As I look at these people, I wonder what they are thinking. Although it is doubtful that this picture was taken during a Sunday gathering, I imagine this is what most of the folks look like during their worship services. They are all seated quietly, looking forward, listening to someone on the platform.
During my 40+ years of life I've sat through hundreds of worship services. In about 99% of these only a few people spoke (other than singing songs). A few folks preached, spoke, and/or sang from the stage. As I think back on these worship services, I have to wonder what most of the people in attendance were thinking. Did they have anything they would have liked to say in terms of exhortation, encouragement, rebuke, instruction, etc.? Did anyone have a word of prophecy or a tongue to share? I really don't know.
I wonder what would have happened if part way through one of those worship services someone had stood up and respectfully asked to speak. Would this have been welcomed? Would it have even been allowed?
The sad reality is that most church gatherings are so controlled (see the bulletin) that there is almost no freedom for anyone to speak who is not scheduled to do so. But what if the Holy Spirit genuinely prompts someone to share something that goes right along with what is happening? For example, what of the congregation has just concluded singing Amazing Grace, and then one of the people stands up and asks to read Ephesians 2:1-10 or simply desires to give a testimony of God's grace in his life? This sort of thing is simply not encouraged in most churches.
I realize that most pastors would grant someone in the congregation permission to speak if the person went to the pastor first and asked to do so (there are all sorts of ecclesiological and pastoral problems with this, but I'm not going to delve into those right now). After telling the pastor what the topic is, the pastor would most likely give that person time to share during the next service.
But what happens if the Holy Spirit prompts during the gathering? What then? There is little outlet or opportunity for this in the typical worship service format.
I want to know what others are thinking. I don't want to hear from just a few people. No one person is the expert. No one person has all the answers. Not even a small group does. The body is supposed to build itself up in Christ through mutual edification. This happens most effectively when everyone is involved. How can everyone be involved when only a few are granted time to speak?
If church gatherings conform to a model that stifles the majority of the body by offering them no opportunity to share as the Spirit leads, then there is a significant problem with the model itself. Gatherings should allow all the opportunity to speak in an orderly fashion in order to foster the maturity of the church family.
I'd like to know what they are thinking.
4 comments:
I can remember a time when my family and I attended one of the services at Chevis Oaks where you were preaching and you invited everyone in the congregation to participate. No one did. The following week Micah brought a message from Psalms and I wanted so badly to share a song with everyone but was held back with the notion that for me to share would be way out of order. Even though at that time we were learning what the scriptures teach about the importance of mutual edification and participation from the entire body, it felt completely out of order to act on that conviction within the context of a traditional worship service. There is something about the atmosphere among pews and a stage that unconsciously prohibits participation from anyone not up front.
Bobby,
It happened a few times that I asked people to share. A few times people responded, but for the most part everyone was just quiet. After a while I stopped doing it because there was no point.
The institutional structures of the big building, the pews, the pastoral "experts," and the scripted services have created a passive laity. How sad this is.
Eric,
It has always been my habit to ask questions of the congregation I was speaking to. Your experience was always mine, without exception.
In speaking with those I knew would have been able to give a good reply, I was given several answers as to why no one responds to questions, among which are:
1. Fear of being "wrong".
2. Fear that someone would disagree, either publicly or privately.
3. Fear of disturbing the status quo, theological or tradition.
4. Fear of speaking in front of others.
5. Fear of the pastor.
John,
That's a lot of fear.
How sad that many Christians are actually afraid to speak during gatherings. This is one of the reasons I believe that trying to bring change to the traditional model won't be effective (for the most part). Worldwide we need thousands of new church starts that focus on the biblical model. In that setting people may begin to open up. I hope so.
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