The Divine Concert

Feature 2 – April 2024 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Divine Concert

It was 5:00 on a Thursday evening that Mr. Roberts, the music teacher, had prepared to lead a concert with his elementary school students. They had been practicing a special song for about a month, yet the performance was a disaster. The brass instruments were too loud and off tune; the piano was not heard at all, and he was not sure if the singers were singing in English or another language. That had been the scenario last year.

This year he felt he had learned his lesson and was determined to give the parents the best performance ever. He picked his best student and trained her to sing that same song as a solo. She was very talented and did an amazing job. To Mr. Roberts’ surprise, most of the parents were disappointed. They had come to see their children perform – not to enjoy the performance.

Do Mr. Roberts’ thoughts describe how we sometimes feel about our assembly meetings? Let us dig into the Bible and try to find what the Lord is looking for when we gather together around Him.

The Divine Design
In His discussion with the Samaritan woman, the Lord said, “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him” (Jn. 4:23 ESV). Note that He did not say the Father is seeking such a worship, but “such people to worship Him.” God is not looking for perfect assembly meetings. Instead, He wants authentic people coming together to worship Him and to learn from Him.

God, through Paul, provided guidelines on how true worshipers should worship the Lord and minister, at the appropriate times, in His name. We read in 1 Corinthians 14:23-40:

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

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. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.

These guidelines can be easily illustrated as a musical concert, like our opening story. For a successful instrumental concert, we need to have a maestro, a musical piece to play, a music sheet to guide the musicians, and different instruments playing in harmony. If we miss any of those four factors, we will not have a good concert playing in harmony. For example, if different instrumentalists are not following the same music sheet or are looking to different maestros, we will end up with noise instead of music. The same applies to our assembly meetings. We need a common leader (the maestro), a common goal (the music piece), common guidelines (the music sheet) and variety of gifts (different instruments).

Common Leader
The Lord Jesus promised, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them” (Mt. 18:20). Since the Lord is present in the meeting, there is no room for any other leaders. But how can the Lord lead if we don’t see Him? He leads through the Holy Spirit who is in all the worshipers – all believers (1 Cor. 14:2,12). The Spirit is in us (6:19; Eph. 2:22).

From 1 Corinthians 14 we can draw two principles on how the Lord leads a meeting through the Spirit. The first principle is that there is no room for what is commonly called a “one-man” ministry. The Bible is clear on how the ministry is open for different people, that is why we read “if any speak” and “you can all prophesy” (see vv.27,31). The second principle is that there is no room for what may be called an “every-man” ministry. This means the participation in a meeting is not open for anyone who wants to take part. If he does not have the required gift or is not in the right spiritual condition at the time, he must remain silent. That is why Paul clearly indicated “… if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation” (Rom. 12:7-8). Each individual worshiper should know his or her role and exercise it as led by the Lord, through the Holy Spirit. We cannot use the Spirit as a license to do whatever we want in meetings, because, after all, “the spirits of the prophets are subject to prophets” (1 Cor. 14:32). Through the Holy Spirit in us we are to maintain self-control (Gal. 5:22-23) and be led by Him – not to do whatever we want or feel and blame it on the Spirit. This is a great responsibility that needs a high spiritual condition.

Common Goal
What is the goal of our meetings? Paul put it in a simple way: “Let all things be done for building up” (v.26). Some meetings might focus on teaching; some might be prayer meetings, and some might be worship meetings to praise the Lord and thank Him. Those meetings may have different specific goals, but the common goal in participating in any of them should be for edification or building up. This was not the case with the Corinthians. They were eager to showcase their gifts, as their focus was exhibition, not edification. That is why Paul was trying to correct their behavior by pointing them to the right goal of the meetings.

There is a direct link between edification and understanding. We can trace ten references in 1 Corinthians 14 that link edification to understanding (vv.3,4,5,6,9,11,12,14,16,19). This link puts a responsibility for leaders in meetings of the local assembly to make sure their messages and prayers are clear for all to understand. We need one another to be built up. The main responsibility of edification is on the shoulders of the leaders who are gifted in the local church (Eph. 4:11-12). However, it is also the responsibility of all of us to build one another up (1 Th. 5:11).

Common Guidelines
Although Paul was mainly talking about speaking in tongues and prophecies in 1 Corinthians 14, we can still glean some general guidelines for the meetings of the church. The first guideline is open participation: “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” (v.26). This text clearly gives the impression that there are multiple “brothers” involved in a way that enables open participation. There is no arranged order of the events in the meeting and no assignment of role, but rather the Lord directing different individuals through the Spirit. The second guideline is that we have a responsibility to keep things in order (v.32). No one can claim that the spirit is leading him to speak for two hours and that he cannot stop.

It is not easy to keep a balance between those two guidelines. We can easily lean toward open participation and end up with meetings where there is participation with no edification. If we lean more toward having order we can end up having a very organized meeting that might look good but won’t have the impactful edification because it is not led by the Lord through the Spirit. Let us all try to keep the balance.

Variety Of Gifts
It is important to exercise different gifts in our local meeting to edify one another. The Lord has given the local assembly a variety of gifts and roles (1 Cor. 12:4-6; Rom. 12; Eph. 4). Note that these gifts vary in their kind, and they also vary in their levels (1 Cor. 12:11). For example, one teacher might be better than another, but they are both gifted by God. The Spirit gives the gifts by grace (v.11), so no one should boast as if he or she got a gift because of any merit.

What To Do If We Are Not Seeing God’s Perfect Design?
Let us go back to our opening story. Mr. Roberts did not like the performance of his students so he decided to have a good concert by replacing everyone with only one gifted musician. In some cases we do the same. We observe the chaos in our meetings, so we replace God’s design with well-organized gatherings led by a gifted teacher. The meeting might look good, but is that what God wants? Remember, God is seeking worshipers – the people!

If you see your church meetings in chaos, I have three recommendations for you:

1. Look to the Lord and ask for His help. We are His people, meeting for and around Him. He is looking after His church, even in weak times.
2. See your brothers and sisters from the eyes of the Lord. Despite their spiritual failure, Paul called the Corinthians “brothers” more than 20 times in his first epistle to them.
3. Keep applying the divine principles and never give up. The assembly at Corinth was full of disorder and confusion, yet Paul did not give up; he sent them his letter to correct their behavior.

Finally, remember musicians need lots of practice to play together in harmony. To reflect God’s perfect design for our meetings, we need lots of practice in holiness and listening to the Holy Spirit throughout our daily lives so we can all worship and enjoy His presence in harmony when we meet together.

By Shereen Ghobrial

These blessed words of the Savior, “There am I in the midst” (Mt. 18:20 KJV), guarantee without a doubt His personal presence to those gathered together by the Spirit unto His name. This is a living reality and is sufficient for faith. Jesus’ presence in the midst of the gathered assembly is enough.

He, the blessed Savior and Head of the Church, is present to direct and lead, and He should be given His place as the leader of the gathering and be depended on as such. All eyes should be on Him who has come to occupy the central place, and every heart should be waiting on Him to lead by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:22). Where He is owned as Lord and Leader there will be subjection to Him and behavior consistent with His lordship; there will be rule and order according to the mind and will of God. —Raymond K. Campbell, “The Church Of The Living God” (adapted).