God alone determines how he is to be worshiped (Leviticus 10:1-3; Exodus 20:2-6 John 4:20-26 . In his Word, God tells us that regular Christian gatherings should contain singing (Ephesians 5:18-19), Scripture readings (1 Timothy 4:13), prayer (1 Timothy 2:8), preaching (2 Timothy 4:1-2), baptism and the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11), and not much else. Therefore, Christians are not free to add or subtract elements of public worship services according to their preferences, non-Christians’ preferences, or anyone else’s preferences.
Everything in public gatherings of Christians should aim to edify Christians (1 Corinthians 14:12-26). The primary, overarching concern governing Christian gatherings should be how each element contributes to Christian growth.
We should labor to put no offense in front of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:1-23). This doesn’t mean that we get rid of preaching if our non-Christian friends don’t want to hear preaching. It does mean we should strip away any unnecessary, distracting, and potentially offensive cultural practices that can get in the way of the gospel.
Our services should be evangelistic and intelligible to non-Christians (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). Even though building up believers should be primary, we should also be concerned to communicate intelligibly to non-Christians who come to church. This means that while non-Christians’ preferences shouldn’t dictate what is done or how it’s done, we should be sensitive to them so that our services are more intelligible, and therefore more evangelistic.
For more great resources from Mark Dever and 9Marks Ministries, visit www.9marks.org