Freedom, Order, and Building Up the Church

What happens when spiritual gifts become a source of division instead of unity? This Sunday, Pastor Josh dove into 1 Corinthians 14 and tackled two of the most divisive topics in church history -- spiritual gifts and the position of women -- with a message that kept circling back to one thing: everything we do should build up the church, and love is the guardrail that holds it all together.

The Two Things That Divide the Church Most

Pastor Josh opened with a candid admission: he half-joked that after this sermon, he might lose some church members. Why? Because he was going to deal honestly with two topics that he's seen divide the church of God more than anything else in his years of ministry.

The first: spiritual gifts -- specifically, are you charismatic or not? Cessationist or continuationist? The second: the position of women -- complementarian or egalitarian? He noted that many in the church don't even know what those terms mean, which is partly why he needed to address them.

But before going deep, he gave us his theological backstory. He grew up in a very conservative Presbyterian church in Korea. Then he came to Australia and attended a charismatic Bible college -- a completely new world. After that, Morling College (Baptist, more Arminian), then Presbyterian Bible college (Reformed), then a missions-focused college for his master's.

"Now you know why I'm confused."

The point wasn't just autobiography. It was this: Heartbeat Church is shaped by his journey through all these traditions. His theological conviction directly shapes how the church expresses itself. Some people came because of that. Some left because of it. He accepts both.

Building Up the Church: Paul's Common-Sense Guardrail

Turning to 1 Corinthians 14, Pastor Josh walked through Paul's teaching on tongues and prophecy. The Corinthian church had a problem: people were speaking in tongues randomly during gatherings, and it was causing confusion and division. Some felt spiritually superior because of their gift. Paul's response, Pastor Josh argued, was essentially common sense.

Paul wants believers to speak in tongues -- he says so explicitly. But the real question is whether it builds up the church or just builds up the individual. Speaking in tongues in private? Great. Grabbing a microphone and doing it when nobody understands? That doesn't help anyone.

Pastor Josh then got personal. He speaks in tongues himself. He received the gift at his charismatic Bible college and found it transformative -- especially as someone who struggled with English prayer. He described how speaking in tongues bypasses the mind and connects directly from the heart to God, like a kind of spiritual telepathy.

"Speaking in tongues was so good because it bypasses my mind. It's like I know what I'm speaking, in my mind I know what my heart is actually moving toward. I just don't have to describe it."

He even drew a funny parallel to his dating days with his wife -- sitting across from each other, trying to read each other's minds because they were in love. His problem has always been expression, not feeling. And tongues solved that with God.

But he was equally firm: having the gift doesn't give you permission to impose it on others. He shared how one person left Heartbeat Church after Pastor Josh encouraged people to seek the gift of tongues -- something Paul literally says in the text. The tension between personal edification and corporate building-up is the whole point of the chapter.

Christian Hippies and Spiritual Nerds

One of the sermon's best moments was Pastor Josh's take on the divide between "spiritual" and "cerebral" Christians. Paul says to pray with the spirit and with the mind. But some people think coming to faith means leaving your brain at home.

"Some of you guys are very spiritual, and some of you are very cerebral. And the two are fighting against each other. Spiritual people, there's nothing wrong with you. You are the Christian hippies. And you cerebral people, there's nothing wrong with you either. You're just spiritual nerds."

The problem, he said, is that we see people who are different as a threat instead of as a gift from God. God deliberately sends people who are different so they can complement what we lack. That's how the body of Christ works.

He illustrated this vividly from his own journey -- growing up in the structured, uniform Korean Presbyterian tradition where everyone prayed in unison and danced the same choreographed dance, then arriving at a Hillsong-style Bible college where the leader said to improvise a new song. He watched a shy New Zealand girl suddenly sprint across the room dancing wildly when the music hit. His first thought was bewilderment. But that season expanded his spiritual boxes and made him the pastor he is today.

He told another story about a church in America situated between a wealthy white community and a poor community struggling with addiction. One man with bipolar disorder would randomly pray for the white pastor to die. The church showed grace and never kicked him out. When the same man wanted to play electric guitar during worship -- badly -- the pastor found a solution: let him play, but unplug his guitar. Freedom and love, held in tension.

Where Peace Is Born: The Tension Between Freedom and Order

This was the theological heart of the sermon. Paul gives practical instructions: when tongues are spoken publicly, limit it to two or three, take turns, and have someone interpret. If there's no interpreter, keep it between you and God. Prophecy follows similar rules: two or three speak, others weigh what's said.

Pastor Josh distilled Paul's teaching into a powerful formula:

"Peace is the product of the tension between freedom and order. Order without freedom is manipulation and control -- that's not God. Freedom without order is confusion and chaos -- that's not God. When you come together, learn to maintain the balance and tension between freedom and order. That's where peace is born."

He positioned himself as a "Reformed Charismatic" -- someone who holds both biblical teaching and the spontaneous work of the Spirit. He believes gifts continue, including tongues, healing, and prophecy (not fortune-telling, but the kind that reveals the word of God and encourages). The reformed side keeps him grounded. The charismatic side keeps him free.

"God always surprises me. Be ready to be surprised by God. So should you. That's the Christian walk that Paul is inviting us into."

He challenged anyone who thinks they've got God figured out. Putting God in a theological box -- Calvinist, Methodist, whatever -- is prideful. A full life in Christ is a journey of ongoing surprise, not a product you arrive at.

On Women in the Church: Major on the Majors

The sermon then pivoted to 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, where Paul says women should be silent in church. Pastor Josh introduced complementarian and egalitarian views, laying out both positions fairly before sharing something deeply personal.

He confessed that he grew up as a spiritual male chauvinist. The cultural norm he inherited said women belonged in the kitchen and men watched TV. He never mistreated his wife, but deep inside, he looked down on women. Then life changed his heart. Watching his wife study for her PhD for ten hours straight, watching her come home exhausted and not sit down until everything was clean, watching the women of Heartbeat Church serve with extraordinary strength -- it all reshaped him.

"Women are not weak. I may have a bit more muscle. But actually, in the real fight of life, she's way stronger than me."

He pointed to Deb in the congregation -- someone carrying a disease who first came to Melbourne in a wheelchair, yet serves with undeniable strength and courage. He refused to stand before the church and say women cannot speak.

His answer on the complementarian vs. egalitarian debate? He promised a deeper treatment in coming weeks, but his position today was clear: this is not a major issue. The women's position in the Bible comes down to about three passages. The major issue is how all people can be saved and become children of God.

"Can the church talk more about the things the Bible talks more about, and talk less about the things the Bible talks less about? Major on the majors, minor on the minors."

Challenge: Express Who You Are -- But Do It in Love

Pastor Josh closed by bringing the whole sermon back to something personal and practical. Whether the passage deals with gender, spiritual gifts, or church order, there's one takeaway that applies to every person in the room.

"God wants to use you the way you are. You don't have to give up the person you are. There's a beautiful, wonderful design uniquely about you. It is okay to express that. But do it in love."

The real issue most of us face isn't theological -- it's relational. We lack love. We don't consider others. That's why marriages struggle. That's why relationships with parents break down. That's why house churches hit walls. Men and women are built so differently, and that's by design.

His final invitation was simple: come before God and ask him to give you that tension between freedom and order. Don't crush who you are. Don't impose who you are on others. Let love be the guardrail. And let God keep surprising you.