Do I Need A Church Bulletin?

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from 1 Corinthians 14

Have you ever been distracted at church even when you came wanting to worship God? Distractions during worship can minimize the powerful impact worship can have. We are easily distracted people. The fact is that for most people who do not know God, their lives consist of one distraction after another, and usually willingly because the last thing they want to think about is God and eternity. But distractions are a common problem. Distractions come to believers and nonbelievers. Before we go on in a study about distractions to corporate worship, I want you to jot down what you know has become a personal distraction to your relationship with God. Has there been something that you know you can identify that is keeping you from the kind of relationship with God you want to enjoy? Jot that down because I want you to take that up with God and we might not address it in this message. In fact this message might distract you from addressing the very thing you need to address.

This morning we will focus on distractions to corporate worship, or public worship. Let’s first look at a few humorous examples.

A Distracted Woman

For some, since worship itself is not their priority it doesn’t take much to distract them. I saw in Leadership Journal a cartoon picturing a woman shaking the pastor’s hand after the service saying, “It was loud, forceful, and clashed with my sensibilities. And that was just your tie!”[i] She was distracted. My guess is, her distraction started before she arrived.

A Distracted Church

Some whole churches are distracted because they don’t have a clear vision of what they are about. Another cartoon pictures a board meeting with only 3 board members. The pastor is standing and reading a resolution. “That settles it. Our new vision statement will be: Misery Loves Company.”[ii]

A Distracting Announcement

Even church announcements can be distracting. Wouldn’t you be distracted if I announced, “And after services we hope you’ll join us in the welcome center for coffee, cappuccino, decaf cappuccino, double decaf cappuccino, latte, latte mocha, mocha java, or double mocha decaf. . .”[iii] Some of you would like that kind of announcement.

A Distracting Welcome

What about when the leader says after the first song, now greet your neighbor and shake 3 or 4 hands, and the first person you approach covers his mouth with his hand and sneezes just as you extend your hand to shake hands? Before that handshake distracts you for the whole service, you ought to excuse yourself and go wash your hand.

A Potential Cure

Many distractions during the message might be eliminated if I made the following announcement: Anyone who would like to volunteer for one of our new committees, please signify by coughing, yawning, or fidgeting during my message.”[iv]

Modern Distractions

We haven’t had the problem here, but city churches are beginning to put in their bulletins to remind people to turn off their cell phones. Modern conveniences can cause some problems, sometimes intentionally.

Last week somebody told me about a congregation they attended where more than a couple people had set their watch alarms to go off right at noon to give their long winded Pastor some pressure to stop his message on time. Don’t get any ideas. That would be incredibly distracting! Just as I’m working up to the climactic concluding challenge, when souls are teetering on the brink of eternal destinies. . . beep, beep, beep, beep.

Isn’t it amazing while at a ball game, if the score is tied and we are going into overtime we get all excited. Do we want to leave the game? No. But at church now, it seems different. Perhaps I ought to announce the score by the looks on your faces and say, okay the score is still tied, God hasn’t moved you yet, we are going into overtime folks. Now if I went into overtime like this too often, it would be “sudden death”. Like I say, we are easily distracted aren’t we, when it comes to spiritual matters.

An Ancient Problem

Although there are now many new modern twists in the distractions issue, the problem of distractions in church is as ancient as church itself. Paul addressed the problem of distractions in Corinth. The distractions at church in Corinth was so bad and so consistent that the highest purposes for the worship service were actually being damaged. Credibility was being lost and the important message about the good news of Christ was getting lost also.

Focus: A worship service must be fitting and orderly in order to accomplish its intended purpose, to strengthen its members and help unbelievers come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

I. How to Maintain A Meaningful Worship Service

A. Emphasize the Gifts that Build Up the Church (14:1-2, 12).

1 Corinthians 14:1-2 (NIV) ¹Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. ²For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:12 (NIV) ¹²So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

Paul urged the Corinthians to seek the gifts that accomplished the greater purposes for the church. Prophecy (speaking the word of God) builds up the church in God’s instruction. Teaching was preferred over the confusion tongues speaking was causing in church.

