Since we were one of the Vineyards that had fallen into the routine of "after the meeting, if you need prayer, come up front and there will be a team here for you", clinic time was a little foreign. To ease the community into it, the approach chosen was one that raises questions in my mind.
The leader asked three people from the community to come forward. Then the rest of us sat quietly for awhile to allow ourselves to 'hear' what God might be saying about these individuals. After a period of silence, various ones in the community shared what they 'heard' and after awhile, the three were given time to respond to what was said.
Initially, the critic in me came out and I thought, 'come on, we shouldn't practice this like this'. It felt artificial and contrived and I thought it wrong.
But then I remembered one of my criticisms about what we do on Sundays ... like Frank Viola, I think the Church has lost sight of what it is to be the Church where each one, not the paid leader, has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. And especially when I consider the last part of 1 Co 14.26, "Let all things be done for building up", what happened Sunday was excellent and more true to Scripture than our normal routine.
Bottom line, I'm looking forward to more clinic time and I repent for how I've allowed my love for evangelicalism to override my love for pentecostalism.
Which way do you lean and how would you react if this sort of thing happened in your Sunday morning gathering?
Technorati Tags: ecclesiology, Kingdom of God, Signs & Wonders, spiritual gifts
4 comments:
It would make me both nervous and cautious. It is only through a close relationship with God that one could even receive a prophecy or word of knowledge, and you had better be clear that it is from God or much damage can result. As my close German friends (well German and Greek) have pointed out, it is quite ok to head down the path of a more open service where everyone participates. But the practice you described does sound artificial and contrived. I can’t imagine this was the process used in the early Church. It reminds me of the “prophecy” in Mark Ruthland’s church where the lady stood up and said, “Thus saith the Lord, ‘the music is too loud’”.
Of course you are correct in the cautions which were exactly my first reactions. But then it occurred to me that "what could go wrong" did not make "what did go right" inappropriate.
This was simply a large small group.
And it should be reckoned that this came with a good deal of teaching around "thus saith the Lord."
Work with me here....How is this different from manipulation or "staging"?
By the way we really enjoyed your visit and Ashlyn told Angela her dad(you) is still really funny!
I think it is a great opportunity, for the body to be empowered and operate in the gift of prophecy for edification, comfort, and encouragement. If people can't build confidence in their ability to hear the voice of God in that setting, how can they be confident on the street. That's why God put the 5-fold there, to help the saints mature. In Cor. it makes it plain that prophecy needs to be judged, so with that in mind, it is not even dangerous. Judge it by the Word, and judge it by the inward witness, with mature ministers around. It's all good, and even more so, it is necessary.
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