Holy Spirit Series 2000
How to Act in Church
1 Corinthians 14
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Today we are continuing our multi-part study of 1 Corinthians. My goal is that we connect with the Word of God written, find out to the best of our ability what it teaches, and then ask the Spirit of Truth to help us understand how to apply that to our lives. I hope this is your desire.
Too often, we modern Christians are so totally preoccupied with our wishes, our wants, and our desires that we have little time left to seek what God desires. And what is worse, we tend to think that this is the way it is suppose to be.
When we go to the Word of God, if we go to the Word of God, it is to discover some word of comfort for ourselves, some solution to our personal issues. That would be all right if first our souls had been tuned to want the things God wants. The way it is we often end up ignoring whole ranges of the Word of God because we are not interested. That’s not good.
We ought to be so consumed with a holy hunger for God that we are curious about anything the Word of God says because if it interests God, it interests us.
Every time we open the Bible, we should pray: Lord, what do you want me to learn from this? What is in this passage that you think is important to me? Show me? Guide me? Teach me?
I want to explore 1 Corinthians 14 under the theme of: How To Act in Church. Think about that for a minute. Is there a right way and wrong way to act in church? Is there a way to behave that is OK somewhere else but not in church?
When I ponder that question, at first blush I tend to want to insist that we ought to behave the same way every place. Indeed, where a person is ought to have no reflection on whether they act like a Christian or not.
Consider the way we talk or what we talk about. There is not one set of vocabulary that is wrong in the church building, but OK in the parking lot, the locker room, or the backyard. It is impossible to divide our soul like that.
The same is true of the way we treat people. In no way should a follower of Jesus encourage a double standard. The Golden Rule applies everywhere to all people. I am all in favor of teaching our children special respect for the place of worship. It is right and proper to expect our young to not run and roughhouse in church, unless it is in a room or activity designed for that. I certainly taught my children, and teach my grandchildren that principle.
But not because there are two standards of conduct. I teach them the same thing about the library, the school halls, the grocery store, and Wal-Mart. It is a matter of courtesy to other people, not the sacredness of a religious space.
Having said that, I would still insist that for adults especially how one behaves in church is particularly telling. I can understand, though I wouldn’t excuse it, how a person might loose their temper and rattle off a profanity or talk mean to another person at work or on the golf course. I can understand that! It is still not good, but I can understand it.
But there is something particularly callused about that happening in church or among people gather in Jesus name for spiritual purposes. Surely the setting and the mindset of those present ought to have controlling effect on one’s behavior.
We ought to be on our best behavior at church. I suspect most of us probably are. Which means if our behavior is bad there, Katie bar the door, imagine how bad it probably is elsewhere.
I operate under the truth that if a person can be mean in church, he is probably really mean at home. If she can curse or talk profanely at church, she probably really has a potty mouth at work. If he can gossip and lie at church among people gathered to encourage one another to a closer walk with God, imagine what he says about church friends at home or work.
While there ought to be no double standard among followers of Jesus, how we behave in church does matter. First because it says volumes about our spiritual and moral standards; and secondly, because at church, when gathered in the name of Jesus, bad behavior has such a profound impact on the witness of the Gospel and the reputation of Christ.
One more question before looking at text in closer detail. What is childish behavior? What behavior or attitudes are characteristic of a toddler that is to be expected at times but not accepted? What kind of behavior do we try to gradually and appropriately train out of a young child?
Hopefully, all parents and grandparents have some answer to that. There might be many answers, but at the heart would be “selfishness.” We teach our young to share, to think of others, to not throw temper tantrums, and not shout and scream when they want something. We want them to be polite and not hit and fight, or push and shove, and to wait their turn. Children come by such bad behavior naturally, probably because they are our kids! They have to learn to behave otherwise from caring, mature adults who show and tell them proper conduct.
Our grand daughter Morgan recently had one of those moments. It happened while her mother, our daughter, was on the phone with Rose, so we received a blow-by-blow description. Let me first tell you that Morgan is our daughter’s daughter. She is the spittin’ image of our daughter when she was young—in disposition and attitude. She is very bright, very disciplined, very well mannered, but she is nobody’s push over. She takes nothing off of anyone.