Speaking in tongues is one of the legitimate gifts of the Holy Spirit, but the Corinthian believers were using it as a sign of spiritual superiority. Not only was there prideful comparison taking place but the Corinthian worship services became so disorderly that the purpose for gathering was lost in the individualized worship expressions and other disruptions. The service began to be chaotic disruptions of tongues speaking, prophecy, and then interruptions on the part of people asking questions of those giving instructions or leading the service, some who were not authorized to do so may also have been publicly challenging the prophecies that were given. The consistent pattern that needed to be addressed in the Corinthian church was the disorderly spontaneity with which they ran their worship services. Hence the message of the title today, “Do I Need A Church Bulletin?” Paul gave an instruction that almost sounds like an order of service being described in vv 26-30.

Paul wrote to attempt to restore some sense to the worship service, that the church might be built up and edified rather than disrupted and destroyed by individualistic pursuits.

B. Guard Against Distractions

When I say guard against distractions, I don’t simply mean do whatever it takes to focus in on God while you worship. Some people in Corinth were perhaps focused in on God, and individually worshipping. They weren’t distracted from God, but nevertheless their own personal focused worship style became a distraction to others. That’s right. The form of worship they were using was creating a problem. The one form in particular that is mentioned over and over again in this chapter is tongues speaking. (14:2, 4, 13, 14, 19, 26, 27)

Now if you are unfamiliar with the concept of speaking in tongues you probably feel a lot like I did when I first heard about it in High School. I had a Christian friend who spoke in tongues and told me about it. I had no idea what he was talking about. He sure seemed to think it was the greatest thing and that I was missing out. I talked to my dad about it and we looked up some scriptures. It was strange trying to understand something I myself had not yet experienced. I still don’t speak in tongues. I am a lot more familiar with it now that I have been exposed to it and know many who do speak in tongues. Paul, in this section of scripture, attempts to correct some of the abuse of tongues speaking. We also come to understand it a little better when we study his instructions.

Acts 2 Tongues Different from Tongues in Corinth

The Tongues Speaking of Acts 2 was different from the Tongues Speaking in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 12-14 describes a different phenomena than that of Acts 2. In Acts 2, the miracle was that people understood the message of the spirit miraculously in their own languages. In 1 Corinthians nobody understood the tongues speaking (1 Corinthians 14:2) unless there was an interpreter. The Corinthian tongues phenomena is described as a praying in the spirit without understanding with the mind. It was an uttering of syllables, or language one’s mind does not understand. Without trying to be disrespectful, to an observer it is somewhat like babbling syllables that nobody understands unless it is also accompanied by the gift of interpretation. That’s the point Paul makes in this section. Nobody understands tongues speaking unless it is accompanied by interpretation. Paul refers to the Corinthian phenomena as a tongues speaking that is a speaking to God, not to men. There is a legitimacy of speaking to God in this spirit to Spirit form of worship, or prayer. But Paul was attempting to correct its use in public that became problematic and distracting.

Where as the tongues speaking in Corinth then is described as a kind of prayer language for your spirit and not your mind, the tongues speaking in Acts was just the opposite. The tongues speaking of Corinth was for self edification not for the building up of the church. (14:2-3) The tongues speaking in Acts 2 was for the building up of the church. It was different in nature. Whereas the use of tongues in Acts 2 helped people from different language groups focus on the central message, the use of tongues in the Corinthian worship services was distracting and taking people’s attention away from the central message of the Gospel. In Acts the public tongues speaking had the purpose of getting the message out in a miraculous way as a sign. In Corinth Paul was concerned that the tongues speaking in public was obscuring the clear message.

Paul addresses this problem of . . .

1. Distracting Tongues Speaking

1 Corinthians 14:3-25 (NIV) ³But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. ⁴He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

⁶Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁷Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? ⁸Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? ⁹So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ¹⁰Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. ¹²So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

¹³For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. ¹⁶If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. ²¹In the Law it is written:

“Through men of strange tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.

