32: Performers and Pew-Warmers: Is This What God Intended?

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to inquisitive

Bible students exploring biblical truths that might not be fully explored in typical sermons or Bible studies.

My name is Eddie Lawrence. How did early Christians view their gatherings and what can we learn from their focus on mutual edification?

What is the New Testament's perspective on church meetings and what are the implications for today?

In this series we have drawn from Dr. Tom Wadsworth's exhaustive research on early church gatherings.

What have we learned? Studies of five Greek words translated as worship reveal that worship is an imprecise term.

Unlike the five Greek words which have very specific meanings, worship is ambiguous and it can mean different things to different people.

When we encounter the word worship in the Bible, what does it refer to?

Using only our English Bibles, the reader doesn't know exactly what is meant by worship.

Depending on the underlying Greek term in the New Testament, worship could be referring to prostration, offering sacrifices, doing the work of a priest, piety, or religious rites.

This places a burden upon serious Bible students when we encounter the word worship.

To understand what a Bible author's intent was, we must identify the word in the original language which is behind the

English word worship. Then we need to consult a reliable Bible dictionary for its meaning.

What it really boils down to is that Bible translators have done us a disservice by not being more precise.

The imprecision of the word worship carries significant risks for how we understand and practice our faith.

Regrettably, this is exactly what has happened. We've misunderstood.

We gather for the purpose of worship when in fact the New Testament shows that the early church met for the purpose of mutual edification.

As a result, we've become very good at worshiping, but have fallen short in producing mature disciples.

This is why it's not unusual to encounter Christians who have been disciples for decades, but remain selfish and spiritually immature.

This is not always the case, of course, but one doesn't have to look far to find a spiritually stunted

Christian who should be mature. How did the early church view their gatherings?

In his research, Dr. Wadsworth examined numerous New Testament passages with a goal of understanding how

Christians in the New Testament period viewed their gatherings. What terms does the

New Testament actually use to describe the early church gatherings?

If the focus wasn't on worship, then what was it? The research reveals that instead of focusing on worship, the early church's assemblies centered on gathering together for mutual edification and encouragement.

The New Testament uses simple, specific words to describe how early

Christians met together. Dr. Wadsworth found five key Greek terms in the

New Testament. The most common word is sunago, which means to gather.

It appears nine times when describing church meetings. If sunago sounds a little bit familiar, it should.

It's where the word synagogue comes from. The second word is sunerikomai, which means to come together.

It shows up twice in passages about church gatherings. The third word is familiar, ekklesia.

It appears three times. It's often translated as church, but it actually means assembly or congregation.

In Hebrews 10 .25, we find the Greek word episunagogai, another word that simply means assembling together.

And finally, in Acts chapter 12 verses 12 through 17, we find the word sunathroizo, which also describes people gathering in one place.

The passages in the New Testament that describe a church gathering reveals something important.

The church never called their meetings worship services. They used straightforward words about people coming together.

Another critical finding is the absence of Greek worship terms in assembly contexts.

Common Greek words for worship include proskuneo, which means to prostrate, latruo, which means to serve as a priest, and latourgio, which means to perform a priestly religious service.

While these words appear in the New Testament, it doesn't use them to describe the activities of church assemblies.

For example, in Acts 13 verses 1 through 4, the term latourgio appears, but it refers to the ministering of prophets and teachers, not congregational activity.

In 1 Corinthians 14 .25, proskuneo describes the prostration of an outsider, a non -christian.

It's not referring to the actions of the church assembly. In 1 Timothy 2 .10,

theosibia is better translated as godliness, rather than a specific act of worship.

These distinctions confirm that the New Testament does not use worship terminology to describe early church gatherings.

Dr. Wadsworth's research highlights the horizontal and vertical dimensions of early church gatherings.

Horizontal activities focused on encouraging and edifying one another. These included teaching, exhortation, and mutual support.

Vertical activities directed toward God, such as prayer and singing, were present, but were secondary to the primary goal of mutual edification.

For example, in Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47, the believers devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers.

These activities reflect both horizontal and vertical elements. In 1

Corinthians 14, Paul emphasizes that all activities in the assembly, even prayer and singing, must edify the group.

Hebrews 10 23 through 25 ties the assembly to encouraging one another and spurring each other toward love and good deeds.

No assembly described in the New Testament focuses exclusively on vertical activities, such as praising

God. Instead, horizontal activities dominate, aligning with the goal of building up the body of Christ.

The findings also indicate that meetings were not liturgical in nature. There is little evidence of structured rituals or formal ceremonies.

The only potential exception is the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 verses 17 through 34.

While this passage includes instructions for partaking in the supper, it does not suggest a detailed liturgy

Similarly, some may consider the Amen mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14 16 to be a responsive statement, but it doesn't point to a highly structured ceremony.

Instead, the gatherings were informal and focused on practical edification.

The absence of liturgy underscores the relational and participatory nature of these meetings.

So what are the implications for modern churches? Well, these findings challenge how most churches operate today.

While we structure our gatherings around worship services, the early church focused on building each other up spiritually.

This suggests that we should rethink our approach and consider making some practical changes.

We should have smaller breakout groups, such as in a Sunday school or Bible class setting, and we should make these gatherings a time for believers to share their experiences and to encourage one another.

They should create opportunities for real discussion during Bible study, not just a one -way lecture.

We should plan activities that help members use their gifts to strengthen others, and we should measure success by how members grow in maturity and love, and not by the quality of the worship service.

The early church shows us that Christian gatherings work best when we focus on helping each other grow and mature spiritually.

While the God -focused vertical components of our gatherings remain important, our primary goal should be horizontal, from disciple to disciple, just as the

New Testament describes. God desires for us to build a community where every

Christian participates in strengthening the faith of others. Thanks for listening to the podcast.

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For more biblical studies, visit our website at ReadyForEternity .com. That's the word ready, the number four, and the word eternity.

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That's all for now. Keep studying your Bible, growing closer to God, and getting ready for eternity.