© Paul L. Hudson, Jr. 2003
-An excerpt
from his (soon to be released) book on
Chapter 3
New Testament Meetings and the
Rapid Church Planting of the Apostles
One of the keys
that allowed the apostles to rapidly plant churches was the way early believers
conducted their meetings. The apostles
left churches behind for some period of time with no appointed elders to lead
them.
Imagine what would happen in many traditional
churches if the government came in and arrested the pastors and other
‘official’ church leadership. What would
happen to churches if the pastors were taken?
This may sound like an unrealistic scenario, but it often happens in
many countries. In China and Vietnam, for example, church leaders can be
imprisoned. If this happened in the
church you attend, would the brethren be able to have edifying church meetings
by themselves, without the pastor?
I have seen church services
canceled because the pastor was sick. I
know of one church that shut down because the pastor moved and took a secular
job to feed his family. Many people feel
that in order to have a church meeting, there must be a specially called
minister of the Gospel, ordained by the laying on of hands.
In Acts 14:23, we see that the
churches were already churches when Paul and Barnabas appointed elders. A ‘church’ is an assembly. These believers were already assembling
together as churches. They met without
apostles or official ordained leadership.
Yet they were still able to meet.
A careful study of the New
Testament reveals fascinating information about how the early church met. When we understand how the early church met,
we can understand how the apostles could leave churches for extended periods of
time with no appointed elders.
What you are about to read may
shock you. It may challenge some of your
most fundamental beliefs about church meetings.
I ask that you read this with an open mind, prayerfully searching the
scriptures to determine if the things I write are true.
Many seminaries teach students to
preach three-point sermons. Many
consider this to be the idea type of sermon.
A three-point sermon is composed of an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction mentions the three main
points of the sermon, the body expounds on the three main points, in the order
in which they were introduced in the introduction. The conclusion, of course, is the end part of
the sermon.
In my studies of the New
Testament, I have never noticed a prophet, apostle, or the Lord Himself ever
preaching a three-point sermon. There
are many examples of sermons in the New Testament to examine. Paul certainly did not write letters with
only three points. If the New Testament
does not teach us to preach three-point sermons, and does not give us an
example of any three-point sermons, where does this type of preaching come
from?
The three-point sermon comes from
ancient Greece. Aristotle taught the
pattern for three point speeches in his Rhetoric. [Verify this and point out the year.] Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ,
Athenian teachers were teaching statesmen to give three-point speeches in city
meetings. Writers wrote using this same
method of organization. Even today, the
ability to write a three-point essay is considered to be a necessary skill for
high school or college graduates.
Christianity flourished in
Greece. Some of the educated Christian
authors of the first centuries of Christianity were educated in philosophy, and
had learned to give well-organized three-point speeches. For example, John Chrystosom, in the 300’s,
was known for his ability to preach beautiful sermons.
Paul was most likely not a trained
public speaker:
II Corinthians 11:6
But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been
thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.
Paul was probably a powerful
speaker in a way. He had a lot of
knowledge, and probably spoke with much further. He was educated and had rabbinical
training. But he may not have had the
type of Greek educated given to public speakers—the type of training
philosophers had. If Paul’s writing style
and sample sermons from Acts are any indication, it is unlikely that Paul preached
three-point sermons. While a three-point
sermon may be a legitimate means of communicating a message, the Bible gives us
no reason to consider the three-point sermon to be the ideal means of teaching
in church meetings.
Sermons were preached in churches
long before the Reformation. But it was
after the Reformation that, in many types of churches, the one Sunday sermon
came to be viewed as the central focus of the church meeting. For centuries before the Reformation the most
important aspect of the church meeting was considered to be partaking of Holy
Communion. In Roman Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox, and certain traditional Protestant churches, Holy Communion still holds
this central place.
Why was Holy Communion considered
to be so important? Think about it. Where did the custom come from? Christ Himself instituted Holy Communion. Of all the things we do in our church
meetings, Holy Communion stands out as the one unique practice that Jesus
Christ Himself instructed His disciples to do.
That is not to say that Bible
teaching is not important. It is clear
from the New Testament scriptures that hearing and learning the word of God is
essential. But we need to realize that the
way in which the word is taught in church has evolved over time. When Martin Luther nailed the 95 thesis on
the church door in Wittenberg in 1517, there was great ignorance in the
churches. Masses were conducted in Latin
which most of his fellow Germans could not understand. Many had little idea of what the Bible, read
in Latin, said.
