I am sitting alone at the opening session of the Biblical counseling conference in Lafayette, IN. I’m a little out of my element, a little nervous, a little tired, and a little early. Then a stranger arrives. He is wearing a buffalo print flannel shirt and an immaculate, well-groomed beard. 

“Is this seat taken?” 

“No — go right ahead.” 

A fellow-traveller in this world of biblical counseling, the young man strikes up a conversation with me. After just a few minutes, he has morphed from stranger to friend. We would go on to sit in the same seats for the entire conference. 

As we sit there talking, the lights go out. They don’t go completely out. It’s not like the demonstration of complete darkness my family’s group guide gave us deep in the heart of Carlsbad Caverns. It is just very dim. And the conversation is over. The fellowship is done. I am cut off from my new friend by the darkness. 

We sing some songs — good songs, worshipping Christ together. But I’m annoyed. It’s 9:00 in the morning. I don’t want to stand in the dark, and if made to sit in the dark I’m going to go straight to sleep! 

Now that I have related my entirely subjective anecdote, let me get to the point. Our church does its corporate worship services with the lights on. We don’t dim them at all. It is brilliantly lit in there, and we don’t want to turn the lights down any time soon. 

Is that biblical? What does the Bible say about our New Testament worship gatherings? 

New Testament Elements of Corporate Worship

• Corporate worship should include prayer.

 (Colossians 4:2) Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

• Corporate worship must include preaching of the Word. 

 (2Timothy 4:2) Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

• Corporate worship should include singing biblical truth and praise. 

(Ephesians 5:19-20) (19)speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and  spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (20)giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

• Corporate worship should include the public reading of God’s Word & teaching of biblical doctrine with exhortation to live the Christian life. 

(1Timothy 4:13) Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

• Corporate worship should include the ordinances of Baptism & the Lord’s Supper. 

 (Matthew 28:19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the

Holy Spirit,

— (cf. 1Corinthians 11:23-26)

But what about the lights? 

The Bible does not specifically mention certain elements of church life. For example, the New Testament does not explicitly answer these questions. 

• What should the building look like? 
• How to set the thermostat
• Should we use screens? 
• What kind of instruments should we play with our music? Or, what style of music? 
• What is the dress code? Formal, casual, etc.? 

Neither does New Testament tell us how bright or how dim the lights in the sanctuary should be. 

So I must acknowledge that this subject sits within the boundaries of adiaphora, existing outside of concrete biblical categories. It can neither be proven nor disproven as biblical or sinful. So my little meditation about sanctuary lighting is not a biblical condemnation of the way other people do it, and cannot honestly be that. 

But the Bible does give us a little hint about lighting in an implicit passage. 

 (Acts 20:7-8) (7)Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came 

together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and 

continued his message until midnight. (8)There were many lamps in the upper 

room where they were gathered together.

This passage describes an evening service with so many lamps that it got stuffy in there, and a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and dropped out of the window. Paul, thankfully, resurrected the man (vv. 9-12). 

So this earliest description of the lighting in a NT worship service shows us a well-lit room. The lighting is not the point of the passage, though, and it is descriptive rather than prescriptive in nature. It’s only a hint, but this snapshot shows a well-lit room. 

A Caveat and a Limitation

Caveat 

I do not believe that all churches who dim the lights are necessarily sinning or doing wrong.This is an area where brothers and sisters in Christ can disagree without condemning one another (Romans 14:1-7). That being said, I am fully convinced in my mind (Romans 14:5).

Limitation 

I am considering only the lighting in this meditation. I am not considering music, preaching, orders of service, or church fellowship outside of the sanctuary and worship service. 

We do church with the lights on. I like it better than church in the dark. 

Why? 

Let me give you six brief reasons for this preference. 

Six Reasons for Church with the Lights On

1. A well-lit sanctuary emphasizes the one-another aspect of 

        corporate worship. 

Corporate worship is intended for us to see one-another. We should see and be seen during the worship service. Darkness cuts that off. Lighting emphasizes this one-anotherness of corporate worship. 

A little while ago, I took my family to see the Mario Brothers movie. The room was dark, all attention was focused on the screen, and enjoyed the dark. I didn’t care what everyone else in the room was doing. The darkness put them out of my consciousness. I wasn’t there for them. I was there for me & my family. And that was fine because a movie theater is not a church. Concerts look good in a darkened room (though I prefer more lighting even then), but concerts are not church. 

 (Hebrews 10:24-25) (24)And let us consider one another in order to stir 

up love and good works, (25)not forsaking the assembling of ourselves 

together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so 

much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The gathering of the church body should be well-lit because we are not just there for ourselves and our immediate families. We are there for one-another. A well-lit sanctuary enables three one-another ministries in the church body. 

