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Breaking down barriers Acts 18: 24 – 28 |
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WHAT NEEDS to change, if we are to develop a real “Every member ministry”? As I said last week, we have to break down the barriers which keep us ineffective. We are a Biblical church. That means, we aim to run on New Testament principles. Have you heard of the Unassociated Churches of Christ? They are a group which aims to be very Biblical. They never use musical instruments in church, because the New Testament doesn’t mention them. They sing unaccompanied. So why do they have Church buildings? Where does the New Testament mention Church buildings? What about us? Why do we use little pieces of bread and juice for communion? That’s nothing like the first Christians’ supper. Jesus and his disciples ate lamb and herbs and bread and wine — a really good feed. We say we are Biblical, but we follow conventions which don’t come from the Bible, but from human traditions. Don’t get the idea that I am against everything we do that isn’t mentioned in the Bible. It is great to have a place to meet in for worship. But it is a barn that fits us all. It’s not a specially holy place. The early Christians met wherever they could find a big living room or a small public hall. The Bible never mentions computer displays or projectors, but they are still a good idea. It’s an excellent support to communication. If the Bible doesn’t speak, we are free to do what seems good for the circumstances. But don’t hang onto traditions which worked 500 years ago, but are meaningless now! Why do some ministers wear back–to–front collars? Because the Romans once did. Why do so many churches have pointed windows? Because builders found that they could build wider windows with a pointy arch than with a straight top. Now we keep pointy windows, because we think they look religious. It is all about tradition. And some of the greatest barriers to freedom in ministry are the barriers of tradition. Today let’s consider three barriers we must deal with if we want to become more effective. But I want you to know that it is often easier to identify these barriers than to change them. The three are:
Ordination Leon Morris, an evangelical Anglican, in his book, Ministers of God, points out that it is uncertain whether the Bible actually teaches ordination. Marjorie Walkentin, a Canadian Baptist, is more forthright. She says that the Bible doesn’t teach ordination at all, in the sense that we use the word. In fact, in the NIV translation of the New Testament, you never find the word, “ordain”. It is in the King James version of the Bible. The word which the KJV translates as “ordain” really means, “recognise” or “appoint.” This is a bit uncomfortable for me, because I am an ordained minister. But the Bible is not about comfort, but about doing the will of God. Where do our Anglican and Catholic brothers and sisters stand? They have so many issues about who should and shouldn’t be ordained. There are the Movement for the Ordination of Women — MOW — who are pressing for women to be ordained. The Sydney Anglicans refuse to do it. and the Catholics worldwide won’t even discuss it. You might think that we don’t have an issue about ordaining women, so you can’t see how this can be a barrier for Christian ministry. If ordination is a barrier to women wanting to have it, and if it makes you unwilling to minister because you aren’t ordained, it’s the same problem. Here’s the question: If there is no Biblical justification for ordination, by what authority do we set up the idea of ordination and then lock out some people on the basis of their sex? You might say to me, “Well, you just said that sometimes it is a good idea to do something even when it is not discussed in the Bible, If you ordain someone, then everyone knows that he or she is suitable to lead a congregation. It’s their authorisation as a responsible representative of their denomination.” That’s right. At College there were always a few people there for wrong reasons, who set about to cause problems, and who were dangerous to let loose on a church. Most of them were kept out of the Baptist system. The problem comes in because, when we have ordination, we set up a separate class of leaders who are different from ordinary believers. We set up something contrary to the teaching of the Bible. Think about it. Have you ever thought of some ministry you could carry out, like running a centre for kids at risk, getting a group of seniors together, writing leaflets, putting your testimony on tape? I’m not saying you had everything worked out. But you sat in a service and something triggered an idea, or you saw a TV program and thought, “I could do that!” Has it ever happened to you? Let me guess what happened next. You thought, “I would have to talk to the pastor about that.” Then you thought, “I don’t have the money to do it,” or “I couldn’t give up my work to do it.” Finally you thought, “I would need training I haven’t had.” Isn’t it something like that? There’s always a step in there, “I can’t do it without the pastor’s agreement.” It’s part of the whole thing about creating a separate class. I’ll tell you what the facts are: You are ordained, if you are a baptised believer, because the Bible only talks about appointment or recognition. If you claim to be a believer, we baptise you because we recognise you as a follower of Jesus, and we appoint you in his name to minister as he calls. If Jesus calls you to start a ministry, then you are recognised and appointed to do that. It is his calling. If you want that ministry to be officially under Silver Street Mission, that involves us all, so we have to have a meeting to decide. So let’s imagine that Jesus calls you to write a book about the gospel for High School kids. If you don’t write that book, you are disobeying your heavenly calling. If I tell you not to write it, I am encouraging you to disobey. But, if you want our church to say, “This is the position of Silver Street Mission,” you’d better not put our name on it without checking with the church first. And, if you think he has called you to write a book, chat with the church, and we, as a church — not me alone — all of us tell you if we think you have heard that call clearly or not. But the final decision is still yours. Ordination is a barrier to your ministry if you think that you can’t act without ordination, or without the approval of the minister. The early Christians ministered wherever they went. In Acts 8, we read, ...a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. The church leaders were stuck in Jerudalem, the rest of the church was scattered, and they preached Christ wherever they went. This was people–led evangelistic preaching without a pastor in sight! When Philip ministered in Samaria, once again, this was preaching without any ordination. Philip was a welfare worker, but he preached when he had the chance, and a whole city was reached through his work. Never let our somewhat unbiblical approach to ordination put you off ministry!