Martin Luther emphasized
expounding on the scriptures in sermons.
He translated the New Testament into German for his fellow countrymen to
read. Yet, Luther still emphasized the
importance of Holy Communion. In Roman
Catholic Churches, and many Lutheran churches, the pulpit is toward the left of
the sanctuary and there is an altar front and center for distribution of Holy
Communion. The arrangement of the
furnishings indicates the theoretical central importance of Holy Communion in
such churches. Now, ironically, some
Protestant churches in Indonesia have pulpits on the left and altars in the
middle, but rarely celebrate Holy Communion.
Later Reformers after Luther took
the pulpit and placed it front and center in the congregation, where it still
stands in many congregations today. In
many churches since the Reformation, the central focus of the whole meetings is
a long sermon given by one leader.
There are many kinds of
sermons. This sermon may be a
three-point sermon. It may be a
verse-by-verse exposition of a passage.
Some sermons are just a preacher standing in front of a congregation,
reading a few verses, and then spouting out a few of his own unrelated ideas. But in almost every church that came out of
the Reformation, there is a sermon every Sunday morning, and the congregation
generally considers the high point of the meeting.
What is the Biblical evidence for
the Sunday sermon? Acts records long sermons by Peter, Stephen, and Paul--
Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and gave other extended teachings. But this was before ‘regular church meetings’
began after Pentecost. Peter preached a
sermon on Pentecost, and Paul preached sermons in synagogues and other public
places, but these were evangelistic in nature, rather than messages given in
gatherings of believers for the edification of the saints. Where is the evidence for the Sunday sermon
in scripture?
The closest thing to a piece of
scriptural evidence for a Sunday sermon preached in church is found in Acts
20:6-7.
6 And we sailed
away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to
Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.
7 And upon the
first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech
until midnight.
In the passage, the word for
‘teach’ [berbicera dengan] means that Paul was talking with the
saints. It is likely that he had an
interactive discussion with the saints until midnight. Paul probably had a dominant speaking role in
that particular meeting on this particular occasion because he was leaving the
next day, and the church needed to get as much knowledge out of him as they
could before he left.
What other evidence is there in
scripture for the Sunday sermon? I am
not able to find a good scriptural example of the custom of going to church to
hear a monologue from one man week after week.
Church meetings are the right place for Christians to learn and study
the word of God. Teaching should be a
part of such meetings. But this teaching
need not take the form of only one church leader giving a three-point
sermon. The Lord may gift a church with
many teachers. The early church allowed
more than one speaker per meeting.[1] Believers can also learn by hearing a passage
of scripture read, and discussing it with others. We should expect that the saints would be
more blessed by the gifts of many in a meeting than they would by the gifts of
one.
Hebrews 10 contains a verse often
quoted by preachers to encourage the members of the congregation to come to
church. Let us take a look at Hebrews
10:24-25
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us
consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Notice the context provided by
verse 24. Believers are to provoke one
another to love and to good works. I
have often heard verse 25 used in exhortations to attend church meetings, but
it seems like few people pay attention to the whole verse. The verse commands not to forsake assembling
together, but to exhort one another.
How many of us obey this
verse? Many of us do not forsake
assembling together, but when we assemble, we receive exhortation. But here Hebrews 10:25 instructs believers to
assemble and to exhort one another.
Do any other passages of scripture
teach us that meetings are supposed to involve mutual edification? In fact, the longest chapter that gives the
most detailed instructions in regard to church meetings tells how to have
mutually edifying meetings.
I Corinthians 14 was written to
correct excesses among the Corinthians.
Apparently, many of the Corinthians were either standing all at once and
speaking in tongues without interpretation in the meeting, or else standing one
by one and speaking in tongues with no interpretation. In this chapter, Paul explains that messages
in tongues without interpretation do not edify the assembly. Paul contrasts tongues with prophecy, which
edifies the church.
Something very interesting to
notice about I Corinthians 14 is that Paul does not correct the Corinthians
disorderly behavior by telling them to sit silently and listen to a preacher
preach a sermon. In fact, we see that
the Corinthians were not in the habit of hearing on man preach a sermon.
