DOES A CONGREGATION HAVE
AUTHORITY FOR A MIDWEEK SERVICE?
While I do not think that I have never actually known anyone who has taught
this, I have heard that there have been brethren who argued that a local congregation
is authorized to assemble only on the first day of the week and therefore it
is unscriptural to have a midweek service. I have even heard that there have
been some who affirmed that the church is authorized to meet only once on Sunday
and that a Sunday evening service is also wrong. Thus, the question for this
article is, are midweek assemblies of a local congregation unauthorized and
therefore unscriptural, or does a church have scriptural authority for conducting
them?
For many years, midweek services of some kind (they used to be called “prayer
meetings,” but we have usually identified them as “midweek Bible
studies”) have been a practice, custom, habit, or “tradition”
among churches of Christ, as well as with various denominational churches, although
in many religious organizations they are less common now as these groups strive
to make their activities more “convenient” to people’s busy
schedules. However, while I am sure that we have all heard sermons against mere
“traditions” in religion, to say that the midweek service is a “tradition”
does not necessarily make it wrong. The fact is that a “tradition”
is simply something that is handed down. Some traditions are divine in origin
and therefore must be kept. Other traditions of human origin are sinful because
they violate some teaching of scripture or become wrong because they are bound
on the same level as divine tradition. Yet, there are traditions which are absolutely
harmless and, in fact, accomplish good. To make sure that all things are done
decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40), some churches establish a custom or tradition
for their order of worship (e.g., two songs, a prayer, a song, the sermon, the
invitation, the Lord’s supper, the collection, a closing song, and a prayer).
They do not bind this “tradition” as equivalent to a revelation
from God, but it serves a useful purpose of helping the worshippers know what
to expect and moving the service along in an orderly fashion.
Before we can answer the question
as to whether midweek services are authorized or not, we must first determine
from the scriptures how things are authorized in the religion to begin with.
A thing may be authorized by direct command or an express statement that has
the force of a command. We are to keep the Lord’s commandments (John 14:15,
1 John 5:3). For example, Jesus commanded His disciples to observe the Lord’s
supper, and Paul repeated that command for the church (Matthew 26:26-29, 1 Cor.
11:23-26).
A thing may also be authorize by approved apostolic example. In fact, the inspired
apostle Paul told us to follow his example and that of others who so walk as
a pattern, and then commanded us, “The things which you have learned and
received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with
you” (Phil. 3:17, 4:9). While Jesus commanded us to observe the Lord’s
supper, He did not specifically tell us when, but we do so on the first day
of the week because we have an approved apostolic example to show that it is
acceptable with God (Acts 20:7).
Or a thing may be authorized by a necessary inference or conclusion drawn from
scriptural facts. We have a command to observe the Lord’s supper and an
approved apostolic example concerning the day, but we necessarily infer that
since the disciples came together on the first day of the week to break bread
and every week has a first day then the Lord wants us to come together on the
first day of every week to observe the Lord’s supper, just as the Jews
necessarily inferred that the command to “Remember the Sabbath day to
keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) meant the Sabbath of every week because every
week has a Sabbath or seventh day.
We must also understand the nature of authority. Some authority is specific
and some is generic. For example, if I simply tell my son to go down to the
store and buy a loaf of bread, that does not authorize him to buy candy. However
whether he gets Wonder White Bread or Home Pride Whole Wheat Bread or even Hearth
Farms Potato Bread, he has done just what I told him to do—buy a loaf
of bread. On the other hand, if I specify the kind of bread, then he is authorized
to purchase that specific kind and no other.
God told Noah to “make yourself
an ark of gopher wood” (Genesis 6:14). As to kind of wood, God was specific;
making an ark of gopher wood did not authorize the use of pine, oak, or any
other kind. However, the command to build is generic. God did not specify how
to make it. Even though God did not specifically say that Noah could use a hammer,
a saw, or whatever, the generic command to make an ark necessarily included
any tools required to do so.
It is fairly easy to see how these principles apply to various activities in
the work and worship of the church. Jesus told His followers to preach the gospel
to every creature (Mk. 16:15). He was specific as to what—the gospel.
That does not include worldly wisdom, human doctrines, or man-made creeds. Hence
they are unauthorized and unscriptural. If one preaches those things, he is
not preaching the gospel. However, “preach” is fairly generic as
to how. Whether one simply speaks, or uses a blackboard, or a chart on a bed
sheet, or an overhead projector, or a Power Point presentation, or a radio,
or a television, he is still doing just what Christ said—preaching the
gospel. God did not have to say anything about any of these means and methods
for them to be authorized. The fact that he told us to preach includes any means
and methods that are needed or helpful in accomplishing the purpose.
