MUTUAL EDIFICATION AND THE CHURCH

There are those, today, who disagree with what I write concerning the comparison the early church to today's modern institutional church.  I have found these individuals can be divided into a couple of groups.  First of all, those who disagree the loudest are part of the professional (usually paid) clergy system.  Many of these individuals are trained for nothing else but ministry related jobs.  Therefore to follow this path would put them out of work.  The second group who disagree with these thoughts are Christians who do not want to take responsibility for sharing in the meetings.  I believe part of the reason for them not wanting to take responsibility is they have been wrongly taught for years (for most, all their lives) and they have become comfortable with the way things are. They would rather pay someone else to do it for them.  The bondage they are in is somehow comfortable to them because that’s all they've known.  There is also a third group who believe the early church was young and had not yet developed to be the church we have today.  My response to that is the early church was a Spirit led assembly.  Do we outgrow the Holy Spirit's leading as we mature in our spiritual walk?  That could certainly be the reason today's institutional church doesn't have the impact on the world the early church did.

• Frank Viola in his book Reimagining Church (pg 56) wrote, "So why did the early church meet in this way?  Was it just a passing cultural tradition?  Did it, as some say, represent the early church's infancy, ignorance and immaturity?  I'm unconvinced.  The first-century church meeting is deeply rooted in biblical theology.  It made real and practical the New Testament doctrine of the priesthood of all believers - a doctrine that all evangelicals affirm with their lips.                                               And what is that doctrine?  In the words of Peter, it is the doctrine that all believers in Christ are spiritual priests called to offer up 'spiritual sacrifices' unto their Lord.  In Paul's language, its the idea that all Christians are functioning members of Christ's body.                                                              In addition, the open-participatory meeting envisioned in the New Testament is native to our spiritual nature.  Every Christian has an inate spiritual instinct to gather together with other Christians and share their Lord in an open atmosphere that's free of ritual and human control.  To pour out of their hearts what God has poured into them."

  

It was in these meetings of the early church where spiritual growth occurred.  This growth occurred on both a corporate as well as an individual basis (Ephesians 4:11-16).  We grow best and in to God's fullness when the different members of His body function and minister Jesus to one another.  We grow as individuals when we function and do our part in the body.  You see, as we function and are involved in mutual edification we, ourselves, grow in Jesus.

On the flipside of that proverbial coin, today's modern institutional church stifles the spiritual nourishment and growth of the believer.  It leaves that responsibility to one or two people in the church.  No wonder the modern church is lacking in the power of God today.  It takes the power of God to bring about real change and transformation in the lives of people today.  Sadly most churches, today, don't have enough power of God to blow the fuzz off a peanut let alone affect any real change.

Frank Viola also wrote, "Truthfully, there are few things more conducive to the culture of spiritual life than the open-participatory meeting that's depicted in the New Testament.  God established open-participatory meetings to incarnate the glorious reality of expressing Christ through a fully employed priesthood."

How exciting would it be if in every gathering of believers each member were to share and participate?  How different the church would be if mutual edification was the norm and not the exception. Consider the possibilities of believers breaking the chains of bondage religion has put us in and being made free to be the church God envisioned!  Why that's enough to make you want to shout!!

Let's do it!  Let's gather with our brothers and sisters with the intent of sharing what the Holy Spirit has poured in to us.  Let's see what God will do in our midst!

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

It you know of someone who would be challenged and encouraged by this blog please pass on a link to them.  You can share this blog easily by clicking on the links below.  I believe the church needs to be set free from the bondage of the status quo she has been in for so long.  The blogs over the next few weeks will help us to see how this can be done.  If you are interested in reading more regarding the organic expression of church life I recommend Frank Viola's book "Reimagining Church".

EARLY CHURCH BELIEVERS MEETINGS - PART 2

The meetings of the early church were focused on and depended entirely upon the Jesus being Head of His church.  Jesus was the reason for the gathering.  He was all in all.  There was no bulletin with a "Schedule of Service" in it.  It was Jesus who set the agenda in the early church.  Try going without a bulletin in most of today's institutional churches.  The attendees want to know what is happening and in what order its happening.  Deviate from the bulletin and people will point it out to you.  Jesus led the early church gatherings in the same manner He desires to be Head of our church gatherings today.

In the early church Jesus spoke through whomever He desired if they were willing.  This is so unlike today's pastor speaking from behind a pulpit (some call it the "sacred desk").  Today, it is the "pastor"or some other professional clergy member that is to bring the message.  There was no set ways of doing church in the New Testament.  Jesus was free to do what He wanted, how He wanted when He wanted and through whomever He wanted.  This involved the opportunity for every member to function.  Where is that opportunity in the institutional church of today?  

