It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that nothing we human beings produce or can produce is perfect. This is true in every realm of human existence including the church’s worship of God. As inspiring as the music can be—it is not perfect because the songs being sung were written and put to music by flawed human beings. As powerful as the preaching may be—it too is not perfect for the simple reason that the preacher isn’t perfect. This is true of every aspect of every worship service every church has ever experienced or will experience.
But there is one aspect of the worship service which, is perfect. And that worship activity is none other than the reading of Scripture. The reason I say that the reading of the Scriptures is the one perfect aspect of any worship service is because God’s Word is perfect and if read, as given, word for word, it is the only perfect thing done in any service of any church.
Now, I understand that many churches, including many evangelical churches, do not include the reading of Scripture in their worship services which, is hard to understand since God tells pastors to be devoted to including it in the worship service of the church (1 Timothy 4:13). And if this is your church you might want to think about the fact that you’ve jettisoned the only perfect part of the service in which God Himself is speaking directly to His people through His divinely inspired and preserved Word.
That’s right! You heard me correctly. The public reading of the Scriptures, in the church’s worship service, is the one and really the only time in the service when God’s people get the opportunity to hear God speak directly to them through His perfect, powerful, fully authoritative, inspired, and preserved Word as it is read to them outloud.
Now, don’t get me wrong here. The sermon is important. In fact, it’s as essential as the public reading of Scripture, but the sermon was written by a man not God. Thus, it, while certainly authoritative, blessed, and used by God--as long as it’s true to the Word—is not perfect. Corporate worship is necessary too in any worship service but, it will never be perfect. Corporate prayer, while passionate, sincere, and faith-filled, will never be perfect for the simple reason that none of our thoughts, perceptions, emotions, attitudes, and words are perfect.
But, God’s words as recorded in Scripture are perfect and thus to read them publicly in the worship service is to be reading the very inspired, revealed, and perfect words of God to God’s people. Is this important? The apostle Paul sure thought so because, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, he wrote to a young pastor named Timothy and told him to: “. . . devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching . . . be diligent about these matters. Give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress.” (1 Tim. 4:13-15) It would seem that Paul considered the pastor’s job on any given Sunday to be incomplete and lacking if all he did was preach and teach the Word of God without ever reading or having the Scriptures read publicly.
I kind of wonder if we couldn’t even go so far as to say that it is arrogant of pastors and their churches to neglect the public reading of God’s perfect Words as recorded in the Bible so as to make more time for our imperfect words uttered in announcements, songs, preaching, and prayers. Certainly, we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water and drop these important and essential aspects of our corporate worship services, but neither should we muzzle God and neglect the only perfect words that will be heard by God’s people on any given Sunday. Pastors and their churches must make room for God’s Word to be publicly read and heard by God’s people during our time of corporate worship. So, let God’s Word be read loud, clear, and publicly in the church!
