A few years ago, I watched a documentary about a church that was causing quite a stir.
Their gatherings were very exuberant.
People were dancing, shouting and jumping about.
Some people fell to the floor. Others burst into tears.
There was a great deal of emotional intensity.
I was struck by one participant’s comment: ‘That’s what happens when the Holy Spirit is there!’
A friend once invited me to a church of a completely different tradition.
According to that church, the order of service and liturgy have remained almost unchanged for 1,500 years.
It was very complex; I needed an app just to keep up, and even then I was still lost.
Yet its congregation would maintain that their way of doing things represents the fullness of the Christian faith, and that to do otherwise is to experience something inferior.
Two very different experiences, but the same question: what is a truly spiritual gathering?
Perhaps you’re visiting us today. Welcome! We’re delighted you’re here!
Perhaps you’re wondering: what should I prioritise when looking for a church?
The music? The fervour of the worshippers? A traditional atmosphere?
This week I discovered a website that lists churches and rates them according to a list of questions:
What was the atmosphere like?
What instruments do they use?
Are the seats comfortable?
Is the coffee any good?
I wonder what you’re looking for?
For regulars, the question is the same: what should we do when we get together?
At Connexion, it’s brilliant to have such a diverse range of backgrounds. Some have grown up in churches that are very different from one another. Others didn’t grow up in a church at all. We might have plenty of preconceptions about how things should be done.
What is a truly spiritual Christian gathering?
***
For several weeks now, we’ve been seeing the confusion that reigned on this subject in the church at Corinth.
Last Sunday, I compared their gatherings to ‘France’s Got Talent’, where everyone shows off their gifts.
But, actually, at least in that programme, everyone takes it in turns!
In Corinth, it was more like those radio programmes where everyone talks at once. The loudmouths on RMC. Chaos! Very entertaining, but chaos.
An open bar at every service for anyone who wanted to speak.
Let’s not be too quick to cast stones at them! They’d realised that a church isn’t a group where a few play on the pitch whilst the majority stay in the stands. We’re all on the pitch, teammates in Jesus’s team.
But as in any team, there has to be order. That’s the message today: a truly spiritual gathering is characterised by… order.
Order?!!?
If someone had told you this morning that we were going to talk about order in worship, you might well have gone back to bed!
Order! It doesn’t seem like the most exciting of topics!
But when the stakes are high, we need order.
My parents lived for several years in a country where it was never clear whether you were supposed to drive on the right or the left. Many people tended to drive in the middle! We prefer a bit more order!
Or imagine you’re having a house built. One day, you visit the building site. You ask the foreman how they’re getting on with the architect’s plans.
‘We haven’t really stuck to the plans. Every morning, the workers turn up; everyone just does their own thing. One lays a few bricks, another runs electrical cables. We’ll see if anyone gets round to the foundations.’
I wouldn’t feel very comfortable living in that house!
When the stakes are high, order is essential. That is what the apostle Paul says about church gatherings.
A truly spiritual gathering is characterised by order …
… for edification, in communication and in submission to the Word of God.
Order for edification through the Word of God (verse 26)
Let’s read verse 26. Use your finger to cover the last word of this verse.
“What, then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one of you may bring a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Let everything be done for…”
… how would we finish this verse if we were the ones writing it?
“Let everything be done for… worship? For the glory of God?”
Of course we want God to be worshipped! But that is not what Paul wrote.
‘Let everything be done for the edification’
We gather to strengthen one another by getting to know Christ better.
Verse 26 might bring to mind an open-mic evening: everyone offers a song or a message.
Those of us who come from Brethren assemblies are familiar with this highly participatory approach. I admire it: it conveys the sense that we’re all in this together.
But the word ‘may’ is not in the original. Paul simply says: when you come together, each of you has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.
He observes how the Corinthians operate without objecting to it. You are free to do it that way. Simply, ‘let all things be done for the edification of the church’. That is the essential point.
His list is not exhaustive: not a word about prayer, for example, which he emphasises elsewhere. He does not say that worship must consist of these things and nothing else. He simply wants everything to edify.
