“When You Come Together as a Church”
A Re-examination of meetings of the Christians in the
Apostolic Era
By Christopher Travis Haun (cthaun[at]hotmail[dot]com)
for http://rethinker.net/ekklesia
Status: Unfinished draft.
Contents
1. Introduction
– When you come together as a church?
2. When we
come together as a church, let’s really come together!
3. When we
come together as a church, let’s greet one another with the holy kiss of love
4. When we
come together as a church, let’s come together in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ
5. When we come
together as a church, let’s eat the Lord’s Supper at the Lord’s Table
6. When we
come together as a church, everyone has something to give
7. When
we come together as a church, let’s devote ourselves to the Apostles’
teaching
8. When
we come together as a church, let’s learn from good examples
9. When we come together as a church,
let’s spur one another on towards love and good deeds
10.
When
we come together as a church, let’s sing to one another with hymns, psalms, and
spiritual songs
11.
When we come together, let’s accept one another
without judgment on disputable matters
12.
13.
Introduction - When you come together
as a church?
My starting point for rethinking the
local church is the simple Greek word synerchomai.
The Apostle Paul used this root at least seven times. His companion and biographer Dr. Luke used it
at least three times.
1 Cor
5:4
When
you are assembled [συναχθέντων] in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . and the power of our Lord Jesus is present.
. .
1 Cor
11:18
I hear that when you come together as a church…” [συνερχομένων ὑμω̂ν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ]
1 Cor
11:20
When
you come together [συνερχομένων]
it is . . . the Lord’s Supper you eat.
1 Cor
11:33-34
My brothers, when you come together [συνερχόμενοι]
to eat . . . so that when
you meet together [συνέρχησθε] . . .
1 Cor
14:23
So if the whole church comes together
[sunevlqh] and everyone speaks. . .
1 Cor
14:26
Brothers, when you come come together [συνέρχησθε]
everyone has a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue/language or
an interpretation. . . for the strengthening of the church.
Acts 20:7
On the first day of the week we came
together [συνηγμένων] to break bread.
Acts 14:27
On
arriving there they gathered
the church together [συναγαγοντες
την εκκλησιαν] and
reported all that God had done. . .
Acts 15:30
The men were sent off and
went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.
Luke
24:33
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the
Eleven [Apostles] and those with them, assembled together
At some
points it sounds to me like the church is simply a group of people (elect,
believers, brothers, saints) that comprise the church regardless of whether
they’re together in the same room or if they’re scattered throughout a city. At
other points it almost seems like church/ekklesia is a phenomenon that happens
when certain people gather together?
Almost as if perhaps a localized church begins to exist the moment the
people of the church assemble together and perhaps this thing called church
dissolves when they depart from one another.
Could it be that we are the church (whether we’re apart or together) and
that when we come together we are a church?
I offer these questions to meditate upon in the attempt to rethink the
questions of the localizations of the church.
When we come together as a church,
let’s really come together!
Everyone
can agree that church life involves Christians a coming together, a gathering
together, an assembling together. But
let’s dare to ask ourselves if we really ‘coming together’ when we come
together? Or are we just strangers
sitting in the same room observing churchy things and playing churchy games?
Should
we remain content to come together in the sense that we’re in the same room at
the same time to observe the same show on a stage? Are we coming together in the same way as
the hundreds of strangers who buy movie tickets and sit in the same theater to
experience the magic of the silver screen?
Are we basically like the strangers who fill a stadium to share a music
concert or sports event? Do we sit
together as parts of the same audience passively listening to one man deliver a
prayer, another man lead a songs, a choir sing a song, watch a deacon pass a
plate, listen to another man make announcements, and another man deliver a
sermon? And if so, are we really truly
coming together as a church? Or are
just we coming together to watch others enact a weekly church play? Does sitting in the same room to
collectively and passively watch and listen to the same performances on the
stage really qualify as “coming together?” Or are we coming together as brothers and
sisters who have been adopted into the same family, as saints who have peace
with God and peace with one another, as members of an integrated body, as
living stones in the same spiritual temple, and as those who find joy in
fellowshipping with one another based on our fellowship with the Father and the
Son? Have we come together in true
fellowship?
One of
the parts we miss too often is the degree of intimacy and depth of the sharing
of lives when we meet. The modern models
of church tend to thwart real intimacy and real relationships. In this model many strangers who live far
away from one another drive to a building.
The heart of that building is an impersonal auditorium with pews or
chairs in rows all facing a stage where ‘the service’ is conducted. We, the many, sit almost totally passively to
observe the few perform the singing, the prayers, and the sermon. We are allowed to join in some corporate
singing to help us feel like we are actually doing something. We may know one another’s’ names but almost
nothing else about one another. Throughout most of the “service” it is rude to
have any interaction with the others around us in the audience. We sit in room full of strangers and have no
idea who is struggling with what.
The
churches of the first century did have many problems; but being strangers to
one another in an auditorium was surely not one of them. In this apostolic age and in the original
apostolic model the Christians can invariably been seen meeting together as a
church in private homes to share meals together. It may be quite true that the homes they
tended to meet in tended to be the larger homes of the wealthier Christians
that had practical advantages for hosting guests--but they were still
relatively small groups meeting in intimate venues. In this model there is of necessity some
crowding, some stepping on each other’s toes and the potential for intimacy
which most Americans are unaccustomed to and perhaps uncomfortable with.
Here are the NT passages which make it obvious that the churches
gathered together as churches in private homes:
Romans 16:3-5
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They
risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are
grateful to them. Greet also the
church that meets at their house.
1 Corinthians 16:19
The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and
Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.
Colossians 4:15
Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
Philemon
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our
sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home.
Here are a few NT passages which,
when you read between the lines, seem to suggest the church meeting in homes:
Acts 16:40
After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met
with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
Foot Note: Acts
16:11-40 seems to show how the Church at Philippi began meeting primarily
in Lydia’s house. There is also a strong
possibility that some of the new believers may have also continued to meet at
the “place of prayer” on the riverbank.
It seems like this “place of prayer” was probably Philippi’s closest
thing to a synagogue in that day and that the prayers prayed by the women there
were probably the Amidah. There is no
reason why Lydia and the other believers would have not also met on the
riverbank. But it is interesting to me
that the Acts 16 ultimately paints a picture of the church of Philippi
centering their meetings in Lydia’s home.
Acts 20:7-11
On the first day of the week we came
together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he
intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8 There
were many lamps in the upstairs
room where we were meeting. 9 Seated
in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep
as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story
Foot Note: When this compressed verse is unpacked it seems that the normal practice of the brothers and sisters in Christ was to “come together” (as a church) in a banquet room of a private home. It was probably a home of a wealthier Christian as it had three stories and could hold several (20 to 120?) people. The fact that they came together on the first day of the week (which may have meant Saturday night rather than Sunday morning by Jewish reckoning) and this suggests that it was a habit, a custom, a practice, the core of the church meeting. It is interesting that the express purpose of the church meeting together was not to listen to Paul while he was in town but to break bread (share a meal) together. They would have done this regardless of whether Paul was in town on a visit or not. But they probably wouldn’t have stayed till after midnite if Paul had not been there, I’m assuming.
