If you are sitting, get ready to stand?
I’ve got a brilliant scripture to think about – maybe it’s way out of our culture, or the way we do things, but, simply put, the instruction is out there; so how do we respond to it? Before you reach for your bible let me tell you, this is one of those few verses that looks at you across the church building with a raise eyebrow, whilst you look back quizzingly, shrug, and move on.
“If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.” (1 Cor 14:30) Now that’s not what we usually expect to happen in a meeting, is it? It’s rare. Unusual. Almost unheard of. But the very fact it’s written into the text shows it’s not only possible, but anticipated. That ought to at least select the pause button. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” sort of thing…
Picture the scene. George is speaking. Not rambling. Not dominating. Just sharing what he believes God has given. A great word, going well so far, when suddenly Mary, seated, not moving, not signalling, receives a revelation. She comes up to share, and George stops. Not because his word was flawed, but because the Spirit, in that precise moment, has shifted His emphasis. It’s not disorder. It’s divine interruption.
But apply the brakes a little here. There are some strange and stunning details in this instruction from Apostle Paul to a Corinthian church that put the charisma in charismatic.
Let’s start with noticing that the person receiving the revelation is sitting. That’s odd. Scripture doesn’t waste words. Why mention the posture? There’s something almost scandalous about it. The Spirit bypasses the one speaking and speaks to the one seated. Not posturing. Not pressing. Just present. It says something, doesn’t it? I think it infers how God delights to move through those not trying to be seen. About how the Spirit isn’t impressed by energy or visibility. Stillness, attentiveness – He finds them. That alone should unsettle our assumptions.
Obviously, this instruction requires interruption. Let the first be silent. Not, wait until they’ve wrapped up their point. Not, finish your thought. It’s immediate. Yield. Now. It’s an instruction to release the moment without resentment. That’s not easy, when speaking from a place of conviction, you’ll know how hard it is to stop mid-flow, to just stop. Watch the politician being interviewed on television when a journalist challenges an answer – they have to finish their paragraph! That’s the weight of the moment, and in our scenario – God is now speaking elsewhere, and we are to respond. It’s not a matter of protocol. It’s a matter of obedience.
On top of that, what’s being given is revelation, not opinion. This isn’t someone sharing a well considered thought they’ve been mulling over for weeks (and there’s nothing wrong with that). This is something fresh out of the oven – freshly revealed and unveiled by the Spirit. And that’s critical. There’s a difference between wanting to speak and being given something to speak. Revelation isn’t on demand – it’s received. It disrupts. It carries its own weight. It’s not subject to our systems. It’s – ‘“Oh! Something just came to mind…”
This whole moment paints a picture of the Spirit’s real-time ‘moving and stirring.’ No one’s in control here except Him. He’s weaving the gathering as He wills, moving from voice to voice, emphasis to emphasis, moment to moment. Chord to chord, changing the beat of the drum. Not through agendas, but through availability. And that gives us room to pause: have we made room for such moments? Or have we filled every space, every silence, every moment?
It’s a challenge. It costs both parties something. The one who has made it to the microphone has to yield. The one currently receiving must speak. Neither is in control. Both risk obedience. And perhaps that’s why we don’t see this much. It demands humility, trust, and attentiveness. But, what might be possible if we did?
I think this will ‘sit on the shelf’ for many more years. I don’t have a practical answer, and certainly don’t know how we would go about facilitating this. But wouldn’t it be exciting to be in a meeting where “This is what I feel God has been saying to us this week” to that sudden, intense, “God is saying, Today, if you hear His voice …” (Yes, we’re still in Hebrews at Emmanuel Sheffield!)
The verse is simple and the implications vast. Perhaps we’ve not seen this because we’ve not expected it, but the text remains – unapologetic, unedited. A quiet call to a very different kind of gathering?