Our daughter is a stay at home mom who baby-sits other children in order to earn needed income. This particular day one of the little boys she was watching was playing with our 2-year-old grandson. They were hard at a boy game of boxing. They would wrap foam mats around their arms and act like Power Rangers. That was OK. They were just being little boys and no body was getting hurt, and everything was under control—until this little fellow made the mistake of taking a swing at almost 5 year-old Morgan.
I don’t know whether he connected or not. It really didn’t make any difference. Morgan took exception to the idea that he even tried. And Morgan being Morgan, she gave it right back to him without a foam mat, sending him tumbling on to his backside.
While our daughter was on the phone talking to Rose, the little guy suddenly began to scream as if in fear of his life—which he may have been. Our daughter laid the phone down and went to find out what happened. The guy explained, our grandson verified, and Morgan confessed—with only the slightest bit of remorse.
Our daughter insisted that Morgan apologize. It took some convincing—after all she had been attacked first—but finally she said she was sorry. Our daughter then instructed Morgan to give the lad a big hug to show that all was forgotten.
I wasn’t there but I can see the look of indignity on her face as she contemplated giving a hug to the no good little rat who had hit her first without any provocation. Her mother insisted. Morgan hesitated and then obliged. The little boy reached out to hug Morgan who responded with a bit of a bear hug. And then as if reminded in the clinch of what had started all of this, she reared back and gave him a good one in the side for good measure while she had the opportunity.
Obviously caught off guard and mortified by having been taken advantage of, the little guy really started crying then. Well, Morgan was given a talking-to and given a lengthy time out on the edge of her bed. If she is as much like her mother as I think she is, she probably sat there accepting the time out almost as a badge of honor because she had given this little attacker his just deserts. That’s not good, but that is a child.
It is not nearly as cute when a fifty year old behaves the same way—at church!
All of this discussion is really what 1 Cor. 14 is about. The Corinthian church members were adults. They were spiritually gifted and in some respects quite knowledgeable. A few may have had important positions in the community. But in Paul’s opinion, at church too many of them were turning into selfish little brats who fought and argued, tried to get in the last swing, and then were proud of themselves when they thought they had gotten the best of their adversaries.
Who cared what anybody else thought? They knew their rights and nobody, but nobody, was going to deprive them of getting their way. Listen to how Paul addresses this topic:
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 1 Cor. 3:1 through 1 Cor. 3:3 (NIV)
20Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 1 Cor. 14:20 (NIV)
Let’s review the context for a moment. This is part of a series of letters that went back and forth between Paul the missionary church planter and a three or four-year-old church. These were new Christians, fresh out of a very dark, pagan world. They have a lot to still learn about following Jesus and some old habits to get rid of.
In this letter Paul addresses some problems that have been reported to him by the courier of the letter—specifically about the quarreling in the church and their confusion about taking a stand on basic principles of morality among church members. He then begins to systematically address a series of questions they have written to him about.
Many of the questions deal with how to behave in church. They apparently were having some problems getting along when they met for worship and study. It affected communion, singing, praying, the proper roles of men and women, and in this section (12-14) how people with different spiritual abilities and interests treated one another.
At issue were two particular phenomena, prophecy and speaking in languages, or “tongues” as most English translations render it. Definitions are important here. Prophecy is not necessarily future telling, as our English word tends to imply. Prophecy rather was speaking or proclaiming a message from God. This could have meant relaying a vision or dream or other special revelation from God or just a particular insight into the teachings of Christ however received.
The gift of languages, or tongues, referred to the supernatural ability to speak a language not native to the speaker and not learned through normal educational processes. It was the speaking, praying, or singing in an unlearned language. When manifest, it’s meaning would not be known unless someone was present who naturally knew the language or who had a corresponding supernatural gift of interpretation.
The speaker would not necessarily even know what was being said unless he or she was given the ability to interpret. It was a language that conveyed content and information, not just gibberish. Of course, a real language sounds like gibberish if you don’t know it or aren’t at least familiar with it. And anyone who keeps talking in an unknown language, even though no body can understand it, is acting a bit bizarre to say the least.