Here are some passages which also
show that the early Christians met in private homes and, in addition to homes, larger public venues:
Acts 2:46
Every day they continued to meet
together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together
with glad and sincere hearts. . .
Acts 5:42
Day after day, in
the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching
and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts 19:9-10
Paul left [the Jewish synagogue and] took the disciples with him and had
discussions daily in the
lecture hall of Tyrannus. This
went on for two years. . .
Acts 20:20
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be
helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
For the
first three centuries, Christians met as churches in their homes. This is not a fact that is in any
dispute. It is also no secret that the
life of the visible church began to change radically in many ways after the
third century. Instead of making
excuses for why things changed, why not instead consider returning to something
that much more closely resembles the original model in the attempt to recapture
some of the magic that the original model had?
The more we realize that the modern church models are in need of
improvement, why not all the more consider re-examining the original models?
Meeting
in homes will not necessarily allow the dynamic that solves all the problems of
auditorium-and-program based churches.
We may find that it is almost as easy to “play church” in a home group
as it is in an auditorium. But
doubtlessly it is true that a large crowd of people meeting in an auditorium to
watch an event on a stage surely has drastically different interpersonal
dynamics than ten or twenty us meeting together in one or our homes to share a
meal and share our lives. In our homes
we are faced with prospect of becoming open to all the joys and dangers or real
relationships. If we can figure out a
way to drop our emotional guards and open our hearts to one another, perhaps we
can begin to figure out how to truly come together as a church.
When we come together as a church, let’s
greet one another with the holy kiss of love
Here are five NT passages that the
vast majority of American Christians shrink away from in stark terror:
·
Rom
16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
·
1
Cor 16:20 All the brothers here
send you greetings. Greet
one another with a
holy kiss.
·
2
Cor 13:12 Greet one another with
a holy kiss.
·
1
Thess 5:26 Greet
all the brothers with a
holy kiss.
·
1
Pet 5:14 Greet one another
with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Being raised as an American I myself admit a fear of the command to practice a holy
kiss. I naturally look for a way to
avoid this imperative. I try to
rationalize them away as “just a cultural thing” that can be replaced with my
cultural equivalent of a holy hug, for instance. Were I raised in Russia or France or
Lebanon, I’m sure I could be less afraid of unrationalized obedience here.
Regardless of whether we blunt these
commands or not, surely these five passages give us a neglected glimpse at the
intimacy that the first Christians had—or were expected to have--in their
meetings. Meeting in small groups in
intimate venues (like homes) lends itself well to the holy kiss test. Meeting in large numbers in auditoriums makes
the holy kiss command impossible to obey.
If we dismiss the holy kiss command as a
culturally irrelevant convention that is satisfied with the modern equivalent
of a “holy handshake” instead, aren’t we really only proving that we are
culturally and socially and biblically and ecclesiastically unhealthy? Yes, it is a cultural difference. But could it be that our culture is
unhealthy? And if so, why should we seek
to accommodate an unhealthy culture?
Should we not instead seek to transform our church subculture so that it
does not participate in the unhealthiness of the world culture? Also, could it also show that we are in
willful disobedience or at best half-hearted obedience to five instances of
apostolic imperatives? It is clear that
when Christians gather together we should greet one another with a holy kiss, a
kiss of love. Two different Apostles
said it and both meant it. Who are we to
try to second guess them on this?
Perhaps the more afraid of this greeting we are, the more we need to
relearn it???
Consider the ramifications for
intimacy that a kiss on the cheek brings.
In conventional and modern church systems, we either endure or prefer to
remain strangers with most of the attendees sitting around us. We may know their names and we might even
shake their hands but is it not true that we don’t really know most of
them? The system is fine with this for
it says that we are not gathered primarily for the sake of getting to know one
another; we are there to experience the service which is performed on the
stage. As already mentioned, the modern
model of Church makes it difficult to get to know anyone. If you do want to get to know someone, you
can invite them to lunch after the church service is over, right?
But what if all of us had to kiss
each other on the cheek when we met?
Doesn’t the kiss break the ice, break through barriers, and begin to
force us to drop our shields and open ourselves up to one another in ways that
can lead to deeper soul-to-soul relationships?
Surely the kiss is at least a catalyst for a decision by one person
about another person. If we keep our
distance, keep our silence, keep our handshake, we can remain acquaintances who
don’t really involve our lives with one another. But if we kiss one another, how can we avoid
the messiness of caring for one another and having that unpleasant unity where
their problems become ours?
Yes, it is true that Judas could
betray Jesus with a kiss, but this level of betrayal is rare and not easy to accomplish
in the heart. But do we who are
brothers and sisters in the unity of God’s household betray one another by
remaining strangers to one another?
Whatever the holy kiss is, it is at least not a behavior which lends its
self to people remaining strangers to one another. Judas and Jesus were not strangers to one
another?
It seems to me that this holy kiss
greeting harmonizes well with Jesus warning to those Jews who might be in
danger of wanting to worship the Lord at the Temple with a sacrifice but who
were not in proper fellowship with their brother.
Matthew 5:
if you are offering your gift at the
altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave
your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then
come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary. . .
If we gather together as a church but
cannot greet one another with a sincere and holy kiss—the type of kiss that
those who have fellowship and reconciliation and peace and love with one
another have--are we not just playing church games? Does God really care in the slightest about
the praises we might offer with our lips if we are not sufficiently reconciled
with one another in our hearts that we can kiss one another? If we come together to do churchy things
together but are not reconciled with one another to the degree that we can
tolerate holy kisses, are we really coming together as a church? Let’s ask ourselves honestly if we are really
and truly coming together as a church if when we meet we cannot and will not
greet one another with a holy kiss. If
we meet together as a church but are not reconciled to one another in the love,
unity, forgiveness, peace, brotherhood, and joy, are we not just playing
church?
Whether we’re daring enough to obey
or not, let’s at least try to recover that unity of heart that allows us to
recover (or at least approximate) the holy kiss tradition!
When we come together as a church, let’s
come together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
Perhaps we should say that a local
church comes into existence whenever those who have been “justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1
Cor. 6:11) begin to “assemble together [συναχθέντων] in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ” (1
Cor. 5:4). Can people really
assemble together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ if they have not first
been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Let’s seriously ask ourselves if we are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we really be coming together as a church if we are not actually
part of the church? Let’s also ask ourselves what it means to meet in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we’re not
truly meeting in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, are we not just playing
church games?
