The article urging a formal Bible class structure mostly presents assertions rather than sound scriptural reasoning. There is no scriptural basis to the assumption that God-honoring worship cannot be conducted in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. The apostle John was leaning on the Lord Jesus at the last supper, which was surely one of the greatest worship services of all time.
Location not important
The idea that worship must always be associated with the physical location of our memorial service sounds more like church tradition than Christadelphian thinking. Individually and collectively the believers are the place of God’s dwelling, not a particular physical location. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God” asked Paul of the believers.
Wherever we go, what we do should be done with God’s presence in mind. Our worshipful attitude should be a constant in our lives. The idea that a dress shirt and tie is somehow equated with holiness is not what we are about. We are concerned with the humble and Christ-like spirit.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Woe unto you…hypocrites! For you are like white-washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” Let us exalt inward holiness over external appearance and formalities.
We need to remember that ecclesial halls are rightly used for a variety of purposes. Wedding showers, young people’s activities and fraternal meals are often held in the same room as the memorial service. Most ecclesias cannot afford a separate sanctuary and, even if they could, many would want to spend their funds on some other worthwhile purpose.
AB’s don’t need to control everything
Are the arranging brethren the only spiritually-minded people in the ecclesia? While an arranging board is necessary for the convenient conduct of ecclesial business matters, we don’t want to revert to the very hierarchical structure that our pioneer brethren eschewed. Is it not the way of apostate Christianity where only the clerical class is considered qualified to decide what is best for our spiritual good?
Our mid-week class selects its own area of study from choices put forward by members of the class. Usually this consists of a choice between various books of the Bible. The brethren take turns doing a chapter apiece, spending from one to four weeks leading the class on that chapter. The format varies with each brother but the most successful for learning purposes is a few minutes of remarks followed by discussion and questions from anyone in the class. Sisters do wear hats but general dress is more casual than formal. I can only remember one time when one young person had to be reminded about appropriate attire. Separate classes are provided for the young children.
The discussion is frequently vibrant and highly edifying and often continues on well after the class has formally ended.
A problem with monologues
We have noted that giving a brother an uninterrupted period of 50 minutes exposes the ecclesia to more crochets and personal opinions than the format in which the leader can be interrupted at any time by someone raising his hand. Furthermore, the audience has great trouble being edified by a poorly presented, poorly organized talk that goes on for so long. Our system of having so many brethren give classes is no doubt good for their long-run scriptural development, but there needs to be some way of making the experience good for the presenter and for the audience.
Thought control
The final section of the preceding article smacks of thought control. Christadelphians, of all people, cannot fall into this trap. If we are fearful of discussing various ideas, we are expressing our own doubts about the validity of our understanding of scripture. Those of us who have raised children to adulthood know that issues of all kinds must be faced squarely and solutions provided by means of clear biblical teaching.
Just now I was at a sister’s class where some teachers from another group were invited to present their views on the position of natural Israel in God’s plan. Our sister presented a lucid exposition starting with Romans 11 and developing her points straight from the Bible. Their lead person read their position from a book prepared by their denomination. The contrast was striking.
Finally, the writer exalts the pioneer writings as material which should be a standard for Bible class presentations. Again, this reasoning is veering in the wrong direction. The pioneer writings should be read by every Christadelphian as they are valuable aids in Bible understanding. Scripture, however, must form the mainstay of our Bible classes and that is the spirit of our pioneer brethren.
Each of us is called to be a servant of God in our own right. And each of us can only become a faithful servant if we are full of that word which is able to completely equip us for living a life in true worship of God.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One