Egyptian Popeye

Congratulations to Massachusetts bodybuilder Moustafa Ismail. Guinness World Records is still trying to determine if these guns are real, but if they are, they would be a record at 31 inches around. Moustafa insists his arms are all natural and points to his eating and workout routines as proof. He consumes seven pounds of protein, nine pounds of carbohydrates and three gallons of water each day. He works out two hours every day where he lifts up to 600 pounds. “They call me Popeye, the Egyptian Popeye,” Ismail, 24, said while working out in the Boston suburb of Milford. But unlike the cartoon character, “I like chicken, beef, anything but spinach.”

You may love or hate these out-of-proportion arms, but sometimes it seems relational gatherings can be similarly out of proportion. If we take Acts 2:42 as a template for doing life together, there is one aspect that seems to be exercised more than the others.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42 NIV

Yes it’s the apostles’ teaching. Let me say, that in the past, I was triggered when people would call our gathering a “Bible Study” because it was something much deeper. I have since learned how to deal with my emotional issues. I can also hear people beginning to pick up rocks wanting to defend the importance of studying scripture. I get it, but please hear me out.

You are responsible for engaging with Christ during the week. During your time in His presence you will receive something that needs to be shared.

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV

You may say the above scripture would reflect something that happens improptu, and yes maybe occasionally, but I would suggest the majority of this should be gathered in your spirits before you ever get to the meeting. Just as a meal is planned beforehand so should the spiritual food be prepared beforehand.

If you want to study scripture, have a Bible study or go through a book when you are gathering, that’s great, but please check your motivation. Why are you doing it? Is it because you can’t get to 1 Corinthians 14:26? Is it because nobody brings anything and you are fearful of the silence?

The hardest part of my journey has been trying to get the saints to engage with our Lord during the week. This is a holdover from people going to the IC where nothing is ever expected of them. We must help people experience Christ for themselves, hear Him speak and allow them to share what He has given them. This is how we grow and this is how we encourage each other. Don’t give up on people, it takes time but it’s worth it. There’s so much beauty and wisdom contained in others, especially the quiet ones.

If people don’t engage with our Lord during the week, we must address this issue. To justify filling empty space with Bible teaching will just make us unbalanced like the Egyptian Popeye.

postnote: After posting this on Facebook I received a comment that I really liked and have included it below. This is from Willie Joubert.

To be honest, many times even the home gatherings and organic expressions that I attended (and at times had at our house) were not balanced. Looking back I can see how I gradually moved and became more balanced. It was and is a process. The reality is that many of us left the institutional church as we recognized that the Biblical record in the New Testament presented a very different way of gathering and that the very structure of the Institutional Church makes it impossible to express the fullness and unity of the body of the Lord.

However, we have been and often remain so tied to the ingrained concept of a “Christian Meeting,” that we continue to structure it around ‘studies and discussions,’ with some form of ‘worship,’ understood as singing with or without accompaniment. It took me years to really get it that the first century believers met mostly without Scripture as most were illiterate and scrolls were not widely available even if some could read. They did not have a copy of what we call the New Testament. They were filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit, having accepted the basic truth of the life and ministry of Jesus as shared by the apostles and others.

They gathered to support one another and learn from the experience of the others. They shared life! In this sharing of life they stood out in the pagan society and their very way of life touched and transformed others and society itself. They did not meet to discuss theoretical concepts and theology! They met to encourage and support one another. Each one brought what they could sharing how the Spirit led them and how the Lord met their needs.

It saddens me that I keep reading how some seek to find a home gathering and many do not feel they can start one themselves, for they are conditioned to think that it means to lead a group Bible Study or discussion. We fail to realize that simply inviting some one for a meal and trusting God to lead the discussion around a table can be where two or three are gathered in his name. The opportunities are endless, if we move beyond the obsession of studies and head knowledge.

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