Paul’s words to the saints in Corinth
seem to echo closely
the words our Lord gave
his disciples:
When
you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and . . . the power of our Lord
Jesus is present . . .
For where two or three come together [συνηγμένοι] in my name, there am I
with them.
Again we
see the idea that a church happens when true Christians come together in the
name of their Lord. A church is
certainly not a building Christians go to; a church is a gathering of true
Christians. But can it be said that a
church exists whenever two or more Christians meet together in general? Perhaps so!
But perhaps it makes slightly more sense to say that a church comes into
existence when two or more Christians come together in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ—the biblical, historical, incarnated, sinless, crucified, risen,
ascended, returning Lord Jesus Christ.
For under these circumstances, we get the exciting hint from both Matt
18 and 1 Cor. 5 that when Christians meet together in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the same Lord Jesus Christ is supposed to join them in some special
way.
So how
do we meet in the name of the Lord? And
are we really coming together in the name of the Lord Jesus when we meet? I’m not sure.
It’s a difficult linguistic puzzle.
The phrase “in the name of Christ” isn’t exactly explained to us well. It’s stamped all over the Old and New
Testament books. But do we really know
what it means? I’m not sure I know what
it means but can at least offer my questions to meditate upon in the hope of
working our way closer to good answers.
We would
not be meeting together with one another if we didn’t as individuals share the
same basic beliefs about Jesus. If we believed Jesus were a liar or a legend or a lunatic rather
than the Lord, we would not be meeting together. Or would we?
There are steepled buildings in every city where people who do not
believe that Jesus was just a good teacher, just a good man, and that he did
not raise from the dead physically. And
they still meet together, sing hymns, read from the prayer book, listen to
homilies and do other churchy things.
So I ask this: Can “believers”
meet together in the name of Christ if they do not share with one another a
view of Jesus Christ as depicted by the NT Apostles and OT prophets? If they have vastly differing views of who Jesus is? Are we
meeting in the name of Jesus if we have a counterfeited, imposter Jesus in
mind? This seems like a good question to
consider.
Another
angle that appeals to me is the attempt to answer the question of why we are
meeting together. For some there are
strong psychological and social reasons for such church attendance. Are we meeting together because we like
feeling like part of a group rather than feeling alone? Do we meet together because we just need to
feel like we’re a part of something holy?
Are we meeting because we are plagued by shame and guilt and
embarrassment if we miss more than one Sunday in a row? Is it just because of habit and tradition and
culture? Are we meeting because our
group has the music that is most agreeable to our ears? Are we going there to find a spouse? Are we going there to people watch? Are we going there for the sake of enhanced
social networking and the hopes of career advancement? Are we going there because the minister who
delivers the sermon is not as boring as other ministers elsewhere? Are we just “going to church” because we
know that it’s simply what we’re supposed to do? Are we just trying to fill the vacuum in our
souls with something that is supposedly holy?
There are many possible reasons people gather as a church and some are
more legitimate than others. But even
for the legitimate reasons, if it is ultimately the top reason, but it is not
for the sake of focusing upon Christ or because of Christ, are we really
meeting in the name of Christ? I’m not
sure but it seems like a fair question.
Some use
1
Cor. 1:10-17 to shed light on what “in the name of Jesus” means. Some say that factions, sects, and
denominations are the opposite of meeting in the name of our Lord. They suggest for our consideration that
perhaps the first rule of meeting together as a church in the name of Jesus is
to literally only meet in the name of Jesus.
They would argue that we should not call ourselves Baptists or
Presbyterians or Pentecostals or other divisive categories but that we should
all just call ourselves followers of Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ,
saints in Christ Jesus, disciples of Christ, believers in Christ, Christians,
or such. On one hand I think they have
a good point. But on the other hand I
suspect that the overly literal interpretation of “in the name of Christ” may not
capture the meaning perfectly, adequately, or properly. For I believe it is quite possible that
these well meaning Christians can meet together saying that they are not
following a distinct man-made system of biblical interpretation, say that they
are only meeting in the name of the Lord and not in the name of any mere man, reject
all labels and categories for the sake of not becoming guilty of meeting in
something other than the name of Christ, and yet also basically just end up
going to great lengths to play a holy game.
While agreeing that we should not meet in the name of any man or any
group, does rejecting labels of convenience really mean that we are meeting in
the name of Christ? I’m not sure. Even so, there may be lessons to learn here
in this interpretation.
Another
possibility for the meaning of “in the name of Jesus” could come from the
question of focus. What is the object
of our focus when we meet? Does
everything we say and think related to or revolve around or point to or glorify
the Lord Jesus Christ? And are our
hearts really focused on Jesus or are we—be honest—usually distracted when we
meet? An obvious example comes from
contrasting Mary and Martha in Luke
10:38-42. Sisters Martha and Mary opened
their home in hospitality to their beloved Rabbi, Jesus, and his
disciples. On one noted occasion, Mary
sat at the Lord’s feet listening attentively to all he had to say while Martha
was more focused on the many practical preparations needed for meals and
hospitality for so many. When Martha
asked Jesus to send Mary to help her, Jesus gave the judgment that Martha was
“worried and upset about many things” and that Mary had chosen to do the only
thing that really mattered—listening to the Lord. If we come together as a church in private
homes, we are in the same dilemma as Mary and Martha. Some people naturally tend like Martha to be
concerned about serving others in practical ways and in getting the meals cooked
and the house cleaned. Others tend to
naturally be more like Mary who didn’t have trouble with dropping practical
service for the sake of listening to the word of the Lord from the Lord
himself. When we come together as a
church in our homes in the name of the Lord, we should of course be primarily
interested in listening to the word of the Lord with our full attention. But if we are distracted and worried about
earthly things while we are together as a church, are we really meeting in the
name of the Lord? If so, there may be
reason to suggest that those of us who are like Mary by nature need to adopt a
Martha attitude and focus before and after the meeting while those who are
Martha’s by nature need to adopt a Mary attitude and focus during the meeting. The Jewish Sabbath which the Lord commanded
the Jews to obey was a day of both rest and a day devoted unto the Lord. They would work hard to make their
preparations of meals and get obligations taken care of on Friday so that no
work would have to be done on Shabbat (Saturday). Without recommending full-blown
sabbatarianism, perhaps we Mary’s and Martha’s should learn a lesson here from
the Jewish law and work hard before our meetings to prepare for them and then
rest and focus on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and upon one another while
we meet.
Sometimes
when my family and I come together as a church, we sing the hymn that contains
the refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
I think
we should ask ourselves if we are truly gathered together in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ if we are thinking about things other than the Lord, the
Lord’s Word, the Lord’s will, the Lord’s Works, the Lord’s Plan, the Lord’s
People.
