Thoughts on the Church (part 1): Order of Service

I've not blogged much about the church in the past for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I've not done that much thinkning on ecclesiology compared with other theological concerns and secondly, I'm acutely aware of the danger of hypocrisy in making obersvations on the church while my own commitment to the communion and mission of a local church is at best half-hearted at the moment.

Nevertheless, I've started this series of blog posts as there have been a couple of things on my mind recently that I'd like to share and hear people's thoughts on, and hope that further thoughts will develop over time to add to the series. Additionally, Adrian Warnock has recently challenged fellow bloggers to blog on the church to increase blogdom's dialogue on this vital topic, and I hope to take up that call in these few posts.

During a student seminar a few years ago, a preacher in my church stated that he would love the main 'bulk' of worship in a church service to come after the preaching of the word rather than the before it. He argued along the lines that our worship is a response to God and therefore it is far more likely to be genuine, passionate and informed if it comes after we saviour God through His written revelation. It is an argument that instantly captured me, and something that I have not stopped longing for in church services ever since.

I do understand the reason why preaching is usually the last 'major item on the bill', as the meditation on the word is in itself the supreme act of worship during a service and so the service should 'build towards' it. However I would refute this organisational logic for two reasons. Firstly, if placing the supreme act of worship towards the beginning of a service generates a deeper spirit and outpouring of worship in songs of praise then I don't see that as dishonouring the word but honouring it through publicly showing it to be living, true and satisfying.

Secondly, some people when they walk through the church door on a sunday morning will be in need of spiritual refreshment and a firmer rooting in the knowledge and love of Christ. So when hit by half an hour of songs and prayers declaring love and dedication to Jesus before being refreshed by God's Spirit speaking through the word, one of three reactions could happen in those people:

1. Feelings of guilt. During devotionally-centred songs (by which I mean songs focussing on expressing experience and love to God) people may feel guilt that their heart simply isn't in the place to declare what is being sung. Whilst being drawn to spiritual lack in itself is a good thing, it would be preferable if they were bought to satisfaction and repentance through the word so they could respond genuinely in corporate worship rather than the other way round, as the the word is honoured through convicting and feeding hungry souls and corporate worships is honoured through having full hearts genuinely praising God.

2. Another reaction to not being in a place of being able to genuinely sing a song of love or dedication is to fake it, and convince oneself that you mean what you're singing even when deep down one doesn't. Not only can this build into harmful delusion for one's own spiritual state, but Jesus makes clear that such sacrifices of worship are not acceptable to God -

"You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
'These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men." (Matthew 15:7-9)

Again if things were the other way round the word would be honoured in exposing such hypocrisy and offering repentance and new genuineness to that Christian, and corporate worship would be honoured through losing the stain of hypocrisy.

3. A third reaction to an awareness of not being in the right place spiritually is to look to an act or practice itself to provide satisfaction rather than to God to whom the practice is directed. I'm certainly guilty of having taken my satisfaction from the experience of worship music and singing in itself, rather than the meeting of God in that act. The same danger is present (although I would suggest to a lesser degree) in offering prayer or speaking in tongues. So if the preacher fulfills his role in making God look great and inviting his congregants to refresh their hearts in Him, the danger of an act replacing God is reduced. Again, God is honoured through the effective conviction and power of His word and through acts of worship being to Him instead of replacing Him.

To qualify, I am not saying that the only way people can be in the right spiritual state to sing songs of praise to God is after having heard the word preached (or read in private). We experience the presence of God through His Spirit dwelling within us, and the ideal is of continual communion with Him. To say that the appropriate emotions and beholding of God to worship Him only occur through reading the Bible or hearing preached thus reduces knowing God to nothing more than a process and blatantly contradicts most Christians' experience. There will be many who walk through the church doors in the right spiritual frame to sing worship songs.

However, whilst reading or listening to the bible is not in itself our walk with God, it is an essential fuel within that walk. Ephesians 6:17 calls it 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God'. Being filled with God's word is vital in forming a heart that is right before God and is the most powerful weapon in bringing hearts to that place. My advocation of placing the preaching of the Bible before sung worship is not because I have a formulaic view of Christianity that states that 'Bible=God=response' but because hearts and affections are stirred by the preaching of the word and sung worship is more pleasing to God when free of guilt-ridden, hypocritical or idolatrous participation.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Are you in a church where the main block of sung worship comes after the preaching of the word? My experience of church is largely in traditional non-conformist, evangelical Anglican and mainstream charismatic churches, so perhaps things like this do go on the emerging church?