Part 3: Various practical guidelines

Christian rituals, artefacts and practices

When we talk about Christian rituals we mean those organised religious activities which people design, plan and participate in order to give praise to God, express themselves in worship, demonstrate commitment, or seek to remember, celebrate and communicate Christian truth. Some of those rituals may include religious artefacts, such as special clothing or special food items or candles or anything else used in religious ritual.   We believe that no Christian ritual or religious artefact is in itself spiritual or holy, neither does it in itself have any inherent power to impart salvation, healing or other blessings.   However, the message which is communicated by the use of ritual and artefact, may be empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring spiritual enlightenment, transformation or healing in our hearts if its message in accordance with Christ and His explicit teachings. 

The exact form of the ritual, the use of artefacts or not, the use of special dress or not is not the most important and depends on cultural, historical and other preferences.  Of utmost importance is whether the message which we seek to communicate through these forms of visual communication is in agreement with Christ and His teaching.

Baptism and dedication

In Matthew 28:18-20 Christ explicitly commanded His church to make disciples of all nations and baptising them.  Since baptism was an initiation event Christ is basically stating that we need to disciple people to identify with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, rather than with other deities.  This actually refers to the process of conversion and new birth for it is through the Holy Spirit that we are given a new identity as He baptises us into being part of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).  This spiritual reality is of utmost importance and not so much the mode in which we seek to express and communicate publicly the spiritual reality we have experienced.  Unfortunately there has been a lot of controversy about the mode of baptism and often to the point that the law of Christ is violated. Just as the Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking, it is also not about modes of baptism.  If someone chooses to baptise an infant and in so doing wants to express his or her faith in the presence and the working of the Holy Spirit within the community of faith and also in the life of the infant, then this is done as unto the Lord and we have no right to judge this. If someone else feels that a dedication is a better way of expressing the same faith no one has the right to judge this as it is unto the Lord.  In the same way if someone wants to publicly demonstrate that he or she has decided to commit him or herself to a life of following Christ in faith and obedience in the form of adult baptism, this is done as unto the Lord and no one has the right to judge this.  Someone else may decide to do a public confession of faith in front of a congregation while someone else may choose a totally different way of expressing his or her commitment of Christ.  As long as the message we seek to communicate and the mode in which we do it does not contradict the teachings of Christ it is acceptable.  God looks at the heart and not at the correct form of rituals or outward symbolism.  It is important to keep in mind that no ritual is anything in itself, it is the spiritual reality behind it which is of utmost importance.  If someone’s heart is not right before God the ritual of baptism or any other symbolic act will not save or help him or her.  Just as physical circumcision had no value unless it was accompanied by the circumcision of the heart in faith and obedience similarly the visible baptism of our bodies has no covenant value unless there is the circumcision of the heart by true faith in Christ which by the inner working of the Holy Spirit becomes visible in obedient living.

The Lord’s supper

 
The celebration of the Lord’s supper has been instituted by Christ himself and should therefore be considered mandatory.  However, just as with any ritual or symbolic action that which is communicated is what is important and not so much the form in which it is done.  The Lord’s supper refers to the fact that Christ wants us to remember when we meet as a congregation that he gave his body for us on the cross for our salvation and that his blood was shed for the forgiveness of all our sins.  At the same time it reminds us that in the present we belong together as the body of Christ, bound together by His Spirit in love.  The implication of this is that we ought to relate to each other in the family of believers in a manner which reflect this reality (1 Cor. 11:20-34).  The Lord’s supper also reminds us of the word’s of Jesus at his last supper that he will not drink wine with his disciples again until he will drink the new wine with them in His Father’s kingdom (Mark 14.22-25, Mat. 26:26-30; Luke 22:14-23). These words of Jesus have an eschatological dimension and refer to the time that is coming when God’s Kingdom which has come and has been inaugurated in Christ will be fully realised when the restoration of all things takes place and Heaven and Earth are made as new. 
Celebrating the Lord’s supper is therefore a very meaningful symbolic act, even more so if we explain, stress and obey its implications. The precise format in which we celebrate the Lord’s supper is of far lesser importance.  Some may prefer to celebrate in the form of a love feast as was common in the early Christian Church, others prefer a solemn ritual whereby only a token of food and drink are consumed.  Whatever form we prefer, it is important that we focus on its true meaning. In the same way nature of the food and drink we take is of lesser importance. Some may prefer unleavened bread and real wine while others are satisfied with ordinary bread and diluted juice. Again others may use rice and water and so on.  Again, whatever format we use and whatever substance we use, we should do so as unto the Lord, guided by the Law of Christ, without judging and condemning those who do things differently.  After all, the Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking!  God who sees the heart will bless those who take part in the lord’s supper in obedience to Christ and His law, but those who take part in the Lord’s supper while violating the law of Christ bring God’s discipline and judgment upon themselves.  To forbid people from partaking in the Lord’s supper as is done in some congregations is tantamount to saying ‘you do not belong to the body of Christ’ and ‘you have no part in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross’. Such a disciplinary measure should not be taken lightly and only be applied to those who after repeated warning have been barred from the fellowship of believers until such a time that they truly repent from their deliberate sinful behaviour.  This is not done as a way of punishment or revenge but as a reminder to the obstinate person that he or she is not in a right relationship with Christ and those who belong to Him, and that they are in need of repentance.

