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issues for many modern churches are the quality of worship and
preaching. However, there is no command in the scriptures
that Christians should meet for worship each week. Communal
worship is good, but it should not be our first priority.
(Our whole lives should be an act of worship).
In previous
centuries, when very few people could read, regular teaching was
very important. In the modern world, abundant access to tapes,
videos, television and the internet makes regular access to preaching
a much less important priority.
The scripture that should determine
the priorities for church leaders is Jesus'
command:
A new
commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved
you, so you must love one another. All men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34,35
The problem with
this command is
that this type of love does not come naturally. The normal
workings of human nature tend to push people apart.
Christians have to be taught to love one another.
Participating in worship will not make us love one another (loving
one another may improve our worship). Listening to
good sermons will not make us love one another.
Christians will generally need to be taught to love each
other. Given Jesus command, the first priority of elders
should be to teach their people to love each other.
In Heb
10:25, we are told to keep on meeting together, but the reason for
meeting is not for worship. It is to "spur one another on towards love and good
deeds" and to "encourage one another". These
things should take priority over worship, when the church meets
together.
Jesus spent
a large part of his ministry discipling the twelve and teaching
them to love each other. A perusal of the last couple of
chapters of each of Paul's letters shows that he put considerable
energy into building relationships between people in the churches
(eg Phil 4:2). He is does not just teach theology, he
also teaches the believers how to relate to each
other. Building
relationships should be a priority for elders.
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