Thoughts From Chris

On Sunday we hit chapters 12, 13, and 14 of I Corinthians head on. As we read these three chapters and then as we look at the contemporary church today, there seems to be a stark disparity. I mentioned on Sunday that I have never been a part of a church that lives out all the spiritual gifts in a healthy and balanced way. I know there are many churches out there that do practice them in a biblical way, but I have never experienced it.

Why does this seem to be true for most of us as well? Why does the expression and fulfillment of what these three chapters teach seem to be so hard to find? I gave a very in-depth answer on Sunday: “I don’t know why.”

This is something I have wondered my entire Christian life. I have heard and studied all the supposed “biblical” arguments as to why we don’t see all the gifts of the Spirit manifested today, but the arguments have never seemed biblically convincing to me.

When Scott Jester and I were in England 7 weeks ago, we witnessed the expression of the gifts in the most balanced way I had ever seen. It was a powerful expression of the church.

This Sunday I am going to address the three most controversial gifts: healing, speaking in tongues, and prophecy. Should be scary - I mean interesting.

I presented a lot of information this past Sunday to lay a foundation for the issues. There are four views within the Christian church that people have with regard to the spiritual gifts. This is taken from Wayne Grudem’s book called, “Are Miraculous Gifts for Today.” Grace Gathering does not have an official position on any of the four views but allows people to believe any of the four.

Our predominant desire is that people base their beliefs and practices based on their study of Scripture. Therefore, we put the onus of responsibility on the people to form their view; rather, than simply telling them what view they should have. We do this with most secondary doctrines of Scripture (issues of which solid believers differ).

As promised, I am including the PowerPoint slides used during the message here as I went through this material too quickly for everyone to write their own notes.

Hope this is helpful as you study Scripture and seek God’s will for your life. 

We are three months into the launch of house churches (still extremely early), and I think we are ready to take another intentional step in the right direction.  Scott Jester and I learned many things from our trip to England 6 weeks ago.  We are still in the midst of processing everything we learned, and I have spent some time applying some of these things in the life of my family as a first place to start. 

I have communicated previously that three main areas rise to the surface for me as I think about the main takeaways from the trip.  They revolve around 1) missional focus, 2) High bar discipleship and 3) Sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit.   I expected to be impacted by the first one, was surprised by the second one, and was most surprised by the third one.  I plan on addressing the sensitivity to the leading of the Spirit some tomorrow and next Sunday in our services. 

For those in a house church at Grace, I would like to cast a little vision that is more practical in nature with regard to high bar discipleship and how meetings are organized.  I think this could be a very positive step in our house church journey. 

First, imagine what it would be like if everyone at Grace was being personally discipled in the faith and also was regularly reaching out to unbelievers in our world.  Sounds basic, but typically this is regularly happening within only a small percentage of church goers.

Here is what this could look like within a house church setting. Instead of meeting four times a week and trying to balance all the elements of UP (relationship with God), IN (relationship with one another), and OUT (relationship with the unbelieving world), here is a suggested alternative:

Two times a month the focus would be on personal discipleship.  In this setting the male mentor would meet with the male participants of the house church, and the female mentor would meet with the female participants.  The mentor would challenge, encourage, hold accountable, and nurture each participant in the area of spiritual growth. 

This would be areas such as the biblical disciplines, family life, sexual purity, personal applications of UP, IN, OUT, and many other areas of Christian integrity and what it means to live a Spirit-led life.  Over time this would lead the group to greater degrees of vulnerability, authenticity, and deeper applications of what it truly means to follow Christ in all areas of life. 

The men and women could meet at different host homes the same night, a different night, or at the same host home but in different rooms.  There are many ways it could be accomplished, but the point is that every member of the house church is being discipled by the mentor twice a month in this kind of setting. 

The other two meetings a month would be opportunities to focus predominantly on the OUT as a larger group together.  This may include an outreach event, doing something more social and inviting others, more focused prayer for the lost, etc.  The sky is the limit, but the point is that two meetings a month are centered on the OUT, and they are the only two times the whole group meets together. 

