The Ideal New Testament Worship Service
I hope that no one has gotten the impression from my last two posts that I'm arguing that worship ought to be more "entertaining." Quite the contrary. I think it should be more painful. Allow me to explain. . .
In the churches of Christ we have done a great deal of work in the field of ecclesiology. My own recent written output is obviously no exception. We comb the New Testament in search of patterns which we can replicate so we can travel the safe, old paths and not offend our Lord.
I think a key "pattern" text which has been overlooked has been 1 Cor. 12-14. Admittedly, this section is difficult because of the emphasis on speaking in tongues, which is something we don't tend to do. But there is one verse from this section which has remained popular in our ecclesiological repertoir, and that is the last verse (14:40) -- "But all things should be done decently and in order." In popular hermeneutics, this passage is often applied to mean "all things should be done exactly the way we've always done them -- anything emotional or new is indecent!"
But as all exegetes know, context determines the meaning -- especially with a vague, open statement like this one.
So the question then becomes, based on the context of 1 Cor. 14:40, what would a decent and orderly New Testament worship service look like? 1 Cor. 11-14 is the longest section in the NT dealing with Christian worship. Surely, if a pattern for ideal worship exists, we could find it here.
Now, let's survey the entire section and pick out some key details of what a first-century Pauline worship service was like. Remember, according to the command-example-inference "pattern hermeneutic" of the Restoration Movement, these features are all practices which we ought to restore and reduplicate in our churches today.
First, women prayed and prophesied in NT worship services (11:2-16). In the context of ancient Corinth it seems that decency and order meant that the women ought to cover their heads. Fair enough.
Second, it's clear that in the early church the Lord's Supper was part of a full-fledged fellowship meal (much like the original Lord's Supper of Christ's passion week) -- 11:18-34. Paul argues in this section that decency and order require that the people taking the supper must not be factious. Also, those who arrive at the meal early are to restrain themselves to avoid being gluttonous and drunk (imagine getting drunk and bloated with food at a modern COC communion -- that'd take a lot of bread pellets and plastic shot glasses!). If necessary, hungry people should eat before they come so there'll be enough food for everybody (it seems that wealthy people sharing their food with the poor was an important aspect of these early communions).
Third, we see that in early church worship, there were opportunities for lots of people to use their spiritual gifts. Paul argues in this section that decency and order requires that gifted people be charitable, thoughtful, and selective as they address and lead the church. Tongue-speaking for one's own self-aggrandizement, for example, was not acceptable. The things spoken should be intelligible, and the presenters should take turns.
Notice how Paul brilliantly balances formality and informality. On the one hand, when they assemble, each person (ch. 11 suggests this includes women) "has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation" (14:26). This truly is corporate worship! Yet, form must follow function: "Let all things be done for building up." In order to facilitate this function of edification, Paul recommends a particular order of worship: all tongues must be interpreted (14:27-28), speakers should be limited to two or three, with each lesson being subject to criticism from the other prophets (14:29-31).
People should not speak out-of-turn, Paul says -- especially women (14:34-35). Judging by the severity of Paul's language, this had become a big issue for the Corinthian church. The words in this section cannot possibly mean, however, that women are absolutely forbidden to speak in church, for this would blatantly contradict the situation described in 11:2-16, as well as the principle of Christian sexual equality in the one baptism of the one Spirit taught in Gal. 3:26-28 and the example of Jesus, who broke social taboos to elevate women into the circle of his closest disciples.
All of these forms, all of these directions are given, of course, so that Christian worship can fulfill its function of glorifying God and building up the saints. Thus, in the middle of chapter 14 we see Paul's true picture of an ideal worship service. It is an ideal that is not defined by its form, but by how it impacts the people present. Let's focus in on 14:24-25 where Paul paints a picture of this ideal service through the eyes of a visitor:
"But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you" (ESV).
Here is the true test of whether our worship fits the New Testament pattern, of whether it is truly "decent and in order" in the eyes of God. True worship hurts. It crushes the conscience of the sinful. It creates a powerful emotional jolt. True worship strips bare the reality of our own sinfulness and lands us facedown on the floor, hurling praise at God for his indescribable grace.
Did your worship this week convict you and call you to account? Were the secrets of your heart laid bare before God and (perhaps) his saints? Did it make you weak in the knees? Is this how visitors feel when they come to your church? Do they leave slack-jawed, baffling at the power with which "God is really among you?"
This is the standard toward which we reach. This is the New Testament pattern. It is a pattern of function, which can be achieved through a variety of forms. The undercurrent which moves worship concerns participation (not passivity), unity (not factiousness), inclusiveness (not a gender-based quenching of the Spirit), and a reasonable sense of order (which in Corinth involved veils for women, restraint at the Lord's banquet, interpreters for tongue-speakers, limitations on the sermonizing prophets, and a stern rebuke for some ladies who were causing people to talk badly about the church).
I grew up thinking that "decency and order" meant playing it safe. The Bible has shown me in so many ways how I was wrong. The truly "old path" of the New Testament pattern is not safe at all. There's nothing safe about Jesus (unless you're safe in his arms). He always stirred things up, broke the molds, and offended as many hearts as he won. If he truly lives among us today, I believe, the results will be much the same.
