WORSHIP NOTES
Volume 19, No. 6 (June 2024)
Preferring One Another in Love
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10)
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. (1 Corinthians 10:24)
A beautiful story from the “trenches” of the worship wars: Joe Stowell, who was at the time president of Moody Bible Institute, told about the time the Moody radio network decided to change its standard programming from old-style gospel music to a more contemporary music format. The station received a letter from an older woman who had long been a financial supporter of Moody Radio. Her letter went something like this: “For many years I have supported your programming, and I so enjoyed the music that was broadcast. But now I learn you have decided to change the format to one with more modern music. However, I want you to know that if that is what you think is necessary to reach the younger generation, I am behind you one hundred percent. Enclosed is my donation.” What a mature response from a believer who understood that it was not all about her!
The Example of Christ
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” (Romans 15:1-3)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)
Questionable Things
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:13-23)
Our conscience . . . inherently restricts our liberty more narrowly than the Scriptures restrict that liberty. And therefore our conscience points in the direction of the God of restriction rather than the God of grace. And it’s a very interesting thing in Scripture for this reason: Christians who tend to restrict their liberty more narrowly than Scripture itself does, always restrict it on the basis that they have a strong conscience. But the paradoxical thing is that when Paul discusses that, he calls the strong conscience the weak brother; it’s the liberated brother who is the strong brother. It’s the conscience-bound brother—that is the person who says, “I’ve got a strong conscience with respect to what I eat or what I drink”— that Paul describes as the weak brother.
Now why does he overturn our value system at that point? Because for Paul the genuinely strong brother is the brother whose conscience has been shaped and framed to the liberties of the gospel that are found in Jesus Christ, and who thereby views God chiefly in terms of the generosity of God rather than the restrictions of God; who views divine law within the context of divine grace, and not the other way around. And the New Testament, I think, recognises that this is an endemic problem for us: . . . we have all believed the satanic lie that God is chiefly the restrictor of our liberties rather than the generous provider for all of our needs [Genesis 3:1].
—Sinclair Ferguson, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, “Part 26: Assurance and Grace II”
AND YET:
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. . . . But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 28)
For Paul personal freedom is not absolute; it is always conditioned by the “rule” of v. 24—seeking the good of another.
—Gordon Fee, 1 Corinthians, New International Commentary on the NT, on 1:28-29
Christian liberty should be modified (only, but certainly) by Christian charity.
—F.F. Bruce, 1 Corinthians, New Century Bible Commentary, on 10:29
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
The glory of God, not the observance of food-laws, nor the satisfaction of one’s natural appetite, nor even the assertion of one’s personal liberty, is the main object of Christian life and action—eating, drinking, or anything else (cf. Colossians 3:17).
—F.F. Bruce, 1 Corinthians, New Century Bible Commentary, on 10:31
Preferring One Another in Worship
Come to corporate worship on the lookout for feeding on God and his grace, and on the lookout for giving grace to others. Come to be blessed by God, and to bless others. Receive from Him, give to them. . . .Worshiping God and building up others aren’t mutually exclusive but come to their fullness together.
—David Mathis, “Oh, Behave! Conduct Worthy of the Gospel in Corporate Worship”
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Romans 15:5-7)
Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart . . . submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-19, 21)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. (Hebrews 10:24-25)