The most important gift?

The other day when in church the leader prayed for the student bible study. Included in this prayer were the words asking God to find people in that group who could go into full time bible teaching ministry. i.e. formal paid bible teaching role.

Now you'd think this is an innocent prayer? but what does it actually reveal?

Maybe it will become clearer when I recount an experience I had on a christian conference earlier in the year. What I mean by this is when a whole bunch of people go away for a weekend to a conference centre and spend the greater part of the weekend listening to good wholesome bible teaching. A good thing for a christian to do.

My brother and I were on this conference, he pointed out to me that if you're not in full time teaching ministry, in this environment then you're somehow second rate. Constantly we were fed the lines that say, we need more people in this bible teaching role, if you think you're able, or if God is putting the thought in your heart, take up the challenge. It is pushed so much that you kinda feel that you're second rate if you're not in that role.

What has happened is the same thing that happened in Corinth. We have elevated the gift of teaching to be inappropriately above the other gifts.

I'm not alone in seeing this mind you, the other day I heard from the pulpit one of other ministers say exactly that when he was teaching on 1 Corinthians 12 - 14 about how they had elevated prophecy and tongues.

Please, do not hear me say that bible teaching is unimportant, I'm not saying that.

What I am saying is that there are other gifts which are important in the life of the church. After all, as Paul says in Corinthians, not everyone has the same gifts. The gifts of encouragement, hospitality, spiritual gifts are not only spoken about in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

The concern that I'v got is, what about the rest of us? What about those of us who have not chosen to become bible teachers. We are the "layity". Because of this situation we feel second rate, we do not feel important, like we are playing a meaningful role.

The problem is, it is the layity that is the engine room of the church. Like in sport, it's all about keeping the fans happy, well, in the Church context, it's all about growing the body. This does in fact link in with my other post about the central goal of the church.

If the goal of the church is to grow the body of christ, then everyone, from the smallest baby to the oldest man has a role to play. They can love, support, encourage, pray, provide advice, simply befriend, etc etc... things which do not involve formal bible teaching, but still contribute to growth.

If the goal of the church is to teach the bible, then yes, you're going to end up in a situation where you have a few elite who are involved, while the rest of us are recipients of that.

Public Prayer Content...

A prayer I heard in church...

We pray for Zimbabwe...
for it is a Godless land

Is that a prayer you have heard recently. I must admit, when I heard that prayer I did not expect to hear the 2nd phrase. I was expecting something to do with helping the poor, providing unity, peace etc. How often in the public prayers in our churches do we hear words about the latest catatrophe, Iraq, Katrina, prayers for our government, prayers for peace.

Should that be the focus of our prayers, or should they be more like the prayer above?

Whenever I see Paul present the content of his prayers for the Churches he wrote to and visited I never see prayers for peace/comfort/deliverance. They are always specifically God centred. Our prayers, especially our public prayers should follow this pattern.

I'm not against praying for peace, unity and comfort, but I'm not sure if that should be the main point of our prayers. What the church is ultimately about is changing people's lives. People living in peace, in some leafy suburb, people starving from hunger or suffering from some natrual disaster all have one common need, the need to be brought into the Kingdom of God.

Last night we had a guest service at my Church. For those who don't know what that is, it is a service to which outsiders are invited and the service is geared to be outsider friendly. The message has a specific evangelistic focus. They are held about four times a year. The prayer that was prayed at the service did not bring accross the message that a person's salvation is fundamental. We want everyone to realise their need before God, if we pray for those who on a purely physical level clearly need it, outsiders are going to think from the words of the prayer, I'm not suffering so why do I need God. What inevitably happens in these prayers for comfort is that the "save their souls" bit is tacked onto the end. It should be the starting point.

Another important reason for praying for people's salvation is that it is what differentiates our prayers from the prayer of a muslim or member of other mono-theistic religions. Furthermore, the unequivocal need for Salvation from sin through Faith in Jesus is also what sets the evangelical Church apart.

Let's try and make our public more eternally focussed and more in line with the Bible's example.


It is, I feel, esp