²²Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. ²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, ²⁵and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Maximum Impact Comes from Clear Communication (1 Corinthians 14:2-3)

²For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.

³But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

The Gospel message must be communicated clearly and intelligibly. Worship services are designed to “build up”, “edify”, “strengthen”, “encourage”, “comfort”. And all of these take place through an intelligible well ordered service that communicates effectively the central truths of the Gospel.

· Don’t speak like “foreigners” (14:11; 23).

1 Corinthians 14:23 (NIV) ²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

¹¹If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.

PAUL WAS SEEKER SENSITIVE

There is a phrase in the church growth movement that has been a powerful force in shaping how church is being done across the nation. The phrase is “seeker sensitive”. Many churches have “seeker sensitive services.” I don’t know whether you have heard of this before, and if you have what you think of it. However, let me say this. Paul in this chapter is advocating a seeker sensitivity in worship services! I used a title for this mornings message that may not impact you. “Do I need a Church Bulletin?” That title points out the evaluating question to determine whether a church needs to bring more or less order and structure to their services. Perhaps a more personally challenging title to this message is “Do I need to be more seeker sensitive?”

We need to develop a missionary approach to relationships as well as for our worship services. We must work at communicating with language that is understood. We must define terms that are misunderstood. We need to be more seeker sensitive in our language.

Don’t speak Christianese.

"Have you ever been saved," a wide-eyed young fellow questioned me with a question as we walked toward the bus. He handed me a booklet with the picture of hell on the front.

"Sure," I responded. "Once when I was 9, I was swimming at Jones' beach on Long Island, and a strong undertow began to drag me out to sea. My uncle heard my call and ?.."

"No, no, no," he interrupted. "I mean redeemed. Have you ever been redeemed? You know, reborn? Washed in the blood?"

"What?" I inquired.

"Convicted, I mean. Have you ever been convicted?"

"Well, of course not. I've never been in trouble with the law."

He looked at me square in the eye and said, "I think you need to be delivered."

"Delivered? I was just waiting for the bus. I think I'll stick to that, but thank you very much." Now he looked confused.

The next time I saw Ed was at the bus stop again. “Hi Ed. How are you?”

“Oh great,” he explained, “I was just having my quiet time.”

I said, "Quiet time? What does that mean?"

"Well, each day before lunch, I get in my prayer closet."

I was puzzled. "You pray in a closet? At work?"

"Oh, no, usually it’s in my car."

"You have a closet in your car?" He changed the subject like the first day I met him. Again he left me confused. This Ed is quite a unique fellow I thought. As we parted that day, Ed gave me a little book that explained how someone could come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I read it and understood enough, and knew that was exactly what I needed. And so that night I submitted my life to Jesus, was born again as it stated in the booklet. Two days later, I told Ed. He was overjoyed. The following week we got together again and he strongly urged me to find a good body. Now I was surprised at this suggestion, but it sounded good to me. So I took his advice and began to comb the local health clubs for an attractive body.

When I met Denice, I knew she was just the one. We began to date and soon, she became a believer too. Ed rejoiced and told us it was crucial that we get planted so that we could grow together. I said to Denice, "Sometimes this guy's hard to understand." I told Ed I wasn't quite sure what he meant by planted.

He responded, "Committed. You know, both of you need to be committed."

"Now, wait a minute," I protested, "just because I don't understand what planted means doesn't mean I'm nuts. Anyway, I think to trust in Jesus is probably the most sane thing I've ever done."

Well, it was obvious that Ed's patience was growing thin, and he explained, "Bob and Denice, you've got to get plugged in. Don't you understand?"

Well, no, we didn't. I did wonder if getting plugged in had any connection with going out under the power. Something that I'd heard Ed mention and hoped it would never happen to me. Regretfully, I had to miss worship the next Sunday since I was out of town. But Ed and I had breakfast together later, and he filled me in on what had happened.

He said, "Boy, God moved! God really moved yesterday."

"Where did He go, Ed? I was just getting to know Him and now He's gone?"