Today's church divides the people in the active few and the passive many.  You have those on the platform who "perform" and those in the congregation who serve as the audience.  How far we've come from the days of the New Testament church!

It sure wasn't that way in the early church!  It wasn't the sermon or the preacher that was the focal point.  Every member participating prevailed.  Everything that transpired in the New Testament church meetings revolved around Jesus.  It was spontaneous and Spirit led.  What a novel concept!

I want to give you something to consider.  Frank Viola wrote in his book Reimagining Church (pg 54), "The Holy Spirit so governed the gathering that if a person received an insight while another was sharing, the second speaker was free to interject his or her thought (1 Corinthians 14:29-30).  Accordingly, interruptions were a common part of the gathering (1 Corinthians 14:27-40).  Such a meeting is unthinkable in today's institutional church.  (Just imagine what would happen if you interrupted the pastor with a word of insight while he was delivering his sermon.)"

Yet this should be allowed and even encouraged in today's church meetings.  It's not about the person doing the teaching or the preaching.  It's about the body ministering to the body under the Headship of Jesus.  Now that's what I call church!

One of the most interesting traits of the early church gathering was the absence of person being "in charge".  Can you imagine that?  Jesus led the gathers of His people through the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit.  "How did that work out?" you ask.  There was a great spirit of "one anothering" that went on in those meetings.  What an example the early church set for us!  No wonder there are 58 New Testament "one anothering" exhortations.  Each person in attendance came to the gathering knowing they had the right, privilege and even responsibility to share in the meeting whatever the Lord had laid on their heart.  By the way, both men and women were afforded the right and privilege to participate and share in the meetings of the church.

Let's open up our meetings and allow the "one anothering" to go on as was the norm for the early church.  Let's encourage God's people to share the things God has laid on their hearts.  My heart's desire is for the church to be set free to truly be the church God intends for her to be.  Don't be nervous.  Just be faithful and obedient and we'll see just what God will do in our midst.

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Ray

It you know of someone who would be challenged and encouraged by this blog please pass on a link to them.  You can share this blog easily by clicking on the links below.  I believe the church needs to be set free from the bondage of the status quo she has been in for so long.  The blogs over the next few weeks will help us to see how this can be done.  If you are interested in reading more regarding the organic expression of church life I recommend Frank Viola's book "Reimagining Church".

EARLY CHURCH BELIEVERS MEETINGS - PART 1

The meeting or gathering in the early church was primarily a believers meeting.  Scriptures make that plain in 1 Corinthians chapters 11-14.  Unbelievers were not the focus of these early church meetings.

I think it’s important to point out that as we look to the New Testament to grasp an understanding of how the early church believers gathered it becomes clear that there were four primary types of meetings.  Each of these meetings served a different purpose.  Lets look at these meetings briefly:

• Apostolic Meetings - These were meetings where the apostles preached to a group of people. These meetings were often interactive allowing for discussion.  The purpose of these meetings were to either plant a new church or encourage an existing one (Acts 5:40-42; Acts 19:9-10; 20:27, 31)  In these meetings the apostle did most of the ministry initially.  This was an itinerant work so the worker would not be there permanently.
• Evangelistic Meetings - In the early church evangelism happened primarily outside the regular meetings of the church.  The apostles preached the gospel where unbelievers were - they took the gospel to them (Acts 14:1; 17:1-33; 18:4, 19).  The fruit of these meetings was to plant a new church or to add to an existing one.  The workers were not a permanent part of these local churches.
• Decision Making Meetings - There were times when a church would need to gather to make an important decision.  The meeting in Jerusalem described in Acts 15 was a meeting of this nature.  In these meetings everyone participated in the decision making.
• Church Meetings - These meetings were the regular meetings or gatherings of the church.  These meetings were comprised of believers who gathered for mutual edification.

I want to look at the believers meetings.  These meetings were radically different than today's institutional church services.  In the early church gatherings there was not a pastor who preached a sermon behind a pulpit while everyone else sat passively and listened.  The thought of a sermon focused pastor to pew audience style "church
service" was foreign to the Christians of the early church. 

The church service of today's institutional church is designed for singing, hearing a sermon with perhaps a little evangelism thrown in from time to time for good measure.  In contrast, the purpose of the New Testament church gatherings was for mutual edification.  This is something Christians, today, have a difficult time digesting.  It's not about the preacher.  It's not about the building.  It's not about the singing.  It's about the centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives and gatherings!

