Philosophy of Corporate Worship

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Philosophy of Corporate Worship</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Changing Churches"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Small Group Ministry"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Article</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U>Ministry Studies</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U><B>Sermon Notes</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Philosophy of Corporate </B><B>Worship</B></div> <div> December 21, 2000</div> <bR> <div>      My recent class on worship has challenged me as a pastor to be more involved in the theological assumptions and practical planning of the worship at our church, which is led by a qualified team of musicians/worshipers. Worship is not simply the preparation for the sermon in the service, it is the essential focus of the whole special time when the body of Christ together, gathered in one place, can turn its attention to God alone, and in doing so, grow spiritually and grow in relationship with other members of the body.</div> <bR> <div>      Congregational worship is the repeating, yet creative, activity of believers in joining together to give praise to God by remembering his gracious acts. It involves recalling God’s character as seen through his deeds, especially as expressed in his Word. Worship is expressing God’s worth, and as such, it is for God, because he delights in it. In worship, God’s people are confronted by God himself in an interaction that challenges them to greater faith and greater purity of heart. Worship also challenges God’s people to join together, as a congregation that is genuine community, not a mere collection of individuals. And together in worship, they can be reminded to expect God to continue to be faithful to his character and his promises.</div> <bR> <div>      Worship must be based on sincerity and truth (John 4.23-24). Worship is given to God by people who are sincere, genuine, upright, and full of integrity before him. This presumes having a spiritual relationship with God through personal salvation. Worship is also based on truth, truth about who God is, what his character is like as revealed in the Bible, and about the things that he has done and promises to do. This is one reason why worship involves the reading and proclamation of the Word of God. The early church in their worship gatherings devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching (Acts 2.42), and Paul told Timothy to both devote himself to the reading of Scripture, and to preaching and teaching (1 Tim 4.13, 2 Tim 4.2). This element of worship is expected to be a part of the church’s gatherings, because it is an expression of God’s truth.</div> <bR> <div>      The central New Testament act of worship seems to be celebrating the Lord’s Table, as instituted by our Lord in the gospels (e.g., Lk 22.19), and regulated more fully by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.17-34. Jesus, at the last Passover meal with his disciples, reformulated the meaning of the meal to reflect the salvation that he was offering in his death. It seems that this meal was taken together quite regularly by the early church saints (at least weekly, if not daily; Acts 2.46-47). Paul was seeking to return the meal to its original focus of remembrance in 1 Corinthians 11. He addressed the abuses of the meal, especially those which hindered genuine community (vss. 18-19, 21, 29). Paul also reminded the Corinthians that this act of remembering served as a proclamation of their central message to those outside the community of faith (vs. 26).</div> <bR> <div>      The Lord’s Table is patterned after the worship of the Old Testament in that it is an act of remembering God and his acts; in the case of the Table, the death (and resurrection) of Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of the people of the world. Israel’s festivals were designed to recall great things God had done, and to cause people to continue to wait expectantly upon God. For example, the annual Passover celebration remembered the Great Exodus of Israel from Egypt (Ex 12.24-27). But it also reminded Israel of another expected deliverance, which Christ fulfilled. It is interesting to note that in Deuteronomy 8.19, forgetting God (failing to remember him and his acts) is connected to worshiping other gods. When Israel worshiped other gods, it was because they forgot God, that is, they failed to properly worship him, and thus tragically gave their worship to something else.</div> <bR> <div>      As I consider my own tradition of worship, I note that the Lord’s Table has not been given the emphasis that it should receive. It is celebrated monthly, and requires about fifteen minutes at the most. That is what most people in Bible churches seem to be used to. In my ministry, I desire to explain to people more fully the importance of the Lord’s Table. This will mean paying less attention to the tradition of “how we have always done it,” and more attention to the biblical and historical pattern. Does the Lord’s Table always have to include only crackers and juice? Does it have to be limited to one Sunday each month? I think not. It is unfortunate that it has become a habitual act with little meaning. And some in my church wish to relegate the Lord’s Table to a time when there are only believers in attendance (Sunday night service, not well attended). It will take some time to work through these issues. The question of how and when and why regarding the Lord’s Table is not a question of preference, it is a question of understanding and implementing our understanding of God’s requirements in this important area of worship.