I Corinthians 14:26
How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a
psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an
interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
Here we see that ‘every one of
you’ had something to share in the meeting.
Paul does not address the issue of a meeting in which only one man
teaches, but a meeting in which the various members of the body of Christ use
their gifts to edify the whole assembly.
Paul’s solution for the Corinthian’s problems is not limiting the number
of speakers to one man, but rather allowing the Corinthians to express their
gifts in an orderly manner.
I Corinthians 14 has to be taken
in the context of the whole epistle. In
I Corinthians 12, Paul lists various gifts of the Spirit, and explains that we
all the members of the body of Christ have different gifts, and we all need one
another. Chapter 13 explains the
importance of love in relation to the gifts of the spirit. Chapter 14 then explains how the gifts of the
Spirit are to be used by the members of the body of Christ to edify one
another. The place for the exercise of
gifts of the Spirit to build up the body of Christ is in church meetings.
In I Corinthians 14, we see that
Paul was very positive about the idea of all prophesying in a church
meeting. In verses 24 through 25, Paul
presents a scenario demonstrating something positive that could happen if
everyone in the church meeting prophesied.
In verse 31, Paul writes, “For ye may
all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.” In verses 33 and 36 Paul indicates that what taught about church meetings
was the practice of the other churches and that the Corinthians did not have
the right to altar these practices. In
verse 37, Paul explains that his instructions for church meetings were the
commandments of the Lord.
Romans 12:4-8 teaches believers to
use their gifts to edify one another.
The passage instructs those with the gift of prophecy to prophesy
according to the proportion of faith.
Those with the gift of teaching
are to teach. Those with the gift
of exhortation are to teach. Why would
Paul have given such instructions if there were no opportunity for the saints
to use these gifts to edify one another in their meetings?
Consider Peter’s instructions:
1 Peter 4:10-11
10 As every man
hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good
stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man
speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it
as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified
through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
A steward is one entrusted to take
care of someone else’s property.
Christians are stewards of God’s grace.
If God gives us spiritual gifts, we must be responsible to use them properly. Verse 11 mentions ‘speaking.’ Those who have speaking gifts like prophecy
or teaching, must use those gifts to edify others.
From these passages, we can see
that God gives regular believers gifts.
He expects us to use our gifts.
Unfortunately, the format of many churches allows little or no opportunity
for believers to use their gifts. Often,
one man, week after week, has an opportunity to use his gift, but other people
are not allowed an opportunity to use their gifts.
Synagogue meetings in the first century
were liturgical with ritual prayers and scheduled Scripture reading. But the synagogue allowed a lot more freedom
for members to minister to one another in their meetings, in some ways, that
many modern churches allow.
In the first century synagogue,
any Jewish male member of the synagogue might read a passage of scripture. In many churches nowadays, the same man gives
the sermon week after week. But in the
synagogue, regular Jewish men could read the scriptures before the
congregation. A regular, unordained
Jewish man who knew the Bible well and had good moral character could be a
preacher of sermons in the synagogue.
After the sermon was given, others in the congregation would ask
questions and comment on the sermon in a discussion[2]. We often see Jews debating with Paul in the
synagogue in Acts
Christ, the twelve apostles, Paul
and Barnabas all spent a lot of time in the synagogue. This was a part of their cultural
background. Many of the saints in the
churches of the first century, even those planted by Paul and Barnabas, were
quite used to the synagogue. They were
used to discussions of teachings of scriptural passages. If a teaching were presented in a church
meeting in the first century, wouldn’t it have felt natural for the believers
to discuss the teaching in the meeting?
The epistles of
the New Testament emphasize the importance of using spiritual gifts to build
one another up. The first century church
had gifts that were not present in the synagogue before Christ came. The type of meeting Paul encouraged the
Corinthians to have would have allowed for believers to express their gifts to
build one another up much more freely than a synagogue format would have
allowed. Ironically, many churches these
days have less freedom for expression of gifts than a synagogue format would
allow.
The Gentile Circumcision Controversy.
Let us take a
look at the problems that arose in Acts 15.
