Tonight's meeting was a bit quicker than they have been normally and attendance was low, but it allowed us to get to know each other better. The discussion was much more relational than theological. It's all part of what we need anyway.
Sometimes it is very illuminating to read and search the Bible using different translations from time to time. Your mind's eye catches something you haven't seen before. That happened to me as I was looking for more passages on worship this week. I searched "The Message" and found this in 1 Corinthians 14:24-33.
"24 But if some unbelieving outsiders walk in on a service where people are speaking out God's truth, the plain words will bring them up against the truth 25 and probe their hearts. Before you know it, they're going to be on their faces before God, recognizing that God is among you.
26 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. 27 If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three's the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you're saying. 28 Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. 29 And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. 30 Take your turn, no one person taking over. 31 Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. 32 If you choose to speak, you're also responsible for how and when you speak. 33 When we worship the right way, God doesn't stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches - no exceptions. "
Paul offers some pretty clear instructions to the Jesus followers in Corinth and beyond.
+ Be plain in speech so that visitors will be able to fathom what you're saying.
+ All the followers should come with something to contribute in worship.
+ Don't let anyone hog the meeting time.
+ No speaking or praying in tongues without one who can interpret for the group.
+ The choice of whether you speak and what you say and how you say it is your responsibility.
+ Worship should bring harmony not confusion.
The mainline churches are mostly used to having a small group of people who handle the details of worship. What Paul is suggesting here would be a radical decentralization of the process and a radical reliance upon the Holy Spirit to provide the spiritual food for worship.
It makes me hungry. Any thoughts?
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7 comments:
I'm reading a book called "Reimagining Church" by Frank Viola and he says that the Trinity should be an example for the church. He claims that there is no hierarchy in the Trinity so there should not be any in the church. Its all about community, people may have different roles, but no more power than another. This adds to your conclusion... thanks for the thought!
Building on Todd's comment, should we consider reading "Reimagining Church"? Todd, do you think it would be helpful to our discussion?
I don't know... it might. Viola is kind of a nut, but it's pretty good so far. We are reading it for school and I thought it was the first book we were gonna do, but it turns out it is going to be one of the last. I'm probably going to have to take a hiatus on it and come back to it near the end of the semester. I will share the good stuff I get out of it and as I get further into it if it is something I think we could use as a whole, we can talk about it then. There are probably better books to start with. We can talk about that next week!
I like the idea of responding to a book. I was reading Kimball's book. He talks about "non-negotiables" and I got to thinking about that. What are non-negotiables to me? I was at a "pub" and for some reason one of the guys I was hangin' with went off about the Bible not being the Word of God. Personally, I have alot of unanswered questions myself about the Bible but even though I tried to meet him part-way, he used it almost like a shield. He thought I got mad at him but there's no way I'd let that or any expression of a faith struggle get in the way of a developing relationship.
The God I worship is a loving, forgiving God - not one that enjoys punishment and judgement. That's pretty much non-negotiable for me. Treating people with respect & compassion is a non-negotiable although I had a situation today that I can't get out of my mind. A homeless guy was in the parking lot behind my building. I didn't see him come up to the car and he scared the hell out of me. I just drove off - don't think I did the right thing. I hope he's there tomorrow and I can fix it.
Kimball said that if we know our non-negotiables, we can work around the other stuff. People get so balled up about such minor things...I don't know. I'm just thinking through this stuff - might be interesting to talk about it some time, don't you think? Thanks, Alli.
Alli-I've heard it discribed as iriducable minimums (from Andy Stanley). For me they fall to 3 and I build and sometimes tear down to these-God made me, God loves me, and he sent his son Jesus to be my best friend and way back to Him. I build all my other beliefs on the 3 and then something comes along and I shift, rearange, question, discover, whatever, that changes or grows or dies a part of what i believe. those 3 never change. What are X-ile's iriducable minimums?
Dana
Our irreducible minimums will certainly need to be part of our discussions. A great topic for one of our face to face meetings. Blogs are great for discussing some things and for other things close to our hearts, face to face is the best alternative. We can definitely begin the discussion this coming week.
That should be an interesting discussion. This Tuesday(9/2), I'm double-booked as it is. You'll probably have to carry on without me. Have fun! Alli.
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