What Should Take Place When We Meet



Living Stones

 

     1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14 tell us a lot about what to do when we gather together. Because the Corinthians were so excited about Spiritual Gifts, their meetings sometimes could be chaotic because everyone was doing their own thing. This may not have been entirely bad. Paul didn't say that what they were doing was wrong, just that the order and how they were doing it was wrong. He then gave them instructions on how to meet in a more orderly fashion. 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 were written to bring some order but not to stop what they were doing.

     1 Corinthians 14:26  says that when they came to gather, each one of them had something to contribute to the meeting. This was not a passive church.  Each one had a song, something to teach, a tongue, a revelation from God, an interpretation of a tongue. They were so excited about what they had that it became a big mess. Nobody wanted to wait their turn. Paul did not try to stop them but instead coached them on how to bring some order to their meetings. His final message in this passage was that each participant needed to make sure that what they were doing would build up the church rather than tear it down. 

      1 Corinthians 12:31 tells us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts. The Greek word for earnestly desire is "dzay-lo'-o" which also has the meaning to covet.   We are not only to desire but to covet the best gifts.  We are not to covet things of the world like money, materialism, worldly power, etc but we can covet those things that come from God. One of the most important things to remember though is that we have to keep our focus on Jesus. We can not put the gifts above Him.

      The gifts include ministry gifts like the list in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11 including apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, miracles, healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Since we are told to covet these gifts I don't believe that God would tell us to have that strong of a desire for these gifts if we couldn't obtain them. I believe that everyone has been called into these ministries as we mature and they are not just for a few people. Certainly not limited to those that have been to seminary. In fact Ephesians 4:12  states that these gifts are for the perfecting(equipping) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: The Greek word that has been translated perfecting in the KJV is "katartismos" and it means to equip.

 

     Among ministry being done in various parts of the world, it is those that are multiplying themselves that are growing the fastest. Thousands of people are becoming Christians and as they learn how to live the Christian life. They are then equipped and taught to equip others. Because of this focus, churches in these parts of the world are growing more quickly than in areas where the church has existed for thousands of years, but have lost the vision to equip and release.