We are entertaining ourselves to death.
My message this morning is titled, "Entertained to Death."The title is inspired by the late Neil Postman, who wrote a book called Amusing Ourselves to Death. In that book Postman warned about the corrupting nature of television.
For example, when we turn on the cable news, we mostly want to be entertained by the news. And the cable news channels, eager for ratings and advertising dollars, are more than happy to oblige. Thus the attractive news babes, the cute but trivial commentary, flashy graphics, and high definition broadcasts.
But while we were being entertained by all the drivel, corruption gained a deeper foothold in government,financial institutions collapsed, our enemies formed deadly alliances, new terror plots were hatched, andgodless coalitions rearranged themoral landscape of our country. A synonym for entertainment is distraction. Entertainment distracts us from the things that really matter—like the condition of our own souls or the soul of our nation.
And here is anotherthingabout entertainment.The more spiritually dead you are inside, the more entertainment and stimulation you seek from the outside. The more dead you become on the inside, the more desperately you grasp after the lights, glitz, excitement, music, dancing images, immorality, and recklessness of Sin City.
The glitz of Sin City promises to revive our dead souls! But beware! It is while we laugh and dance that the power of sin and death makes its greatest advance. Entertainment doesn’t revive our spiritually dead souls. It only distracts us.
And so with entertainment, the show must always go on! And the show must get better and better. And the lights must always get brighter and brighter, and the music louder and louder. The greater the power of sin and death within, the greater the distraction we require.
The crowning hallmark of ungodliness is boredom. The cure for boredom isn’t entertainment. It's worship. Through worship, the Church can offer people the one thing that can truly revive their dead souls—Jesus Christ!
Sadly, a growing number of churches have taken to entertaining people. The modern churchgoer today wanders aimlessly from church to church looking for an entertaining experience. "Do they play my music? Do they sing my song? Do they make me laugh? Do they make me feel good? Do they make my kids shrill with excitement?" Entertainment has never, nor can it ever resurrect or revive the bored.
1 Corinthians 14 is about infusing people with the life-giving, soul-satisfying, soul-reviving power of Jesus Christ. This morning I want to sharesix principles that must shape worship.
There are principles that must shape our worship.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (NIV),"Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.For 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.But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.I 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."
Principle number 1: Love must prevail over self-centeredness.
First, in worship, love must prevail over self-centeredness. Paul writes, "Follow the way of love..." Love is an outward orientation toward God and others. In contrast, self-centeredness is an inward orientation toward self and one’s personal needs.
Boredom is self-centeredness and a preoccupation with self. But we weren’t created for ourselves. We were created to love! The cure for boredom is following the way of love—looking beyond self, contemplating Christ, and contemplating the needs of others. Worship is not a self-centered experience. It's "with" others. It’s "with" the body of Christ.
Principle number 2: Service must prevail over consumerism.
Second, in worship, service must prevail over consumerism. Like Christians today, Christians at Corinth were seeking personal spiritual experiencessuch asspeaking in tongues. There is a lot of disagreement about what speaking in tongues is, but most describe it as a personally edifying prayer language. Others see it as ability to proclaim the gospel in a another language .
In these verses Paul addresses the tension between seeking something that is personally edifying versus that which edifies the whole church. He says, "eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy."Paul also says,"He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church."
The consumer is fixated on having a personal experience in worship. In contrast, the gift of prophesy is essentially preaching. It’s taking the truth of God’s word and in plain English, applying it to people’s lives. Prophesy is the greater gift because is has the potential to strengthen, encourage, comfort, and edify many people at one time.
Principle number 3: Intelligibility must prevail over emotionalism.
Third, in worship, intelligibility must prevail over emotionalism or sensationalism. To say this differently, worship must engage the mindand the spirit.
Paul addresses this issue in 1 Corinthians 14:6-19 (NIV)."Now, 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? Even 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?Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?So 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. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.If 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. So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church."
"For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So 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.If 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? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue."
Principle number 4: Listening and hearing must prevail over evil.
Fourth, listening and hearing must prevail over evil. The fruit of genuine worship is always life change. It'salways transformation. Notice the emphasis on hearing and listening. Notice how worship convicts and calls a person away from sin.
Paul continues this line of reasoning in 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 (NIV)."Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.In 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.Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So 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?But 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,and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!' "
Principle number 5: Purpose and order must prevail over chaos.
Fifth, purpose and order must prevail over chaos. 1 Corinthians 14:26-32 (NIV)continues, "What 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.If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God."
"Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.For God is not a God of disorder but of peace."
Principle number 6: Submission to Christ must prevail over all things.
Sixth, submission to Christ must prevail over all things. In the final verses of 1 Corinthians 14 Paul raises a very sensitive issue about the role of women in worship.
1 Corinthians 14:33-40 (NIV) says, "As in all the congregations of the saints,women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If 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.Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way."
The emphasis is less on the role of women andmore on submission of men and women to the Lord. Women were to honor God-ordained family structure. Men were to take initiative in the church family and with their spouses, to inquire of God’s will.
Considering all the principles of worship that we've discussed today, are you truly worshiping when you come to church? Or are you a self centered consumer, looking to be entertained?