Spiritual Gifts and the Early Church.

There is much discussion about the gifts of the Spirit that are active for the church today or whether some of the gifts have ceased with the Apostolic Fathers. Modern denominations are formed on the basis of this continuation of gifts. Revivals and massive gatherings center on the speaker being able to perform "miracle healings". How much of this should we accept as biblical and authoritative? Better yet, did the Early Church continue the practice of all of the spiritual gifts after the time of the Apostles?

 To explore this we first need to agree on our language. The "gifts" of the church are called "charismata" by Paul (although he will also call them "pneumatika"). This "charismata" is where we get the word charismatic. Today we are just as likely to use this word for a group speaking in special tongues or other miraculous manifestations or to describe the compelling personality of a person. The word "charismata" was used often by the Early Church but many scholars looking to defend their practice take every reference without searching for specific content. The Early Church used "charismata" to refer to God's gifts of material possession that were intended to be shared, the wisdom to be shared, and the help the strong could lend to the weak. Only once is a reference using "pneumatika"made in the Apostolic Fathers to refer to a spiritual gift (Epistle of Barnabas).

Here are some of the gifts that are associated with the modern pentecostal movement treated in light of the Early Church:

Apostles:

The Didache uses the word "apostle" to denote a missionary or an "appointed messenger". The document uses the words prophet, teacher, and apostle interchangeably for its instruction about testing them. The Early literature quickly began to use the singular expression of "apostle" to refer to Paul. Very early in the tradition the church began to hold the term to refer to activity located around the twelve. There is no suggestion of some succession from the Apostles themselves.

Prophecy:

This is impossible to treat in a paragraph without making sweeping statements so we will treat this in a later post specifically. However, here we can say that the early Christians saw prophets the same way they did in the Old Testament, they were a mouthpiece for God and proclaimed forth his "word". These proclamations were sometimes predictive in nature but were usually relevant observations based on the general revelation given of God's will to a specific situation. There was a sect of early Christians called the Montanists that were a prophetic movement following Montanus that came up around 172 AD in Phrygia. There is much made of the Montanist movement by pentecostal scholars. It is important to note that the "prophets" of the Montanist movement were predicting the return of Christ. They were repeatedly revealed to be false prophets when the return of Christ did not manifest. Even though Tertullian joined this Montanist movement in his later teaching, the sect was made distant from the Orthodox teaching of the early Christians. Again, we will return to this later.

Tongues:

Tongues as a spiritual gift were primarily a marker of the movement of the gospel into other nations and people groups. This word "glossolalia" has the potential of four meanings:

1. to speak a human language that one has not learned (Acts 2)
2. to speak a non-human language (1 Cor. 13:1)
3. to speak in unintelligible words that need interpretation
4. to utter sounds in musical cadence

Early references to speaking in tongues outside of the New Testament are extremely sparse. Irenaeus refers to the use of tongues as a move of the twelve and Paul in line with foreign languages, not at all like modern glossolalia. He also uses the term to refer to frivolous or silly speech as opposed to speech that is unintelligible. The lack of mention of the occurrence of speaking in tongues in the second century has been interpreted as being so common that it need not be mentioned. However, the controversy surrounding the Montanists provided the opportunity for it to be reflected on. The reason they were not mentioned could also be because they has ceased.

What was Early Christian Worship Like?

There are many discussions and disagreements on the form and formality of worship. There are traditional liturgical practices like the Greek Orthodox Liturgy that date back over a thousand years. There are also some that think their altar calls and "Gaither-style" hymns would qualify as "traditional. And then there are the contemporary services that lean primarily on music and drama to move the worshipper in to more willing acceptance of the topic for preaching. There are any combination or tweaking of any of these and most congregations would not hold firmly to any one of these approaches. However, the questions often arise, "What was worship like in the first church?"

The sources are not full enough to show exactly how the Apostles worshipped but there are early documents that give us a fairly clear picture of the kind of worship that was practiced in the earliest tradition. All of these practices were typical (as far as the sources point us) of the church in the first 300 years. So, what was worship like?

Worship was weekly

The earliest church gathered weekly for worship on Sunday. The day of the week was likely a celebration of the resurrection and a clear breaking from the Jewish practice of gathering on Saturday. The meeting also occurred pre-dawn and the sun would rise as the Lord's Supper was being shared. This would visibly and tangibly point the worshipper to the hope of resurrection that the elements were intended. This early meeting also allowed slaves and workmen to go to work (no weekends or stores being closed for these guys) and avoid unwanted detection from those aggressive to Christians.

Worship was Christ-centered

The earliest church celebrated Christ as divine from a very early point in history. Theories of this development taking decades are faulty, at best. The worship of the early church would focus on hymns that proclaimed Christ's deity. These were both encouraging and instructive. These hymns would be responsive statements coming from the congregation based on the statements made by the leader. These early hymns are basically confessions of faith in their infancy.

