1 Corinthians #29 – Weekly Study Questions
Rules for orderly worship.
1 Corinthians 14:26-40 (CGS #29)
INTRODUCTION – Before we dive into the complexities of the final section of Chapter 14, let’s go back and remind ourselves of what we learned last week. Paul describes the Corinthian church’s worship in a way that sounds selfish, immature, and chaotic. If an unbeliever showed up, they’d think the church was insane (v 23)! Paul wants their worship to be intelligible (v 6-11), instructive (v 19), mature (v 20), and always pointing to God (v 21-25). We are told to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy (v 1), but only with the goal of building up the church, not ourselves (v 3-5). The mission must remain central in our worship. We could have the most ecstatic prayer language and the most powerful prophetic voice, but if it’s not used out of love for God and his church, it’s useless; even annoying (13:1-2). We must not allow ourselves to focus more on the gifts than on the gift-giver. We are to live in such a way that unbelievers will focus on God, not on us. We must remain dependent on him. Make sure he gets the glory, not us (1 Cor 10:31). And whatever you do, whatever gifts you have, whether “big” or “small” (from a human perspective), use them to glorify God and build up the church.
Ok, so Paul’s instructions have been pretty clear so far, right? The Corinthian worship experience was chaotic and didn’t honor Jesus. The solution? Be orderly in worship so that Jesus is honored and each person is respected. Simple, right? Well, not so much for the Corinthians. Paul goes on in vv. 25-40 to painfully lay out all of the details of how orderly worship is supposed to be lived out. He’ll tell them that they should sing a song or two, have a lesson, and then allow only two or three prophets to speak, and two or three to use the gift of tongues. Then he says the quiet part out loud… only one prophet speaks at a time, with no one interrupting them, and you only get to use the gift of tongues if someone translates; otherwise, keep it to yourself. These are the most elementary instructions ever! Really fills in the picture of their immaturity.
Then, seemingly out of the blue, Paul tells women to be silent in church. What does this mean?!? We always have to interpret the difficult and confusing parts of Scripture through what is known and clear. Paul has already established the equality of men and women in chapter 7 when speaking about marriage. Secondly, he has already affirmed and assumed that women were praying and prophesying in the public gathering in chapter 11. So, we know that Paul is not suddenly reversing course and contradicting himself. Third, this whole section is about orderly worship and not interrupting those who are speaking. So, is Paul forbidding women from speaking in church? No. He forbade disruptive behavior in church, and he had to address a specific group of women in the Corinthian church. That is what Paul is doing here through the use of a definite article (“the women”) in the sentence structure. Remember, the church in Corinth was likely 30-50 people in total. They knew exactly who Paul was talking to and the exact situation that he was addressing.
So, how do we apply this passage in our lives? Well, we need to ask the pertinent question: Do we allow or enable any sort of disruptive, distracting, or dishonorable behavior in our worship gatherings or groups? Do we allow and even enable gossip? Does someone dominate the time so others don’t get to share? Is there a pattern of interrupting and speaking over one another? Does it ever get contentious and disrespectful? Could an outside observer notice any difference between what we do as Christians in community versus the local book club? These are the questions that should come to our minds from this passage. After all, our God is a God of peace, not chaos and confusion (v. 33). When we live in and live out that peaceful reality, we will come to find that peace is a profoundly powerful characteristic.
GETTING STARTED – As a group, take time to answer this question: Paul’s instructions to not be rude, distracting, interrupting, and dishonoring in this section are very elementary, but why do you think that they are as timely now as they have ever been?
IN THE WORD – Let’s dig back into the passage. It’s important to strengthen our muscles in reading God’s Word. On Sunday, we walked through the passage in the sermon. Hopefully, that helped you to see the landmarks of the passage with fresh eyes. Now, with your group, go back through it and see what God is saying to you specifically.
First, before you read the passage, take a moment to ask God’s Spirit to quiet your mind and heart and to illuminate the text to you. Second, read the passage aloud to the group. Then, follow the simple method below (O.P.A.).
Observe: Make 8-10 observations from the passage. Pay close attention to observe and note repeated words and phrases, names, places, and themes.
Principles: From your list of observations, what patterns or big ideas do you see emerging? Can you distill it down into 2-4 big idea truths?
Apply: Moving from your list of principles, it is time to apply God’s Word. Remember, we believe that God’s Word is living and active and that it can change the way we live Monday-Friday. What is one tangible way to apply a truth from your list above?
DISCUSS – Another way to approach your time together is to talk through the following discussion questions:
- What did you hear God’s Spirit say to you through the passage this week? How does it encourage you? How does it sharpen you?
- How have you seen God at work in your life this week? Have you enjoyed him? Have you heard his voice and the leading of his Spirit? Big ways or small ways.
- We all have tendencies that Paul has addressed in this section (interrupting, talking too much, becoming argumentative, gossiping, etc.). Talk about a time you experienced one of these and how it impacted your experience in a church group or setting. Which of these tendencies is a temptation or a challenge for you, and how do you reign it in?
- On the positive side, when we experience honoring Christian community, it is so life-giving and powerful. Talk about a time that you experienced this, and what proactive steps you took to ensure that the time and space were honoring to the Lord and each other.
- Paul tells them and us that our God is a God of peace, not confusion. Peace is also a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. What does it mean to be a person of peace who reflects the peace of God? How does that person act in worship, connect groups, with their family, and in public? What is an area of growth for you as you walk as a person of peace?