The Assembly – Diversity of Gift but Unity of Operation – Part 2

One common problem in church life today involves people trying to read their church traditions back into the Bible (often by picking an isolated proof-text) instead of starting with scripture and following where it leads. So, for example, some Christians read a formal class of priests, processions, liturgies, and sacraments back into the Bible, when the New Testament contains none of these things. Reformed churches, claiming to be biblical, have exchanged the Roman Catholic priest (as the special mediator between God and man via the sacraments) for the ordained minister who alone is qualified to administer the sacraments and preach the word. But, again, the New Testament does not mention this. Other Christians are prepared to do whatever works to draw people to Christ, copying the world or following the latest church growth fad. Some argue that the New Testament does not give us any pattern of church order, so we can pick and choose which bits of the Bible to include and which to ignore. But our Lord’s own example of testing any question by appeal to scripture means we must look back, not to the Reformation, nor to ancient tradition, nor around at contemporary culture, but to God’s inspired word as the supreme authority, and to apostolic example as our divinely ordained guide, in the church.

In a previous article we looked at three passages dealing with spiritual gifts and showed how all of them are concerned with the need for unity despite diversity. Here we turn to the fourth New Testament treatment of spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14, and see how the New Testament describes spiritual gifts being put into operation in the church gatherings.

1 Corinthians: disunity in the church

In 1 Corinthians, we have an acute case of disunity in the church. There is division over leaders in the church, exacerbated perhaps by racial differences between Jewish and Gentile believers, chh. 1-4; disputes over matters of church discipline, chh. 5, 6; differing opinions about secondary matters, like eating food offered to idols, chh. 8-10; social divisions between rich and poor at the Lord’s Supper, ch. 11; and divisions because of different spiritual gifts, chh. 12-14.

Paul points out the Trinitarian nature of their spiritual gifts: it is the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God who have given these gifts and work through these ministries, 12. 4-6. Just as in Ephesians, the picture of unity and diversity in the Godhead is a model for the unity and diversity of believers.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul writes about two sorts of Christians who do not like the truth that all believers have spiritual gifts. First, some think they are good for nothing. Paul likens them to the foot or the ear who say, ‘Because I am not the hand … [or] I am not the eye, I am not part of the body’, vv. 15, 16. The other sort of Christian says that because others do not come up to his high standards, he would rather do it all himself; this is better than letting others have a go and mess things up. But this is as ridiculous as an eye saying to a hand, ‘I have no need of you’. All God’s people have spiritual gifts, and all the gifts are important, just like all the parts of the body. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 teaches that unless the oil of love lubricates the machinery of the church, the engine will soon seize up.

Spiritual gifts in the church gatherings

In 1 Corinthians, a gathering is described which includes the Lord’s Supper and additionally provides freedom for the exercise of a variety of different edifying spiritual gifts. (Notice that the same expression, ‘when you come together’, is used in relation to the Lord’s Supper, 1 Cor. 11. 17-20, and the use of gifts for edification, 14. 26; these are not two separate meetings, but the same gathering. We see the same dual-purpose meeting at the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the Gospels and in Acts chapter.¹

1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 26 says, ‘How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification’. Leon Morris writes, ‘this little paragraph is very important in giving us the most intimate glimpse of the early church at worship’.² Craig Blomberg writes, ‘opportunity is made available for all whom the Spirit leads on any given occasion to contribute’.³ Numerous commentators remark on the fact that there is no mention of any church official leading the meeting.⁴

There are, however, guidelines for order. Verse 29 says, ‘Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge’, NKJV. Not only were multiple messages preached, but there was immediate evaluation and interaction, with discussion and questions. The women are to be silent, as verses 34 and 35 plainly state.

