Not long ago a friend asked me if I thought that I Corinthians chapters 11-14 was the primary passage in the New Testament when it comes to understanding how the church should worship. I said yes. But I didn't have a good chance to explain what I meant by that. I believe that Corinthians 11-14 tells us more than probably any other single passage, but it still is not very much in terms of details and exact directions. The primary purpose for these chapters was to tell the Corinthians the correct way to use spiritual gifts in worship.
True, Paul begins with addressing the issue of head coverings in worship (11:2-16). Paul also confronts the Corinthians about their sinful behavior in regard to the Lord's Supper and the fellowship meal that preceded it (11:17-34). But beginning in chapter twelve, Paul addresses head on the use of spiritual gifts when the church is gathered for worship.
Paul starts in chapter twelve by explaining what some of the gifts are that given by the Holy Spirit (12:1-11), and then he moves to the issue of how the body of Christ is both diversified and unified in regard to spiritual gifts (12:12-31). Paul takes the time in chapter thirteen to explain the supremacy of love in regard to spiritual gifts and their use. Then in chapter fourteen he contrasts prophesy and tongues, and promotes prophesy as much more important and vital to the body of Christ than tongues (14:1-25). In verse twenty-six, Paul goes on to say,
"What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification."
At first glance, it seems as if Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to freely participate in the worship service and use their gifts in whatever manner they desire as long as the goal is edification of the body, not themselves. Some Christian leaders today have built a whole worship methodology out of this verse. They teach that the worship service should not have an order or even any leadership except the moving of the Spirit. But as the following verses indicate, that is not the case. From verse twenty-seven to the end of the chapter, Paul lays out very clear guidelines for how people could participate in the worship of the church. Far from people participating freely or at their own inner direction, Paul limits the number who can speak in tongues (14:27-28). He limits the number that can prophesy (14:29-33). He clearly indicates that some are to "pass judgment" on what has been spoken (v.29) He appears to even exclude women from speaking or using the speaking gifts completely (vs. 34-38). But I believe he is only excluding them from participating in or leading the primary teaching time in the worship service (see this post), as he has already implicitly granted that they can prophesy if properly covered (11:5).
The bottom line is that these chapters tell us very, very little about what exactly worship in the church should look like. They tell us much more about what it should not look like. I don't know why God didn't give us a clear example or complete and detailed instructions about New Testament worship. Perhaps it is not all that different from Old Testament worship, without animal sacrifices, of course. More likely, God is giving individual churches the freedom to worship within the biblical principles and guidelines we do have in a number of Scriptures. If He gave us a detailed example of how a particular local church worshipped in the first century, we might follow it too slavishly. I believe that God has not been too specific with worship because He wants us to seek Him, not fall into a single, inflexible worship plan. Whatever the reason, I Corinthians chapters 11-14 don't give us sufficient information to understand and put together a complete biblical plan for worship. For that, we have to look at the whole counsel of God, and that will be another post.
