April 03, 2012
In Turn
At a retreat I attended with 20 others one participant bemoaned that his
opinions are often ignored because he’s the ‘old
man of the group’. By the second day it became obvious that age was not the
culprit. My talkative colleague dominated all the discussions by giving lengthy
opinions on every agenda item. As I consider Paul’s guidelines for orderly
worship, I’m wondering if his thoughts were more than just wanting to avoid
confusion. I think it’s possible he also saw the need to keep one speaker from
dominating discussions. “Two or three
prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first
speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that
everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” (1Cor 14:29-31 NIV)
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Gail;
-----I’ve always thought it was quite interesting that in as much as Paul talked about all of the different “prophets” speaking in orderly turn to reduce confusion our churches for centuries have assured each its sole preacher to reduce confusion. Of course it doesn’t add up. But how much really does in this twisted life? Paul wrote of elders who preached well deserving a double honor, and as early as the first century there were professional preachers traveling circuits to preach. But churches started catching the perma-preacher disease around the second or third centuries. And this disease has taken a serious toll on the church’s ability to actually be what Jesus prayed before He died for us: united. For along with the perma-preacher disease comes the gotta-think-like-me fever and the gotta-do-what-I-do nausea.
-----Now you would tend to expect that everyone thinking alike and doing alike is unity! And that of course is naturally the first expectation of unity. It’s why armies wear uniforms and march in step. They must be totally unified to achieve an objective, because within a war, specific objectives become imperative.
-----But spiritual warfare is being waged across the globe in and around every heart. Its objectives are not specific. They are not clearly defined. Most of the time they are not even well understood. Wouldn’t you like to have a nickel for every time you’ve heard, “You just can’t know why, but...” And Paul was sure to tell us that we know only in part and see dimly as through a mirror, yet unity was still made to be about doing rituals the same and knowing all of the same subtle little things not really knowable about what the Scriptures say. Yet, for nineteen centuries our hired “prophets” have been steering people into their own little mindsets and demanding fidelity to their own ideas and spiritual battle engaged over their own objectives. Meanwhile evil in all its very broad and abstract objectives trundles on with little effect from the pointed little pricks directed by the paid preachers‘ ideas.
-----There is nothing wrong with having your own ideas. I have my own. Paul tells each to have his own, “Let everyone be convinced in his own mind.” (Rom 14:5b) He tells us that our ideas do not have to be identical. We should expect that from Paul, seeing that he told us we see dimly and know only in part and that knowledge puffs up but love builds up. Then it becomes clear that our unity is in love and fidelity and kindness and goodness, the mind of Christ that empties itself to fill others.
-----Don’t take me as advocating a hole in the head for dumping the brain and filling up only with heart. We are instructed to defend the pure doctrine as given to us. But be sure this doctrine, if gathered into one text, would read like one good sermon of about a good sermon’s length with a closing remark like: “I have applied all this to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” (I Cor 4:6) But were the preachers really listening?
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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