We are commanded to sing in worship (1 Cor. 14:15, Eph. 5:19). Sing itself is
a specific kind of music, and playing on an instrument or even accompanying
with an instrument is not included. With the addition of instrumental music,
one ceases merely to sing. Also the “what” to sing is specified—psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs (cf. Col. 3:16). This eliminates folk, pop, rock,
and in fact any other kind of songs. However, the “how” to sing
is not specified. It is generic. Now, God never said anything about song books,
but we have to have some way to obtain the words to sing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs. We could memorize them, or have them read them to us by someone,
or use song books. If we choose to use a song book, we are not adding anything
to the worship. We are still doing just what God told us to do—singing
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. God did not have to say anything specific
about song books. They are simply an expedient in carrying out God’s commands.
It is clear that God wants His people to assemble, because they are told “not
forsaking the assembling of yourselves together” (Heb. 10:25). The purpose
for the assembling as a church is specified in other passages—worship
(John 4:24) and edification (1 Cor. 14:26). Thus, for the church to assemble
for eating a common meal, recreation, or entertainment is not authorized. However,
while the church must have a place to assemble, the “where” to assemble
is not specified. It is generic. Whether a church borrows, or rents, or purchases,
or builds a place to assemble, if it is coming together for worship and edification,
it is simply doing what God said. For a church to own a building is not an addition
to God’s word; it is merely an expedient in carrying out what God authorizes.
God did not have to say anything about a building. The church must have a place
to meet, so it is included in the command to assemble and any reasonable place
to meet is merely an expedient.
This brings us to the question of midweek services. As we have seen, by example
and necessary inference, God has authorized the local church to meet on the
first day of every week. However, does this mean that the church is authorized
to meet ONLY on the first day of the week? It would IF it met the text of universality,
but it does not. In other words, is every example in scripture of a church’s
assembling only on the first day of the week? The answer is no. In Acts 2:46
we are told of the church in Jerusalem that it was “continuing daily with
one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house.” I understand
this to make a distinction between what they did as a church, continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and what they did as individuals, breaking bread
from house to house.
Thus, the church in Jerusalem, at least for a time, continued “daily”
with one accord in the temple, the place where it appears that they assembled
for worship and learning the apostles’ doctrine (cf. v. 42). The question
might be raised, does this “example” mean that the local church
must meet daily? Again, if it met the test of universality, it might, but it
does not. There is no indication that it was a universal practice of churches
in the first century to meet daily. In Acts 14:27, we read of Paul and Barnabas
in their return to Antioch from their first preaching trip that “when
they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had
done with them.” This implies that the church was not assembled on the
day when they came back. If the church in Antioch were assembling daily, there
would be no need to “gather the church together” because it would
already be assembling every day.
What this does mean is that if a congregation decided to meet every day, it
would be generally authorized, and in fact there are times such as during gospel
meetings when a church will do this. Now, if it is generally authorized for
a church to meet every day in the week, it is just as generally authorized for
a church to pick one day out of the week (in addition to the specified first
day of the week) to assemble. One function of the church is “the edifying
of the body of Christ” or “the edifying of itself in love”
(Eph. 4:12, 16). The when and how of this edifying are not specified. As we
have seen, the book of Acts shows that the edifying done in the early church
was not limited to the first day of the week. Therefore, God did not have to
say anything specific about midweek (or Sunday evening) services. When a church
meets for a midweek service, it is not violating any principle of scripture
but is simply doing precisely what the New Testament authorizes it to do as
it seeks to accomplish “the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Finally, is it necessary for the members of the local church to attend such
midweek services? Of course, we recognize that there are times when situations
beyond a person’s control, such as sickness, or the fulfillment of other
God-given responsibilities, such as providing for one’s family, might
make it necessary for one to miss an occasional service. But we are asking about
when a person is able and chooses not to attend. Is that wrong? Someone might
answer no because such services are not commanded. It is true that they are
not commanded, and I have known of faithful churches which, for various reasons,
chose not to conduct midweek services. That is their right. However, when a
local church does agree to conduct midweek services for the edification of members,
there is a responsibility for those who are members of that congregation to
support its work to the very best of their ability.
The local church is not just a club or civic organization, though even these
groups often have rules that if you miss so many meetings you cannot be a member.
The local church is a spiritual relationship. The fact that “we are members
of one another” (Eph. 4:25) places various obligations upon us. After
Saul had “tried to join the disciples” in Jerusalem and been accepted,
“he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out” (Acts 9:25-28).
If I am a member of a local church, it means that in my relationship to the
other members I am to be “with them.” How can I do this when I habitually
absent myself from those times when they choose to meet together? Thus, we conclude
that it is generally authorized by the scriptures for churches to conduct midweek
assemblies, and that if at all possible the members of that congregation need
to be present.
By Wayne S. Walker
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