October 15, 2024

I Corinthians 14.33, 40 (NIV)

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace . . . everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.*

While my husband was the city manager, we were invited to a Spanish church for a special prayer service for government officials. They invited us to the front where they gathered around us, laid hands on us, and began praying. Out loud. All at once. In Spanish. I was very uncomfortable with this at first – it seemed disorderly to me. But then I thought: even if these people were all praying silently, God would still be hearing them praying all at once. And he would hear them. And understand their language. And answer their prayers.

I believe that courtesy is important in any gathering, but the Bible isn’t specific in regard to culture and tradition and personal preference in a worship service. What I might find to be “over the top” may be a moving spiritual experience for someone else. 

Some people seem to thrive on chaos and disorder. Maybe you are one of those people and you don’t even know it! While excess noise and confusion tend to make me feel anxious, I don’t think that Paul is implying that I am more godly than those who flourish in the midst of sensory overload. Perhaps he is not referring to outer orderliness at all. Whether I label and alphabetize myself into a false sense of tranquility; or whether you revel in life’s disarray, God is the only true source of peace and order in a messy world. When we let him be in charge, things get done in that “fitting and orderly way.”

When it comes to his church, God is more concerned with obedience than organization, and if he had to choose between the two, I suspect he’d prefer faithful saints to functional structures.*