Paul also tells us exactly how this kind of edification in corporate worship takes place: edification in corporate worship takes place through order, not disorder.as we have seen over the past few weeks, there is one particular chapter in the New Testament that is entirely about corporate worship—1 Corinthians 14. Paul wrote this chapter specifically to address problems with the corporate worship services of the church at Corinth, and the specific point he makes revolves around the superiority of prophecy over tongues, but in the course of his argument, Paul reveals some fundamental and essential principles about corporate worship that should impact our corporate worship today.
Sometimes people comment that the New Testament gives us very little instruction regarding corporate worship, but this is not true. There are many NT passages that help define corporate worship, and some of the NT epistles were written specifically to help believers know “how to behave in the household of God” (1 Tim 3:15
), not to mention the fact that NT Christians would have assumed the value of Old Testament teaching regarding corporate worship as well.
In fact, as we have seen over the past few weeks, there is one particular chapter in the New Testament that is entirely about corporate worship—1 Corinthians 14. Paul wrote this chapter specifically to address problems with the corporate worship services of the church at Corinth, and the specific point he makes revolves around the superiority of prophecy over tongues, but in the course of his argument, Paul reveals some fundamental and essential principles about corporate worship that should impact our corporate worship today.
Already we have seen that corporate worship is corporate, not individual, that it is for believers, not unbelievers, and that its purpose is primarily edification, not expression.
Fourth, Paul also tells us exactly how this kind of edification in corporate worship takes place: edification in corporate worship takes place through order, not disorder.
Apparently, Christians in the church at Corinth had similar expectations about corporate worship as contemporary Christians do—true worship will be spontaneous, and too much structure stifles the Holy Spirit. They were apparently extending this expectation beyond the miraculous gifts of tongues and prophecy to even singing and teaching (v. 26):
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
