The Authority of the Spoken Word: Who Can Talk in Church? By Rev. Benjamin Glaser

A controversy which has sparked again in Reformed and Confessional circles surrounds the question about who is allowed to speak from the pulpit, or a lectern, in the worship service of Christ’s Church. Is it Ministers only? Are Elders allowed to do so? How about Deacons? Or unordained men? What about women and children? Who exactly can, and why, and why it matters is going to be the main topic of this essay, but before we get into the technical details there are a couple bigger questions that should be answered first. Those inquires center around the nature of authority as well as the subject of what exactly is going on in worship on the Lord’s Day. Both of those need resolved before we get into the meat of the matter.

We’ll open with the latter one.

What is taking place on the Lord’s Day that makes it special and unique in a Church’s life?

Part of the reason why this conversation even takes place is because there is confusion about the 4^th Commandment. The uncertainty exists because the Sabbath has become a neglected doctrine in ARP and conservative Reformed denominations almost across the board. The 4^th Command is about a lot more than just what you can and can’t do with your kids on Sunday afternoon. Restricting our conversation to casuistry misses the bigger picture. Through a narrowing of the discussion the weight and seriousness of coming before God on His day has lost its place. Yes, the Lord’s Day is in a sense about physical rest, but it involves a lot more than that. We are to rest in the resurrection and the love God has for us. That involves taking time to meditate on His goodness and His power. When the right use of austerity (austerity doesn’t mean no fun or happiness, cold worship is an oxymoron) is in place the worshipper first is moved to ask the question, “What does my God call for me to do in His worship on His day?”, not “What can I do to show my God that I love Him?”. While we are big on using acronyms like RPW and NPW I think it better to approach the question on what is appropriate in worship not from so much nomenclature as much as attitude. The First Commandment governs worship just as much as the Second. If we are to have no other gods before the one true and living God then when it comes to His praise He gets to set the terms. It’s His worship and we should approach His worship in humility and honor asking first what would you have us to do on your day Master?

So when it comes to the Lord’s Day we must seek to rest our witness not on what seems good, but what is authorized. God in His wisdom has ordained worship for our own benefit. To do anything uncalled for is to mess with that perfection, it is to take away from what is given. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath and we receive blessing from ordering the Sabbath day worship according to the will of God, not what is right in our own eyes. That is why a right understanding of the Lord’s Day has so much to say on the question of who gets to talk in the service, whether in the morning or the evening.

That leads us to the other issue we need to take up: Authority.

Having established that God alone is the Lord of worship and praise on the day He has set aside for that purpose the next part of the background to the “who gets to speak” question is what does it even mean to speak in worship. What is happening when a mouth is opened at the pulpit?

That’s why it is important to define the word authority at this point. Authority in this context is a word which means a person given a mandate by another to act on their behalf. That permission is always delegated. When we look at the examples of worship, both old covenant and new covenant in the Bible what do we see? In the Tabernacle and the Temple only the men sanctified and called by God have the right to speak (or play instruments) in the sacrifices on the Sabbath. The one instance we have of an unordained man taking that upon himself to do so results in leprosy and shame. What about the Synagogue in the days of exile in Babylon? It was still men called by God. Even though they had hung up their harps (Psalm 137) the Levites and the priests were still functioning in the offices the Lord God had placed them in. We see this primarily because in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah one of the first things that they make sure to do is that the Aaronic orders continue in their places of authority when they return. Even in exile the worship continued as God had established it. As far as the church underage goes one thing that is going to be brought up is Deborah, or even Miriam. However, if you read Judges 4 charitably it is clear that Deborah understands that she’s not where she is supposed to be. Her castigation of the timidity of Barak makes that clear. An exception in a time of great declension is not a great foundation upon which to build a case. Only those authorized to speak for God in the worship of His Church in the Old Testament spoke in the gathered assembly of the people.

But what about the New Testament? What can we discern from the Church post-Pentecost when it comes to authority and who gets to speak? While the ethnic classes of who can be a priest are done away with, in the age of Paul and Peter the one who gets to determine who can speak as the mouthpiece of God to His covenant children has not changed. Just as it was the Lord who said not only what kind of person, but established the rules for what could be said and who could speak for Him in the Temple, when it comes to the worship on the Lord’s Day in Church, the rubric is still the same. The Call to Worship, the Reading of God’s Word, the Preaching of God’s Word, and the Benediction, etc… are only to be done by those given authority to do so. Go back to the Bible and what do we see. It is only the apostles and those set aside by the hands of the Presbytery who are engaged in this work. There are no examples, either positively or by good and necessary consequence of anyone other than an officer appointed by Christ speaking during the worship service. Priscilla offering advice and Phoebe assisting in Cenchrea are not arguments for women reading Scripture or praying in the worship time. If 1 Corinthians 14:34 is in your Bible then the point is moot.

Conclusion

If we are to testify that we believe in inerrancy and the humility of the Church to the word of God then the answer to the question “who can speak in Church” is fairly clear.

Are you a lawfully ordained authoritative officer within Christ’s Church?

If the response is: “Yes, I am a Minister or an Elder” then, yes, you are permitted to read the word of God in public worship, to pray, and with the license of the presbytery even preach in worship with the authority given to you by the King of Kings in His Kingdom.

If your answer is, “No, I am not a Minister or an Elder” then, no, you are not permitted by the very word and example of the living and true God to read the Bible, to preach, or to speak from the pulpit/lectern/the front during the public worship of God's people on the Lord’s Day.

It is a matter of submission and recognition of the wisdom and teaching of Holy Scripture itself.

Our secondary standards speak to this in WLC Q. 156 with abundant clarity:

Q. 156. Is the Word of God to be read by all?

A. Although all are not to be permitted to read the Word publicly to the congregation, yet all sorts of people are bound to read it apart by themselves, and with their families: to which end, the holy scriptures are to be translated out of the original into vulgar languages.       

There is a seriousness, a soberness, to what happens as believers (and non-believers) gather together on the Lord’s Day in the Lord’s worship. It cannot be a place for a Judges-esque “everyone doing that which is right in their own eyes” free-for-all. Everything we do must have warrant from Heaven itself. 

If it doesn’t? Then it is an idol and should be cast out with all man-made inventions.

Heed God’s word and His blessing will be upon you and your people.