Another
possible way to try to answer the question is the suggestion that when we come
together as a church to eat a Christ-centered meal, to devote ourselves to
Christ-centered scripture readings and Christ-centered teaching, sing
Christ-centered hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs, to exercise the spiritual
gifts Christ has given us, and spur one another on to do good works which give
Christ glory. While all these parts
could be true, perhaps coming together to eat the Lord’s Supper at the Lord’s
Table may deserve a special prominence.
Why? Because it is clear that the
Christians of the apostolic age came together as a church in the name of the
Lord and for the sake of eating the Lord’s Supper together. Perhaps coming together in the name of the
Lord and coming together to eat the Lord’s Supper are extremely closely related
things? The more I learn about the
early church and the Lord’s Supper, the more I wonder if it is even possible to
“come together as a church” without coming together to the Lord’s Table to
enjoy the Lord’s Supper.
Let’s
try to rediscover what it means to meet together in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ!
When we come together as a church, let’s eat the Lord’s Supper at the Lord’s
Table
When the church came together, the table
was central. When they church came
together, they invariably had a love feast together. Based on Acts 2, Acts 20, and 1 Cor 11, it
seems axiomatic that the churches of the Apostolic age
came together as a church first and foremost to eat the Lord’s supper at the
Lord’s table. The “Lord’s Supper”
and/or the “breaking of bread” and/or the “Agape feast” was the primary thing
the Christians came together as a church to enjoy. Since the Lord’s Supper described in 1 Cor 11
was obviously a banquet feast type of meal, I am not going to take too much
care here to try to separate the Lord’s Supper from the breaking of bread and
the Agape Feast. Personally I hold them
to be inseparable and integrated with one another even if they are not entirely
synonymous. The lines do blur a bit.
Acts
2 – The Church
in Jerusalem
They devoted themselves to
the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone
was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the
apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in
common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had
need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God
and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number
daily those who were being saved. . .
Although it’s not clear in our English translations, the fellowship and
the breaking of bread are connected. The
fellowship is the breaking of bread.
Perhaps this should better be translated into English as “the fellowship
of the breaking of bread.”
Here in Acts 20 we see that the
Christians in Troas doing the same thing as the Jewish Christians in
Jerusalem. The core and heart of their
meeting as a church was the breaking of bread.
They did not go to an auditorium to hear music and hear a sermon. They met in a banquet room to share a meal
together. The breaking of bread was
their first priority. The devotion to
the Apostle’s doctrine was of high importance to but was actually not the
express purpose. They would have met
together to break bread if Paul had not been there.
1
Cor 5, 10, and 11 - The Church in Corinth
It
is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind
that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you
rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3 Even though I am not physically
present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one
who did this, just as if I were present. 4 When
you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit,
and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so
that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the
Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little
yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may
be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore
let us keep the
Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I
have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not
at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am
writing you that you must
not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral
or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a
man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those
outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God
will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."
Interestingly,
the “with such a man do not even eat” seems synonymous with the phrases “put
out of your fellowship the man” (v.2) and “hand this man over to Satan” (v.5)
and “Get rid of the old yeast” (v.7).
There is a tie between their fellowship and their eating. Also we see a strong pointer to the Passover
Festival, which was arguably the greatest example of a table-based fellowship
for the Jews. We see a strong hint here
that the early Christian fellowship (koinonea) was in fact a fellowship meal
around a table. We even get a strong
hint that the way we Christians are expected to keep the Jewish festival of
Passover is found in our weekly table fellowship with all our brothers and
sisters who are walking in the light.
The early Christians were not to let unrepentant brothers eat with them.
Is
not the cup of
thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of
Christ? And is not the
bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we,
who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf... Consider the people of Israel: Do
not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? … the sacrifices
of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be
participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of
demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the
table of demons.
Here
is an evidence that the breaking of bread (or bread that we break) is
synonymous with the Lord’s Supper.
… your meetings … when you come together as a church…When
you come together, it is… the Lord's Supper you eat…For I received from
the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was
betrayed, took bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body,
which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This
cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in
remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of
the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
For anyone who eats and
drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment
on himself…So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
The
letters of the Apostle Paul to the believers in Corinth are some of the
earliest writings of the New Testament collection. We see a glimpse of one of the very earliest
churches in action. The fellowship meal
played a central part of their life as a church. In the fifth chapter they were not
discouraged from eating with the nonbelievers.
They were encouraged, however, to not allow a person who claimed to be a
believer (“a brother”), who was guilty of some habitual sin, and who refused
repentance from the sin to enjoy fellowship around the table with the other
believers.
In
the tenth chapter we see a glimpse into the sharing of the cup of wine and the
sharing of a single loaf of bread as being important to this community. The principles involved in eating and
drinking the Lord’s Supper at the Lord’s Table are compared with the principles
of the Jews eating lambs sacrificed at the temple altar and compared with the
food offerings made by the pagans to their gods. The language and concepts are difficult for
our 21st century English minds.
Attempting to not get inundated by the minutia, the main point here, I
think, is that when the believers participated in the bread and wine of the
Lord’s Supper at the Lord’s Table, they were “having a part” (a Hebraism suggesting
fellowship, membership, belonging, union, a “communion”) with the Lord Jesus
and with one another.
In
the eleventh chapter, it is natural to see that the normal and usual and weekly
and central purpose of the church meetings is to eat the Lord
’s Supper. This chapter doesn’t
force this conclusion but it definitely lends its self this way, doesn’t
it? Three times in this chapter we see
the phrase “come together” (synerxomai). Paul writes as if the connection between
coming together as a church and eating a real meal (not a snack but the largest
meal of the day, a supper, a diepnon)
are totally natural. It is very clear
that when the Christians of Corinth came together as a church, it was for the
sake of eating the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s
complaint here was not that they were meeting to share a great meal together in
the name of the Lord. The complaint was
that they were allowing the rich to eat all the food and get drunk while the
poor and the slaves were walking away hungry.
This was a sin of such magnitude against the unity of and equality in
the Body of the Lord that it invalidated the claim to be the Lord’s
Supper. The norm, however, is that we
believers should meet together as a church to eat the Lord’s Supper.
And
if we’re not sharing our food with one another and if it is not a real meal
shared by all, can we really call it the Lord’s Supper?
And
can we really call it coming together as a church?
Peter
The
warning in 2nd Peter 3 about false teachers in the Church suggests a
glimpse that normal church life involves feasting with one another:
. . .
there will be false teachers among you. .
. They are blots and blemishes, reveling
in their pleasures while
they feast with you.
Again,
part of the normative life of the first generation Christians involved feasting
together.
Jude
writes something which echoes Peter perfectly:
For certain men whose condemnation
was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless
men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny
Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord… these dreamers pollute their own
bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. …
These men are blemishes at your
love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who
feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind;
autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.