Prayer

Prayer in a Biblical sense is honest communication with God, knowing that He already knows and cares about our needs, hopes, feelings and aspirations.  Prayer should never become an empty ritual but should be an honest expression of what is in our hearts.  God loves us dearly and wants to hear about our joys and gratitude but also our worries, fears, concerns, dreams, hopes, aspirations , plans, questions, confusion, desires and so on.  He always listens and always answers our prayers but sometimes the answer may be wait, not yet or simply no. Formal prayers just because it is tradition do not have any value unless we mean what we pray.  If we do not mean what we pray then we are in fact deceptive and act contrary to the law of Christ.  Prayers for public consumption so that we may appear respectable and spiritual are equally wrong.  Public prayer with the intention to edify and encourage others is good and encouraged in Holy Scripture.   Contrary to what is believed in non-Christian religions and the various magical traditions in the world, prayer does not contain any magical or supernatural power.  The idea that prayer is powerful in itself and that some forms of prayer may be more powerful than others is contrary to Christian belief. Prayer is not powerful in itself and yet even the weakest imperfect semi-ignorant prayer of a small child can have an enormous powerful effect.  It is not the power inherent in the prayer or the various methods and forms of prayer, the power is in the One who answers.  He has all authority in heaven and on earth and when He acts something happens.  We must, however accept that God does not always give us all we want and all we ask for. At times God may answer our prayers with a yes, sometimes with a not yet and sometimes the answer may be no.  At times God may not answer in accordance with our specific wishes and desires but He may answer in accordance with what we really need.  We must never reduce prayer to a manipulation tool with the aim to make God give us what we desire, such an approach is disrespectful and idolatrous as it reduces God to the level a slot-machine and portrays God as different from the Holy and exalted God of Holy Scripture.

Anointing with oil

The anointing of the sick with oil or the anointing of someone who has been set aside for a special task in God’s kingdom is a beautiful symbol which celebrates and communicates the ever present reality of God’s Holy Spirit and the fact that He can work through the believer in order to bring healing in the lives of others or edification or any other gift of love. It is not so much the constitution or amount of oil that is being used but the meaning we attribute to the action of anointing, the latter should be in agreement with the teachings of Christ and we must be all means avoid any magical notions of the oil containing any spiritual power.

General guidelines for other contextual rituals

Miscellaneous rituals and practices

There are many rituals, both official and unofficial found among Christians around the globe which may range from dedicating the uniform of a church official to having oneself literally crucified on a wooden cross.   No matter what form a ritual takes, we must first look at what it seeks to communicate. Is what is communicated in agreement with Holy Scripture and in particular Christ and His teachings? Secondly we must consider whether the method or form we use does not contradict what is explicitly taught in Holy Scripture. Self-mutilation for example is discouraged as is making an image of God.  We must bear in mind that no ritual or religious artefact contains any spiritual power as spiritual power is in God and not in a created item.  We must avoid having a magical view of rituals and artefacts.  Finally, we must remember that the kingdom of God is not a matter of rituals and religious artefacts but about the inner reality of the Holy Spirit, the ever present presence of Christ, God with us. If rituals and artefacts remind us of these spiritual realities they can be helpful but they should never become an end in themselves and should be considered optional rather than mandatory.  These guidelines do not only apply to formal rituals but also to informal rituals as well as partially conditioned behaviour such as falling in trance like states, noisy emotional expressions and other such outward manifestations which are often regarded as evidence of the presence of God even though He is ever present with His people and there is no need for His presence to be reduced to such.  Nevertheless, people may suddenly become aware of the ever present reality of Gods Holy Spirit and respond emotionally in various ways, these emotional expressions may be tolerated but must not be encouraged and should not be allowed to reduce the meeting of Gods people to chaos or distract from what is truly important: Christ and His explicit teachings.

