Cleaning out the worship closet

By Peter Lublink

The word “Worship” invokes so much meaning and controversy. Traditional, emerging, ancient-future, contemporary, modern, seeker-sensitive, post-modern, missional: everyone today has a word for their church’s worship. What’s needed is a clear sense of the values that underlie our discussions of worship.

Here are those values that are at the core of what worship should be. They do not inform style, for that is subjective; they do however inform purpose, for that is the center of a true discussion on worship.

Worship is Biblical

The Bible is infrequently consulted in many conversations on worship. We speak often of music and style, but at the core of every worship service must be the Bible if it is to be a service about God and not ourselves. Not only should scripture have a primary role during the service, but our methodology of order must find its foundations in scripture.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments are examples of worship. The most common use of the term in either testament tends to be simply examples of individual worship in thanksgiving to God. Matthew 14:33 speaks of the disciples in a boat with Jesus when crying out and worshiped Jesus saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” In this example and many others worship has nothing to do with us or with music and everything to do with praising God.

Another example of worship is of the wise men in the Christmas story. They worshipped by giving gifts. This common way for us to worship God can include gifts of music and money, though it is not restricted to it. No matter how our worship comes to God it must be done in a spirit of reverence and awe. Biblical worship must be centered on God, bearing gifts, and offering our praises. What else is considered worship?

Paul wrote: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” Many scholars agree that the Bible should be central to worship, and should provide a guideline for our worship services; but what would that look like in a Salvation Army corps?

The Bible that often lies on the holiness table in a corps could actually be put to use during the service. If this cannot be accommodated the passage of scripture could be left open and members of the congregation could be encouraged to read the passage on their own prior to the commencement of the service. When scripture is read during the service it should be read with the same fervor and energy that accompanies the songs and the sermon.

In planning a worship service attention could be made to mirror various biblical worship formats (Genesis 12-15 for example). If we are intentionally pulling more of our service from the Bible, then the message would be made clearer that we are a people of the Book. The breadth of resources found in the Bible for planning a service is incredible, such as the use of parables and imagery during the teaching, to the use of imagery such as the washing of feet or the breaking of bread.

The Worship event should serve as a focal point for a life of worship, not replace one

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Worship is not something that is confined to singing on a Sunday morning. Everything about us should cry our praises to the Lord. As pastors we need to teach sound doctrine on the all-encompassing nature of worship. Worship is not something that is done for an hour and then taken up again the following week. Eric Sandras says: “Worship and the Word are not just events on Sundays – they are an attitude that so magnifies God that we see Jesus involved in everything.”

Various churches have tried different methods of renaming the service that takes place on Sundays, moving away from the more traditional notion of “Sunday morning worship.” Some churches are moving towards language of “gatherings” and “celebrations”. While these words may be part of a passing trend, they do serve the function of changing our attitude. Sunday morning is the re-focusing point, where we can keep each other accountable to stay in that state of worship all week. Sunday is a time where we can come corporately to God and offer our praises. Thus by changing the name, we can begin to move away from the notion that worship happens at church, and stays there.

As the Sunday worship event concludes and begins a new chapter of our 24/7 walk with the Lord it must relate to the things of our everyday lives. While there is sacredness to the time, we also need to recognize these are real people who bring real problems and desire spirituality to be part of that reality. What is it that is plaguing the minds of the congregation; how can the church speak into those issues, enabling that person to get back to living in the state of worship?

Various symbols including art, candles, images, and sacraments, can all represent different aspects of life, and can help bring a connection between the biblical truth, and the truth every day. Even ordinary things can be brought to the Lord and can become sacred. How we use the symbols and images can greatly impact the direction of the church. In discussing practical ways to see the Sunday morning worship service as a focal point for a life of worship, all of the above stated images can be used.