Although Jude was not an
Apostle, it is probably safe to assume that he had close association with many
of the Apostles and had some leadership role in the earliest church. He writes to a church to warn them about dangerous
teachers-leaders. In the process he
makes the connection seem quite natural between the life of the early church
and their “love feasts”—their communal meals.
Although there is no obvious reference to the Lord’s Supper here, it
does show that the love feasts were normative practice at this time.
The Didache
Didache 14:1-2
On the Lord’s own day gather together
and break bread and
give thanks
[eucharisthsate], having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice may
be pure. But let no one who has a
quarrel with a companion join you until they have been reconciled, so that your
sacrifice may not be defiled. . .
Didache 9:1-10:2
Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks [eucharistias] as follows. First, concerning the cup: We give you thanks [eucharistoumen], our
Father, for the holy vine of David your servant. . . And concerning the broken
bread: We give you thanks
[eucharistoumen], our Father. . . but let no one eat
or drink of your Eucharist [eucharistias] except those who have been baptized
into the name of the Lord. . . And after you have had enough, we give thanks [eucharistasate]
follows: We give you thanks
[eucharistoumen], Holy Father, . . .
Footnote: These Didache excerpts are taken from:
Lightfoot, Harmer, and Holmes. The Apostolic Fathers; Greek Texts and English Translations of Their
Writings. Baker Book House. 1992. p.247, “The Didache may have been put into
its present form as late as 150, though a date considerably closer to the end
of the first century seems more probable.
The materials from which it was composed, however, reflect the state of
the church at an even earlier time. . . suggests A.D.
70, and he is not likely to be off by more than a decade in either
direction.” p.191 The “love feast” (lit agape; cf. Jude
12) or “fellowship meal” was a congregational meal which (almost certainly)
included the celebration of the Eucharist at some point cf. I Cor. II:17-34).
So, again, if we’re not celebrating
the sacrificial death, resurrection, and the future return of
our Lord with the breaking of bread, the love feast and the Lord’s Supper, are
we really coming together as a church?
Or are we just playing church games?
If we’re not doing this as the center of our time of gathering as a
church, how can we pretend any longer that we are a viable New Testament styled
church?
When we come together as a church,
everyone has something to give
1
Corinthians 14:23-29 provides a powerful glimpse of how the New Testament
church in its first decade of existence was radically different than the
churches most of us are familiar with today.
So
if the whole church comes
together and
everyone speaks . . . 26What
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. If anyone
speaks . . . two—or
at the most three—should speak, one at a time. . . 29Two or three prophets should
speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
Let me
get this straight. When the church comes
together, who can speak? Everyone? Brothers? Everyone? Two or three?
In most
modern churches, when people try to come together as a church the idea that
anyone could speak is laughable. The
idea that anyone could share a hymn is impossible. This Spirit has been quenched. But it was not like this from the beginning
of the church. In the earliest days, it
was not just that anyone was allowed to speak.
It seems that “everyone” was expected to speak.
I ask
how can we recover some of this? I’m not saying I think all of it can be
recovered. I’m not saying we should
expect today to be gifted in the exact same way that the believers in Corinth were
gifted back in that first decade of the church’s existence. But I will say that this passage proves that
things have changed drastically. And for
those of us who wish to try to return to a church life that more closely
resembles the life the early church enjoyed in the first century, 1
Cor 12-14 gives us some exciting differences to consider, meditate upon,
and try to recover. Even if the
spiritual gifts today are not quite like they were in Corinth around AD 50, why
do we have to lose the spontaneity that they enjoyed? And unless we say that the Lord does not give
any gifts at all anymore, why should we not try to recover the exercising of
all the gifts for the strengthening of the whole?
Surely
some significant change has happened.
Although others may disagree with me, and although I myself often wish
it were otherwise, I do not believe we should expect to speak in tongues and
prophecies today in quite the same way that we find in 1 Cor and the early
chapters of Acts. Despite believing that
change has occurred between then and now, I refuse to give up belief that the
changes have been so great that 1 Cor 12-14 are irrelevant to us and are
somehow worthy of ignoring on the basis of whatever changes have occurred. I do believe the Lord still gives
supernatural gifts that do manifest themselves through true believers speaking
audibly to one another. It may not be
more subtle today than it used to be but if you too can at least believe that
the Lord still gives every believer some supernatural gifting, we still need to
factor in the principles and lessons of 1 Cor 12-14 in our attempt to reform
and restore church life back towards something more closely resembling the
church life of the New Testament.
I’d
rather not focus here on the debate of whether the gift of tongues and the gift
of prophecy are available today as they were to the Christians in Corinth. Hopefully I can tackle that problem in a different
rethink on some future day. But for the
moment I’d like to treat that debate as irrelevant and just focus on how much 1
Cor 14 shows a model that is radically different from our modern church models. To help us get past hang-ups about tongues and
prophecies, I’m going to replace the word “tongues” with the phrase
“speaking-words-that-have-to-be-translated-to-be-understood” and I’m going to
replace “prophecy” with the phrase,
“speaking-words-from-God-that-everyone-understands.”
1 Cor
14: 23-29
So if the whole church comes
together and everyone is speaking-words-that-have-to-be-translated-to-be-understood, and some who do not understand or some
unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not
understand comes in while everybody
is speaking-words-from-God-that-everyone-understands, he will be convinced by all that he is a
sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid
bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among
you!” What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone
has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a
word-that-must-be-interpreted-to-be-understood or an interpretation. All of
these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks-words-that-have-to-be-translated-to-be-understood, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker
should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh
carefully what is said.
Here in
1 Cor 14 there is a potential for anyone who has come together as a church to
speak words to the group. Anyone?!?!? In this
early book there is a sense that all the brothers have the freedom to
share. What is more, all the brothers
have something given to them to give to the group. It seems like a “fitting and orderly way”
for the brothers who have been given words to share is for two or three men to
speak if translation is needed and for two or three more men to speak when
translation is not needed. This
suggests to me that if four different men spoke in Corinth on any given Sunday,
this would be fitting and orderly and would strengthen the church. Which brothers were allowed to speak? The ones whom God gave
something to say. There is no
hint here of the speaking being done by a man called a Pastor or Preacher. Corinthians knows of no such office. (Nor does the New
Testament.) Also in all of 1
Cor there is no hint of elders having been appointed or even of
designated teachers being recognized.
There are simply brothers and the brothers all seem to be given
something to share with the group.