Insofar as a certain order is required, it is not because the Apostle Paul is psychologically rigid, but because the edification of all is his guiding principle.
Paul sees the church gathering as a rest stop for walkers on their way to their destination. Some of you may have walked part of the Camino de Santiago: you stop to rest with other walkers, you eat together; it gives you the motivation to carry on.
My family and I read The Pilgrim’s Progress in the evenings. This 17th-century classic presents the Christian life as a perilous journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City.
The hero, ‘Christian’, faces difficulties and discouragement. But along the way, people stop to encourage him, strengthen him and help him.
That’s what we’re doing here: a rest stop for travellers on their way to the new creation.
One might wonder whether the word ‘service’, commonly used in evangelical churches, is the most appropriate term for these gatherings.
The Oberkampf Church calls them “celebrations”.
The primary purpose of these gatherings is not to worship God: we do that every day, on Mondays just as on Sundays. The Bible tells us that our worship encompasses our whole life. Here, the primary purpose is edification.
Of course, we worship God together. But when the New Testament speaks of singing together, the emphasis is on the benefit we derive from reminding ourselves just how wonderful God is.
Sunday morning must be centred on God, but oriented towards people. The aim: to help us continue on our journey.
So order is essential.
First of all, simply being present is important!
If the primary purpose is worship, we might think: I’ll do that at home, on Spotify.
If it’s for edification, I need to be there. Otherwise, I’m depriving others.
However, serving sometimes means not doing things we’d have liked to do, and doing things we wouldn’t have liked to do.
I played music as a teenager. I won’t tell you which instrument, otherwise I’ll be asked to get it out. It’s been gathering dust in a cupboard for years. I used to play in the worship band.
Then, as a student, I moved to the city of the national conservatoires, where the church had some excellent musicians.
I was frustrated: ‘But I want to play!’
Sorry, no need. However, they were looking for people to serve meals… and do the washing-up.
If God has given us gifts, so much the better if we can use them. There are needs everywhere. But the essential thing isn’t the gifts. It’s service.
Jesus thought that way.
He didn’t come to show off his abilities. Equal with God, he had nothing to prove. Rather, he came to get his hands dirty – not by washing up, but by dying on the cross to make possible for us this journey towards the new creation.
So if you’ve just joined Connexion Church, an excellent question to ask would be: how can I serve?
Perhaps some of you are wondering: what if I don’t find our services encouraging?
Superficial conversations. The sermon didn’t speak to you. Someone has hurt you.
Three things.
Tell someone. We can’t fix what we don’t know about.
Tell God about it in prayer.
And encourage someone else. That’s often how we find encouragement ourselves.
A truly spiritual gathering is characterised by its focus on edification through the Word of God.
But it is also characterised by …
Order in the communication of God’s Word (verses 27–33)
A clear and orderly delivery of the Word.
Verse 27
If anyone speaks in tongues, let no more than two or three speak, each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, let them remain silent in the church and speak to themselves and to God. 29 As for the prophets, let two or three speak, and let the others evaluate their message. 30 And if another member of the congregation receives a revelation, let the first one be silent.
Last Sunday I said there were 150 preachers in this room! God has made us all his spokespeople.
So who wants to speak?
***
In verses 27 to 33, Paul calls for order when speaking.
Just because we should all aspire to prophesy does not mean that the service should turn into a free-for-all where everyone has an automatic right to speak.
If some speak in tongues (a gift of speaking human languages we do not normally speak, as we saw last Sunday), let there be no more than three, each in turn, and only if it is interpreted.
Paul lays down rules. The important thing is not that everyone speaks, but that everyone can hear God’s message.
He then speaks of prophecy.
Last Sunday, we saw that prophesying today does not mean receiving new words. We have everything in the Bible. To prophesy is to draw from it to build others up.
Our preachers seek to do this. This is what we do in our community groups.
Paul gives greater prominence to prophecy: two or three prophets, without the ‘at most’ qualification applied to tongues. He gives it priority, whilst also setting out guidelines.
Verse 31
Indeed, you can all prophesy one after the other, so that everyone may be taught and everyone may be encouraged.
