Whose order is it anyway?

There have been a few things on my heart lately. Both apply to very "popular" scriptures that, when read in the original text of Greek and/or Hebrew, have been quite misquoted, misrepresented and, at times, misused directly to twist things into a man-pleasing event we sometimes call 'church'.

Order - the word in itself evokes a type of control to my own mind. When this happens, I find myself searching the Word of God for meaning in its truest form. So many times I have heard 1 Corinthians 14:40 quoted and honestly, I have only recently delved into its real form and meaning. This, of course, may surprise you and perhaps even a offend a few more but I pray you seek out the scriptures for yourself. It would never be my intent to offend anyone but I also realize many people choose to take offense when truth is revealed and its upsets their comfort zones.

The verse reads, "Let all things be done decently and in order." Here Paul is talking to Christians in Corinth about orderly worship. To go into other sections of chapter 14 would require many, many other posts so I will try to stay on task here. One must understand how worship services were conducted back then to really grasp the full context and meaning of this part of scripture. It was common that the men and women of the church did not sit together. It was more like men on one side, women on the other. There were times when the women might shout across the room to their spouses and question the teachings right in the middle of things! This alone prompted Paul to instruct the women in the church at Corinth to "remain silent in the church" and to "inquire of their husbands at home". Again, another misquoted verse over the years when religious doctrine says this means women cannot preach, teach, etc. Thank you for the freedom you gave us, Jesus!

The word "order" has many definitions in Webster's Dictionary. The first one reads "social position; rank in the community" then onto "a state of peace and serenity; observance of the law". Wow! Isn't it the law that Jesus set us free from? Hmm...I am thinking this next one is what most doctrine feels works the best for them: "the sequence of arrangement of things or events; series; succession". Oh the scary part of it all! You see, the way God operates is very different to the system of the world. His ways are higher, His thoughts are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9), higher than any fleshly idea we can muster.

So, I am readying myself now for going to the Strong's Concordance in this verse, 1 Corinthians 14:40 and the word "order". In the Greek, this word is "taxis" and is a noun, not a verb, not an adverb, as we commonly refer to what order means. We have been taught order is a series of pre-planned events lined out by the Pastor as to how things are going to go in the service we are attending. I cannot help but question where is God allowed to function as Himself here? Order is a tangible thing rather than a descriptive term or word of action. In this verse it is describing the "nature" of God. OK, my spiritual eyeballs are like popping opening as I am reading this! Let everything be done decently and in the nature of God. A whole new meaning unfolds before me and, I must confess, HAVE to look into what is considered decently!

Back to Webster's...surprisingly, the first definition of this word "decent" brings almost an identical term in part of the Strong's concordance, which is "proper and fittingly". It goes on to list further meanings as "not immodest; not obscene" but the humdinger is this one: "conforming to approved social standards". WHOA! This is what we are trying to contain God in? A box designed according to what man believes conforms to an approved social standard?!? I think we need to re-think our doctrine, if this is what we are using! God cannot be contained and He cannot be controlled, He won't be. It is not in His nature to conform to the standards of man, indeed quite the opposite is required. We must conform to His standard, His way of living. We are created in His image, not our own.

Fittingly - I love this word! Fittingly is "applied to that which accords harmoniously with the character, spirit or tone of something". Decently literally means "honestly". The Greek word is "euschemonos" and is used in the original text as an adverb, or a term used to described something.

OK, so now I am going, "God! What are trying to say here?!?Why have we missed this intricate detail of Your character?" The reply I received from Him, within my spirit was this,"Let everything be done honestly and according to My nature." Yes, fittingly is it! Everything being done harmoniously with the character of God! OK, so now I get it but what do I do with this? It literally throws out the door the pre-printed bulletins, the song list, even the message from the preacher when we are not sensitive to what God wants to do at that very moment. When was the last time a church service was interrupted by the Holy Spirit? When was the last time worship lasted an entire service, perhaps only dwelling on one song? When was the last time Christian's gathered together and just ministered unto the Lord, rather than seeking our 'fix" for the week? When was the last time we took off the man-made handcuffs and unleashed God's manifest presence just by wanting to be with Him?

This opens up more questions I have for God. "God, what is Your character? What is it to be harmonious with Your nature?" I want to be like Him in being the creation He designed me to be. He created me in His image, in His likeness and I am so far from that. Oh, Jesus, help me! My heart's desire is to be in harmony with You, to be like Your nature, to be that "little Christ" that Christian's are called to be. Show me, Lord! Purge me, Lord, of things not in Your nature. Oh, Jesus, I am undone!