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THE MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD CHURCH "If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?" (I Cor. 14:23) Our text, of course, deals with the disorderly abuse of the apostolic gift of tongues in the Corinthian church, but, in light of verse 40 ("Let all things be done decently and in order."), the text can take on a much broader application: DON'T ALLOW MADNESS TO WRECK A CHURCH! The same Paul who was concerned that unbelievers might be confused and turned away upon seeing the Corinthian church circus would likely also be concerned with much of the madness that goes on in our own IFB churches today. Perhaps you've seen the clip of a so-called Baptist "church service" where people are running and hopping around like drunk cowboys and Indians and one guy splashes into the baptistry. The preacher just laughed and allowed the madness to continue. I can assure you that God was NOT laughing. I don't care WHO it was. It was wrong, it was disorderly, it was fleshy emotions gone wild, it should not have been allowed, and it definitely should not be promoted or encouraged. Some make the argument that sometimes God's people just need to unwind and let go. I agree. That's why you have a back yard, a woods, a lake, a field, or maybe even a mountaintop. Have at it! Do all the unwinding, screaming, running, jumping and diving that you want to do. BUT THE HOUSE OF GOD IS NOT THE PLACE FOR IT!!! That's why you can't find a single case of such madness in the New Testament. God's people, who work all week and live righteously, deserve to be able to worship and reverence God in a sound, orderly manner without having their worship hijacked by a bunch of emotional weaklings lacking self-control. If you feel the urge to behave like a wild man, then take it to the wild where it belongs. God's house and God's people deserve better. God's people, of all people, should have common sense and should realize how they are perceived by others. That's why Paul asked, ". . . will they not say that ye are mad?" He is charging the church to THINK about its conduct and how its testimony can be affected. The last thing we need is for people to have reason to think that we're a bunch of nut cases, yet that's exactly what they will think when word gets out about some of the madness that we allow in our churches. Paul said that ALL things in the church should be done DECENTLY and IN ORDER (I Cor. 14:40). That doesn't mean that the service has to be dull and dead. People can say "Amen" to the preaching and teaching as loud and as often as they want, and that's scriptural (I Chr. 16:36; Neh. 5:13), but they should remain seated and not disrupt the service with their out-of-control emotional spasms. As for the notion that the Holy Spirit sometimes takes over and God's people lose control, that's heresy, according to I Corinthians 14:32: "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." The Holy Spirit doesn't "take over" anything or anyone. He is a joyful, gentle and peaceful Spirit (Gal. 5:22), not a wild, rude and aggressive spirit. He's like a dove (Mat. 3:16), not a wildcat. He's also very wise and spiritually discerning (I Cor. 12:8, 10), unlike a great many Baptists who often have less wisdom and discernment than the unsaved world! Sadly, some Baptists are as bad as the charismatics (or worse!) in their lack of spiritual discernment. Consequently, rather than knowing "how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God" (I Tim. 3:15), many have turned God's house into a religious circus where people come for entertainment instead of edification. What's worse is the fact that far too many "preachers" are okay with such madness as long as it increases the attendance and the giving. Bro. Jason used to say that America is an insane asylum run by the inmates. That's very true, and I will add that many churches have become circuses run by the clowns. God help us.