Our God is purpose driven. He does not create something just to provide us with a form that is void of function. Everything God creates surves a purpose or function. And this includes the public assembly of the church.

We cannot fulfill the function of the public assembly without a form. The term "form" describes the methods that we employ to fulfill the assembly's function. As a general rule the Bible does not dictate the details of a form. Human beings create forms that are best suited for fulfilling function.

Form should follow function. Function comes first. It is the most important aspect of the public assembly. Form comes next. It is secondary. It is not the main concern. We must be more concerned about achieving the assembly's function.

But many church members have decided to make form their central concern. The number of songs we sing, the style of songs we sing, and the number of song leaders we have standing in the pulpit at one time seems to be the most important thing. If worship leaders try to change the form of worship in any way many people become upset. They complain that we are corrupting public worship to tamper with form.

When we become overly preoccupied with form we can create an environment where we negate our ability to fulfill function. In fact, our behavior associated with form may actually defeat function.

1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:24-25 make it clear that the prime function of the public assembly is to practice the Christian law of love ("Love one another as I have loved you") by creating a social interactive environment in which we encourage one another and build each other up. This is the function of the assembly. We build each other up by pointing each other to God in praise, worship, and thanksiving. Then we build each other up by communicating with each other concerning the Word of the Lord, by praying for each other, and by giving into a common treasury so we can support one another in many ways.

If we become obsessed by the styles of songs we sing, the order of the service, or other issues of form, we may create a negative environment of strife that is very discouraging. In that situation the public assembly becomes a meaningless form -- it does not produce encouragement.

Let form follow function. Let us focus on accomplishing our purpose.