Collective worship is more than a sum of individual contributions. We do not come to give out our favorite hymn, read a selection of verses that we have prepared, pray prayers reflective of our personal exercise, and so forth—all of which may be sincere and heartfelt. The activity of the Holy Spirit should be evident in collective worship. “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation” (1 Cor. 14:26). When one gives out a hymn, or prays, or reads a Scripture, they should do so at the directing of the Holy Spirit. “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh” (Phil. 3:3 JnD). For that moment they give voice to the assembly, not just their own thoughts. “They lifted up their voice to God with one accord” (Acts 4:24). “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:6).
Although many Christians acknowledge that the loaf is a memorial of Christ’s body broken for us (1 Cor. 11:24), few appear to recognize that it also represents (in its unbroken state) the body of Christ—that is to say, the entire redeemed company which forms the church of God. “We, being many, are one loaf, one body; for we all partake of that one loaf” (1 Cor. 10:17 JND). On the day of Pentecost, the small company of believers in Jerusalem were incorporated into one body through the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). They formed the body of Christ, the church. “He is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18; see also Eph. 1:22-23; Eph. 4:4, 12). Never had such a body existed. This truth, that the church is the body of Christ, of which He is the glorified Head in heaven, and that it is indwelt and governed by the Holy Spirit, remains completely foreign to much of Christendom. The activity of the Holy Spirit, in directing the assembly, should be evident in its various activities and certainly not less so than in its worship.
In a book, given to me by a Christian friend some years ago, the author laments a lack of understanding concerning the Holy Spirit and His role within the church. He notes, quite rightly, for example: The benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit. The “entertainment” model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and ‘90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit.vi A couple of pages further on in this same book, nevertheless, the author writes: My friend Jim, who serves as one of the worship pastors ... . The author fails to recognize that the only worship leader in the assembly is the Holy Spirit! For all the good things that the book has to say, the author cannot divorce himself from the clerical model that has divided the church for centuries and which so effectively usurps the Spirit’s role. This has been called the sin, characteristic of this dispensation, against the Holy Ghost.vii For a man to take the role of worship leader, or to be appointed to this role, is to deny the Holy Spirit the liberty to act through whomsoever He will. I recognize that this individual could be led by the Holy Spirit (certainly, the assumption is so); however, where do we find anything like this in the Word of God? One must turn to the Old Testament to find something similar. For example, the appointment of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun for the service of music in the temple (1 Chron. 25). Christendom has returned to those elements suited to an earthly people under law—established well before the cross, well before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and well before the church began.