You might call such behavior selfish and the insistence that I can do it if I want a bit childish. That is what 1 Cor 14 is all about.
1 Cor 12 begins the discussion of the variety of the Spirit’s gifts to God’s people. Chapter 13 drives home the importance of thinking of others and 14 applies it to how God’s people act in church.
Let me summarize these lessons about spiritual gifts:
First, the Bible insists that Spiritual Gifts are:
1) varied. The Holy Spirit gives to each of us different abilities. We tend to call them talents, though I am not sure the two are exactly the same. Some can teach. Others can sing well to the glory of God. Others can lead and organize. Others are better bringing up the rear while finishing all of the little details that make things happen. Others are good at cheering others up or comforting the hurting. While others may try to do those things because that is what Christians do, some just seem to have a special knack that makes a special different.
That’s lesson one—the gifts of the Spirit come in a variety of forms. No single gift is a must for everyone. Children argue over silly little things. Adults don’t. Children want the toy the other kid has and then when they get it want the one they had because the other kid is having fun with it. Children tend to think that the next toy is the most fun. And they can fight over the stupidest trinket for no other reason than “they want it” or “it’s mine.” Adults don’t do that. Do they?
2) The gifts are from God. They are gifts of his grace. He gives them to us according to his plan, not because we earn them. No gift is a reward for good behavior or special achievement. They are grace gifts. This prevents any recipient of any gift from contending that because of this or that, he or she is better than anyone else. Nor are the gifts anything that someone can take credit for. The proper attitude is gratitude to God for allowing us to do anything in his service, not pride over what we can do. Children show off; look at me; look at what I can do. Adults don’t. Do they?
3) The gifts are for others. God gives no abilities to you to make you feel good or important. He gives it to you so that you can share it with somebody else. Likewise, what he wants you have to have he gives though the gifts that he has given to somebody else. This plan insures that Christians will be a close-knit fellowship of people, a team that works together. Children have to be taught how to share their toys; adults have already learned those lessons. Haven’t they?
Consider what the gifts are not:
1) They are not proof of anything. Some at Corinth tended to point to certain gifts, speaking in languages in particular, and site it as proof that the Holy Spirit had especially touched them. No gift is proof of anything of the sort. First, because some of the gifts can be faked, especially tongues if no one is there to interpret. All unknown languages sounds like gibberish to the untrained ear. This tendency probably grew out of the pagan background of the Corinthian converts.
In pagan religious, spirituality was measured by how strange one’s religious experiences were. The more ecstatic the talk, the more bizarre the behavior, the deeper the out of mind trance the more evidence that one had been in touch with the gods. Such thinking dies hard. Secondly, every gift is just that a gift and not a reward of merit. Nothing about any gift elevates anyone to a higher standing spiritually than another who doesn’t possess that ability. Remember, God’s gave Balaam’s donkey a gift of speech. That didn’t mean he ceased being a donkey. God’s sovereign choice is for his purposes not our reward.
2) Gifts are not s substitute. Claiming or even actually possessing a particular ability does not replace the responsibility to listen and learn from the teachings of Jesus, behaving in a Christ-like manner, being polite toward others, and being generous and unselfish. Supernatural spiritual gifts were not a substitute for the Word of God, the Apostles Doctrine or the preaching of the Gospel. No gift gave anyone infallible knowledge or inexhaustible wisdom. A child says, “I don’t have to share, this is my ball.” Or “I don’t have to be nice, this is my house. “ “ Or I can treat you any way I want, I am bigger than you.” Adults don’t do that. Do they?
3) Similarly, spiritual gifts are not an excuse for anything. A person can’t excuse rudeness or selfishness saying, “I couldn’t help myself, the Spirit just came over me.” No one can insist that his or her bizarre behavior be overlooked because the Spirit made her do it. “You know how it is when you the Spirit touches you just can’t help yourself” some say. No, Paul says. If that is true, then you are talking about a different spirit. And since the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, no believer can ever excuse immorality, blasphemy, or even childishness in the name of a spiritual gift.