Frank Viola in his book Reimagining Church stated, "The regular meetings of the church envisioned in Scripture allowed for every member to participate in the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:16).  There was no "up front" leadership.  No one took center stage.  Unlike today's practice, the teaching in the church meeting was not delivered by the same person week after week.  Instead, every member had the right, the privilege and the responsibility to minister in the gathering.  Mutual encouragement was the hallmark of this meeting.  'Every one of you' was its outstanding characteristic."

Singing was an important part of early church gatherings (Colossians 3:16).  Singing in the New Testament church was not led by a group of professional singers and musicians.  Rather, each person had the opportunity to lead the singing (1 Corinthians 14:26).

We see, once again, how the early church took "one anothering" seriously.  It was an open format where each person could share in word, song or any other manner they felt led to share.  The leading of the Holy Spirit was key in the sharing.  As the New Testament church gathered for their believers meetings we see a church where every
member took part.  Even today, this same freedom, openness, spontaneity and leading of the Spirit should be what our gatherings consist of.  The primary goal of our believers meetings should be the mutual edification of God's people.

I believe when the church returns to her New Testament roots, the church will once again be the church God envisioned.  When the church returns to every member functioning for mutual edification the impact of the church will be like nothing we’ve seen in our life time!  The church will once again be the church “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against.

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Ray

It you know of someone who would be challenged and encouraged by this blog please pass on a link to them.  You can share this blog easily by clicking on the links below.  I believe the church needs to be set free from the bondage of the status quo she has been in for so long.  The blogs over the next few weeks will help us to see how this can be done.  If you are interested in reading more regarding the organic expression of church life I recommend Frank Viola's book "Reimagining Church".

50th BLOG POST

This is my 50^th blog post!  I thought it would be both interesting and fun to take a look back at the five most viewed posts on this blog.  I would also like to share some statistics with you regarding this blog.

Let me say, first of all, THANK YOU to all of you who take the time to read these blog posts.  It’s my prayer that God would use the things that are written on these pages to touch hearts, change lives and spur the Christian on to spiritual growth. 

I realize we touch on some unconventional topics on this blog.  I share what God lays on my heart to share.  I believe each blog post has hit its target – and still continues to hit its target for that matter.  Previous blog posts are read almost on a daily basis.   This lets me know God is using this blog for His purpose on an ongoing basis.

I also want to thank those of you who repost a link to this blog so others who are not on my friend list or otherwise subscribed to my blog may see it.  I truly appreciate it.  Many of those folks have “friended” me on Facebook and some have began to follow me on Twitter, as well.

Without further ado, the top five blog posts on this blog since it’s inception earlier this year are…drum roll please…

1.  IS TITHING BIBLICAL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH?
2.  WHAT ABOUT THE "ORDER OF WORSHIP"?
3.  WHAT ABOUT WATER BAPTISM?
4.  CHRISTIANITY VERSUS CHURCHIANITY
5.  WHAT ABOUT OUR SUNDAY GO TO MEETING CLOTHES?
6.  CONTENTMENT 

Note:  Numbers What About Our Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes and Contentment tied for fifth place so I thought I would list them both.

And now for a few stats...People from the following countries are reading this blog:  United States, Russia, Germany, Ireland, South Korea and Malaysia.  I've also been informed that there are some in Canada that are reading this blog, as well.  Praise God!  There were 448 page views just last month!  Not only are the current blog posts being read, but previous blog posts continue to be reviewed on a daily basis.

When God laid on my heart to start a blog I had no idea it would have such far reaching affects.  How humbling that He would see fit to use this blog to touch so many lives in such a short time.  I truly look forward to seeing what God has in store for the coming months!  Remember...little is much if God is in it!


Again, I want to thank those of you who take the time to read and repost this blog.  By all means, I encourage you to continue to forward a link to this blog via the icons below or by email.  Let's get the word out!


Also, if you would like to be notified when a new blog post it posted I would be happy to add you to my email list.  These go out as BCC so that no one can obtain your email without your permission. If you would like to be added to our email list for notification purposes just send an email to rayspellbrink@gmail.com with the word "Subscribe" in the message body and I will be happy to add you to the email list.  You will then receive an email when a new blog post is posted.


Let's continue on this adventure with Jesus together. 


Until next time, enjoy the journey!


Ray

AM I ANTI-CHURCH?

Am I anti-church?  Recently this question came up.  I wanted to address this in my blog so those who read this blog will know where I stand.  

Allow me to state at the onset that I am absolutely NOT anti-church by any means.  I love God's church.  I love God's people.  It's my sincere desire to see the church be the church God intends for her to be.   I think anyone who truly knows me knows this.  I know we have a number of readers of this blog who do not know me personally, so I wanted to let you know where I stand.