Acts 15:1-2
1 And certain men which came down
from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
2 When therefore
Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they
determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
In what venue did Paul and
Barnabas argue with the men who were teaching the Gentiles to be
circumcised? Considering the fact that
the Jews in the synagogue could discuss or debate a teacher’s teachings, and
that the apostles had grown up in the synagogue, isn’t it likely that Paul and
Barnabas rebuked the false teachers in the assembly? If they had not confronted the false
teachings publicly, many in the church may have stumbled.
Paul and Barnabas went to
Jerusalem to deal with the Gentile circumcision issue. Notice what happened in a meetings of the
church in Jerusalem:
Standing up an disagreeing with a
preacher in a church these days would seem like an incredibly rude act. But since the early church had an interactive
format to meetings which allowed for more than one person to speak.
In Antioch, Paul rebuked Peter for
withdrawing from eating with the Gentiles when some men came from
Jerusalem. Paul confronted Peter ‘before
them all’ (Galatians 2:14.) Isn’t it likely that Paul would have
confronted the promoters of Gentile-circumcision before the congregation?
Paul and Barnabas went to
Acts 15:4-5
4 And when they
were come to
5 But there rose
up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to
circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.
Here Paul and Barnabas are
speaking before the church. Because of
the interactive format of church gatherings in the first century, some men
stood up promoting Gentile circumcision.
Acts 15 continues on to tell us
how the apostles and elders met and discussed the issue of Gentiles
circumcision, and finally reached a decision.
In this meeting, we do not see one man doing all the talking—preaching a
sermon—while the rest listen. Instead,
there was a lot of discussion until the assembly discerned the will of the
Spirit as expressed in the scriptures.
It is likely that the
Thessalonians had had to deal with false prophecies:
II Thessalonians 2:2
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit,
nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
What advice had Paul given to the
Thessalonians about prophecy?
I Thessalonians 5:20-21
20 Despise not prophesyings.
21 Prove all
things; hold fast that which is good.
Perhaps because of false
prophecies, the Thessalonians may have been tempted to despise
prophesyings. Paul’s solution for
dealing with prophecies was not to reject them out of hand, but rather to prove
them, and hold fast to the good.
The fact that prophecies were
given and that the Thessalonians heard them is strong evidence for the exercise
of the gift of prophecy in their meetings.
As in
Some would deal with false
prophecies by forbidding the gift. But
this is not Paul’s solution. To the
Corinthians, Paul instructs that the prophets speak two or three, and that the
other judge. (I Cor. 14:21.) Paul doesn’t instruct the churches to muzzle
the mouths of the saints to prevent their every being any false teaching or
prophecy. His solution is rather to
allow the saints to use their gifts, and to deal with problems after they
arise.
There are,. However, false
teachers whose ‘mouths must be stopped”
(Titus
Sometimes, regular believers in
the assembly may go off into strange doctrines, and want to preach them. The church in
I Timothy 1:6-7
6 From which some
having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;
7
Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding
neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
Paul taught not to pay attention
to such teachers. (I Timothy 1:4.)
The whole congregation of
believers must make an effort to withdraw from those who teach false
doctrine. Paul wrote,
1 Timothy 6:3 If
any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
Paul writes of such a person, in
verse 5, “from such withdraw thyself.”
Apostles and elders in particular
have a role in resisting false teaching.
We see Paul and Barnabas resisted false teaching in
The elders of the church also have
a role in resisting false doctrine. The
elders met with the apostles in
In his instructions to Titus
concerning elders, Paul describes their responsibility to defend the truth of
the Gospel.
Titus 1:9-11
9 Holding fast
the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine
both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
10 For there are
many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11 Whose mouths
must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought
not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Clearly, the open, mutually
participatory nature of New Testament style meetings presents a lot of
challenges. False teachers and false
prophets may try to take advantage of the opportunity to share their dangerous
ideas. Well-meaning believers may share ideas
that are not edifying. The Bible gives
us solutions to these problems. Apostles, elders, and ‘regular believers’ must
all resist false doctrine and stand for the truth. Prophecies are to be carefully weighed.
The Bible offers solutions to the
problems that arise in New Testament style meetings.
But the modern practice of not
allowing regular believers to use their gifts also causes many problems.
Many problems arise in churches
from not allow believers to exercise their gifts in church meetings. One problem is the fact that the local church
body misses out on the blessings and benefits of the gifts of those who are not
active in the meetings. Consider the
following verses from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
I Corinthians 12:19-23
19 And if they
were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are
they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye
cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the
feet, I have no need of you.