Also of
note is that when those four or six brothers would speak the other brothers are
not just to listen passively. They are
to have their minds engaged critically and weigh carefully what is said. This may be a tip off that any and every man
was free to respond to what the brothers were saying. The very fact that women are encouraged to be
silent in the context of the brothers exercising their gifts suggests strongly
that men were allowed to and expected to ask questions. (The women, on the other hand, seem to have
been allowed to both pray and prophesy in the…
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Acts 13:1 |
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In the church at Antioch there
were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen
(who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. |
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Acts 14:23 |
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Paul and Barnabas appointed
elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed
them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. |
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Acts 15:3 |
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The church sent them on their
way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the
Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. |
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Col 4:15 |
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Give my greetings to the
brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. |
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Acts 15:22 |
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Then the apostles and elders,
with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to
Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and
Silas, two men who were leaders |
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This is not just for men.
Women were in 1 Cor 11 obviously
allowed to pray or prophesy in the assembly of the church as long as they had
their heads covered.
But in 1 Cor 14 they are to remain
silent and ask husbands their questions at home.
How do we reconcile these two? Some have let 1 Cor 14 eclipse 1 Cor 11,
perhaps for the sake of being hyper conservative and erring on the side of
caution.
But the two are not
contradictory. Paul wouldn’t do that,
especially three chapters away. They are
both right and we need to find a way to reconcile them.
Women were given the gift of prophecy
and this is a huge thing. How do we
integrate 1 Cor 11 (where a woman prays or prophesies, presumably in the
assembly of the church) with 1 Cor 14 (where a woman is supposed to remain
silent)?
If a man’s gift is teaching, let him
teach
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly
of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as
God has distributed to each of you6 a measure of
faith.7 12:4 For just as in one
body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 12:5
so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who
belong to one another. 12:6 And we have different gifts8 according to the grace given to us. If the gift is
prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. 12:7
If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 12:8
if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with
sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing
mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.
I suggest we need to be prepared for
God to speak through people who are unimpressive by our human standards. What I mean is that, as humans we naturally
might prefer to listen to the person who speaks with eloquence. But God may speak what we most need to hear
through the man who is reluctant to speak or steal the limelight, the man who
may stutter and normally prefer not to speak.
It is easy to confuse natural gifts with spiritual gifts.
When we come together as a church,
let’s devote ourselves to the Apostles’ teaching
One of the greatest passages that
gives a jaw-dropping, shiver-sending glimpse at early church life lists
devotion to the Apostle’s teaching first in the list and, because of the way
Greek grammar works, therefore quite possibly first in terms of importance:
41Those who
accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to
their number that day. 42They devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and
to prayer.
To me this suggests that we disciples
need to consider whether devoting ourselves to the Apostles teaching is
possibly even more important than the fellowship characterized by shared meals
and prayer. It is a fair question.
3Make
every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you
were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one
faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over
all and through all and in all. 7But
to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
. . 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets,
some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to
prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up 13until we all reach unity
in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14Then
we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every
wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their
deceitful scheming. 15Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the
Head, that is, Christ. 16From
him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Clearly God wants us—the Church—to be
built up in such a way that we are taught our faith so well that the
counterfeits and deceptions do not blow us off course. The Lord gave spiritual gifts so that
through teaching we could have knowledge of him. Teachers should play a huge part in this.
One of my favorite NT passages about
Bible teaching occurs right after our Lord’s resurrection. While walking along a road with two forlorn
disciples Jesus delivered teaching that was all at once Bible-opening,
Christ-centered, and powerful enough to make their hearts burn within them.
25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and
all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself. 28As they
approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going
farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly
evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the table with them, he took
bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes
were opened and they recognized him, and he
disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while
he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" 33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.
There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and
saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon."
35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and
how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Teaching definitely does not need to
come from a pulpit. Perhaps it is better
to teach two men interactively while walking along a road than a thousand
people seated passively in a stadium?
Some of Jesus’ most powerful teaching to his closest disciples came
either while walking down a road from town to town or while seated at a
meal. Teaching is explaining the
Scriptures and opening the Scriptures.
Perhaps one of the best ways to teach in such a way that our hearts burn
within us is to source it from the Scriptures, center it around the Lord Jesus
Christ, and open the understanding of the hearer to the grandeur and wealth of
wisdom in the Scriptures.
To Timothy Paul places a tremendous
emphasis on the need for the reading and teaching of the Bible. He perhaps even makes it seem like teaching
is the heart of long-term survival of the churches.
1The Spirit clearly says that in later
times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things
taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars. .
. 6If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be
a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching
that you have followed. 7Have nothing
to do with godless myths and old wives' tales. . . 11Command
and teach these things. . . 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public
reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. . . 15Be
diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may
see your progress. 16Watch
your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do,
you will save both yourself and your hearers.
2 Tim 2:2
And the things you have
heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will
also be qualified to teach
others.
Peter
The
warning in 2nd Peter 3 about false teachers in the Church suggests a
glimpse that normal church life involves feasting with one another:
. . .
there will be false teachers among you. .
. They are blots and blemishes, reveling
in their pleasures while
they feast with you.
Rom 12:7 If
it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
Col 3:16 Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another
with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with
gratitude in your
Titus 2:1 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
Heb 5:12 In
fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach
you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.
1 Tim 1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in
Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any
longer
1 Tim
2:11-12 I do not
permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to
have authority over a man; she must be silent.
After Paul
spent three years with the believers in Ephesus he was able to say to them, in
Acts 20:27, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of
God.”
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
In Titus
1:11 we find, “They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households
by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest
gain.” The thing I find interesting
about this is that it was very easy in the early churches for any man to teach. This opens the doors to false teachers
obviously. But how should this fact of
church life be dealt with? Should control be exercised so that only one
approved man is allowed to deliver teaching?
Or should we just ensure that safeguards are in place such that when any
brother speaks to the group “the rest weigh carefully what is said.”
What did the Apostles teach? They taught what their master had taught
them.
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Matt 28:20 |
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and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.” |
Since all the Apostles are gone,
where can we find the teaching of the Apostles? The obvious answer is in the books known as
the New Testament.
How was teaching done? Teaching versus Preaching? Most Christians in America will reflexively
see a pulpit and a preacher delivering a three point sermon in their mind’s-eye
when they read the word TEACHING.
Built on the foundation of the
Apostles [link to different rethink]
When we come together as a church, let us walk in
the light
1st
John 1
1That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our
hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life
appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal
life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you
what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And
our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write
this to make our joy complete. 5This is
the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him
there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
How can we come together as a church
if we are not all walking in the light?
How can we have true fellowship/koinonea with one another and with our
Lord if we are not walking in the light?
What does it mean to walk in the light?
And how can we do it?
Paul says something very similar but
with different imagery.
It is actually
reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not
occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather
have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did
this? 3 Even though I am not
physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment
on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4 When you are assembled in the name of
our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is
present, 5 hand this man over
to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on
the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know
that a little yeast works
through the whole batch of dough? 7
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you
really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has
been sacrificed. 8 Therefore
let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and
wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. 9
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral
people— 10
not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the
greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this
world. 11 But
now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is
sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a
swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those
outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God
will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."
