Several years ago I remember someone asking the question, "What would happen if Paul came to town looking for Christians with whom to worship?"
I don’t know exactly how this would happen, but imagine you are coming out of Big Lots or something and there is Paul says, “
Excuse me, but can you tell me where the Christians be meeting this Sunday for worship?” The exchange just might go something like this—
You answer, "
Sure, they meet right down the street there at the church building right beside the high school."
Paul looks a bit puzzled and asks, “
Church building? What is a church building?”
You smile and answer, “
You know, the church building is the place where we have the auditorium (or “sanctuary” or “worship center”) in which we assemble for worship."
But that only leads Paul to ask, “
Auditorium?” (or “Sanctuary?” or “Worship Center?”) “What is that?"
Now you are getting a bit frustrated and answer, “
Oh, that's the big room where we meet that has all the pews (or chairs) and the podium.” Of course, Paul says, “
Podium? What is a podium?”
You answer, “
Duhh, that’s where the song leader stands when he leads singing.” And of course, Paul asks, “
Song leader? What is a song leader?”
OK, face it-- it is a little bit
annoying for those of us in a "Restoration Tradition" to have to admit that there are
very few things that we do in the worship and work of the church today that looks anything like what it did in first century. Church today looks so different from the first century that it is unlikely that Paul or Peter would even recognize it as church!
Now I think that we are hitting at
WHAT the first century church was doing, but we don’t do those things anywhere near
HOW the first Christians went about them.
We aren’t even close.
And yet, most of our squabbles and fractures in fellowship today is over HOW we do things! It really is hard to imagine Paul getting all worked up over the issue of a single song leader with a mike verses multiple song leaders with a mike when Paul’s church not only didn’t have mikes, we have no reason to believe they song song leaders (“
When you come together, everyone has a hymn,” 1 Cor 14:26).
The stately hymns of Isaac Watts and gospel songs of Fanny J. Crosby would be just as foreign and strange to Paul was the contemporary anthems of Dennis Jernigan! Flannelgraph would be as much an innovation to Paul as would PowerPoint!
It is all too easy for us to ourselves to get worked up over the HOW’s of church that we ignore some very plain WHAT's. Peter is pretty plain about the WHAT when he says, “
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble” (1 Peter 3:8).
How are we supposed to do that? The HOW is up to us, but we must do WHAT Peter says here, right?
May we never ignore the WHAT because of our understandable and unavoidable differences over all the HOW's of doing church.
4 comments:
Thank you Mr. Tuck, That needed to be said and I couldn’t have said it any better. . . I have nothing to add. I would like to leave these notes that I wrote today. Here it is.[the how will follow and expedite the what if the what is the heart of the (you know what?), as the how is the letter of that it will be in harmony with the whole of our collective (what?)] [as it was it will not be as it rises to meet those who have gone before.] [as it should be it will be; “lets keep an expeditious out look” shall we? “The sooner the better for all involved” (much will be fallen be the wayside for those who will follow lead the way for others sake.)
There are so many different “hows” in worship services today. It is a matter of preference in a lot of cases. It is when we let the “hows” splinter us from our brothers and sisters based on our own preferences that must be avoided. By splinter, I mean wedges in our love for each other as members of the body. But our preferences in worship style and what we believe is most effective in pleasing God in our worship has always been a function of the “baggage” (experiences) we bring. It is often the basis that we choose where we worship. After all, we are all different. Choosing a worship service based on those preferences is not wrong, as long as condemnation of other worship services or those that conduct them is not part of that choice. If love covers a multitude of wrongs (sins) (NIV Proverbs 10:12 and 1 Peter 4:8)), then how much more so, a difference in preference (that is not wrong). John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." NIV. Not by preference, or position, or how good the singing is with one mike or several, or how bad the singing is without the song leaders gifts of melody, or any other customs or traditions of our staged worship service. It was said of the Christians of Paul’s day "See, said they, how they love one another, and are ready to lay down their lives for each other." We all need to question our motives. When we love one another with pure hearts, fervently, only then shall it be fully apparent that we are disciples of that person who laid down his life for his sheep, and who became, by dying, a ransom for all.
When we come together to worship let not our preferences trespass on our brethrens consciences. By honest and open communications without stirring up stiff and (behind the back grumblings) this can and must be avoided.
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