PERVERTED WORSHIP

LESSON 2

Thru the years we have proudly told the world that we do five things in our worship. We sing, we pray, we partake of the Lord's Supper, we take up a contribution and we study God's word. We can give book, chapter and verse for each one. We don't use instrumental music because the Bible does not say to play and we respect the silence of the Scriptures. Most Christians when asked say that this proves that our worship is scriptural. But what if I told you that on the first day of the week your congregation worships without Biblical authority? What if I could prove that the same principles that you use to show that the piano is a sin condemns something you do every Sunday? I can easily prove it but the question is wether being a 1st century Christian is more important than your traditional worship services!

Read with me a passage that most Christians can quote from memory. Quoting, however, is not the same as understanding much less applying. Look carefully and you may see how we have perverted our worship.

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them ... "

Acts 20:7

Have you found the sin in our worship yet? Do you need a little help? Who came together? "The Disciples" Why did they come together? "To Break Bread" Who took the Lord's Supper? "The Disciples" Who did Paul preach to? "The Disciples" Isn't that simple? This is the time when those who are saved assemble together to remember the cross, worship God, learn more of His will and encourage one another. Before we study other scriptures let me ask you a few questions that will get to the heart of the matter: Where is the book, chapter and verse that authorizes inviting non-Christians to your assembly? When did saints in the Bible invite non-believers to come to their services to hear the Gospel? I know the Bible says, "GO and teach" (Mt. 28:19) but what verse says, "COME and learn?" Please give me an answer: what passage authorizes the Lord's Day assembly to be used for evangelism? If you can't find it then with this verse alone I have proved that the way we worship today is a perversion! Look again: The disciples came together to break bread and Paul preached to them. Remember you must find a command, an approved apostolic example or a necessary inference. So if the lack of authority excludes instrumental music it also excludes using our worship service to preach to the lost. If the lack of authority make one a sin it makes the other a sin as well.

The Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians contains important teachings on the worship of the church. Chapter 11 is his condemnation of their perversion of the Lord's Supper. They had turned it into a common meal and were even getting drunk. But this chapter also tells us who is to worship. Take the time to read vs. 17-34 and count the number of times that Paul reminded them that this was the church "coming together". Not once did he mention those outside the faith. Why? The answer is obvious: Only the saved are to eat the bread and drink the cup to remember how their savior had suffered for them.

Turn now to chapter 14. This deals with the Corinthians misuse of their spiritual gifts. It also reveals God's pattern for acceptable worship. (Note: We should use English words that give the meaning of the original Greek. Baptize should be read as immerse because that is the word He used. The same is true with the English word "church" that is so popular with Catholics and others that have ecclesiastical organizations. Church doesn't correctly translate "called out" (just look at a dictionary) but assembly and congregation do. Try using these two words instead of church and a new world will open for you.) As you read this chapter note the number of times Paul used congregation/assembly. This is the "who" and the "only who" that is to come together. Please read carefully these verses:

"If therefore the whole congregation be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all."

v. 23-24

This is what we could call a "what if". The congregation has come together as God instructed and surprise an unbeliever comes in. If all are speaking in tongues he will think you are crazy. But if you are prophesying he might learn something. Does this authorize what we have done to the worship of the saints? Of course not! This chapter proves, as does the rest of the New Testament (Acts 11:26, 14:27-28, Heb. 10:25 and of course Mt. 18:20), that this is the time for saints to assemble and worship their God. Everything that is done is by and for members of the body of Christ. We pray to our Father, we sing to praise our God and admonish one another, we eat the Lord's Supper in our Saviors memory, we lay by in store to support the work of our Lord and we open His word that we may be edified. If our worship follows the N.T. pattern an unbeliever is as out of place as a black man at a Klan meeting.

To be continued.

The Parson