‘Orderly Worship’
“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up…..If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:26, 37-40
For many years the contemporary church has been attempting to make its public worship services more comfortable for non-Christians by making them less ‘churchy’. The services are more informal, and tend to be more performance and entertainment oriented. On the positive side, for those churches that do this well it’s led to larger numbers in attendance, but in many cases it has also led to a diminished sense of reverence and awe in the worship gatherings. It’s a real challenge for the local church to encourage a sense of wonder in worship without sacrificing a vital sense of God’s presence. One of the keys to establishing this balance is to worship in the ways that God has prescribed while not losing our sense of inadequacy and the need for the enlivening presence of God’s Spirit in our worship services. There should be both solemnity and vitality in our worship, a mix that is not easily achieved. And yet, we can move closer to this goal if we keep our worship services simple, Christ centered, Christ honoring, and grounded in God’s Word.
Two Principles
In the text cited above, we’re given two principles that will shape the way we worship together. The first principle is the principle of mutual edification - “...Let all things be done for building up (v.26).” When we gather to worship together, the objective should be edification. Our worship services should encourage, comfort, challenge, and stir us to become more deeply devoted to Christ. This is accomplished when our services of worship focus our attention on Christ - “...faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word [the preached word] of Christ (Rom. 10:17).” The more we learn about him the stronger our faith becomes. We become like the one we worship. Mutual edification is the first principle. Our desire should be to see each other grow in Christ and leave a worship service with a more fully-informed faith.
The second principle is the principle of appropriate formality - “But all things should be done decently and in order (v.40).” A corporate worship service is to be ordered in a way that’s considerate of others and contributes to the edification of everyone present. There has always been a certain amount of tension created in the church around the issues of form and freedom in public worship. In the minds of some, structuring and pre-planning a worship service hinders spontaneity, and restricts the work of the Holy Spirit; and yet, everywhere you look in God’s creation there is order and form, giving shape and limit to human expression. There are physical limits, spatial limitations, moral limits, and natural boundaries in which we live. What would happen if we all lived unbounded lives with no regard for one another?
God works through form, and in corporate worship form brings freedom by eliminating disorder. It also sets the stage for mutual edification. Form and freedom are necessary companions in corporate worship. So when we gather to worship God together our concern shouldn’t be with how much freedom we’re given to express how we feel at any given moment; but rather, our attention should be focused on Christ and how we can worship together by expressing our corporate voice in ways that honor him. We need to worship together in an orderly way so that the whole church is edified.
Expressions of Worship
In order for us to worship together in a mutually edifying way five expressions of worship are to be included in our services. One is that we’re to worship through song - “...addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart (Eph.5:19).” The distinctions made between psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs suggests a variety of musical expressions in the worship of the church. We certainly want to sing from the Psalms, which is the Old Testament song book, but we also have fragments of early Christian hymns and songs quoted in Paul’s letters. Music and song have a way of stirring the heart and captivating the soul. They enable us to express praise, adoration, and thanksgiving together. In a sense it’s a preview of heaven. When the songs we sing are rich in biblical content, we’re built up in the faith.
Then there’s the public reading of Scripture and preaching. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, says - “...devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching (1 Tim.4:13).” These are primarily pastoral responsibilities and they should occupy a prominent place in the church’s worship, but in many churches confidence in preaching has been lost, and there’s a constant search for new and novel ways to communicate the gospel. In many contemporary churches preaching, particularly biblical exposition, has been abandoned and replaced with musical productions and multimedia presentations. The reasoning is that today’s visually-oriented audiences will not tolerate thoughtful, Bible-centered preaching, nor can they give careful attention to sermons that are over 20 minutes long. The worship service has to be upbeat, filled with variety, and visually attractive. This restructuring of the church’s worship based on sociological studies rather than biblical mandate has left many Christians biblically illiterate and spiritually anemic. When we gather for worship we need to hear from God through the public reading of Scripture, and the centerpiece of our worship should be the preaching of God’s Word.
Other expressions of public worship are prayer and the administration of the sacraments. Whenever the early church gathered for worship they prayed and they shared in the Lord’s Supper - “...they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).” Inherent in prayer is an affirmation of God’s presence and an acknowledgement of our subordination to him. Public prayer should extol God’s character and remind us of his gracious provisions in Christ. It should consciously draw us into his presence, encourage our faith, and reassure us of the Lord’s love and care for us. These public prayers can be written and read or they can be extemporaneous prayers. But they should focus on who God is and what he’s done for us in Christ, as well as express our needs and longings. Then Luke says they ‘broke bread’ together. The early church probably shared in a common meal that ended around the Lord’s Supper. They celebrated the sacraments - both communion and baptism - in public worship. These are two ways in which we can dramatically and visually proclaim the gospel. The Lord’s Supper and baptism both lift our attention Godward and underscore the graciousness and the covenant nature of God’s gift of salvation. So these are the essential expressions of corporate worship: singing, Scripture reading, preaching, prayer, and the administration of the sacraments.
Two Thoughts
Given the fact that corporate worship is built on liturgy - set forms of worship - a common concern is raised: how do we keep our public worship services from becoming lifeless? What will help us maintain an appropriate level of passion in our worship services? Two things come to mind. One is the personal sincerity and devotion we each bring to the worship service - “....making melody to the Lord with your heart…[with all your heart] (Eph. 5:19).”....”...they devoted themselves….(Acts 2:42).” Integrity and passion in worship is a direct reflection of the importance and value we place on it. Second thought: our worship services will be alive and life-giving as long as we acknowledge our inadequacy and our dependence on the enlivening presence of the Holy Spirit to work through the worship forms God has prescribed. Every time we gather to worship the Lord together we need to be humbled and made aware that without the active presence of the Holy Spirit in our worship services nothing of consequence and eternal value will occur. Corporate worship is a high privilege and it should be approached with reverent passion.