This video is so funny, no doubt, but it is also very sad to me. The toddler is obviously doing what he has seen acted out in front of him week after week in the church his family attends. I don't have a point specifically for this video, but it is a good segue into the topic of preaching!
First let me say that "church" is for believers, born-again Christians. It is not meant to be a place to bring the world in, though that is what is happening today. If the Spirit is calling someone, they will come visit a local church without all the bells and whistles.....but that's another post! I just wanted to be clear that THE Church is the group of believers, not a building. We are the people of God, the saved, the redeemed!
Acts 20:7 - (NKJV)
Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
I have heard several pastors in my lifetime jokingly use the example of Paul preaching late into the night to justify their long-windedness. So let's first take a look at this passage.
In the Greek Acts 20:7 translates:
And on the first [day] of the week, having been assembled the disciples to break bread, Paul discoursed to them, about to depart on the morrow; and he continued the discourse until midnight.
The word in Greek translates to "discourse", not preach. (It is also translated to reason.) So let's take a look at what discourse means.
The online Webster's dictionary in part defines discourse as "verbal interchange of ideas ; especially : conversation"
So Paul went long into the night and probably talked quite a bit, but he was not preaching to the church, it was a discussion! I'm sure he talked a lot because he had a lot to share about the other churches of God, but the other believers had opportunity to talk as well. It was a conversation; he talked, they talked, back and forth, questions, answers, etc. It went on all evening, so I'm sure there were people getting up to go to the potty, get a drink, get a snack, etc. Paul was an encourager and teacher and missionary and so much more, but it appears here that he was not preaching to the believers.
This same word in the Greek is also used in Acts 17:2; 18:4; 18:19; 19:8, 9; 20:7, 9; and 24:12, 25.
Okay, but we do know there was preaching in the New Testament, so let's just look at other examples.
Acts 8:4-8, Phillip preaches ("proclaimed" in Greek) Christ to the city of Samaria (not the church)
Acts 9:20, Saul was preaching ("proclaiming" again) in the synagogues (Jews, not Christians)
In Acts chapter 13 Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel of Christ to the Jews first and then the Gentiles (non-believers)
There are several other examples of preaching in the New Testament, and they all seem to be pretty clear that preaching was mostly directed toward non-believers. There may have been some new Christians in the mix, but the messages were directed toward the lost.
So how did modern day church preaching begin? It seems, from my study just in these last few days, that the origin of preaching in modern day (protestant) churches began with John Calvin. He is the one who began the modern style of "sit, be quiet and listen to a sermon" in church. Now, it's not that I don't enjoy hearing a good, God-fearing preacher, but preaching was intended for the lost, not believers! Even if we sit there and "amen" everything the preacher is saying, do we really need it for ourselves? Preaching in the New Testament was simply proclaiming the good news of Christ, all the other stuff about loving our neighbors, praying for our enemies, fruit of the Spirit, etc. does not need to be preached from the pulpit, it should be taught in a teaching fashion which allows other believers to interact, answer questions, etc.
I have done a word study on various leadership titles recently, and it can be assumed that pastor, elder, overseer, bishop and shepherd all mean the same thing. This person is to be a teacher, but I have not found anything in the bible about this person preaching. Timothy is an evangelist, a missionary. He traveled around and preached the gospel, so he could not have been a pastor, which makes sense to me too because he was young and elders were usually older.
There is a lot more that could be said on the subject, but I believe I have made my point that preaching in the New Testament was directed toward non-believers, not Christians, and therefore not in the Church meetings! It is very important and does have its place, and it certainly won't hurt us to hear it from time to time, but it is not biblical to preach to believers on a regular basis! There needs to be conversational bible study, fellowship and prayer, and the breaking of bread (which could mean eating together or could literally mean breaking the bread as in the Lord's supper, but the Lord's supper took place during the meal anyway.....but that's another post.)
First let me say that "church" is for believers, born-again Christians. It is not meant to be a place to bring the world in, though that is what is happening today. If the Spirit is calling someone, they will come visit a local church without all the bells and whistles.....but that's another post! I just wanted to be clear that THE Church is the group of believers, not a building. We are the people of God, the saved, the redeemed!
Acts 20:7 - (NKJV)
Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
I have heard several pastors in my lifetime jokingly use the example of Paul preaching late into the night to justify their long-windedness. So let's first take a look at this passage.