Gender issues One of the great conflicts in today’s church is over gender issues. Many Christians think that women should keep silent in church, and not teach or preach. You heard it. It is in Acts 2: AC 2:17 “ `In the last days, God says, 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, Does it say that the daughters will only prophesy at home, or that the female slaves will only receive the Holy Spirit’s power if they agree not to use it? Nonsense! Of course not! You heard in our passage today how, when Apollos was preaching, but had a limited knowledge, a Christian couple took him aside to help him get his facts straight. It says, 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. Who is first on the list? Priscilla. Aquila always comes second, which implies that Priscilla had the leading role in ministry in that family. Our gender stereotypes can also unfairly disadvantage homosexuals. I have no brief for homosexual activity. It falls into the same camp as adultery and fornication. But I don’t suppose you can help whom you are attracted to. To keep someone out of ministry for homosexual activity is right; to keep someone out because of homosexual orientation alone can be quite wrong. I know that there is a lot more to say on this issue. My point is that it is not whether or not we are male or female, straight or gay, or even asexual. Those are not the criteria for ministry. The criterion is faith in Christ and reception of his Holy Spirit to empower us for ministry. I’ll go on and say that it is not even a matter of our abilities or disabilities. I have a friend who has a degree of intellectual disability. Yet he is often very on the ball when it comes to Christian matters. He doesn’t get bogged down in theological niceties. For him, the gospel is about trusting Jesus, loving each other, and getting on with ministry. Woe betide anyone who forgets those things! He doesn’t pull any punches. Intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses — when Jesus redeems you, he may not heal, he may not undo the damage, but he will use what he finds, and do something marvellous with it. Whoever you are, you have a ministry! If you don’t have it, it’s not because you are a woman or because you don’t have the social standing, or because you have a disability. It is because you are not listening to the Lord. And, if you are not listening because someone told you you don’t have the right, then they are lying to you to keep you out of ministry. Hannah Whiteall Smith, William Booth’s wife and daughter, Aimee Semple MacPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, Smith Wigglesworth’s wife — they are just a few women since the mid 19th Century whose preaching ministries made them household names. There was Margaret Fell in the 17th Century, the Quaker who eventually married George Fox. There are female teachers like Joni Earekson Tada, or Catherine Marshall, Mystics like Saint Teresa of Avila or Julian of Norwich, and leaders like Mother Theresa. Don’t let anyone put you off by unbiblical teachings on who can and can’t lead and preach and minister!
Quenching the Spirit This has all taken us to the problem of quenching the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the Thessalonian church, 1TH 5:19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil. To quench the Spirit is to snuff out his flame in our lives. In the early church, prophecy was a significant part of the ministry. Irenaeus of Lyon in France, who was far from being a wild Charismatic, protested against the idea of restricting prophecy, because he said he had several men in his church who prophesied every Sunday when the church met. But fear of excess led to increasing restriction. People became more afraid of upsetting order than they were of neglecting to speak what the Holy Spirit had laid on their hearts. Why does the Spirit give us insights and words of knowledge, prophecies and wisdom? It is to build up the entire church. If we don’t seek to respond when the Spirit urges us to respond, then we are guilty of the wilful neglect of our brothers and sisters in the church. And, of we constantly refuse the Spirit’s promptings, eventually he ceases to plead with us, and his light and fire go out. Even today, good order and decency are often dragged out of the hat to stop people from doing what they need to do. I am not inviting chaos. St Paul says that the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets. People who feel they have a right to be disruptive are mostly demonised. But you see a need, and you might say, “Can I say something before we go?” and you raise that issue, and we all consider it. Or you might want 30 seconds during the announcements if it is something short and sweet. Or it may be that God lays someone on your heart, so you approach that person after the meeting, or phone during the week. The only thing is, don’t resist the Spirit. You can control the timing or the place, but not the impulse. Above all, don’t allow traditions and conventions to keep the Spirit from doing his work in the church.
Conclusion. Here’s what I am saying. We are called to worship and evangelise together, to evangelise so that people worship, and to worship so that people see the gospel in our lives and respond. We are also called to serve, to minister in Christ’s name But we will never do any of these effectively if we allow human traditions and unbiblical practices tie us down and limit our response to God’s Spirit. Let’s resolve to follow Christ our Lord in the power of his Spirit wherever he might lead. Amen |
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© Peter R. Green 2007. Permission is granted for quotation in full for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship is acknowledged and this copyright notice is displayed with the text. Portions also copyright The Bible, NIV (Zondervan Ltd.) |
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