We need the gifts of all the parts
of the body of Christ. We are supposed
to be ministering to one another with these gifts.
Imagine if the only part of your
body that you used to move around was your arm.
The rest of your body is in a cast, except for that one arm. If you are very persistent, you may learn to
drag yourself across a room by laying on the floor and pulling yourself along
with that one arm. After a year of doing
this, your arm muscles would be very strong.
You would have powerful fingers.
But what would happen if you were to remove the cast? The rest of your muscles would have
atrophied. Your legs would not work
properly.
Many churches are like this. A few parts of the local body use their gifts
to edify others. The rest of the
believers in the church often just sit there an listen. Many believers do not make much effort to use
their spiritual gifts to edify others.
Their gifts are often mostly unused, and are weak. They don’t use their gifts because they are
not taught that they should. They think
their role as Christians is simply to attend church meetings, pay tithes, and
live a fairly decent life. The pastor
and a few others in the church, who use their gifts, may have very well
developed gifts.
I Corinthians 14:31
For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be
comforted.
Notice that all prophesy so
that all may learn and be comforted.
What happens if only one prophesies?
Can we expect to get the same results if only one prophesies that we
could if all prophesied? God has
distributed His gifts among the body of Christ so that we need one another in
order to be properly edified.
A local church
where all believers use their gifts, and honor and seek the Lord with them is a
powerful threat to the kingdom of Satan.
Just imagine how much more powerful the church would be in evangelism
and as a witness in society if all believers exercised their gifts to their
full potential?
Christians are supposed to be a
loving community. The earliest saints in
Jerusalem realized this, and took care of one another. Those who had wealth shared with those who
had none. Christians are to fellowship
with one another. We are to share our
lives together. The love that we have
for one another is to serve as a witness to the world
Consider the words of Christ in John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
The use of spiritual gifts to
edify one another helps build community.
Being ministered to by someone can help you increase your love and
affection for that person. Think about
someone who has ministered to you spiritually in the past- maybe someone who discipled you, prayed with
you, or ministered to you in some other way.
When you think of that person, don’t you feel grateful? Hasn’t his ministry caused your affection for
that person to increase?
If you minister to someone, that
can also cause your affections for that person to increase. When we serve one another in the body of
Christ, it promotes love, community and oneness. Consider the words of Paul about the body of
Christ from Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:16
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure
of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Notice in this verse that every
part of the body must work so that the body might edify itself in love. The word ‘edify’ shows up in many other
passages in Paul’s letter. One chapter
in which he uses the word many times in I Corinthians 14. Consider the following verse:
1 Corinthians 14:12
Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye
may excel to the edifying of the church.
This verse appears in the context
of a teaching on how to behave in church meetings. One of the main places the saints in the body
of Christ are to use their gifts to minister to one another
Throughout the New Testament, we
see that the early churches had a plurality of elders. Something especially dangerous about many
churches today is that they have one pastor, or one pastor over all the rest,
who, in some cases, is not held accountable if he preaches wrong doctrine.
While there are many humble
servants of God preaching the word faithfully, there are also men who preach
false doctrines. Guest speakers could
come and preach false doctrines. What
would happen in your church if a visiting preacher preached some strange
doctrine? Imagine what he preached was
not blatant heresy, but just something strange.
Would there be any format for anyone to correct the strange idea during
the meeting. Even if the preacher
preached blatant false doctrine, in many churches the congregation would sit
quietly and do nothing.
In Antioch, when men taught false
doctrine, Paul and Barnabas argued with them.
It would be very shocking for some other ministers of the Gospel to
stand up and interrupt someone preaching heresy today. But we need to keep in mind that the evidence
we see from scripture shows that early church meetings had an interactive
format.
An interactive format helps
protect churches from false teachers.
But it can also help protect churches from their own pastors. The Bible never shows that apostles
appointing one pastor over a church.
They appointed a plurality of elders.
If one elder taught something wrong, there were other elders to help
correct the problem.
But something else to keep in mind
is that the fact that regular believers could use their gifts in meetings also
kept balance. In addition to the elders
of the church ministering to the body, the teachers, prophets, and other saints
could speak and minister. The Proverbs
say, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors
there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14.)