"No, no, Bob, God hasn't gone anywhere." I was relieved.

"It's just that so many people were stepping out and moving in the gifts."

"You mean people were leaving the meeting? And what's this about presents?"

"No, no. It's the gifts. The gifts were really flowing," he said. Changing the subject, he said, "Hey, Denice was there, and boy, was she on fire!"

"Fire? Denice got burned? What happened? Is she ok?"

"No, Bob, you don't understand."

"And boy, that's an understatement."

He said, "Denice is just fine. It's just that I believe she's really called, and God really wants to use her."

Things were not getting any clearer. "Did Denice mention she was getting too many phone calls or something? And what's this about God wanting to take advantage of her?"

Ed sighed, "Can I walk in the light with you, Bob?"

I said, "Well, yeah, it's daytime, Ed." He just shook his head. I don't know what it is. Sometimes it seems like Ed and I have a hard time communicating.

It has been 2 years now since I was saved and delivered, plugged in, planted, and committed to a good body. God has been moving, and I've been stepping out in the gifts. I can hardly believe how God's been using me. I do have one new problem, however. It seems that all my friends can't understand me any more. When I share about my redemption, and how I've been washed in the blood as white as snow, and that I desire to follow the lamb, they just tune me right out. I guess they're just convicted when they see me on fire.[v]

In Corinth the whole church was speaking like foreigners by their use of tongues, but what about us? Do we sound like foreigners to unbelievers.

· Make the Worship Service “fitting” and orderly (14:26-33; 40).

²⁶What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

²⁹Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³²The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

1 Corinthians 14:40 (NIV) ⁴⁰But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Order needs to be maintained for the effectiveness of the Gospel. The term “fitting”, can be translated “properly”, or “respectably”. In worship everything should be done properly, or respectably, in an ordered fashion. What is Paul’s rationale for an ordered service? 1) Order reflects a God of order. But also 2) Order allows the church to accomplish its primary purpose. It is Paul’s driving principle to get the central message, what he calls the Gospel, out to the people. When the worship service is no longer “fitting” or “respectable” the Gospel loses its credibility before it is given a chance. The reason for a “fitting” “orderly” service is so that the primary purpose of the church may be accomplished.

There is another thing I want us to look at here. What if a particular worship service style isn’t personally “fitting”? If the style of a particular worship service doesn’t fit your personal preference for worship what you do? Answer: VALUE THE NEEDS OF THE WHOLE CHURCH MORE THAN YOUR PERSONAL NEEDS (OR PREFERENCES)

I want you to feel the impact here. For the tongues speakers in Corinth, speaking in tongues was what made them feel a personal connection to God in worship. This was what they felt best “fit” them. Given a chance they would have decided what they were doing was “fitting”. That’s what seemed right for worship. These tongues speakers didn’t feel distracted. In fact they felt the most perfectly focused while they were speaking in tongues. The problem was that their personal preferences was a distraction to others. Their expression of worship was not seeker sensitive!

Paul told them clearly that for tongues speaking to be a useful part of a public worship service there must be an interpreter making the message intelligible to everyone in attendance. No matter how meaningful it is to the individual, if it is damaging to the needs of the whole the individual is to submit his or her needs to the greater need (14:13).

Tongues speaking can be regulated by the tongues speaker. (14:28; 32-33), just as prophecy can be regulated by the prophet. Both can choose to be silent for the sake of the higher purposes of the Worship Service.

Caution: Do not Forbid Tongues Altogether (1 Corinthians 14:5, 18, 39).

Paul did not condemn tongues speaking altogether. He did not condemn the form of tongues speaking that was taking place in Corinth (i.e., this kind versus the kind as described in Acts 2). What Paul did condemn was anyone who attempted to forbid tongues speaking altogether. Many churches today disobey Paul here and condemn the modern practice of tongues speaking altogether, saying that it is an illegitimate practice even personally. We should not condemn other churches for this practice. Nor should we condemn individuals who practice tongues speaking. Paul was only correcting how it was being used.

