As John stated in 1 John 4, we must be equipped as Christians to test the spirits if we want to be a spirit-filled community. If we don’t, then we become susceptible to all sorts of evil and ill guidance. The old, yet true cliche is that the most effective way to tell any counterfeit is to know the original. We believe that God will not contradict what he has told us in Scripture; therefore, it is a churches responsibility to insure that all believers are growing in the knowledge of God’s written word. His word is a guide to understanding what is going on around us today. It helps us to pick out what God is doing in the present. Without knowing the Scriptures we are opening ourselves up to many kinds of teaching that are not in agreement with what God has already taught the generations before us.One thing I always desired yet never experienced was to be a group learning together rather than being a group taught by one person.
In a house church we can study the word together and glean insights from one another. However we have to be careful to not read only through our emotions and subjective experiences but look for the meaning the original author wanted to get across and apply those meanings to our lives.
Here's what I mean. In a group taught by one person there is a teacher. The teacher prepares a lesson. He studies. He prays. He searches out the Scriptures and seeks God's will for what he is supposed to teach. Then after struggling with it all week, he presents his findings in a discussion or lecture format to the class.
My dream was to have a group of people where everyone studied, prayed, searched out the Scriptures, and sought God's will for what they were to share the next week at church. Then when the church gathered together, everyone would just share from the heart rather than be presented a planned lesson. That never happened.
Now that I'm writing it, my new thought on this subject doesn't sound as good as my ideal. But here is what I thought. The lesson would be prepared specifically by one person in the way that we typically experience lessons in Sunday School. However, he would prepare the lesson knowing that others are also preparing lessons and will politely interrupt him throughout his planned lesson. He might not even finish his lesson. The whole group would know what the subject for the next week will be. They could even discuss this and come up with what they want to study together as a group. Then whoever wants to study the subject and join in as co-presenters of the lesson would do so.
I know that I learn so much more when I teach a lesson than when I am just a student. I know my dad is the same way. This would allow the church to get a lot more out of lesson than just having one person teach it. At least that is what my initial thoughts say.
Watch out for the potholes.