</div> <bR> <div>      The preceding comment about relegating the Lord’s Table to a time when only believers are present raises the important issue of who worship is for. Can worship be tied to evangelism as its express purpose? I do not think it can. While worship can have an evangelistic effect (1 Cor 11.26, 14.24-25), worship at its core is for God. Our worship is not for unbelievers to enjoy or delight in, it is for God to enjoy and delight himself in. He is the audience of our worship (e.g., Psalm 75.1, 9, giving thanks and praise <I>to God</I>). Or course, proper worship of God by God’s people may be used by the Holy Spirit to draw unbelievers to himself. John 4.23 tells us that God is seeking worshipers for himself who will worship him in sincerity and truth. It may be that proper worship as this is one way of drawing those whom God is seeking.</div> <bR> <div>      The confusion between worship and evangelism has led to many of the tensions that exist in congregations regarding styles of music. Some leaders try to “sell” upbeat, pop newer music to the congregation based on the assumption that this is what unsaved people want to hear in church, and if they hear it, they will be attracted to it and hear the message of salvation. Of course, it is foolish to maintain various traditional practices that have little merit when those practices hinder a guest’s comfort level (such as pointing a guest out personally, even asking him to publicly introduce himself!). However, there is no justification for abandoning the real work of the church, sincere and true worship, just to satisfy what some people think the unsaved want in a church service. Since worship is not for the unsaved, it makes little difference what they want in genuine worship. They do not have the spiritual capacity to truly worship God or understand the process of worshiping God (Eph 2.1, they are spiritually dead).</div> <bR> <div>      On the other hand, some of the tension in churches comes from people who insist on using outdated music styles exclusively, in the name of preserving true worship that “God likes” (we have a tendency to assume that God “likes” the styles we like). That new songs of praise will be sung for the Kingdom of God (Ps 96.1) might suggest that new songs are justifiable, as far as God is concerned. Each generation of new believers, especially those not raised in churches, will bring with it some elements of a worship style that reflects their culture. This is not wrong, this is normal. The “favorite old songs” that people like to sing were new at one time.</div> <bR> <div>      The tension between new and old musical styles, commonly understood as contemporary versus traditional, is a false tension. Both older and newer styles of music should be a part of a church’s worship. People that are committed strictly to older styles of music need to be stretched so that they appreciate newer forms of worship. At the same time, people who are committed only to newer styles of music should be stretched to where they appreciate the great songs from previous generations, songs that serve to link them to the saints of the past. This can be done by exposing people to a variety of styles in worship. There is no need to adopt only one worship style, because this, in part, fails to reflect the infinite variety of ways to worship God. Also, by using a variety of worship styles, instruments, and elements, we express to the body of Christ that a particular congregation in a particular culture is only one part of the whole body of Christ that spans across cultures and history. Variety in worship helps to bring unity and community in the diverse body of Christ. It causes people to give up their preferences for the sake of others, yet to receive back from others this same personal respect.</div> <bR> <div>      It is important in congregational worship to strive for excellence in what takes place. Leading others in worship calls for a minimizing of distractions from worship, whether it is in the quality of the leaders, the quality of the equipment, or the quality of the setting. A congregation should strive to offer to God the best that they have, while at the same time, not make perfectionism or performance the focus of their worship. Several chapters in Exodus extol the virtues of the skilled ones, who had been gifted by God to carry out the task of assembling a magnificent Tabernacle where the people could worship. This skill is emphasized in Exodus 36.1, “So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.” This is the same idea that is expressed in relation to spiritual gifts in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 11.7-12 tells us that God has given different spiritual gifts to different people for the benefit of all. This implies that these gifts are to be used with excellence, and that those who do not have a particular gift should defer that ministry to someone who does have the gift, if they are available. The same seems to be true in the area of worship leadership.</div> <bR> <div>      In conclusion, there are few ways I intend to deal with preferential differences in worship among people of the same fellowship. First, people need to be taught biblical and theological understandings about worship, specifically about who worship is for, what true worship involves, and the implications for each church in its cultural setting. Second, people should be exposed to a variety of worship styles, as a rule, not as an exception. This would challenge people out of their comfort zones, and encourage them to actually be “comfortable” with the variety that exists in the body of Christ. Third, people need to understand the biblical implications of genuine community. Specifically, the body of Christ should in its worship practices apply the principle of Romans 12.10: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” The application of this puts preferences in their place – of low priority. It breaks the heart of God when his children fight over the worship that is so important to him.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2000, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>