Each in turn, so that all may be encouraged!
Have you noticed what others should be doing whilst someone is prophesying?
Verse 29: ‘let the others evaluate their message’
Not how many stars I’d give them, or whether their jokes were funny, or what they were wearing.
No. Is that what the Bible teaches?
That’s why it’s so important to keep our minds alert and the Bible open before our eyes.
In a truly spiritual gathering, we do not simply believe the preacher … without checking the text for ourselves!
Let’s be humble! They’ve usually spent quite a few hours preparing. But with the text open.
The purpose of this arrangement: an unobstructed view of Jesus!
At the Louvre, in front of the Mona Lisa, there’s always a crowd. Nobody wants to leave without having seen it.
The stewards are there to keep the crowd moving, so that everyone can see and no one gets trampled underfoot.
To contemplate this marvel, order is essential!
We gather to contemplate the infinitely more marvellous beauty of Jesus!
To listen to him speak to us for our edification.
In the pilgrim’s journey, there comes a moment when ‘Christian’, burdened with a heavy load, arrives before the cross. As he gazes upon it, his burden falls away!
That is why we are here.
For an unobstructed view and undistracted listening to Jesus.
This calls for a measure of discipline.
There is a certain type of Christian – I have come close to this tendency myself – who operates on the assumption that spirituality always involves spontaneity.
To structure or organise things is to be spiritually stifled.
Others believe that being spiritual requires meticulously following a tradition, with order almost as an end in itself.
A truly spiritual gathering is one that creates the conditions for contemplating the beauty of Christ through his word.
In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says that the spiritual person judges all things – the Word of God enables them to see the world as God sees it …
is judged by no one – he knows that God accepts him and so he is secure …
and he has the mind of Christ.
That is what it means to be spiritual! To know Jesus and share his perspective, to see as he sees … through his Word.
Some implications.
Teaching the Word of God must be at the heart of our gatherings.
There are so many other things we might want to focus on: music, the sacraments, the community. Important things!
But not the most important thing!
When we arrive on Sunday morning, we have so many things on our minds, and God cares about them. First of all, he asks us to listen to him without distractions.
What distractions should we avoid?
If you want to take notes, a notebook is better than a mobile phone. A paper Bible is better than a Bible app on your phone, so that a notification doesn’t distract us.
The baby room is there so that we can listen without distractions in that room.
If you’re in the baby room – I’ve had three babies myself, so I know what it’s like – let’s do our best to listen and to allow others to listen too.
We have settings where we can speak more freely, such as community groups. We should all aspire to prophesy.
For those who are quick to speak: using our gift in an orderly way sometimes means speaking less. Don’t monopolise the conversation. Encourage others to join in.
For the more shy amongst you: perhaps you need to speak up more! Your brothers and sisters need to hear what you have to say.
Do you lead a group? To ensure the study proceeds in an orderly manner, thorough preparation in advance is essential.
Order in communicating the word of God.
Finally …
Order in submission to the Word of God (verses 33–40)
A spiritual gathering is characterised not only by listening but by obedience, so as to reflect the beautiful order created by God
Verse 34
As in all the churches of the saints, let your women keep silent in the assemblies, for they are not permitted to speak there, but must be in submission, as the Law also says. If they wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.
These are God’s words, so they are good for us.
Let us not pretend that they are easy to accept!
Some of you will be familiar with the series The Handmaid’s Tale: a dictatorship where women are slaves to men, and some cover their mouths in public.
Does God want that in the church?
No, a few pages earlier, in chapter 11, Paul allows both men and women to prophesy. We see this at Connexion! I am so grateful for how my sisters here encourage me with the Word.
Why does Paul say in chapter 14: ‘Let your women keep silent in the churches’?
Some people think this only applied to women 2,000 years ago: in the Roman Empire, they didn’t have the same freedom of speech, and Paul was reflecting the customs of his time. Today, things are different.
But… Paul grounds his instruction in Scripture, not in culture!
In verse 34, he draws on the Law, the Old Testament.
