As I sat with my brothers and sisters in Christ last Sunday morning doing what it is we’ve come to do for “church” I couldn’t help but wonder again, “Why will we do almost anything to defend our traditions, but do almost nothing to obey God’s Word?”

I’m back to 1 Corinthians 14:26 again:

“What 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.”

Almost no church I know of actually practices this. It’s as plain as day that, “All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church” yet it’s almost never done by any church I’ve known or been a part for the last 26 years!

When it has been done I’ve seen the fruit of it.  I saw my wife grow more in the 2 years we were part of a home group that practiced this, than she had in all the previous 10 years combined!  (And we had a somewhat dysfunctional home church in my opinion.)  And yet, it proves the point of just how important every member ministry is.  The church at Corinth could also be described as “dysfunctional”.  They were immature in many ways, but they were alive and growing!  I am absolutely convinced that one of the keys to growth is participation in our gatherings and we are utterly failing in this regard.

Why do we find it so easy to disregard God’s Word when it comes to 1 Corinthians 14:26?  It’s beyond me how any Pastor or church can ignore this clear word.  If this is the word of God then why aren’t we doing it?  We have no trouble doing all sorts of things that aren’t in God’s Word and act like these manmade things are scripture themselves.  We refuse to depart from our own traditions and hold to them as though they’re sacred.  Did you know the bible never mentions worship teams or choirs?  That it never talks about senior, associate, or youth pastors?  It never mentions Sunday school or VBS?  The list of things we do that aren’t actually in the bible could stretch a mile long, and I’m not saying many of these things aren’t ok, but how in the world can we justify doing all this stuff that’s not in the bible, but refuse to do this simple thing that is in God’s Word?  There’s really no excuse for it!

When will we begin to put into practice 1 Corinthians 14:26?

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.“  (James 1:22)

One of the main things missing in the traditional churches is “body participation”.  I have held this view for a long time and have thought about it at great length for many years.  As one who as traveled extensively the last 25 years among the churches singing and preaching I have come to a firm conclusion: we are robbing the body of Christ of one of the key elements to growth, maturity and joy in the Lord by failing to allow true PARTICIPATION.

Anyone who’s ever served in some kind of “ministry” capacity knows exactly what I’m talking about.  The one who’s doing the ministry gets the most excited and the most out of it!  Why do you think the guy that’s standing up front can go on for an hour while those in the pews are drifting into sleep?  The one who’s doing the ministering is actively engaged.  The one who is actively engaged is actively engaging God!  THAT’S when things become interesting!  I know what I’m talking about… I’ve done plenty of sitting in the pew, and plenty of standing before the church “ministering”.  It’s when we get active with God and active in the church that things began to heat up and our faith begins to get real.  How can we get excited about a God we’re not engaged with, or a church we’re not allowed to participate in?

God gave the church “leaders” not for the purpose of “doing everything”, but rather to “equip the body of Christ for works of service.”  Ephesians 4:11-14 is as clear as the noon day sun when it comes to the subject:

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until 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.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching…”

Notice, the role of leadership… God gives leaders to the church “to prepare God’s people for works of service.”  When leaders take on the role of “doing everything” in the church they effectively rob God’s people of the joy, growth, and maturity that comes from serving the Lord: the clergy/laity class system has made God’s people perpetual infants when God’s Word tells us we’re to produce mature adults in Christ.

It cannot be overstated how important every member participation is to the body of Christ…

“What 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.”   1 Corinthians 14:26

How do we justify ignoring what scripture says about these things?  Serving as a “greeter” or serving coffee, or any number of other created church positions does not fulfill what God has in mind here!  When are we going to let God’s people play a major role in our gatherings?  The clergy/laity distinction is engrained in the thinking of virtually every traditional church including Charismatic and Pentecostal groups.  Simple organic expressions of church life are at the forefront of returning this lost dimension of body participation to the church.  In my opinion, it can’t come soon enough!  I’ve seen Christians come out of their shell, thrive and grow, when simply given the opportunity to actively participate.  Do we want to see the body of Christ come alive?  Then let’s quit robbing God’s people of the God given call to actively be a functioning member of the body of Christ.

I’ve been reluctant to get involved with Facebook, blogs, ect., because the internet is already taking so much of my time. I’d like to connect with the Body of Christ here, and also share the things He’s called me to share through my music… but I can really see how all this can rob me of my time with God. Here’s a post that I wrote recently on another persons blog about that…

“All I know is that being online is sucking huge amounts of time out of my life… time I used to spend with Jesus. Thank God there was no internet when I got saved! I would have been exposed to so many ideas I would probably have ended up a confused, faithless, mess. As it was, I just had my bible and plenty of time to think and read. I also had plenty of time to walk and talk to God. I seriously believe God is telling me to just “come away” from all this mess, as Keith Green sang about… and be with Him. All this connectivity may be robbing us of the greatest connection of all.”

I honestly believe that. We have the most awesome means to fellowship, and tell the world about Jesus through these sites, but I don’t think God’s gonna be too happy if social networking takes the place of time spent with Him.