Sometimes when attempting to apply the Scripture to our lives, I think we miss the point. I'll give you an example.
1 Corinthians 14:22-25 says, Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
A lot of people will look at this passage of Scripture and see a discussion about spiritual gifts. I look at it and see God's heart for the unchurched!
First of all, I see that in the early church, as believers met together week-to-week they were bringing the unchurched to their services. They weren't having church as a Christian 'bless-me' club, they were using their services to reach the lost!
Secondly, it's clear that God wants us to conduct our services with the unchurched in mind! We have a tendency to think about how our services will be received by Christians, but obviously God is more concerned about those who have yet to receive Christ as their Savior. Instead of catering to the whims of those already secure in their salvation, we should structure our services to purposefully appeal to those who do not know Christ.
The motive of bringing unchurched people to our services should be to get them saved! I'm so glad our church understands that! At Crossroads, our people look at their role in our church as a partnership. They know if they will leverage their influence with the unchurched to get them to one of our services, that service will be designed to bring their friends to a decision about Christ. Every week, dozens of people receive Christ as their Savior at our services because of that partnership!
The next thing I see in this passage is that God wants to use everyone in the church to accomplish His goal of bringing the unchurched to Christ through weekly church services. Verse 24 talks about everybody prophesying. Now, I know what you're thinking: "How's that going to work? Will everyone take turns getting up on the platform and prophesying?" Our problem is with our concept of prophecy! We think that prophesying is pronouncing a word of warning or judgement. It certainly can come down to that, but the word 'prophesy' simply means to proclaim! A proclamation doesn't have to be words at all! Like the old saying goes, "Our actions speak louder than our words." God wants to use the actions of every member of the church to make a proclamation to the unchurched attending our services. What is that proclamation? Verse 25 makes it clear: The proclamation is, "God is here!" God is in our services. That fact will bring sinners to their knees in repentance and reverence saying, "God really is among you." How will they know? Because our actions will reveal it - The way we have treated them, the kindness we've shown. Remember, Romans 2:4 says it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance. Let's make godly kindness the proclamation we collectively make each weekend in our services to reach the lost!