Women in ministry

We live in a world were feminism has brought a necessary corrective to ungodly forms of male domination and oppression of women, particularly domestic violence and rampant sexual abuse of females in society.  At times the prevailing attitudes in the world towards women have also crept into the church leading to oppression, violence and abuse.  At times biblical teaching has been taken out of context to justify such evils.  Nevertheless, the fact that biblical teaching was abused does not mean that it becomes invalid.  Christ and His teachings stress the equality of all human beings before God, in that sense women are equal in value and importance to men.  In the gospels we also find men and women following Christ and active in serving Him.  However, when it came to the choosing of the twelve, Christ chose twelve men.  The early Christian church continued this pattern by sending out Paul and Barnabas and other men into the world as apostles and church planters.  The early Christian churches were all lead by male elders.  While we may misconstrue to this as oppression of women, it does not need to be understood that way.  This pattern goes back to Genesis where God concludes that it is not good for a man to be alone, he needs a helpmate, someone to assist, support, encourage him so that he is able to live his life as God intended.  It is therefore assumed that men in Christian leadership are supported by their wives, which is the reason why Paul stresses that the wives of elders and deacons need to be godly women (1 Tim. 3:11).  The fact that elders in the New Testament churches were all male does not mean that it is then forbidden to have female elders or church leaders.  However, where Scripture is silent we should not be dogmatic and it is up to every church to consider what would be best in their context.  This also applies to women involvement in other ministries including that of preaching and teaching.   

We may recall that New Testament prophecy in continuation of the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament was first and foremost a matter of forth-telling, the proclamation of Gods truth. It is a form of teaching. In the New Testament we therefore read that the testimony of Christ is the spirit of prophecy.  It is the proclamation of Christ and His teaching and their application in day to day life that is at the heart of New Testament prophecy.  Paul, therefore, states in 1 Cor. 14:1 ‘strive to prophecy’, and repeats this again in verses 5, 19 and 24.  Finally he concludes his treatise on prophecy by stating in verses 29-33 that this proclamation should be done orderly and also should not be dominated by one person as in fact everyone can prophecy.  So far Paul does not exclude any women, in fact in verse 31 he refers to ‘all’ rather than to men only. It is in the verses 34 to 35 where Paul states that wives should be silent and if they have any questions they should ask their husbands when they get home.  We must understand the women being silent together with them asking questions in church.  A church meeting is not the best place for getting into discussions and arguments.  Since the husband is the head of the family it is not right for his wife to undermine him publicly by asking questions which she could have asked him and if he did not know the answer he could have asked the elders.  That Paul was not against women in ministry in general and allowed women to preach and teach can be deduced from his favourable attitude towards Priscilla (Prisca) who was involved in teaching  together with her husband apart from hosting a church assembly in their home (Acts. 18:26, Rom. 16:3, 1 Cor. 16:19).  We may also consider that the apostle Junia in Romans 16:7 may very well have been a woman.  We can also think of Euodia and Syntyche who had worked with Paul for the Gospel (Phil. 4:2-3).   

Headship

The fact that women were and can be involved in Christian ministry does not change clear New Testament teaching on headship.  The husband is the head of the family just as Christ is the head of the church. The wife should submit to the husband voluntarily and out of love just as the church submits to Christ voluntarily and out of love.  Just as Christ is not dictatorial and aggressive in his headship of the church so the husband should not be dictatorial and aggressive in his headship of the family but instead emulate the self-giving, self-sacrificing loving nature of Christ (Eph. 5:21-33).