Theologians have a philosophy to justify the reason all pews face the pulpit! Can you believe that? (They have a philosophy for everything they do to us. The more unscriptural, the more profound the philosophy.) This particular philosophy is transparently erroneous, and, in general, is odorous. But you need to hear it. Theologians will state this indefensible idea with such spiritual profundity, it may very well intimidate you:
"We all face toward the Word of God to show our reverence for Scripture and our agreement with it."
All right, fellas, here is a philosophical reply to your philosophy about pews:
"If we all face toward the pulpit, we acknowledge that the clergy and the sermon are everything, that the clergy functions and we do not, and that the clergy tells us what to do, controls our worship, our fellowship and our very lives! We are only fringe accessories, spare parts of a meeting. We are an audience called in, making it possible for the clergy to perform!!
We should not all face forward. From a philosophical view—if your philosophy demands a philosophical response—then we should face one another. We are, after all, the Body of Christ. In so doing, we show our care and our love for one another and acknowledge the centrality of the Christ who dwells within us. We also function and participate in all meetings. Wen we do, we are fulfilling our role of functioning while facing each other, not the clergy. By facing one another we can function. In no other direction can we do this. While facing all the saints, we declare that the congregation belongs to God and to the redeemed, not to anyone else. Especially is the ownership of the congregation not the clergy's. Our central focus is not where it has been for 500 years, on the clergy. Our focus is Christ and one another; our eyes are on one another.
By looking at one another we demonstrate that any message we might hear is only part of congregation life. The clergy's sermon is not the all nor the center, nor is anything else we do. Only Christ is. And when we gather, our worship of Him is not under the absolute control of one man, or any ritual.
We face one another because we are all one body."
Pews do not allow for any functioning!
Ministers may not understand how this could be so monumentally important . . . but just look where the minister is sitting. Now he has one very spectacular view! The minister is in front, up on a raised platform, looking down. (Down on you.) What does he see? He sees a thousand well-scrubbed faces, and beautifully dressed bodies. But more! He sees 2,000 eyes glued on him. Sure! Why not pews!? All of them facing me! An actor would kill for a role like that!
The average minister will never concede to this revolution. He is too central to the production . . . all floodlights shine on him. And, generally speaking, he is bereft of all understanding of congregation life.
Now, let's step down off the platform, go into the audience (because that is what it is), and get a look at what you are seeing. Just exactly what are you seeing anyway? You sit in that pew for an our, with nothing to do but look at the back of someone's neck. That is all you see! For one hour! You sit. You are silent. You stare at the back of a head!! That is Christianity? This is why Christ died for you? When Scripture says, "Christ loved the ekklesia and died for her," is this what God had in mind as the ultimate for the redeemed!? Examining the back of someone's head, sitting through a boring ritual, listening to a lecture? Is this to be the consummation of your participation in the gathering of the Body of Christ?
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. (You can continue from 12:27 through 13:13 for a fuller picture.) Does the apostle Paul's description of the Body of Christ reflect what you experience every Sunday in these godless, worthless, useless organized religious institutions called churches? NO! Your experience is limited to one tongue and many ears!! That is not the Body of Christ! That is not how a body—the Body—functions! When everyone gets to participate, when everyone gets to express the Lord Jesus, the whole Body is edified and built up, encouraged and strengthened. We need to get back to the organic meetings of the ekklesia as found in Scripture and the first three centuries!