Worship was ordered

The earliest elements of the worship service were based on the pattern displayed in the synagogue. They were "word centered" in that the proclamation was the main event. All other elements were to encourage and illuminate the exposition of the Scriptures. The basic elements were Scripture reading, preaching, singing, praying, partaking in the Lord's Supper, and giving. The two basic movements were the service of the word and the service of the table. Throughout time these would be called by different terms but the overwhelming portion of Christian worship throughout history included both Word and Table. The Table has been treated here before and will be again so I will only point out that preaching was primarily expository. This means that there was a reading and explanation of what was being read.
A final note is on the giving, which will be treated more fully later. The concept of tithing is not in the early church worship practice. The tithe was suspended at the close of the Old Testament (which comes at the cross). The early church encouraged giving for the main purpose of caring for others.

What should go…What should stay?

Based on these insights from historical Christian worship it is clear that there is a great deal of support for our worship practices today and a need to make some major changes. A few include…

1. Make worship about Jesus: This is not to say that we abandon the Old Testament or any texts that are not explicitly speaking about Jesus. In fact, the early church was deeply committed to proclamation from both testaments. Rather, we could ask "What does this text proclaim about the need or nature of Jesus Christ?"

2. Make worship moving: Using the setting, scenes, and elements of worship to tell the Christian story are instructive and inspiring. The first church used meals, the rising sun, and other elements of worship to set a "mood" and display direct encouragement into everyday life.

3. Preach and Practice the Table: Churches that are not preaching expository (as opposed to topically) and are not calling worshippers to the Table weekly should have to prove (historically) why they have clearly broken with the apostolic tradition. To worship without the table is to do something other than Christian worship.

Communion Confession...

Adapted from the Didache (AD 50-150)

Leader: “The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

Response to the Bread:

         Everyone:         We give thanks to you, our Father,

                           for the one bread, which you have made known to us.

                           Through Jesus, your servant, to you be glory forever.

Leader: “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”  

Response to the Cup:

         Everyone:         We give thanks to you, our, Father,

                           for the cup of blessing, which you have made known to us

                           Through Jesus, your servant, to be glory for ever.

Leader: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’”

Sharing of the Elements:

Everyone:         Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. To You is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.

* image is of the agape feast, an ancient Christian tradition carried on today as communion.

Early Christian Confession

"Whom no senses can reveal
    was made for us manifest;
  Who no ache or pain can feel
    was for us by pain oppress;
  Willing all things to endure,
    Our salvation for procure."
               ~Ignatius to Polycarp

Early Church Hymn

"Very Flesh, yet Spirit too;
    Uncreated, and yet born;
  God-and-Man in one agreed,
  Very-life-in-Death indeed,
  Fruit of God and Mary's seed;
    At once impassible and torn
  By the pain and suffering here below;
  Jesus Christ, whom as our Lord we know."
              ~Ignatius to the Ephesians

The RetroChurch...

In our last post we asked the question, "How do we know we have 'real' Christianity?" To answer this question we must traverse three fields of thinking; theology, the Bible, and history. In short, we have a real reflection of the faith if we have presented God and His character/actions in an orthodox way. We have what is real if we have presented a biblical foundation for salvation/sanctification/glorification that is clear and verifiable. Also, we have a real faith if we have properly rooted and guided into the historical practices that were given for all by a "great cloud of witnesses."

This last sentence is where we have a tendency to say...wait...what?

Yet this reliance on history is an important and indispensable guide to capturing and protecting a reflection of the Christian faith that is "real". Without a faithful reliance on history you are not a faithful reflection of the church.

It is time for your church to go retro.

In Michael Svigel's book, RetroChristianity, he gives us a guide on discerning the influences of history. Let's face it, when I say that we need history in order to be "real", some not so good moments in the life of the Christian church can be conjured up. One may say, "there is a lot that we must avoid in history and by avoiding the bad the church currently looks the way we do." To be fair, we need to be aware and conscious when dealing with history. We need not take anything blindly. But we must not neglect the work of God through history by ignoring those that came before us. Svigel suggests these as a guide:

Some things Never Change and Never Should.

There are some things that simply should never change. The center of our faith is Jesus Christ. Not the healings of Jesus, but Jesus. Not the sacrifice (continually) of Jesus, but Jesus. Not the prosperity of Jesus...wait...okay that is just not Christian. Jesus is and should be the center of our faith. We can learn much from history (especially the early church fathers) on making Christ and his gospel the center of it all.

The story of our faith should be the Trinitarian creation (Father, Son, and Spirit all active in the creative acts), redemption, and restoration. Our faith can never leave this story. Our worship can never stop replaying this central drama. This is historical worship. This is Christian faith.

