Quote:
Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!
Did I say "Christless" anywhere? I'll have to go back and look . . . nope! Didn't say it.
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You are correct that you did not say it here. And you might not have said it anywhere at any time in your several years of participation. But you are effectively repeating parts of an old LC mantra, sans the "Christless" part, that too many of us have heard and know the rest of. You may have intended to say less than the whole mantra. But by starting with it, you at least unwittingly inferred the whole thing.
And the problem, with or without that particular word, is that it is not based on anything more than some baseless preference. There is nothing that makes "no clergy" right. And if there is clergy, then there are those who are not clergy.
Label it as "laity" and insist it means just sitting around doing nothing. But on what basis do you apply the word? And on what basis does it simply mean doing nothing? And what do you define as "doing nothing? Not being ready to be a "prophet" in the meeting? Despite the tension over this particular preference, it is not generally accepted as the correct reading of that verse in 1 Cor 14. So then, what is doing nothing? Singing? Listening intently to those who have the gift to teach, prophecy, etc.? Taking in what is taught and putting it into practice in daily lives? Seems to me that this is more important in general that how much you actually say in some meeting. Ultimately more important for most of us. That is what we all are called to do. The "gifts" are distributed to various ones in the body. The action of bearing the image of Christ requires that we corporately and individually be seen as bearing that image.
But speaking in a meeting does not bear the image of God to the world. And if the meeting is not some kind of bible study, the focus should not be on me and what I have to offer, but on God, Christ, the Spirit, and what they are and have done. The only focus on me in those kinds of meetings should be when I stop to pray, confess, and repent. The rest is on the Word. On its application to our living. On Christ and his words and work.
Not the kind of exercise of self-gratification that so often is undertaken. And while that is limited to self-aggrandizement in songs in most places, the kinds of meetings that the LC and its clones undertake turn most of the whole thing into an exercise of self-gratification.
In the next meeting you attend, ask yourself whether the emotional excitement you might be getting from it is because of what you are hearing from a room full of people who are allowed to speak, or because of the experience of being allowed to speak (as others are responding positively). I will not deny that someone who was not "assigned" to speak might say something profound. But does speaking in synonyms and personal experiences really help you undertake the work of being a Christian better, or just make your experience of the meeting more enjoyable?
Don't just respond back in two minutes. Think on this for a few weeks as your sit, listen, and possibly speak in the manner of your assembly and try to assess it based on what is actually happening as you are engaged in it rather than in hindsight. I don't even care if you never report back on this. I would like you just to think about it. Not to be critical of yourself or those speaking. Or of what they say. But to ask yourself whether it is truly something of substance for the kingdom. Or mostly provides personal enjoyment and/or gratification. Something that seems important because it is not like other places.