“For He is not a God of disorder but of peace.”

(1 Corinthians 14:33a)

Perhaps it is the Presbyterian in me, but as I survey the world of churches around me, I keep asking myself the question, “What does our worship communicate about the character of the God we worship?” As kids, growing up in church, we were often told that the Jesus people saw in us often spoke louder than words. Maybe a better way of making that point is to propose that if what you communicate with your lips about the Gospel is inconsistent with how you live your life, your life undermines your witness.

But what about your worship? Does that principle also hold true? Indeed, I would suggest that it does. Further, given the widely divergent approaches to worship found in the world around us, all of which purport to be “Christian,” it seems no wonder to me that those outside the Christian church think that in Christianity, anything goes. Sadly, if one surveys the world of worship around us, the unbeliever’s observation is pretty accurate.

When Paul weighs in on the matter, he asserts that worship should reflect the character of the God we are worshipping. In that context, he contrasts two unmistakably distinct ideas. He says that as God is a God of peace, not of disorder, so too our worship should be the same. The two words he contrasts here are ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) and εἰρήνη (eirene — the word from which we get the English word “irenic”).

The word ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) translates as a state of confusion or disorder. It can also refer to a state of unruliness that stands against the authority that has been established. The word is even used to speak of insurrections against those in authority (Luke 21:9). Five times this word is used in the Greek New Testament (Luke 21:9; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 2 Corinthians 6:5; 12:20; James 3:16). When found, it is never used in a positive sense and, according to James, it is the logical end result of jealousy and selfish ambition. In its one use in the Greek Translation of the Old Testament (Proverbs 26:28), ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) is the work of an unguarded mouth and reflects a hatred of Truth.

In contrast, there is εἰρήνη (eirene). We might be tempted to think that the opposite of ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) would be κατάστασις (katastasis — essentially the same word minus the alpha privative), but κατάστασις (katastasis) refers to a state of being or a way of life. One might argue that it is a means by which the status quo is preserved. Paul seems to be making a point to say that the worship in Christ’s church is not about the status quo or preserving a state of being. We are new creatures being conformed, day by day, into the image of Christ. We are not content with the status quo; we will only be content with peace: peace with God and peace with one another. Further, peace is not produced by disorder. Thus, we are to strive toward εἰρήνη (eirene) in our worship.

In the New Testament, εἰρήνη (eirene) is used 85 times and more than 250 times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In Greek, εἰρήνη (eirene) means much more than a cessation of war and rebellion, but it also refers to a unified purpose, a sense of harmony between those in the bond of peace, and a desire for the well-being of those with whom you are at peace. In the context of worship, εἰρήνη (eirene) is about building up, whereas ἀκαταστασία (akatastasia) is about tearing down (hence Paul’s earlier admonition in 14:26).

So, how does our worship reflect the character of God? Certainly, every man doing what is right in his own eyes is not a model that brings peace (see the book of Judges for an illustration of this principle!). Has God not shown us what He desires in our worship? Is it not governed by prayer? The Westminster Confession, Chapter 21.5 summarizes the remainder of what the Scriptures teach us about peaceful worship:

“The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear, the sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, and reverence, singing psalms with grace in the heart; as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ, are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God: beside religious oaths, vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in a holy and religious manner.”

We refer to this as the “Regulative Principle of Worship,” because we recognize that when we worship outside of what God has commanded for us, we enter into confusion and we lose peace. Further, outside of our worship in submission to God’s Word and rule, our worship tends toward invention, narcissism, hedonism, individualism, injustice, selfishness, and ritualism. Moreover, none of these “isms” reflect the character of a God who is a God of εἰρήνη and not ἀκαταστασία.