"WORSHIP SERVICES" OF THE MODERN CHURCH

[Reformer]

"Worship Services" of The
Modern Church
[Contrasted With The Early Assemblies]

Importing Specialists

Any principle or practice we introduce in our assemblies today that either denies or interferes with the reciprocity of the saints, such as our "one another" exchanges or joint participation—as the scriptures define it—is indeed an innovation.

We ought to be reminded that if a congregation can import a man and pay him a big salary to do all or most of the public speaking, the same congregation can import another man and pay him a healthy salary to do all of the singing, and still another man to do all of the praying—for a salary, of course. Well, you get the idea. The principle that allows one allows the others.

To state it more explicitly, if importing specialists to feed the flock is heaven's way, all of our gifts can be performed by proxy. As a result, all we need do is warm a pew and wait till heaven arrives. For, after all, we're paying others to do our ministries.

The universal biblical principle, found throughout, is that in the assembly of the early saints all gifts were shared mutually. The "hired hand" Jesus refers to in John 10:12-13 interferes with and disrupts this principle. Do you suppose Paul had the professional minister in mind when he told the Roman believers they were "able to instruct one another" [Rom. 15:14]. Surely he was not referring to a one-man instructor! And was Paul coming off the wall with a lot of nonsense when he told the believers at Colossae they were to "teach and admonish one another" [Col. 3:16]. The one-man admonisher was nowhere to be found.

The Rule In Each Assembly

In the early assemblies, there was a mutual exchange of praises, teaching, sharing, and singing. No one person did it all. The Thessalonians were told to "encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" [1 Thess. 5:11]. And there's more. The point is: When we substitute this "one another" arrangement with a counterfeit system, such as the professional minister, we are guilty of disrupting heaven's blueprint for spiritual growth. There's no way to avoid this conclusion.

Take a look at our house assemblies. Where's the professional pulpit minister? He's not needed! Why? Because all attendees contribute their share, as God's grace abounds within them, and as He confers a diversity of gifts among them. Now tell me: Why in heaven's name are modern-day churches incapable of conducting their "church services" in the same fashion? The reason is because they have gone professional. They have abandoned common ground in favor of skilled specialists. They want the world to know how sophisticated and refined they have become. So they go all out to import the best and build the fanciest edifices. I'm convinced they have adopted idolatry, just as surely as they have substituted a bogus system.

The End Or The Beginning?

When will it all end? In the trash-heap of by-gone religions unless we wise up and address our deficiencies and get back to the basics of edifying and strengthening one another. The situation will not improve until and unless we rediscover the "one another" arrangement, as is so clearly defined in scripture. May God open our hearts and minds to do just that.

[johntwayne]

As usual you've got it all wrong Buff. The church is not a group therapy organization.

[4WD]

I think that so much of what takes place in modern-day church services has little to do with what took place in NT times.  I haven't found in the NT anywhere that the gathering together was even called a "worship service".  And whether or not it occurs in a building set aside for that purpose or in some other building or someone's home is all rather beside the point.  Calling it a "worship service" detracts from what it even means "to worship God". Unfortunately, Buff's energies devoted to his outcries against "church" are no help at all and are no less distracting from the truth than is the modern-day "worship service".

There is the NT example of persons specially identified for leadership: Eph 4:11  And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Services or Rest?  Those don't seem compatible