More likely, Paul is forbidding a way of speaking that would undermine the authority given by God to men to lead the church.
In Genesis, men and women are created equal, both in the image of God, but Adam is given the specific responsibility to lead.
Like the captain of a team: not necessarily the best player, but the one who sets the direction, motivates others and takes responsibility when problems arise. That is why God entrusts the leadership of a church to qualified men. That is why the elders at Connexion are men.
This is not to say that a woman is forbidden to correct a man. In Acts, Priscilla takes a preacher, Apollos, aside and, together with her husband, supplements his teaching.
However, Paul wants this to be done in a way that upholds male leadership rather than undermining it.
How does this work in practice?
At Connexion, women do not preach on Sunday mornings. There are many other settings where our sisters exercise a ministry of the Word. But we believe that Sunday preaching is part of the way in which the elders lead the church.
Deborah, our deacon for women, attends team meetings with the elders so that we may benefit from her wisdom. But she does not seek to have the final say.
My wife Anne-Sophie is just as well-trained in theology as I am … if not more so! If I were to make mistakes in a Bible study or a sermon, she could tear me apart in front of everyone. She waits until we’re in private … and then she tells me everything … gently!
The key is to recognise the very good order that God has created, shaped and displayed within the church.
It’s easy for me, as a man, to say that this order is very good!
So I asked Anne-Sophie: why is male leadership in the church a good thing?
‘Because it’s God’s idea – He who wants what’s best for us, who has proven Himself, and who is trustworthy, even when we don’t understand.’
What does it look like when it works well?
‘It looks like men who don’t run away, who take responsibility, who reflect Jesus, the servant-king.
What does it look like for women to support this leadership?
“It means respecting it and rejoicing in it, even if we think we could do better! It means seeking to be helpers and supporters, drawing on our sensitivity and complementary vision.”
***
The order in the church that God desires involves submission.
That may come as a shock.
But submission is the very essence of a truly spiritual community.
Jesus submitted to the Father even unto death on the cross for us.
All of us, men and women alike, are called to submit to the word of our heavenly Father.
Paul concludes by taking the Corinthians to task: they have invented a spirituality of their own making! We’re familiar with this: ‘I like to believe X, practise Y, experience Z.’
Verse 36
“Did the word of God originate with you? Or did it come to you alone?
If anyone thinks they are a prophet or led by the Spirit, let them recognise in what I am writing to you a command from the Lord.”
Paul says that truly spiritual people, led by the Spirit, submit to the words of this book.
This is the hallmark of these times together.
God’s plan … is to gather a people whom he has loved from all eternity, who will be blessed by him for all eternity, who are redeemed by his blood, over whom he will reign for all eternity.
Today He reigns over us through His word.
So when we gather together, it is not to be entertained, or for the sake of a feeling, or to be applauded for our talents.
We come to listen and then to ask: am I submissive?
In Isaiah, God says that the one He delights in is the one who trembles at His word.
That is the attitude we should seek when we gather on Sunday mornings.
That doesn’t mean we stop thinking or pretend that everything is easy.
We can be honest with God about the teachings we find hard to accept.
But ultimately, we recognise that He has the final say.
And that final word is always good.
It is literally the oldest lie in the world to say that submission to authority is wrong.
The serpent in the garden. “Did God really say?”
When all authority is perceived as evil, chaos ensues. We’ve seen the damage in this neighbourhood.
This is not a judgement on the protests: the grievances are real, and the authorities are fallible.
But in the church, God offers a better model!
In verse 33, we must reflect a God who is not a God of disorder but of peace!
It is striking that it does not say: a God of order.
A God of peace.
Peace in the Bible is much more than the absence of conflict.
It is about restored relationships …
… with God
… with others
… with renewed harmony
When God’s people fall silent before the word of God, this is what we experience.
True peace!
What is a truly spiritual gathering?
At the start, I spoke to you about two churches. One dances, shouts and weeps. The other follows its age-old liturgy. Which is the more spiritual?
The question is not about style. The real question is: does the Word of God reign here?
In a world of disorder, what could be more spiritual than a community organised under the good and benevolent authority of the Creator?