Every church service should have the power of the Spirit manifest, we should be seeing the gifts happen. It’s that simple. You have to provide a system in which those gifts flow – and you both enable those who have something from God to share, and those who are a little kooky and spooky to be restrained and prevented from sharing nonsense – thereby protecting your flock.
Freedom is not freedom to be kooky. It is freedom to serve responsibly. If you have an open mic, trust me someone will take advantage of it, and it will take a while to clean up and it will be harder than you think. You think you have sorted it and weeks later someone is still trying to live and die by some nonsense word. Paul never told the immature and foolish and ambitious Corinthians to stop using the gifts, he gave them ways to use them in order. As pastors we have to do the same. Paul started with the basics – if you want to drink alcohol, stay home, don’t come to church. Then he said things like no more than two tongues messages per service – no more than two prophetic words – only one person interprets a tongues message.
It is up to you as a pastor to learn these Biblical principles and insist your church follow them. We had a worship leader who would stop the worship and let people share testimonies between songs. It stopped people truly getting into a place of worship, the testimonies became blander and blander, and the songs became less reflective and less focused on Jesus, and more of a performance. Now as the pastor, I cannot let that happen – I had to insist on certain standards for the worship service. It is my job – and your job – pastor – to train and equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. Our services now have much more powerful worship, more gifts, and more glory – it’s wonderful.
If the saints are being equipped and trained you have a healthy church. If the worship connects people to Jesus, you have a healthy church. If the gifts flow, you have a healthy church. If your church has no Holy Spirit, and your services have no flow, no gifts, no power – or on the other hand, no order, no restrains, no standards for those you platform – then you are failing your church and your people.
At Tree of Life Church, we have certain standards for people who are at the front – whether it is preaching, leading worship, leading children’s ministry or youth ministry, or flowing in the gifts. You have to be loyal to the church, in regular attendance, a tither, part of a small group, and not driven by the spotlight. In addition, you have to be sexually pure – not living with your boyfriend or girlfriend for example. Those standards protect our people and line us up with the Word, and bring more glory, more freedom, more power and more gifts to our church services.
As pastors we either enforces these standards and see God’s glory, or we fail to, and then that is on us. Take charge of your service!
Inspiring and Challenging Dreamers 