Finally, in verse 37, Paul says, ‘If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord’. The principles of church gathering here are not Paul’s suggestions, but God’s commands. Nor (as some allege) is this a description of some disorderly arrangement found only in Corinth, for Paul in one of his transitional remarks says these guidelines are found in ‘all the churches of the saints’, v. 33. So, the purpose of the church gathering is two-fold: first, to remember the Lord, and second, to encourage and build each other up by using our spiritual gifts.

Nor is 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 26 to 40 the only passage that pictures such arrangements. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 19 to 21 speaks of the same spiritual freedom in church life when it says, ‘Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things, hold fast to what is good’, NKJV. I. H. Marshall writes, ‘what is set out in detail in 1 Cor. 12-14 is stated here summarily. The Spirit is powerful and active like fire in the congregation … Gifts for ministry were being exercised, but some people were trying to suppress them (we don’t know just how), but it is wrong to do so’.⁵

Not all meetings must follow this ‘open’ format, or be held on the Lord’s Day, for in the New Testament there were other occasions where one person preached, whether in evangelism or instruction, but this pattern applies to the main church meeting.

There are many ways in which we can quench the Spirit by adopting a distorted form of biblical church gathering, without putting into operation what it really says. Many churches today have abandoned the Lord’s Supper, or reduced it to a brief, token, empty ritual. The result is that believers’ hearts are not warmed as they think on the adorable person of Christ.

There is another problem if we only have the Lord’s Supper, without the free exercise of spiritual gifts because the New Testament never describes a meeting that is just for the Lord’s Supper. Paul says, ‘let all things be done for edification’, 1 Cor. 14. 26, but if we change it to, ‘let all things be done for worship and remembrance’, the result is that no one is taught, and no one grows by using their spiritual gifts. Sadly, even the worship is affected when we are not fed, so we have spiritual staleness, long pauses, and ‘tape-recorder’ prayers. Or there might be a little time allowed at the end for a brief word. But 1 Corinthians chapter 14 teaches there is opportunity for multiple brothers to use various spiritual gifts. In the New Testament, they had two or three main messages every Sunday, with a mini Bible study after each. Rather than a yearly conference, they had one every Lord’s Day; God’s people enjoyed a three-course spiritual feast every week. No wonder the churches in the New Testament grew and spread so rapidly.

Another problem in putting the New Testament church gathering into practice arises if there is no control or guidance. Some people will stand up and speak off the top of their head (though there was nothing in their head to begin with) or try to teach the Bible when this is not their gift, or give out too many hymns (after three or four hymns there is little impact). The Pastoral Epistles give many more examples of unprofitable contributions to the open meeting that the apostle criticized: legalists, long-winded bores, and assorted false teachers, e.g., 1 Tim. 1. 3-7. In the New Testament, there was freedom, but there was also quality and quantity control. Those who are shy and retiring need to be encouraged to take part, while others sometimes need to be gently and lovingly corrected. The open meeting is not a free-for-all.

The present author has found the ‘open meeting’ one of the greatest blessings of his spiritual life. There is nothing more encouraging than seeing a young brother taking the first steps of spiritual growth by contributing out of love for Christ and God’s word. But, on the other hand, such meetings can lead to spiritual famine if the Spirit is quenched by man’s rules and traditions, or un-Christlike shepherding.

Professor Rendle Short wrote, ‘When Paul heard what painful meetings they were having in Corinth, he might have said: “Do not listen any longer to all these ignorant people, mostly slaves; make Stephanos your minister, and let him do it all”. No doubt this would have helped very much in some directions; but the Apostle was not prepared to give up the open meeting; it was far too valuable. He did not want to make churches like comets - with a brilliant head, and a long nebulous tail. He told them, however, - and it is very important to put the injunction into practice - that the assembly was not called upon to listen to everybody who chose to make a nuisance of himself, or who talked unprofitably. There were some “whose mouths must be stopped” (Tit. 1. 11). The listeners were to be the judges (1 Cor. 14. 27-29).

It was an open meeting, but there were rules to be obeyed. It was a meeting open for the Spirit to speak by whom He would, not open for men to say what they pleased’.⁶