Of the four pictures which ones depict a spiritual church service? What criteria would you use to make such a determination? How would you judge such a thing?
The answer to these questions can be tell-tale as to how corrupted in your thinking you’ve become by group self-righteousness (tradition) or personal self-righteousness. The right answer is all four could be a depiction of a spiritual church service—and all four could not be. Or any combination thereof.
I have learned through the years that Christians have a tendency to judge spirituality based upon what they’ve become accustomed to. So if anyone does things differently than what they are accustomed to, they are automatically dismissed as being spiritually dead. Sound familiar?
What criteria would you use?
How long do church services have to be to be considered spiritual? Forty-five minutes? One hour or more? What ministries does a spiritual church have to have? Bus ministry? Sunday school? Nursing home visits? Door-to-door visitation? Food and clothes distribution? Teen group?
Does a spiritual church have to have an altar call—or even an altar? How long should the altar last? Are you not spiritual if you don’t go forward? What kind of music ministry makes a church spiritual? Choir or no choir? Soundtracks or forbid them? Only hymns from hymnbooks? Projector okay? Instruments allowed or forbidden?
What are the services like? Special music? Congregational singing? Offering plates or box? Formal or relaxed? Preacher standing or sitting? Projector allowed?
These are the typical things—and many more—that many Christians use to evaluate how “spiritual” a church is. Reality is, none of these things determine whether a church is spiritual or not. But they may indicate how caught up in tradition and self-righteousness you are.
Old Testament Christianity vs. Pauline Truth
Much of what people expect for a “spiritual church service” comes straight out of the Old Testament—tabernacle, temple, rules of behavior for the “sanctuary,” altars, special clothing, feeling the “presence” descend, Shekinah glory, holy ground. You’ve heard the songs: “Standing on Holy Ground,” “Surely the Presence of the Lord Is in This Place.”
Does Paul ever teach any of that for the body of Christ?
Not once.
Paul never says we go to church to worship God or to meet with Him in a special way. He never calls the meeting place a sanctuary. He never sets up rules that make the building holy ground. In fact, the apostle to the Gentiles emphasizes something far better:
“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:17 KJV)
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27 KJV)
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” (Romans 8:9 KJV)
We don’t gather to bring Christ into our midst. He is already in us! We are the temple of the living God.
Why Do We Come Together?
Paul gives the real reason:
“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. Let all things be done unto edifying.” (1 Corinthians 14:26 KJV)
“Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” (Romans 14:19 KJV)
“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 KJV)
The goal is edification—building up the body of Christ in the faith once delivered to the saints through Paul. Not producing an emotional experience, not checking boxes of religious activity, not recreating Old Testament temple worship.
A spiritual church service is one where the Word of God (rightly divided, with emphasis on Paul’s epistles) is taught, where believers are strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, where they are reminded who they are in Christ as new creatures, and where they are equipped to walk worthy of their calling.
Thought-Provoking Questions for You
- Are you judging spirituality by outward forms or by the inward reality of Christ in you?
- Do you leave the gathering more grounded in Pauline grace and liberty, or more burdened by religious performance?
- When was the last time your church assembly focused on the “mystery” truths that were kept secret since the world began—truths that make us complete in Him?
A truly spiritual church is not defined by buildings, programs, or traditions. It is defined by saints who know they are seated in heavenly places in Christ, who walk in the Spirit (not trying to manufacture Old Testament glory), and who edify one another in the faith of the gospel of the grace of God.
What does your gathering look like through the lens of right division? Does it line up with the pattern delivered to Paul for the body of Christ? Or is it still mixing in that Old Testament Christianity that dilutes the glorious liberty we have in Christ?
Let’s keep pressing on in the truth that maketh free. Christ in you—the hope of glory. That’s what a spiritual church looks like.
© 2023 Edward R. Cross Revised April 30, 2026