In the Greek Acts 20:7 translates:
And on the first [day] of the week, having been assembled the disciples to break bread, Paul discoursed to them, about to depart on the morrow; and he continued the discourse until midnight.
The word in Greek translates to "discourse", not preach. (It is also translated to reason.) So let's take a look at what discourse means.
The online Webster's dictionary in part defines discourse as "verbal interchange of ideas ; especially : conversation"
So Paul went long into the night and probably talked quite a bit, but he was not preaching to the church, it was a discussion! I'm sure he talked a lot because he had a lot to share about the other churches of God, but the other believers had opportunity to talk as well. It was a conversation; he talked, they talked, back and forth, questions, answers, etc. It went on all evening, so I'm sure there were people getting up to go to the potty, get a drink, get a snack, etc. Paul was an encourager and teacher and missionary and so much more, but it appears here that he was not preaching to the believers.
This same word in the Greek is also used in Acts 17:2; 18:4; 18:19; 19:8, 9; 20:7, 9; and 24:12, 25.
Okay, but we do know there was preaching in the New Testament, so let's just look at other examples.
Acts 8:4-8, Phillip preaches ("proclaimed" in Greek) Christ to the city of Samaria (not the church)
Acts 9:20, Saul was preaching ("proclaiming" again) in the synagogues (Jews, not Christians)
In Acts chapter 13 Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel of Christ to the Jews first and then the Gentiles (non-believers)
There are several other examples of preaching in the New Testament, and they all seem to be pretty clear that preaching was mostly directed toward non-believers. There may have been some new Christians in the mix, but the messages were directed toward the lost.
So how did modern day church preaching begin? It seems, from my study just in these last few days, that the origin of preaching in modern day (protestant) churches began with John Calvin. He is the one who began the modern style of "sit, be quiet and listen to a sermon" in church. Now, it's not that I don't enjoy hearing a good, God-fearing preacher, but preaching was intended for the lost, not believers! Even if we sit there and "amen" everything the preacher is saying, do we really need it for ourselves? Preaching in the New Testament was simply proclaiming the good news of Christ, all the other stuff about loving our neighbors, praying for our enemies, fruit of the Spirit, etc. does not need to be preached from the pulpit, it should be taught in a teaching fashion which allows other believers to interact, answer questions, etc.
I have done a word study on various leadership titles recently, and it can be assumed that pastor, elder, overseer, bishop and shepherd all mean the same thing. This person is to be a teacher, but I have not found anything in the bible about this person preaching. Timothy is an evangelist, a missionary. He traveled around and preached the gospel, so he could not have been a pastor, which makes sense to me too because he was young and elders were usually older.
There is a lot more that could be said on the subject, but I believe I have made my point that preaching in the New Testament was directed toward non-believers, not Christians, and therefore not in the Church meetings! It is very important and does have its place, and it certainly won't hurt us to hear it from time to time, but it is not biblical to preach to believers on a regular basis! There needs to be conversational bible study, fellowship and prayer, and the breaking of bread (which could mean eating together or could literally mean breaking the bread as in the Lord's supper, but the Lord's supper took place during the meal anyway.....but that's another post.)
This is interesting. I've never thought of it like that. Thanks for posting about the church.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that only recently has stood out to me as well! I've really enjoyed the study, especially since my husband has been saying recently (the last couple of weeks, but also every so often the last few years) that he is "tired of preaching"! And now we see that it's because "preaching" should not be for believers!!! (At least not in regular Church meetings.) He wants to dig deeper into the word and be challenged! :) I am excited about where God is taking our family, and I hope and pray that others will catch on to how far off "institutional churches" are and desire to seek His will in this way too! :) Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links. I bookmarked them to study later. Busy right now; planting an orchard. :)
ReplyDeleteYes I also was getting bored from being preached at.That's why I left my last church over two yrs ago.I also call my pastor my pastor b/c he is my teacher and we do talk back and forth when he reads through the verses.I so love it when it is explained verse by verse and I am totally understanding things better now.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your family is moving in the right direction as far as your hubby wanting to make the decision to move on over to where you want the family to attend for study.I will definitely keep you guys on my prayer list so LMK when you guys make the move.
I think this blog was very thought provoking and I am going to look into in some more. I assume that you will not be attending Julie's church anymore.
ReplyDelete