Ephesians.. when it says “you shed the old man and you put on the new
man,” the you is plural. This is not
noticeable in English translations but is clear in the Greek texts. This suggests to me that it is not simply up
to the individual to change. It is meant
to be a group effort. [citation of DTS book]
Part of walking in the light is being
holy. When we come together as a church
and greet one another with our holy kiss should we not seek to reestablish
holiness among ourselves? Holiness is
not just cleanliness. It is separation
from the common. It is consecrated. Should the church look like the world? It is in the world and to the world but it is
not of the world.
When we come together as a church,
let’s sing to one another
18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled
with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the
Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
14 But above all these things put on love, which
is the bond of perfection. 15 And
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one
body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever
you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
When believers gather together we
should be singing various kinds of songs to one another and to the Lord. This seems like it may be tied to being
filled with (controlled by) the Spirit and by allowing the “word of Christ” to
dwell in us richly. Our songs should
come from allowing the Word to dwell inside of us with all of its wisdom such
that it bubbles over to one another.
(“Out of the fullness of a man’s heart he speaks.”) Our songs should be meaty enough to
accomplish teaching and admonishing.
If we are not singing to one another
in this way, are we not filled with the Spirit? And is the word of Christ not dwelling in us
richly?
But be wary of lip service.
What kind of sacrifice does God really want? The sacrifice of lips?
The sacrifice of blood sacrifices and grain offerings? Or a contrite heart, mercy, justice?
Ezekiel 33
30 your
countrymen are talking together… saying to each other, ‘Come and
hear the message that has come from the LORD.’
31 My people come to you, as they usually do,
and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put
them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts
are greedy for unjust
gain. 32 Indeed, to
them you are nothing more
than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice
and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into
practice.
6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he
prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These
people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by
men.'[a]
Isaiah 1
11 "The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?" says the LORD.
"I have more than enough of burnt
offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your
appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
When we come together as a church, let us spur one another on towards
love and good deeds
24And let
us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the
more as you see the Day approaching.
Or
24 And let
us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one
another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
If we meet together as a church and
but do not encourage one another and encourage one another to live a life
characterized by love-in-action and good deeds, are we not just playing church?
When we come together, let’s come together as a family
Perhaps the most important analogy
for Christ’s followers who meet together as a church is that of family. Those of us who have repented from sin unto
God and have placed our faith into the Lord Jesus Christ have been adopted into
the family of God. When we gather as a
church, we are really gathering as brothers and sisters in the same
family. So perhaps we should pattern our
meetings more on family reunions than on the patterns that developed after AD
300?
Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Or
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
1 Tim 3
1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an
overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now
the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate,
self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but
gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family
well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his
own family, how can he take care of God's church?). . . 15if I am
delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Ephesians 2:11-22
11Therefore,
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called
"uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the
circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)—
12remember that at that time you
were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners
to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. . . 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners
and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined
together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built
together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
The main group is “the
brothers.” Although some may disagree,
there may arise two additional categories from this group: elders/overseers and deacons/servants.
It could be suggested that a church is not a church until it
has elders appointed. But this is not
true. Sometimes it takes time for the
elders to become recognizable. Time
passes before elders are appointed.
Perhaps it is better to say that a local church does need to have a
plurality of elders. By NT precedent, we
might conclude that within three to five years, the elders should become
recognizable.
But what is an elder and how do they lead??
1 Peter 5:1-4
The
elders who are among you I
exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and
also a partaker of the glory that
will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not
by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
nor as being
lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of
glory that does not fade away.
[then link to
other rethink on this topic]
The elder takes on a bit of a father role or an elder brother
role.
1 Thess 2
For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with
his own children, 12 encouraging,
comforting and urging you
to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
Is it fellowship, breaking of bread,
and prayers? Or is it the fellowship of
the breaking of bread, and the prayers?
Or is it the fellowship of the breaking of the bread and of the prayers?
When we meet together, let us focus on faith,
hope and love?
It is too
easy to major on the minors and minor on the majors. May we always major on faith, hope and—last
but not least—love. May our faith
produce work, out love produce labor, and our hope inspire endurance!
1 Cor
13:13
13And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
.
. . we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of
the love you have for all the saints— 5the
faith and love that spring
from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you.
. . continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from
the hope held out
in the gospel.
1 Thessalonians 1
To the church of the Thessalonians in God
the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: . . . We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember
before our God and Father your
work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our
gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy
Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you
welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a
model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out
from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.
Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they
themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming
wrath.
Is it
even possible today for a group of disciples to be so dramatically changed by
the gospel that their faith becomes known everywhere and that they become a
model to all the other believers of outlying areas? Why are we not like this today? At least we can see what was once possible.
When we come together, let us do everything
in a fitting and orderly way
For God
is not a God of Chaos but of order.
But, on
the other hand, don’t quench the Spirit.
When we come together as a church,
let’s learn from good examples
The more I
study the New Testament, the more I see of the emphasis that we should all be
looking around for good examples to follow.
I suggest that discipleship is essentially apprenticeship where someone
who is better than us at something models it for us to imitate. It even seems that the leadership of the
church should be recognized because of their having set good examples. The apostles themselves didn’t just teach
with words the way the new believers were supposed to go; the apostles lived
among the believers and modeled the life for them, just as Jesus Christ had
lived among them and modeled it for them.
1 Cor 4:17
For this reason I am sending to you
Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of
life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach
Phil 1:24-27
...but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I
will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in
Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. Whatever happens, conduct
yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and
see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm
in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel...
Phil 2:19-28
...I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may
be cheered when I receive news about you. I
have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own
interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved
himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of
the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as
I see how things go with me. And
I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon. But I think it is necessary to send back to you
Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your
messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he
was ill. Indeed he was ill,
and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me,
to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again
you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.
Phil
3:17
Join with others in following my example,
brothers, and take note of
those who live according to the pattern we gave you… our citizenship is
in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ
1 Cor
11:1
Follow
my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
2 Thess 3:7
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.
We were not idle when we
were with you,
1 Tim
4:12
Don’t let anyone look down on you because
you are young, but set an
example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Titus
2:7
In
everything set them an example
by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness
1 Thess 1-2
2
We always thank God for all of you,
mentioning you in our prayers. 3
We continually remember before our God and
Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your
endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4
For we know, brothers
loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5
because our gospel came
to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with
deep conviction. You know
how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You
became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with
the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7
And so you became a model to all the believers in
Macedonia and Achaia. 8
The Lord’s message rang out from you not
only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.
Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9
for they themselves
report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from
idols to serve the living and true God, 10
and to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming
wrath. You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not
a failure. 2
We had previously suffered and been
insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to
tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3 For
the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we
trying to trick you. 4
On the contrary, we speak as men approved
by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but
God, who tests our hearts. 5
You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask
to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6
We were not looking for praise from men,
not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a
burden to you, 7
but we were gentle among you,
like a mother caring for her little children. 8 We
loved you so much that we
were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as
well, because you had become so dear to us. 9 Surely
you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone
while we preached the gospel of God to you.