2. A well-lit sanctuary emphasizes the corporate nature of the 

        worshippers. 

Why do you go to church? Some Christians reason selfishly when answering this question. They consider the personal benefits they will receive from being at the church service. Christianity, however, is not designed for personal autonomy. You are part of a family, a body, a bride, a building of Christ. A darkened room that blocks other worshippers out of your vision while a well-lit room creates an atmosphere in which you can see everyone else and see you are one of/with them. 

 (1Corinthians 12:20-27) (20)But now indeed there are many members, yet 

one body. (21)And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; 

nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” (22)No, much rather, 

those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 

This passage describes the mindset of personal autonomy. Many Christians regularly forsake the assembly altogether. When you forsake the assembly — when you skip church, you are saying, “I don’t need it and I don’t need the ministry of the other members of this body for my spiritual health and growth.” It seems to me that a darkened sanctuary sends a similar message. It sends the implied message that you should not want to see others. You should not seek to minister to them by personal presence and to have them minister to you in personal presence. 

Darkened sanctuaries implicitly tell you to say, “I don’t need these other Christians during worship. Corporate worship is only me and God.” 

3. A well-lit sanctuary allows you to see your Bible and 

        take notes. 

You can’t read your Bible in the dark unless you have it on a device. If you’re like me, you like to have your paper, tangible Bible in your lap and open during the preaching. 

I don’t take detailed notes while listening to someone preach, but I do like to jot down good thoughts or quotes from the preacher. I cannot effectively do this in the dark. 

4. A well-lit sanctuary emphasizes personal accountability. 

One of the many reasons for joining a church is to place yourself under the authority of that church. We are all sinners saved by grace — but still sinners. We need to be held spiritually accountable. A well-lit sanctuary helps facilitate that ideal. 

 (Hebrews 10:25) not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is 

the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as 

you see the Day approaching.

When we are assembled together, we are told to “exhort” one another. This is closely akin to encouraging and appealing to each other. If the darkness cuts us off, we cannot fulfill this function inside the assembly. In a well-lit sanctuary, Christian brothers can hold each other accountable and “rub-off” on each other in a positive spiritual way. 

It is undoubtedly true that many activities outside the worship assembly can serve this goal of accountability. Small groups, youth group, pot-lucks, and a host of other gatherings can do this. But the worship assembly should not be devoid of the accountability factor in itself. 

Darkness creates anonymity. That’s sometimes (not always) why people prefer to attend a church with a darkened sanctuary. When you skip church, nobody knows. When you are at church, few people know. You can sit like a bump on a log and not sing or participate — and nobody sees you. Light creates accountability. People see. People know. 

5. A well-lit sanctuary allows the preacher to see the 

        congregation. 

I like to see faces while I am preaching. I can see if people are tracking with me. I can “feel the room,” so to speak.

It helps me tremendously while preaching. 

6. A well-lit sanctuary emphasizes truth-based worship. 

Genuine worship is a heart-response to truth, not a ginned-up emotion. A congregation should be able to worship the Lord heartily without the aid of emotional manipulation. The well-lit sanctuary eschews the use of gimmicks like mood-lighting, and depends solely upon truth for worship. 

When discussing worship with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus made this statement.

 (John 4:24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

She had talked about where to worship — What mountain to worship on, etc. Jesus, however, brushed that away. It was peripheral, and was getting in the way. In fact, the physical location of worship had become a stumbling block. What really matters is truth. 

Darkness encourages imagination. That can be a good thing, but ultimately, we should not be worshipping our imaginations. 

Our worship must be truth-based. Darkness can make you feel like the corporate worship is heightened (mood). That does not necessarily mean that what you feel is worship. 

A Spirit-filled worship service should not be controlled by lighting. 

Conclusion: a strongly held opinion with reasonable, but not ironclad support 

I believe my case for church with the lights on is a good one, but it is not explicitly prescribed by the New Testament. Therefore, I would not separate from other gospel preaching churches over this issue. I also try to scold myself if I find my ego inflating to the point where I look down on brothers and sisters in darkened sanctuaries as somehow less sanctified than me (They’re not, and Pride is evil). 

Even in my annoyance at the conference in Lafayette, I sang the great truths of the gospel and heard amazing, biblical teaching. It was a good experience.  But when considering a church home where I will spend most Sundays of the year, I would rather attend church with the lights on.

Let each be fully convinced in his own mind (Romans 14:5b).

*I'm pretty sure this is not really a reference to church lighting.