Let me briefly outline the contents of 1 Cor 14. and then I will summarize a few rules for how Christians are to act in church.
Vs. 1-5: insists that prophecy is to be preferred over uninterrupted tongues.
Vs. 6-12: the explanation—our goal is to serve others, not show off. Unknown tongues serve no useful purpose.
Vs. 13-17: A person who thinks he is speaking in an unknown language should pray to interpret so even he can understand it and then be useful to someone else.
Vs. 18-19: The conclusion is repeated—speaking understandably is always better than speaking something that no one can understand.
Vs. 20: The call to be adults—in every way, all the time.
Vs. 21-25: Just think what unknown languages do. In the Old Testament they were a sign of God’s judgment not blessing. They meant God had to use strange languages because his people wouldn’t listen to his words through the normal language of his prophets. Is that something to be proud of? And in church, they just make unbelievers think you are crazy.
Vs. 26-33: Rules for adult behavior in church. Share and take turns.
Vs. 34-35: These rules apply doubly to the women who seem to have been causing a good deal of the problem.
Vs. 36-38: If you are really as mature and spiritual as you think, then you will pay attention to this.
Vs. 39-40: The bottom line, respect each; accept God’s variety; but above all recognize that the Holy Spirit is never the author of childishness no matter how loudly you invoke his name.
Let me conclude with some simple rules for how Christians ought to act in church. This applies for all times, in all situations, regardless of the gifts that are present or not.
1. Expect God to show up.
Christian worship is not a social gathering. It is not just a get together among friends. We conduct ourselves as if in the presence of the Holy God into whose presence we have come. In 1 Cor 11, Paul calls for proper conduct because “of the angels.” Heaven is watching. Heaven is here. Come expecting the unexpected, believing that God may decide to do something we hadn’t planned.
2. Don’t expect to be overcome.
At the same time, don’t presume that God’s presence means chaos, noise, and becoming overwhelmed with out of mind experiences. Paul says the “spirits of the prophets are under the control of the prophets.” Mindless, meaningless noise and commotion was the standard among the pagan religions of Corinth, but not among the followers of Jesus.
3. Come to participate.
If the Holy Spirit is working in your life, it is so that you can benefit someone else. For that to happen, you must share what God has put into your life. It need not be up-front or public, but it must be shared.
4. Come to serve not be seen.
At Corinth, some seemed to be most concerned about having their way and being seen or receiving credit from others. God works in us is so he will get the credit and the praise, not us. If sharing God’s blessings puts us up front so be it. If not, that should be fine as well. Service, benefiting others, is the goal.
5. Come to learn.
Learning new understandings of the Gospel, coming to a clearer understanding of God and his will, finding our more about the teachings of Jesus is the reason we come. It is not just to talk to friends we haven’t seen, though that is good too. It is not to feel better or have our emotions charged, though all of that can be good. But we ought to want our minds to be fruitful, so we can be better prepared to serve our Savior and those he places in our lives.
6. Don’t lose your testimony.
How we act in church and how we treat others believers says much to onlookers, especially new believers or non-believers. How we conduct ourselves tells them what we think of our Savior. If we are apathetic or preoccupied during worship gathering, we tell them that our God is boring. If we don’t pay attention or whisper with our neighbor instead of listening to learn, we tell those around us the Word of God being taught is not worth learning or that we know more than the Word of God. Mistreating or in any way behaving in an unloving way toward another person gives a wrong impression to those who don’t know what Jesus teaches his disciples to do.
7. Practice the golden rule.
Treating others the way we want to be treated, especially if we want to be treated as God desires, is always in order. Rudeness, inconsiderateness, selfishness is always bad. A rude unChrist-like remark heard in church can undo a thousand sermons in the hearts of those who hear it. Even what is not said matters. Ignoring a new comer, refusing to talk to someone who is poorly dressed or from the wrong side of the tracks or different ethnically is beneath the norm of Christian conduct and becomes a stain on the gathering of God’s people.
We are the church gathered. We come to worship God, hear from God, and experience the reality of God. We also come to be conduits of his work. We are here to represent him. How we act in church matters, as least God thinks so.
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
