May
16
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
In other words, give us what we need to sustain us until tomorrow. The point of teaching and exhortation in the Body of Christ is not to tickle our ears, blow our minds with new insights, and forge new connections through masterful re-translation. There is a place for that, and I love a Spirit-melting revelation as much as the next guy.
BUT … the higher goal of ministry is to equip believers to wake up tomorrow loving and obeying God more than they are today.
That may come through skilled and insightful teaching, but more often than not, the teachings and exhortations that actually help me the most (when it comes to actually obeying God and securing my affections in Him) are ones that are the most foundational, most genuine, most rooted in the Gospel. Sometimes what I need the most is someone to remind us that Jesus is Lord. Sometimes I just need to hear the Gospel again. Sometimes I just need to hear that if I fight through and set my heart on God and resolve to obey Him in everything, it will be worth it. That those who trust in Him are never put to shame.
A common trap in the church is a growing expectation that each teaching needs to be outdone by a more insightful or interesting one, almost like an addiction. This sets up a house of cards and actually discourages people from giving out of what God has given them. The barrier to entry creeps higher and higher. It’s especially dangerous in organic church because it’s even more likely than in small traditional churches that there won’t be someone in the group with a teaching gift to rival A.W. Tozer or Francis Chan (pick your poison).
The good news is that you don’t need Tozer in your local fellowship. You need exactly who God has put around you. You need normal church gatherings. You don’t lack any good thing. God equips the Body of Christ masterfully. And if you do have an itch for something deeper than what you hear in your church meetings, you’ll find no shortage of what you’re looking for via the Kindle store and podcasts.
And by the way, you might just end up in an organic church like ours that has multiple people with incredible teaching gifts that will pull out the mind-blowing treasures every now and again for you to feast on. 
Open Church Meetings
Posted by Ben