Now having said that, I AM opposed to the modern institutional church system.  As I have written in previous blog posts today's institutional church is so far removed from what God intended that it's not even recognizable to God.  Most of our church customs and traditions have their roots in paganism.  I might add most of the things we do in our church services (including the service itself) has no basis in Scripture.  That's what I am opposed to.

Today's institutional church leaves its members spiritually and sometimes emotionally bound up.  In many cases it seeks to drain them of their financial resources as well as their time and energy.  This simply is not the New Testament church in action.  

Today's institutional church has done a good deal to dissuade people from joining God's family.  So many of today's modern churches are spiritually lifeless.  Oftentimes there are cliques, backbiting, bickering among other things in these churches.  Who wants to have anything to do with that? 

The modern church places a good deal of emphasis on "church membership" sometimes pushing people to "join" the church.  Joining the church, they say, gives you a voice.  God's church isn't supposed to be a democracy.  I, personally, don't believe in church membership as it's emphasized today.  I believe when one is born again, he or she is born into the family of God.  That makes you a member of His family - His church.  That's good enough for me.  By the way, I see no precedent for church membership in the early church.

I hear stories often of people struggling in their spiritual lives sitting right there on the church pew.  The modern church gives the people the misconception that they get "fed" spiritually by coming to church.  While there may be some truth to that, our primary source of spiritual growth should be our personal time time with God.  We should love Him, praise, Him, worship Him, serve Him, honor Him, adore Him and spend time with Him.  


These things, no doubt, sound odd coming from one who is currently shepherding a congregation in a rural setting.  I addressed this in an earlier blog post titled"WHY AM I A PASTOR?"  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt God set my wife and I here for a season.  I'm equally as sure there will come a time when God will lead us out.  You see, while this church we are in is considered "outside the box" in a lot of ways to those who are still in the box, it still has it's traditions and ways of doing things.  It's my hope that I will be able to lead this congregation into a new found spiritual freedom that comes only in Jesus.


The church - God's church - gathers together with the intent of each member functioning.  There are no pastors as we recognize them today.  "Pastor" is not and should not be a position in a church, but rather a function.  The meetings should be spontaneous with songs, testimonies and sharing.  Above all Jesus Christ should be and must be the center of each meeting.  You see, in God's church, It's all about Jesus!

So, rest assured, I'm pro-church - God's way!

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Ray 

It you know of someone who would be challenged and encouraged by this blog please pass on a link to them.  You can share this blog easily by clicking on the links below.  I believe the church needs to be set free from the bondage of the status quo she has been in for so long.  The blogs over the next few weeks will help us to see how this can be done.
 

LET THE CHURCH BE THE CHURCH GOD INTENDS

The New Testament uses a number of descriptive words to describe the church.  For example, the terms body, bride, family, living temple, etc are used to describe the church.

Each of these terms indicate the church is a living organism as opposed to an institutional organization. When I say the New Testament church is organic, I mean its alive!  It has a spiritual origin not a man-made origin.  I think most believers, today,would agree with that.  But what does organic church look like?  Has this really taken root in our spirit?

Frank Viola illustrated it wonderfully in his book Reimagining Church (p. 32) when he wrote, "Whenever we sin-scarred mortals try to create a church the same way we would start a business corporation, we are defying the organic principle of church life.  An organic church is one that is naturally produced when a group of people have encountered Jesus Christ in reality (external ecclesiastical props being unnecessary), and the DNA of the church is free to work without hindrance.

To put it in a sentence, organic church life is not a theater with a script; it's a gathered community that lives by divine life.  By contrast, the modern institutional church operates on the same organizational principles that run corporate America."

Just as we see the triune God have fellowship as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the church is an organic extension of our living God.  The church is a community of believers sharing and expressing God's life in the earth.  One could say the church is the earthly image of God.

The very essence of the church displays traits and characteristics we find in our triune God.  Among these characteristics are mutual love for one another, mutual fellowship with one another, mutual dependence on one another, mutual honor expressed to one another, mutual submission to one another, and true authentic community with one another.

Looking at the Trinity, its important to note the absence of hierarchical leadership. There's no fussing over who's in charge.  There's a complete absence of religious programing.

You see, these things are man-made, not God-made.  These are not characteristics of God neither should they be characteristics of His church.

Organic expression of church will reflect four elements:

1) It will always express the Headship of Jesus Christ as opposed to the headship of a human being.  Jesus is Head of His church!

