road in this area. Be cautious and be careful. Stay close to Jesus and stay close to your mate. End your race with no regrets. It will glorify God, and you will be glad you did. I love you, and thank God for the honor of serving you here at Southeastern Seminary. What a blessed man I am.

This is taken with Alan’s permission from here.

Developing a Biblical Ecclesiology Lecture
This is a lecture that I delivered concerning how my ecclesiology – my understanding of the church – has changed over the last few years.

Click here to download a pdf version of my PowerPoint presentation.

Click here to download the entire file (52 MB). Or, click the play button below to play the file online.

Click here to read Alan’s post regarding his lecture.

They asked me if I believed that God would do that. I think my answer was somewhat unexpected. I said that I do not think that God really cares about traditional-type invitations or extending them to allow people to make a “decision”. I readily admit that I could be wrong, but here are some reasons why I think I am right. By the way, I am not saying that we should not invite people to follow Jesus – I am merely questioning the end of sermon, spend 5 minutes begging people to come to the stage (and that was the point of the strip).

First, Jesus did not give people extra time to make decisions.

Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” – Matthew 8:21-22

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go {and} sell your possessions and give to {the} poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. – Matthew 19:20-22

Second, it does not take a walk down an aisle and a prayer at a stage to accept the free gift of God.

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved – Romans 10:9

He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. – Mark 16:16

Third, there is no encouragement in the New Testament to “pray a prayer”, “walk and aisle”, or “make a decision”. However, there is an emphasis for all believer to make disciples, teach, and share the gospel.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – Matthew 28:19

The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. – Acts 6:7

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds – Hebrews 10:24

What do you think?

The Practice of the Early Church

Session 3 – Elder-Led Congregational Consensus

(Steve Atkerson)

Everyone agrees that Christ is the head of the Church… opinions digress from that point.

Elder-Led Congregational Consensus is a little different than Elder-Rule form of church government.

Who is in charge here? Luke 22:23-27

We are not to be like the Gentiles.

How much authority should church leaders have? The same authority a child has, the same authority a servant has.

Leaders have authority, but it is a different type of authority (one that is unlike the Gentiles).

Who were the letters to churches written to?

Romans 1:7 – To all, not just the leaders

1 Corinthians 1:2 – To all, not just the leaders

2 Corinthians 1:1 – To all, not just the leaders

Galatians 1:1 – To all…

etc., etc., etc.

Philippians 1:1 – To all… “including the overseers and deacons”

etc., etc., etc.

Hebrews 13:7 – To all… and then asks them to “greet all of your leaders and all the saints.”

etc., etc., etc.

1 Peter 5:1-3 – Written to the elders “among you.”

Elders are important, but there is a decided lack of emphasis on Elders. We should appreciate them for their service (1 Thessalonians 5:12).

It appears that the authority that Elders have is the authority to persuade people to the truth.

Authority resides with the church corporately, not with its leaders.

Matthew 16:18-19

Matthew 18:16-17

Church leaders don’t make decisions for the church, the make decisions with the church. Perhaps like the Senate, a group of people can bring what they think should be done (leaders) and but they with the rest of the church decide together.

Doing it this way, means you will have to love each other enough to put up with one-another. You won’t always agree with one-another.

Acts 1:15,23 – Peter recognized a problem, need to fill Judas’ spot, but the 120 put forward two possible people.

Acts 6:3,5 – Recognized a problem of with feeding the widows, but the church picked the seven.

Acts 15 (22-23) – With the whole church…

1 Corinthians 5 – The whole church decides

1 Corinthians 6 – The whole church judges

Consensus is based on unity – Psalm 133:1; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:3-6; Phillipians 2:2; Colossians 3:15; John 17:11,20-23; 1 Corinthians 10:17; Ephesians 4:11-13;

Hebrews 13:17 – Obey is 13:17 in the Greek is actually more like “allow yourself to be persuaded or convinced by” your leaders or take their advice. Submit in 13:17 is more like “yield or surrender.” This is a process or battle after which one yields (or surrenders). Submission still occurs, but the picture is one of serious discussion and dialog prior to one party giving way.