If someone began to speak in tongues publicly in our worship services, we would talk to them about it, and teach them through this scripture, about our priorities, and our purposes for a public worship service. Since getting the clear communication of the gospel out is our top priority, we don’t want tongues speaking to become a distraction to that purpose. It is not appropriate for our public services.

Paul speaks of the personal practice of tongues speaking as edifying for the individual involved. Presumably, Paul used this practice privately as part of his personal times of worship. I believe he surprised the Corinthians when he also told them he spoke in tongues.

Submit what is Personally Fitting to that which Most Fits the Church’s Purpose

I believe this principle will help bring unity over many divisive expression of worship in churches today. Where there is a division over personal preference in worship style as it relates to music, people can respond as the tongues speakers were urged to respond, by subjecting their own personal preferences to the greater need of the whole church so that the whole church is more effective at accomplishing the primary purpose.

2. Other Distractions (14:33-40)

As in all the congregations of the saints, ³⁴women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. ³⁵If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

³⁶Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. ³⁸If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.^£

³⁹Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Paul addressed other distractions in the Corinthian worship service that caused disorder. The need for an orderly service is the basis for the instruction about other kinds of distractions taking place in Corinth, namely the disruptions caused by the uninformed women asking questions during the times of instruction (14:33-35). Such discussions were usually among the “informed” with the uninformed listening and learning. The new found freedom these Christian women were experiencing led them to express themselves in ways that were unbecoming in their culture. The details of the precise nature of the cultural breech is still a bit unclear. Did these women call into question the legitimacy of the prophesy? Were they stepping out of bounds in the area of authority? Were they merely noisy with their questions causing a general disruption? I’m not completely sure. The thing I am sure about is this, the Gospel was losing credibility as a result.

I want you to be aware of something however. Paul used the same verb “be silent” three times in this chapter, not just to women. Paul told the tongues speaker to be “silent” (14:28) translated “keep quiet” in the NIV. Paul told the “first speaker” to be “silent” (14:30) translated “the first speaker should stop.” Paul told the uninformed women to be “silent” (14:34) translated “should remain silent.”

We don’t have time to do a lengthy study on the controversial issue of women’s role in the church this morning. Besides, that study should probably include some dialogue. So let me simply point out one of the Care Group Study questions on the back of your message notes. Question # 6 reads, “In light of 1 Corinthians 11:5 where women “pray and prophesy” and in light of the fact that the same verb “be silent” is used in 14:28, 30, & 34—to tongue speakers (28), to the one prophesying (30), and to women (34)—do you understand Paul’s command to “be silent” in 14:34 to be universal or contextual? Explain your answer.

I believe it to be contextual. But that would have to be explained, and we would need to steer through many passages of scripture. Let me simply reiterate in conclusion, Paul’s presupposition, the priority of Paul that gives him the basis for all of his corrections in this chapter.

C. Let the Highest Priorities Shape What We Do.

We must continue to work towards the highest calling of the church. We must maintain the purity of the Gospel core, and the effectiveness at getting the Gospel out to our community. It is this priority that dictates when one should be silent and when one should speak. It is this priority, that dictates what music we choose, or what style of worship we use, or what methods we adopt. It was this priority that was being violated in several ways at Corinth that led to Paul’s corrections here in this chapter.

Would you pray with me.

Dear Lord,

We are easily distracted ourselves. Sometimes we are even distracted by our particular views about controversial issues. Such controversy could weigh us down into muddling through arguments about issues rather than effectively communicating the Gospel good news. Help us today to set aside any distraction from you. Help us personally to let go of some distractions in our daily lives. Help us to embrace your highest priorities. We want to be a part of your plan to reach others. Help us to enter into the world of some friend or acquaintance in a way that we can truly communicate your message. We want your message to be heard. Forgive us for acting too much like foreigners to those who don’t know you. Help us to love them, so they can hear your love in a language they can understand.

In Jesus Name, Amen

[i] Leadership Journal Cartoon, Summer 1997

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Modified from what was read by Jack Taylor at a Conference in Portland, OR 11/7/98