The markers (doctrines) of our faith should always stay the same. These markers come through the struggles and biblical wrestlings of our fathers. To leave our fathers behind is to say that we no longer need their voice, their thoughts, their fights. Sadly, many do this very thing. Some, even proudly.

Some things have Never been the Same and Never Will Be.

Still, some things can never be the same. There is a diversity among Christians today unlike any in history. We have different denominations and reflections on orthodoxy and that is not necessarily a bad thing. We cannot have the solidarity that our church fathers enjoyed. We cannot go back to that time and we should not seek to idealize it. What we can do is learn to embrace diversity. We can have unity in essentials while maintaining diversity (and discussion) of non-essentials. Without history we can (and have)...(and do)... easily confuse the two.

Some things Grow Clear through Trial and Error.

I do not advocate leaving the challenges of the present by blindly retreating to the "golden days" of the past. We are where, and when, we are. We have learned through the decades and centuries. We have grown through time. We must continue growing. But we can also keep learning through remembering. Many traditions and many time periods have golden gifts for us if we will accept them. We do not have to accept them all. We can continually be guided by theology and Biblical faithfulness.

As Michael Svigel says, "This is not returning to the past, but retrieving the past for the present."

Peanut Butter Christianity

In his book, RetroChristianity, Michael Svigel discusses the appetite of the current church-goer for all things inauthentic. We have been tasting something manufactured using the ingredients of post-reformation, post-Great Awakening, and post-revivalism faith for so long that we can hardly recognize what is truly authentic.

More than this. When we do taste the authentic faith of Historic Christianity as it was practiced and believed by our forefathers we quickly spit it out. We may even pull back from this authentic product. Svigel compares our reaction to that of peanut butter.

Most Americans today are not really eating peanut butter. We may think that we are eating peanut butter but we usually are not. Look at the back of the jar. Peanut butter is peanuts. Peanuts that have been ground up into a smooth form something like butter. We buy something smoother. We buy something sweeter. In fact, if most of us tasted "Natural" peanut butter we would probably not like it....at first.

But it still looks like peanut butter. It is still labeled peanut butter.

The same is true for Christianity. Current Evangelicals look Christian. They are labeled Christian.

"What I'm suggesting is this: over the last several decades, many of us evangelicals have become increasingly accustomed to a less "natural" form of Christianity. While still essentially Christian, many aspects of evangelicalism have become victims of "enrichment"   by non-Christian ingredients that are meant to enhance the faith. This "enrichment" has been done to make the gospel more convenient, palatable, or marketable. Yet as these added ingredients take up more and more space, the essentials of the faith are necessarily displaced."

 For us to continue forward without regarding the essential elements of Christianity that have been clearly evident in historical practices as they have been believed everywhere, always, and by all is for us to continue to accept a mere imitation of real Christianity.

"The time has come for evangelicals to reclaim the forgotten faith. However, this means doing something many are reluctant to do. It means reflecting on the past to rethink the present and revitalize the future. It means, in short, to think not just biblically and theologically, but also historically."  

We will continue in future posts to discuss a few ways that we can recover a more "natural" reflection of Christian faith.

Freedom from Independence...

The mark forever placed on those that are born and raised in the United States of America is an appreciation and celebration of freedom. Specifically, the type of freedom that displays itself in independence from another governing authority. Men and women of this country fought for it...died for it...and continue to defend it.

This passion for independence affects much of what is done in America. Independence is a cultural norm. It is a social expectation. We see it in marketing, in education, in entertainment, in technology, and in worship.

The standard form of Christian worship in America has been to gather as individuals...sing as individuals...have a sermon prepared and performed by an individual...and if we happen to take communion (depending on whether you hit the right day of the year) we take it individually. We are independent!

But this is not Biblical worship.

Biblical worship has a specific pattern that it follows. It has a form. This form is not arbitrary. The form is not dependent on personal creativity, the talent of the music leader, or the budget of the congregation. The form is Biblical, historical, and universal. This pattern and form does not negate our freedom. It upholds our freedom. It remembers our freedom. Freedom from slavery in the Exodus. Freedom from class, race, and gender. Freedom from the bounds of sin. Freedom from the ravages of death.

Freedom from independence.

In Biblical Christian worship we tell a story. The story of creation, redemption, and new creation. We tell this story with signs, drama, and participation. It has a beginning (invocation) and an end (benediction). It celebrates Christ's incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection in gathering around the table for Eucharist (thanksgiving). It demands response from the people through hymns, creeds, prayers, doxologies, confessions, and offerings.

This is worship that is Biblical.