One common problem in many
churches that have one pastor is that, even though the pastor may be preaching
the truth, he likes to focus on only a few issues. It is not fair for us to expect for one man
in the church to contain all the gifts and knowledge of God. Of course, pastors will have their favorite
doctrines and teachings. But focusing
only on a few teachings can lead to an error of emphasis, or even doctrinal
error.
Imagine a church where the
pastor’s favorite topics are speaking in tongues and eschatology. Week after week, church members learn about
little other than speaking in tongues and eschatology. Since the Bible contains a limited number of
passages on speaking in tongues, in order to keep preaching on the subject, the
preacher either has to repeat himself, or else be ‘creative’ in his
interpretation of Scripture. As a result
of overemphasis and ‘creative’ interpretation of scripture on this issue, there
are some Christians who pray in tongues at the same time in church meetings
without interpretation. Some even think
that the Devil cannot hear you if you speak in tongues and that you should pray
in tongues if you have a secret prayer you don’t want the Devil to hear. (Apparently, this idea comes from a strange
interpretation of I Corinthians 14:2.)
It is Biblically true that God
provides for His people, and this is a fine subject to teach on. But some preachers have focused too much on the
issue of financial provision in their teaching, and ignored the many teachings
of Christ against greed and trusting in wealth.
Churches that overemphasize God providing us with wealth can easily
appeal to the carnal mind and encourage greediness. If believers hear week after week about god
giving them money, they may come to think that Christianity is all about
getting money. This kind of doctrinal
atmosphere is a place where conmen and false teachers can find easy prey.
An imbalanced focus on Calvinistic
teachings can lead to hopelessness and even immorality. The Bible teaches us about rewards and
punishments for a reason. If people are
simply taught that their destiny is already decided and has nothing to do with
their actions, they may grow lazy. On
the other hand, overemphasis on free will and man’s responsibility can lead to
false doctrine as well.
Having one member of an assembly
do all the teaching can lead to imbalance.
If one man teaches on God’s provision all the time, wouldn’t it be good
for another man in the assembly to have freedom to teach on Christ’s sayings
against greed?
An open format in an assembly
provides an opportunity for false teachings to be addressed before all. It can prevent errors of emphasis which occur
from hearing only one man speak on his favorite topics over and over again.
An open format in a meeting can
also protect against false prophecies.
Notice the common theme in the following verses:
I Corinthians 14:29
Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
I Thessalonians 5:20-21
20 Despise not
prophesyings.
21 Prove all
things; hold fast that which is good.
Prophecies are to be judged and
tested. What better place is there to
prayerfully, carefully, and reverently evaluate and apply prophecies than in a
church meeting? I Corinthians 12:10
mentions the gift of discernment of spirits.
In many churches that have prophecy in the meetings, the prophecies go
by without any comment from anyone in the assembly on them. Shouldn’t those with the gift of discernment
of spirits be allowed to exercise their gifts, right in the assembly to edify
others?
Some think that open, New
Testament style meetings can lead to doctrinal error. It is true that this type of format does
allow for problems to occur. A
well-disciplined congregation, used to such meetings, who know the word of God,
and strong leadership are needed to protect against false teachers arising in
the midst and from well-meaning brethren with strange ideas.
Ironically, though, open meetings
can prevent false teachings and strange ideas from spreading that are promoted
by leadership. A one-man pastorate with
no accountability structure is a potentially dangerous thing.
Meetings a Key to Understanding
Paul and Barnabas’ Approach to Church Planting
Understanding the way the early church conducted their meetings is a key to understanding how Paul and Barnabas could have planted so many churches. These two apostles left churches behind with no appointed leadership to lead their meetings, yet these churches were able to function for maybe months or years without apostles or elders to lead their meetings.
Churches that do not have elders
can have open, interactive meetings for breaking bread and mutual
edification. Such an environment is a
good place for believers to meet, and grow in their gifts. When the apostles returned to the churches
they had started, they were able to find men who could be appointed as elders
of the church. These men had grown
spiritually in the churches. Participating
in church meetings would have helped them mature into the type of men suitable
to be elders of the churches.
© Paul L. Hudson, Jr. 2002
[1] I Corinthians 14:26.
[2]Alfred Adersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book 3. Chapter X.