10
You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who
believed. 11
For you know that we dealt
with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12
encouraging, comforting
and urging you to live
lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 13
And we also thank God
continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from
us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of
God, which is at work in you who believe. 14
For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches
in Judea…
1 Pet
2:21
To this you were called, because Christ
suffered for you, leaving
you an example, that you should follow in his
steps.
This helps explain to me how Christians
can sit through 10,000 hours worth of sermons preached at a distance from a
pulpit and not really have their lives changed deeply or noticeably. Even if those sermons are filled with truth,
with faithful teaching of the Bible, with skillful oration that keeps the
attention, and more. It’s simply not the
way we learn. In real life, from
infancy to childhood through adulthood, we learn all practical skills by seeing
it modeled for us, attempting to imitate it as best we can, and over time
gaining gradual mastery of those skills.
Sermons and monologue lectures may be good, but they’re limited in what
they can do. We should not expect
disciples to become discipled by listening to sermons. Discipleship is about real life skills: how we treat one another, forgiving one
another, helping one another, etc.
When we come together, let us “worship in
Spirit and in truth”
Rather than at a
temple.
But what
if our spirits are wrong?
And what
if we’re not so concerned about truth that we’re worshipping the right God and
right Jesus?
When we come together, let’s accept one
another without judgment on disputable matters
There are
matters that are not disputable and which must be judged. A man having sexual
relations with his father’s wife, for instance, per 1 Cor. 5 and 6. But we must learn which matters of faith and
practice demand judgment in the church and which matters of faith and practice
are disputable matters which should not evoke judgments or factions or
disunity. Those of us who care deeply
about what we believe and what we do tend by nature to be judgmental and
divisive, do we not? Suppose that
there are six men who are trying to decide if they can or should meet together
as a church. Suppose one man is a pre-trib
while another is post-trib while another is Amill. One man prefers the KJV and another the ESV. One
is a staunch Calvinist and one has Arminian leanings. One keeps the Sabbath and another eats bacon
for breakfast every day. One believes
God created the world 6,000 years ago in six literal 24-hour days while another
thinks God created the universe 11 billion years ago. One believes that a sinner has to repent and
believe to be saved while another believes Jesus has to be invited into the
heart. One believes it is fine to drink
alcohol while another detests it. One
eats meat sacrificed to idols while another eats no meat at all. One only wants to use unleavened bread in
the Lord ’s Supper while another prefers yeasted
bread. One believes Christians should
participate in war and politics while another believes Christians should not
wage earthly war. Where there are six
different men there are perhaps ten thousand different opinions. But if they all have a very high view of the
Scriptures and a very high view of the same Jesus, are they not already all
part of the same global church? Should
these ten men create ten separate local churches? Or should they find their unity in the major
things and freedom in the minor things?
Here are
some passages which suggest to me that there should be considerable
flexibility.
Romans
14:1-22
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on
disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to
eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only
vegetables. The man who eats everything must
not look down on him who
does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who
does, for God has accepted him. Who are
you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And
he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man
considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who
abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. . . You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or
why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. . . So then, each of us will give an account of
himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one
another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle
in your brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord
Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in
itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your
brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in
love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the
kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ
in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what
leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of
food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes
someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to
do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about
these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not
condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he
eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come
from faith is sin.
Colossians
2:16-17
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or
drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. These are a shadow of
the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
1 Cor.
8:1-13
Now about
food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but
love builds up. The man who thinks
he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is
known by God. So then, about eating food
sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and
that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called
gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many
“lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from
whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things came and through whom we live. But not everyone knows this.
Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they
think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is
weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near
to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no
better if we do. Be careful, however,
that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the
weak. For if anyone with a weak
conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t
he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this
weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers
in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore,
if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again,
so that I will not cause him to fall.
When we come
together, let’s consider hold one another more valuable than our wealth
Should Church Community be expected to share
its wealth?
Any sharing/giving would be totally voluntary,
unsolicited, and unpressured. Some
Christian communities point to Acts 2 and Acts 4 to try to evidence that we
should practice some form of limited communism.
And you can see why they can make a persuasive argument:
. . . “Save yourselves from this
perverse 88
generation!” 2:41
So those who accepted 89
his message 90
were baptized, and that day about three thousand people 91
were added. 92
2:42
They were devoting themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, 93
to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 94
2:43
Reverential awe 95
came over everyone, 96
and many wonders and miraculous signs 97
came about by the apostles. 2:44
All who believed were together and held 98
everything in common, 2:45
and they began selling 99
their property 100
and possessions and distributing the proceeds 101
to everyone, as anyone had need. 2:46
Every day 102
they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, 103
breaking bread from 104
house to house, sharing their food with glad 105
and humble hearts, 106
2:47
praising God and having the good will 107
of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day 108
those who were being saved. . . 4:32
The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, 82 and no one said that any of
his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. 83 4:33
With 84 great power the apostles
were giving testimony 85 to the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all. 4:34
For there was no one needy 86 among them, because those
who were owners of land or houses were selling 87 them 88 and bringing the proceeds
from the sales 4:35
and placing them at the apostles’ feet. The proceeds 89 were distributed to each, as
anyone had need. 4:36
So Joseph, a Levite who was a native of Cyprus, called by the apostles Barnabas
(which is translated “son of encouragement”), 90 4:37 sold 91 a field 92 that belonged to him and
brought the money 93 and placed it at the
apostles’ feet.
I derive much inspiration and challenge from
this glimpse of the Jerusalem Christians before persecution scattered
them. However, it is not my fantasy to
be part of a commune that “holds everything in common.” When Christ returns and builds his kingdom on
earth where it is finally on earth as it is in heaven, I’ll enjoy such an
arrangement no doubt. But for Acts 2/4 I
urge a bit of rational caution. The Jerusalem
community only practiced that for a short time (persecution ended it by Acts 8)
and they were under some very unusual circumstances at the time. Hellenistic/Diaspora Jews from all nations of
the Mediterranean world had come by force of Law to Jerusalem for the mandatory
festivals of Passover and Pentecost. Acts 7 shows that the Hebraic Jews had to
provide for the sojourning Hellenistic Jews who had come to believe in the
Lord. Also later the area was gripped
in a drought/famine that affected all Judeans and required the help of
Macedonian Christians to help ease the suffering on. So I don’t take it as normative or
prescriptive. I do, however, take it as
instructive and want to be part of a community that holds one another as
infinitely more valuable than our material possessions. Above all I note that
all giving was totally voluntary, not compulsory and not coerced by any social
pressures.