This form and pattern of worship also unites Christians throughout time and space. We are in communion with patriarchs, saints of old, a gathering of languages, cultures, genders, and classes. This is worship that gives freedom. Not freedom to deconstruct and rework. Not freedom to explore a new way but a freedom to walk in ancient ways. This is freedom to be who we were created to be. This is freedom to behave how we were created to behave. This is freedom from being on my own. This is a freedom that is shared by a people...a new people. To engage the spiritual realities through physical signs. This is worship.

True worship is freedom from independence.

Such a Great Cloud of Witnesses

Our last blog post about reading Scripture in light of history ("History Glasses") brought up some very good questions in response. Two questions that surfaced regularly were "why?" and "how?" In other words, people wanted to know why history is such an important part of seeing Scripture more clearly and they also wanted to know how they could begin to tackle such a daunting task.

We have a far deeper and more rich fellowship within the church than many people realize and many churches (see our last post) refuse to acknowledge as a witness to various views. Hebrews calls this rich and deep fellowship "a great cloud of witnesses" (12:1). This "great cloud" that surrounds us allows us to "look to the author and perfecter of our faith". Some of us have grown up completely segregated from the church fathers and find them foreign and aloof. Many others approach them with skepticism and a Western idea that newer is better. We who live in the west have a natural predisposition to be wary of history because we can see their mistakes.

Christianity, however, points us to embrace history because the Spirit of God has been moving then, as now, to lead and guide us in faith (the point of Hebrews chapter 11). It is precisely because we can see the mistakes of others that history becomes more important for us. If we are led by the same Spirit, in the same faith, to worship the same Lord, then we might just be heading for some of the same errors. The fathers have given us a gift of seeing farther because we "stand on the shoulders of giants"(CS Lewis).

The barrier of how to go about engaging these fathers is a bit tricky. The immediate attraction is to pick up a history book and begin to read or purchase a paperback of the church fathers (here) and think that we can be in communion with them. These tasks may be helpful but they are not fellowship with the Christ in communion with the saints.

This kind of communion comes in worship, community, and mission. This comes as we celebrate, share, and serve together as we take into account the hearts, minds, and efforts that have come before. This means that pastors have a necessary responsibility to point us toward reflections, prayers, hymns, and confessions of the faithful. We need to be made aware where and when these meditations came from so that we can learn to appreciate them and even learn to read the fathers with eyes for insight. Our worship leaders need to purposely choose music that unites us with ancient paths and future ones.

Our faithful fathers of days gone by are not to be forgotten. They were, and are, the church. We owe much to them. We venture on a journey that has been laid bare by the feet of the faithful that have come before.

This ancient path is our guide as we walk into a glorious future.

Gospel Time...

This is the time of year when the Christian calendar is most known. More people are aware of the events of Easter and the significance to the Christian story. Soon Easter will pass. The mainstream church, of which I used to be a part, will continue to celebrate time in a not-really-distinct secular manner. We will see opportunities to come together to celebrate moms, dads, patriotic holidays, even celebrations of Halloween will take place. This is a sad state of affairs. The calendar of the church has always meant much more. It has pointed to the Christian story. The Christ story. The Gospel.

The Gospel calendar begins at Easter. From the moment of resurrection time has changed for the one who is a Christian. We celebrate time differently. We celebrate with remembrance and expectation. The Gospel calendar moves backward from Easter Sunday to Advent. And then forward to Pentecost (which ends at Advent). This ordering of the calendar has real significance.

As we can see here the calendar displays 6 movements of time. Advent is a time of expectation, of waiting for Jesus to come into time...into our hearts...once again for consummation. Advent ends at Christmas where we celebrate the Son of God becoming man. Christmas lasts for 2 weeks (not one day). Christmas gives way to Epiphany where we celebrate Jesus being "manifested" (this is what epiphany means) through his teaching and miracles and it lasts for 9 Sundays. Lent begins after Epiphany as the Christian begins to celebrate renewal and restoration as a prelude to the resurrection event. This season takes us through mourning and suffering into victory and triumph. Easter lasts for 7 weeks!!! The resurrection and subsequent appearances by Christ to his followers revealed his glorified nature and purpose for all mankind. The final season is Pentecost. This is a time to celebrate all that the church is and what it means to live in this "Day of the Lord" in expectation and action.

We miss so much when we lay these significant moments aside. Worse, when we pick up less worthwhile celebrations that celebrate nothing of Christ and nothing of the purpose of the church. Our preaching and teaching could easily follow these celebrations as we spent half of our time focusing on the person and work of Christ and the other half on the purpose and function of the church.

I cannot fathom whatever made us trade so much for so little.

All of this is not said to press us to simply pay homage to a foregone era. This is not to remain in some sort of nostalgia about the way things used to be. This is said to press us to relay to our people a sense of who we are in Christ. As we engage the Gospel story we continue to grow. The Gospel calendar allows us to pause, reflect, celebrate, and recall exactly who we are. Through these sacred actions we are nourished, sustained, and compelled through grace.