In the churches of Christ we have done a great deal of work in the field of ecclesiology. My own recent written output is obviously no exception. We comb the New Testament in search of patterns which we can replicate so we can travel the safe, old paths and not offend our Lord.
I think a key "pattern" text which has been overlooked has been 1 Cor. 12-14. Admittedly, this section is difficult because of the emphasis on speaking in tongues, which is something we don't tend to do. But there is one verse from this section which has remained popular in our ecclesiological repertoir, and that is the last verse (14:40) -- "But all things should be done decently and in order." In popular hermeneutics, this passage is often applied to mean "all things should be done exactly the way we've always done them -- anything emotional or new is indecent!"
But as all exegetes know, context determines the meaning -- especially with a vague, open statement like this one.
So the question then becomes, based on the context of 1 Cor. 14:40, what would a decent and orderly New Testament worship service look like? 1 Cor. 11-14 is the longest section in the NT dealing with Christian worship. Surely, if a pattern for ideal worship exists, we could find it here.
Now, let's survey the entire section and pick out some key details of what a first-century Pauline worship service was like. Remember, according to the command-example-inference "pattern hermeneutic" of the Restoration Movement, these features are all practices which we ought to restore and reduplicate in our churches today.
First, women prayed and prophesied in NT worship services (11:2-16). In the context of ancient Corinth it seems that decency and order meant that the women ought to cover their heads. Fair enough.
Second, it's clear that in the early church the Lord's Supper was part of a full-fledged fellowship meal (much like the original Lord's Supper of Christ's passion week) -- 11:18-34. Paul argues in this section that decency and order require that the people taking the supper must not be factious. Also, those who arrive at the meal early are to restrain themselves to avoid being gluttonous and drunk (imagine getting drunk and bloated with food at a modern COC communion -- that'd take a lot of bread pellets and plastic shot glasses!). If necessary, hungry people should eat before they come so there'll be enough food for everybody (it seems that wealthy people sharing their food with the poor was an important aspect of these early communions).
Third, we see that in early church worship, there were opportunities for lots of people to use their spiritual gifts. Paul argues in this section that decency and order requires that gifted people be charitable, thoughtful, and selective as they address and lead the church. Tongue-speaking for one's own self-aggrandizement, for example, was not acceptable. The things spoken should be intelligible, and the presenters should take turns.
Notice how Paul brilliantly balances formality and informality. On the one hand, when they assemble, each person (ch. 11 suggests this includes women) "has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation" (14:26). This truly is corporate worship! Yet, form must follow function: "Let all things be done for building up." In order to facilitate this function of edification, Paul recommends a particular order of worship: all tongues must be interpreted (14:27-28), speakers should be limited to two or three, with each lesson being subject to criticism from the other prophets (14:29-31).
People should not speak out-of-turn, Paul says -- especially women (14:34-35). Judging by the severity of Paul's language, this had become a big issue for the Corinthian church. The words in this section cannot possibly mean, however, that women are absolutely forbidden to speak in church, for this would blatantly contradict the situation described in 11:2-16, as well as the principle of Christian sexual equality in the one baptism of the one Spirit taught in Gal. 3:26-28 and the example of Jesus, who broke social taboos to elevate women into the circle of his closest disciples.
All of these forms, all of these directions are given, of course, so that Christian worship can fulfill its function of glorifying God and building up the saints. Thus, in the middle of chapter 14 we see Paul's true picture of an ideal worship service. It is an ideal that is not defined by its form, but by how it impacts the people present. Let's focus in on 14:24-25 where Paul paints a picture of this ideal service through the eyes of a visitor:
"But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you" (ESV).
Here is the true test of whether our worship fits the New Testament pattern, of whether it is truly "decent and in order" in the eyes of God. True worship hurts. It crushes the conscience of the sinful. It creates a powerful emotional jolt. True worship strips bare the reality of our own sinfulness and lands us facedown on the floor, hurling praise at God for his indescribable grace.
Did your worship this week convict you and call you to account? Were the secrets of your heart laid bare before God and (perhaps) his saints? Did it make you weak in the knees? Is this how visitors feel when they come to your church? Do they leave slack-jawed, baffling at the power with which "God is really among you?"
This is the standard toward which we reach. This is the New Testament pattern. It is a pattern of function, which can be achieved through a variety of forms. The undercurrent which moves worship concerns participation (not passivity), unity (not factiousness), inclusiveness (not a gender-based quenching of the Spirit), and a reasonable sense of order (which in Corinth involved veils for women, restraint at the Lord's banquet, interpreters for tongue-speakers, limitations on the sermonizing prophets, and a stern rebuke for some ladies who were causing people to talk badly about the church).
I grew up thinking that "decency and order" meant playing it safe. The Bible has shown me in so many ways how I was wrong. The truly "old path" of the New Testament pattern is not safe at all. There's nothing safe about Jesus (unless you're safe in his arms). He always stirred things up, broke the molds, and offended as many hearts as he won. If he truly lives among us today, I believe, the results will be much the same.
posted by Bren Hughes | 11:55 PM
1 Comments:
Bren,
You've done it again. Thank you for opening a new view on an "old path." I've been right in the middle of my series on deacons/servants and used this passage (12:12-13:13) to illustrate the "unity through diversity" slant on service. This was a WONDERFUL take off on the worship assembly/worship experience. Thanks again.
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