One may ask, if two meetings a month are focused on UP (discipleship) and two meetings a month are focused on OUT (outreach), then when does the IN take place?  The IN is the most natural of the three and almost always flows from the establishing of relationships.  If people are truly being discipled and are opening up and getting personal, and if people are serving next to each other in the attempt of reaching out, the IN will be the easiest of the three.   It will happen as a byproduct of the other two.  In fact, if people are getting closer to each other due to the increase in personal interaction, it will create even more IN opportunities than ever before.

Moving in this direction doesn’t mean the group never does a study together or the group never organizes its meetings differently for a season, but this kind of structure as a routine diet and norm could be instrumental in preserving the UP,IN, OUT focus.

If a house church spent two meetings a month on discipleship, two meetings a month on outreach, and if IN occurred as a natural byproduct, every house church member would be in a position to experience the power of life transformation.  Could you imagine every church-goer discipled, involved in outreach, and also loving one another through it all?  Wow, I would love to be a part of something like that!

I encourage your house church to discuss this kind of a new format perhaps beginning in September. 

This Sunday we will do something in our corporate service that we have never done before.  We will participate in what is called an agape (love) feast.   This was an event the early church regularly celebrated. It is commonly called Communion, the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper.

The focus of the celebration is the proclamation of Jesus’ death until he returns again.  It was commonly practiced in the context of sharing a meal together in the bond of fellowship.  The sharing of a meal (which was a practice common in Old and New Testament) often was a spiritual experience.   The agape feast combined the meal and the remembrance elements of cup (blood) and bread (body). 

Here is what Bible scholar Merrill Unger says about it: 

“It would appear that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper by the first disciples occurred daily in private houses (Acts 2:46), in connection with the agape, or love feast, to indicate that its purpose was the expression of brotherly love.  The offering of thanks and praise (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:24) was probably followed with the holy kiss (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20).  It was of a somewhat festive character, judging from the excesses that Paul reproved (1 Cor. 11:20), and was associated with an ordinary meal, at the close of which the bread and wine were distributed as a memorial of Christ’s similar distribution to the disciples.  From the accounts in Acts (2:42, 46) and from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (11:20-21) it is safely inferred that the disciples each contributed a share of the food necessary for the meal, thus showing a community of love and fellowship.  To this unifying power of the Eucharist Paul evidently refers (10:16-17).”

This Sunday we will share a meal together around tables and share the bread and cup together.   We are asking everyone, if possible, to bring a breakfast dish to pass.

If you are a Grace attender, click here to find out what to bring based on last name.

We will also encourage everyone to sit at a table with people you don’t know at all or don’t know very well.   It will be a meaningful time of Christian love and community. 

While we have been encouraging house churches to practice the agape feast on a regular basis, this will be a great opportunity for everyone to experience an uncommon tradition of the faith (that we hope will become more common within the community at Grace). 

Looking forward to a unique experience!

We have just spent the last three weeks dealing with one of the most complex, controversial, and sensitive passages in the entire book of I Corinthians.  The first half of chapter 11 addresses public worship, leadership gifts, and gender.  At first read, it simply leads you to scratch your head (no pun intended). 

We have spent most of our time these last three weeks addressing the macro issues of the passage and the universal principles taught.  Separating the timeless principles from the cultural applications, relevant for a specific culture and timeframe, is no easy task (but is essential when interpreting Scripture). 

For example, we are told in I Cor. 16:20 that we are to greet one another with a holy kiss.  The timeless principle taught there is that when we come together as the body of Christ, we are to be hospitable, warm, and friendly.  The application to the Greek culture in 50 A.D. was by a kiss (in some cultures this is still true).  In 21^st Century U.S., the cultural application most relevant is a friendly smile, a handshake, or possibly a hug. 

