I'm reading a book at the moment that was recommended to me a couple of weeks ago, called 'The Open Church' by James Rutz. It's awesome. Not only is it really helpful for my dissertation on the conceptof open mic church, but it's also (I believe) an accurate and hope-giving picture of what church was intended to be, and still can.
This is an excerpt which I hope will inspire plenty of comments...
'When response is forbidden till the service is over, what can you expect? And it realy is forbidden. Suppose, for instance, some gent pops up in the middle of the sermon next Sunday and says:
"Hey, great point, pastor! The Lord's been teaching me a lot about that lately. In fact, this past week I experienced an amazing example of what you just described. On Tuesday morning..."
The nearest deacon will invite him to bricks. Straightway and forthwith. The number 1 rule for laymen in closed, non-participatory services is, "Siddown and shuddup." Yes, they're supposed to respond wholeheartedly to the sermon...but only after they go home and get down to real life!
Things were different in days of yore, when the church of Jesus Christ was turning Rome on its imperial ear. Laymen were free to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and speak up when they had something to say. They were born running-talking in church and witnessing outside it. And in the space of three centuries, they had conquered for Christ much of the known world, up to and including the Emperor. Without even any Four Laws booklets.
That shows they were better witnessed than most Christians today. And why? Because the church didn't stifle them. It conditioned them to communicate their faith. Church services were different then. Livelier. More off-the-wall. We don't have many specifics about what they looked like, but we do have a few. Such as these...
Three Clues from Scripture
1. "When you come together, everyone has something to contribute: a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation...you can all prophesy in turn..."
Sunday morning in Corinth was a free-for-all, so Paul was telling them to act more Presbyterian. But notice: He did endorse individual contributions by everyone. (Do you?)
2. "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul...'" This couldn't happen in the church today! Our worship patterns don't allow it, and we don't do fasts. Our missionaries get their calls straight from God, then spendeons convincing supporters they did. If it weren't for the "extrabiblical" requirement of running around with a tin cup before getting a passport and shots, we'd have four or five times as many missionaries on the field.
3. "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs..." Precisely what does "one another" mean? Group singing? Hardly! Tertullion tells us what it meant in his day:
"In our Christian meetings we have plenty of songs, verses, sentences and proverbs. [obviously individual] After hand-washing and bringing in the lights, each Christian is asked to stand forth and sing, as best he can, a hymn to God, either of his own composing, or one from the Holy Scriptures."
Try that next Sunday! In Tertullion's time (160-230), there were many churches that were interactive powerhouses, not audiences.'
A place where all can share and praise God however they choose or feel led? Open mic church!
:)
1 comments:
I looked at your myspace, and I noticed you keep asking will it work? Well I can tell you it does work. I've grown up in this kind of church. I've visited many churches, in the US (and some in Europe), and though most churches do not allow this sort of thing, you're right, its the only way to have church.
I can tell you as a "testimonial" from someone who is familiar with OMC, that its a wonderful thing. I don't believe that any two of our services are ever the same. Sometimes there's more singing, sometimes more preaching, sometimes more testimonies from the congregation, and sometimes less.
When you have a group of people that have given God ALL control (or at least are trying to), you never know how He will bless.
So yes, it does work. Its a "movement" thats been working here since before I was born. I'm thankful that God has given you this vision, the world needs more OMC. I pray that He will bless your efforts, and I pray that you'll be able to carry this out long after your dissertation is finished.
My Prayers Are With You,
Janie
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