The authority of “obey” and “submit” is merely that of the gift of persuading one to the truth.

The point of the verse is not to be a blockhead.

Caveat – 1 Peter 5:5 “You younger men, likewise, be subject (hupotasso) to your elders” and this is the word that really means to submit.

James 3:17 – But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

Conclusion:

There is a surprising lack of emphasis on church leaders in the letters to the churches.

Congregational consensus is the NT norm for church government (not majority rule, not elder rule). Church polity is to be that of consensus, not command. Authority resides in the church as a whole, not its leaders (Mt 18:15-20).

Generally speaking, church leaders have the same authority as children and slaves (Lk 22:24-27). Leaders are to lead by persuasion, example, life-style, influence and teaching (Heb 13:7).

Elders are to be given special consideration in the consensus process (Heb 13:17), especially when dealing with block heads and young Turks!

Churches are to be more elder-led than elder-ruled (1 Pe 5:1-3).

The Practice of the Early Church

Session 2 – Participatory Church Meetings

(Steve Atkerson)

1 Corinthians 14:26 – What do we learn about the NT church from this verse? Diversified, Spontaneous, …

Change “each one” to “only one” which option is today’s church more like?

Is the church you meet with like this?

Acts 13:14-15 – Should the church meeting reflect what the synagogue in the NT looked like?

Acts 14:1 – They allowed audience input from the synagogue meetings.

Acts 17:1-2 – Paul’s custom – reasoned with them

Acts 17:10-11

Acts 17:17

Acts 18:4

Acts 19:8

There seems to assume that there was some sort of audience input in the synagogue meetings.

Singing – 1 Corinthians 14:26, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19

Teaching – 1 Corinthians 14:26, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:42, Romans 12:6-7, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11, 1 Timothy 1:3; 2:11-15, James 3:1

Preaching – Acts 20:7 – Paul preached to the disciples (greek is dialegomai – discussed)

Never preached in a church meeting.

Preaching is a evangelist – outside the church meeting.

Various Charismatic Gifts – 1 Corinthians 14:26

Other gifts to consider:

Acts 2:42 – Prayer

1 Timothy 4:13 – Public reading of scripture

Acts 14:26-27 – Reporting what God is doing through them

How to consider one another (Hebrews)?
Is there a testimony the Lord would have you bring?
- Could you purpose to begin a time of conversational prayer?

Is there a song you like that would edify the church?

- Is there some subject or passage of Scripture to teach on?

What has the Lord shown you this week in your time with Him?

Does your wife spend more time preparing for the meeting (cooking) than you do (considering how to encourage the church)?

A Worship Service – Romans 12:1-2, John 4:21-24

The NT never refers to a church meeting as a worship service.

Tongues – 1 Corinthians 14:26-28

Only a few a week (one at a time), if it is done, it must be with an interpretation.

If there is no interpretation, it must not be done – teaching us that sometimes we can have a legitimate gift from God that he doesn’t want us to use in the meeting.

Prophecy – 1 Corinthians 14:29-33, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

Only a few a week (one at a time), if it is done, it has to be tested.

Same teaching about the gifts of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 – Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The Role of Women – 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35

This passage is controversial… you need to study it and decide for yourself.

But this passage does indicate that their meetings were participatory.

Perhaps this verse is showing us more that the men should be leaders. This could be a dynamic silence that sucks the men into leadership.

Two Questions – 1 Corinthians 14:36 – You have no choice but to contact your church meetings anyway than this.

The Lord’s Command – 1 Corinthians 14:37 – Obey the commands of the bible.

Three Imperatives – 1 Corinthians 14:39-40

Desire earnestly to prophecy.

Don’t forbid to speak in tongues.

All things to be done properly and orderly.

Conclusions that can be drawn from 1 Corinthians 14

Participatory

Fitting and Orderly

Edifying

Lord’s Command