I’ve been reading a great book entitled “The Way Church Was Meant to Be” by Terry Stanley. The book makes me feel like I’m having a conversation with my friend over coffee. I’m posting some paragraphs from the chapter “How to Meet.” You can access the book for free. You can also find more resources here.
Fear is what drives many of those in leadership to not have open, 1 Cor. 14 meetings. They are afraid of giving too much liberty to the people in the meeting. They do not trust the Lord in the body. They do not trust the New Testament pattern and examples. They feel as though people are not spiritually mature enough to handle such a meeting. They are actually the ones who are not being spiritually mature.
Control and legislation are never the answers for fear. We must learn to trust, let go, and follow the Lord and the scriptures. There will be problems! It will be messy at times. People will mess up the meeting. People will speak out of turn. People will share things that are not good, are bad, and things that are not scriptural. This will all happen especially at first when people are learning. These things must be addressed and people must be talked to. You must provide training and teaching (refer to Beach Head and Well Digging chapter).
People need to learn by doing. Provide an atmosphere of safety for people to function, make mistakes, and for it to be OK. This is how we will learn to be a functioning, powerful, active, and participating church. If we are really interested in people growing and learning, then set them free to function and make mistakes. Some of the best and most valuable character building issues of growth come from us relating to one another in our mistakes and in our gifts. Learn how to do it together. Growth does not come by us lecturing people and giving them teachings and seminars year after year after year! We’ve tried that and look where it has gotten us. People learn and grow by having an atmosphere that not only sincerely welcomes and encourages them to participate in their gifts, but an atmosphere and a setting that actually needs and depends on all members to bring what they have and deliver it during every meeting.