Bible Reading Challenge #47
Orderly Worship
1 Corinthians 14:26–33
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.
27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.
28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged,
32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints…
While it’s easy to focus on the discussion about tongues, I want us to notice verse 26:
“Each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”
The expectation is that every believer comes to worship ready to contribute — to bring something that builds up the body.
Sadly, this expectation is often lost in our churches today. We expect the pastor to have a prepared message and the worship leader to have songs that fit the day’s theme, but few expect to come prepared with something to share. Even our schedules rarely allow space for it.
The expectation should be that God is regularly speaking, leading, guiding, convicting, and comforting us. If I asked, “What is God teaching you?” how many of us would have an answer that’s less than a week old? How many could point to a specific way God is teaching, encouraging, or correcting us through His Word?
I was encouraged this past Wednesday night when Cooper May led our prayer time and pointed us to Psalm 121 — a psalm he’s been returning to repeatedly during this season of life.
We all should come ready to share encouragements of who God is and how He is working in our lives — all for the building up of the body.
Note: This is why we begin most of our discussions at church with the prompt: “What is one big thing God is teaching you?” The expectation is that there is at least one.