In the same way, I Cor. 11 has a universal and timeless principle (male headship in the home and church – which meant ultimate accountability and was predominantly fleshed out as servant-leadership), and the cultural application of that principle was a head covering by women (or in some cases long hair).  However, in our culture head coverings do not symbolize what they did in that culture, therefore, the cultural application is not the same (however, the principle of male headship still must be preserved).

What we addressed yesterday, however, is that while God has given ultimate accountability in the home to the husband and in the church with the elders, God has given men and women (as well as children) various gifts to serve and help lead the church.  It is common for churches who believe in male headship to suggest that God only wants men leading the church or the husband leading the family.  (Men certainly must step up and fulfill the role God has given them to be servant leaders, but that is a lesson for a different day).   It is just as true, though, that when God gifts people in the church, his gifts are not gender specific.  

In I Cor. 11, one of the gifts mentioned there was the gift of prophecy.  This is an upfront, public, leadership type gift – and it is given to men and women.  It is one of the equipping gifts taught in Ephesians 4:11. 

This idea is similar to the fact that God equips wives and even children to help lead the family (not just the husband).  Sometimes my wife or children have more faith than I do in an area, or they may have a greater passion than I do in an area, and they end up leading me.  I love it.  It doesn’t mean I am not fulfilling my role as the leader of the family (although I do need to make sure I am), but it does empower them to lead with me.

For example, my two girls have been on me for about two years for our family to recycle.  I simply have not wanted to do it because it takes extra time.  God created the earth and calls his people to take care of it and steward it.   Recycling is a way of taking care of the environment, and because this is a stewardship issue, it is a spiritual and God-honoring practice.  Last month we have now become a recycling family.  It took me two years, and the reason we are doing it today is because God used my seven and eight year old girls to lead our family.  I praise God for their leadership.

In the same spirit, God gifts women in our churches (and even children) to help lead the church.  Under the guidance of male headship from the elders, God raises up men, women, and children to publicly lead the church based on the gifts he has given. 

We spent some time yesterday in the message distinguishing between position (husband or elders) and gifts (prophecy, leadership, faith, administration, evangelist, etc.).   Often, we blur the difference between position (which carries authority or ultimate accountability) and giftedness. 

Many times women have been gifted by God’s Spirit, but because position and giftedness get blurred, women are held back from utilizing their gifts, particularly if they are leadership and upfront kind of gifts.  What we noted yesterday is that women should not feel hindered or tentative to use their gifts as long as male headship is still acknowledged.

In light of the message, we had a couple women lead worship, a woman lead in the offering prayer, all the ushers were women, and I even had my wife come up and close my message in a corporate prayer.   It was a tremendous blessing to see our women lead.

In this same spirit, we will hand over two corporate services in August to our teens, and they will lead the rest of us (adults).   They understand they are under the headship of their parents, but that does not mean they can’t lead their parents and the rest of us in various ways corporately in our services.  I believe God has gifted many of them not to be leaders of the church in the future, but leaders of the church today. 

May God be praised as we seek to release the potential God has given his people to serve and lead his church. 

Whether you are a tennis fan or not, the Wimbledon championship on Sunday was one for the ages.  There were multiple story lines throughout, and at the end of the day it was the longest played Wimbledon match in Finals history. 

Rafael Nadal defeated the best player in the world, Roger Federer.  To cap it off, John McEnroe, the commentator and past Wimbledon champion himself, said it was the greatest match he had ever seen. 

Click here for a fuller story.

A mentor from one of our house churches (David Abbot) pointed me to a resource that helps mission churches like the ones we are establishing at Grace.  It is from a ministry called House2House.  They write various journals relevant to mission churches and house churches.  I want to copy one of their publications here. 

There are many great articles in this journal that I think are relevant to what we are trying to get off the ground currently at Grace Gathering.   They are very inspiring.  You can click here to read the journal.

I was also inspired by an interview taken by one of the editors with a Chinese house church leader.   You can click here to read this interview.