by D. S. Parrack (England)
It may well be worthwhile now to look at some practical aspects, including, some misconceptions, which can lead to the abuses referred to in the title.
There are certain words and phrases which are sometimes seen as synonyms for extempore speaking. Perhaps the simplest of these are given as ‘being unrehearsed‘, or ‘not being prepared in advance‘. Someone once quoted, as an alleged saying of Spurgeon, "It takes a lot of preparation to be a good extempore speaker." That, taken at face value, is a direct contradiction in terms, but in Bible ministry at least it is very true. Towards the end of a time when he had spoken many parables, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man which is an house-holder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old," Matt.13.52. Treasure usually takes a long time, and probably a lot of effort, to accumulate. Although any specific occasion of ministry may not have been prepared or rehearsed in advance, the ability to speak without such preparation can only come if there are stored up resources on which to draw. One of the activities of the Holy Spirit spoken of by the Lord Jesus was to "bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you," Jn.14.26. You cannot remember something which you never knew, something which perhaps someone told you but to which you paid no attention. After someone has spoken at an ‘open platform’ conference, a rare occurrence nowadays, one hearer wishing to express appreciation said "It must have taken you a long while to prepare a message like that." "Yes" replied the speaker, "it has taken me most of my life." That is speaking without rehearsal, but most certainly not without preparation and listeners who pay attention can usually distinguish very easily between the two.
Another alleged alternative is ‘ad libbing’ which really means ‘at pleasure,’ or colloquially, ‘as one pleases.’ That is most certainly not the spirit in which anyone should attempt to minister amongst believers, whether extemporarily or by invitation. Paul says with all seriousness, "Let a man so account of us as the ministers (servants JND) of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful," 1Cor.4.1-2. Since, then, we are stewards of God and servants of Christ among His people, we ought not to please ourselves as to what we are teaching or ministering. That would include not always riding our own favourite hobby-horse and not erecting a series of targets just so as to be able to show how adept we are at knocking them down. Our prime concern should be the honouring of the Lord Jesus among His people and in practice this is best achieved by their being edified, or built up, in Him. We need in our service to respond positively to the challenge. "Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church," 1Cor.14.12.
When asked recently to explain the meaning of extempore speaking, one person answered, "It is speaking off the cuff." Now that is precisely what it is not. ‘Speaking off the cuff’ was what some speakers did, especially at dinners or functions, in the days when men, on such occasions, wore stiff cuffs on which notes could be written and could just as easily be kept hidden from the audience. No sheaves of notes were required, no prompts from someone nearby, and the impression was given of someone speaking knowledgeably and fluently without recourse to any prepared script. Unfortunately, and this is one area where the abuse of ‘open meetings’ is most common and deliberate, some individuals prepare in advance just what it is they are determined to say. Not by literally writing on their cuffs but sometimes with an annotated Bible or by simply quoting from memory what they had rehearsed beforehand. Of course our hearts, and our minds, need to be prepared before we come to any meeting and especially so to the most usual form of ‘open meeting’ nowadays, the Lord’s Supper (see e.g. 1Cor.11.28). That will be to our own benefit as well as for the good of others but to come determined to make some particular point, or to deal with some supposed problem, in the course of a worship meeting, is taking unscrupulous advantage of the situation and fellow believers are entitled to expect better than that from each other.
One further aspect related to the immediate context, and which applies especially to the breaking of bread meeting, is that of maintaining a theme. This is in turn linked with what is often referred to as ‘being led by the Spirit.’
It is only to be expected that if one person commences a particular line of thought in their praying, reading or speaking, that the minds of others will tend to gravitate to that area of things. We ought not to feel though, that we are always bound to follow such a lead or, of even more concern, to suggest that anyone else who fails to follow is cutting across a predetermined theme for the whole meeting. After all, Paul’s letters do not usually concentrate on just one aspect of truth.
The question of either sticking to a theme, or conversely, not feeling bound by convention to follow a given line of thought, would be resolved much more easily if we took to heart some of the earlier points of this discussion. If, for instance, we were not merely pleasing ourselves or emphasising our own pet theories. It might help too in this context to remember Paul’s words regarding what, in the very simplest terms, could and could not, be expected from a person speaking under the guidance, or control, of the Holy Spirit. "Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed," which is so obvious that it hardly seems necessary to say, but it is just part of the matter. "And no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit," 1Cor.12.3. These words came near the very beginning of the section of this letter dealing with the overall subject of the use of spiritual gifts in the local church. If everything that we say then, can be clearly seen as pointing to the worth and work of the Lord Jesus, we can accept it as the fulfilling by the Holy Spirit of that function of His. "He shall glorify me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you," Jn.16.14. This is the essence of the Spirit led worship, a glorifying of, an expressing of the worth of, the Person of the Lord Jesus.
The term ‘led by the Spirit’ is not, in fact, one which, in the N.T., is used in connection with worship or public speaking. It is related to practical activity or daily living. We read, that "Jesus - was led by the Spirit into the wilderness," Lk.4.1. Paul, in writing both to the Romans and the Galatians, and saying to them respectively, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God," Rom.8.14 and "If you are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law," Gal.5.18, is talking about the practical implications resulting from their new life in the Lord Jesus. He refers to himself and those at Rome as "— us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit," Rom.8.4, and he wants that to be evidenced in daily living by the Galatians, to whom he gives the encouragement "Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh," Gal.5.16. ‘Walking’ is, in the reality of Christian experience, an ongoing, progressive activity, and that is what the leading of the Spirit should result in for us.
There are no more fitting or appropriate words with which to conclude this whole discussion than those which Paul uses to close the chapter of which our chosen verses are part. "Let all things be done decently (comelily JND, or decorously) and in order," v40
—(concluded)