2) It will always allow for and encourage every member to function in the gatherings.

3) It will always hold to the theology of the early church.

4) It will always be rooted in the fellowship of God.

We recently spent a good amount of time writing, in this blog, how that most of the practices of the institutional church of today have their roots in paganism.  After a period of time these pagan roots have become traditions in the modern church.  It is through these the traditions the Word of God becomes ineffective (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:8-9).

People often ask, "What has happened to the church?  Why is she not having the impact on society that she should?"  I believe it’s because society has had its impact on the church thereby rendering her ineffective in today’s world.

The religious traditions we hold so dear, today, have shaped our Christian walk.  These church traditions have shaped our minds and even put is into to a box, spiritually speaking.  Think about it, we open our Bibles and read in to the Scriptures our religious traditions.  We have been trained to think that way.  

 

For example, when you see the word “pastor” in the Bible we think of someone who preaches behind a pulpit on Sunday mornings.  When we see the word “church” we think of a place where we go for a service.  Do you see the problem? 

We are good at taking things out of context as we read them in Scripture.  In fact, it’s become a common practice to lift a number of verses out of their context to prove a point, establish a doctrine or defend a tradition we hold dear.  Oftentimes we do it without even realizing we are doing it.  If we would read the New Testament in chronological order and take out the chapters and verses it would go along way in giving us the proper narrative that God intended.

As stated previously, many of our current church practices, methods and doctrines are without Scriptural foundation.  They are man-made.  They are also at odds with the organic expression of church.  Most even do not express the Headship of Jesus Christ.  Instead they embrace man’s ideas and traditions therefore stifling out any organic expression of church life.

Frank Viola said it well in His book Reimagining Church  (pg 45), “The DNA of the church produces certain identifiable features.  Some of them are the experience of authentic community, a familial love and devotion of its members to one another, the centrality of Jesus Christ, the native instinct to gather together without static ritual, the innate desire to form deep-seated relationships that are centered on Christ, the internal drive for open-participatory gatherings, and the loving impulse to display Jesus to a fallen world.”

The church is to be an organic expression of our faith.  She is alive!  She is growing!  She is beautiful when she is allowed to function as God intended.  She is NOT a business.  She is NOT a bunch of lifeless rules and traditions. 

Let’s return to the basics of letting Jesus be Head of His church.  Let’s return, like the early church, to the centrality of Jesus Christ.  Let’s express organically as we live, breathe, grow and function together as the body of Christ.

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Ray

It you know of someone who would be challenged and encouraged by this blog please pass on a link to them.  You can share this blog easily by clicking on the links below.  I believe the church needs to be set free from the bondage of the status quo she has been in for so long.  The blogs over the next few weeks will help us to see how this can be done.  If you are interested in reading more regarding the organic expression of church life I recommend Frank Viola's book "Reimagining Church".

I HAVE A DREAM

Frank Viola in his book, Reimagining Church shares his heart as he shares with the readers his dream for God's church.  I could not have stated it any better myself.  May God touch your heart with these words.

I HAVE A DREAM

I have a dream that one day the church of Jesus Christ will rise up to her God-given calling and begin to live out the true meaning of her identity - which is, the very heartthrob of God Almighty - the fiancée of the King of Kings.

I have a dream that Jesus Christ will one day be Head of His church again.  Not in pious rhetoric, but in reality.

I have a dream that groups of Christians everywhere will begin to flesh out the New Testament reality that the church is a living organism and not an institutional organization.

I have a dream that the clergy/laity divide will someday be an antique of church history, and the Lord Jesus Himself will replace the moss-laden system of human hierarchy that has usurped His authority among His people.

I have a dream that multitudes of God's people will no longer tolerate those man-made systems that have put them in religious bondage and under a pile of guilt, duty, condemnation, making them slaves to authoritarian systems and leaders.

I have a dream that the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ will be the focus, the mainstay, and the pursuit of every Christian and every church.  And that God's dear people will no longer be obsessed with spiritual and religious things to the point of division.  But that their obsession and pursuit would be a person - the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a dream that countless churches will be transformed from high-powered business organizations into spiritual families - authentic Christ-centered communities - where the members know one another intimately, love one another unconditionally, bleed for one another deeply and rejoice with one another unfailingly.

I have a dream...

I encourage you to join me in daring to dream this dream!

Until next time, enjoy the journey!

Ray

It you know of someone who would be challenged and encouraged by this blog please pass on a link to them.  You can share this blog easily by clicking on the links below.  I believe the church needs to be set free from the bondage of the status quo she has been in for so long.  The blogs over the next few weeks will help us to see how this can be done.