How should we evaluate a church worship service?

Ask Your Question
1

Hi friends,

Nearly every Sunday of my life, I’ve been in church at a worship service. Unless I’ve been sick, caring for a sick child, or traveling, and maybe a few other occasions, it’s been a regular habit.

So, it’s inevitable to evaluate the time spent at church: how was it? Was it good? Was it worthwhile? What did God do?

In today’s liturgical reading I found encouragement from 1 Corinthians 14:26,

What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up.

For me, one challenge to interpreting this verse is the invisible way our expectations of church today can interfere with my ability to understand what Paul had in mind.

So, as Craig Keener reminds us, “We should keep in mind, however, that the house churches in Corinth probably comprised at the most only fifty members” (IVP New Testament Bible Background Commentary).

In other words, a group’s size changes culture - and a group’s culture affects its size. There will be a different dynamic in regards to how many people can participate in a gathered worship service when there are 3, 12, 75, or 5,000 in attendance.

But even though I’m a member at a church where over a thousand people gather each Sunday, the principle seems invaluable: everything is to be done for building up.

What does this mean?

First, I think it relocates the emphasis from what a single pastor contributes to how the entire church community, led by Jesus, builds itself up.

Paul takes it for granted that every believer has some kind of gift that they can contribute for the benefit of other believers.

It’s incredible wisdom. Instead of placing the burden for everyone’s spiritual growth on the shoulders of one or two people, God intends for the load to be shared. We are all responsible for one another’s growth in Christ.

So, to start, I think this is a very practical way to help each member avoid burnout as we rotate responsibilities.

Second, this principle not only undermines spiritual overwork by a handful of people, it also undermines spiritual loafing by everyone else! When we expect that everyone has something to contribute, that culture can be contagious, and create a community that is overflowing with spiritual growth.

When each member is developing themselves in Christ to serve their brothers and sisters in Christ, then we are all going to benefit from the resulting abundance of spiritually gifted people caring for one another.

Third, the principle Paul provides keeps the church from devolving into chaos. There’s a matter of discernment: does this person’s gift, at this meeting, as it is being expressed, help build up everyone else?

Just because something pops into our head doesn’t mean it should be expressed. There is a necessary role for spiritual leadership, doctrinal guidelines, ethical commitments, and communal discernment.

There is no sense that anyone can say anything at any time - rather, because the stakes are so high - we’re being formed into Christlikeness as Christ works among his people - we raise the stakes for what it means to share our gifts.

Here are some discernment questions to consider:

  • Does their message align with God’s truth?

  • Does their gift bring the church together in unity, while respecting the diversity in the people of God?

  • Is there an evident ‘fruitfulness’ in their own lives (love, joy, peace, patience, etc…) and in the result of their ministry?

  • Do they point people to themselves or to Christ?

  • Is there a spirit of humility and service to the exercise of their gift?

  • Is this an appropriate time and place for the exercise of their gift?

I’d love to hear:

  1. Does your church invite you to participate?

  2. Are you developing your spiritual gifts to build others up in the Lord?

  3. How do you discern if someone else’s gift is building others up into spiritual maturity?

For instance, I’m grateful that my church makes space for people to use their spiritual gifts in various groups, programs, and ministries beyond the large gathering.

And this thinking is behind the idea of developing Uncommon Pursuit as not only a teaching ministry, but building an online community where we can encourage one another to grow in the Lord.

P.S. We’ve looked at some of the complex interpretive questions in this passage in this discussion:

2 Likes