As a pastor you would hope that these images affect the mindset of the people. Sunday services serve as a springboard to ensure that our lives are spent in adoring and glorifying God. We praise God on Sunday, but we also speak into people’s lives through imagery so that the praising and glorifying does not stop. A recent Vatican II council has said, “The Liturgy (worship) is the summit toward which the activity of the church is directed; at the same time it is a fount from which all the church’s power flows.”

Worship is for God and not for us

“Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” We look for songs that we connect with, we plan structure that accommodates the people in the congregation, we make use of technology to add flavor to the service so that we appeal to seekers. It seems as though God is not the center. The primary purpose of worship should be communication with God. Often our behavior suggests otherwise.

In choosing styles and genres of music we have seekers in mind. ‘This music will get new people to church.’ But is that the point of worship? We are to worship the Lord, ascribe to His name glory, not our own.

Some scholars have simply argued that Sunday has become for seekers and the God stuff happens later in the week. Can we abandon such a day as Sunday simply to boost our numbers; should we restrict God and his glory because we want to connect with a particular generation? The under-30 generation that seems absent from church is looking for a purpose. After being overly saturated with advertisements and large concert venues from an early age, there is a desire to seek something more meaningful. That meaning can be found in the Sunday worship. Not because we sing a song that we think they might like, but because we genuinely, and with all our hearts, worship an all-powerful God. The more we focus our attention on God, the more people will take an interest.

There are many ways to see this happen. The first, and perhaps easiest way is to ensure that if there is a “praise and worship team” that they do not act nor look like they are set up for a concert. This speaks performance, not pastoral leadership in song. Re-arranging this set-up sothe band is more ‘equal’ with the congregation (however that looks for your building space) is the first and most important thing that can be done.

Some churches have moved or covered the cross that once stood center in their building to the side to make way for a projection screen. Depending on building types, this must be remedied. If the focus is a screen with song lyrics on them, then no matter what is preached, the message is that Christ is no longer central to our service. For many, a cross is not the appropriate symbol. The layout of the sanctuary should focus on Christ.

Corporate worship involves more than a handful of people on a pedestal

All creation worships Christ. It is said that without our worship the rocks themselves would cry out to God. And yet, corporate worship in a church is often led by one or two individuals, if at all. Where there are teams that take care of “worship” they often refer more to the music than anything else. Church can become a smoke and lights show, where the people become an audience. Since we have Christ as our mediator and our high priest, there is no longer a need to have human intercessors before God; and yet, our worship services are structured as just that. The lack of connection between what happens on the “stage” and in the “audience” seems to increase. In order to change this trend, intentional steps must be taken. No longer should the pastor and a music leader alone lead the congregation in approaching the throne of God with praise and thanksgiving.

We need to dethrone the music leaders in the church. While it is helpful for them to be on the stage in some cases, in other cases the focus is, on the band not God. The solution is a worship team. Not a worship team whose only responsibility is music, but a team of spiritually mature people who can help represent the congregation, involve the congregation, and lead the congregation in worship. This team would certainly include the musicians, but it would also include those with the gift of reading scripture, artists who want to be involved in worship, dramatists, or anyone comfortable with praying in thanksgiving and intercession. The team can be as diverse as the corps, and should always be something open to anyone wishing to be a part of it. Not every person needs to be in leadership every week, but they can all help facilitate worship times through the year. This congregational model says that the church is not one pastor and an audience, but an organism with many important parts, all looking to Christ.

Every person in the congregation has something to offer, and through such a team, we would hope to make that person comfortable enough to offer their gift. Such a team however takes time and energy. Involving the congregation is never easy, but the statement about community is profound. A worship team that facilitates and leads, but does not perform nor command, is the kind of broad spiritual directorship a corps needs. There is certainly caution; as such a venture can easily replace the old spiritual elite with new. But with care it is hoped that such a team would not be seen as above, but simply a combination of all those interested. Eventually that would encompass the entire congregation. “Priesthood of all believers” does not mean easy street for the officer, but intentional discipleship of corps people into leadership. Each person in the congregation is a worshipper, and so should feel in some way part of the service.

Writer: Peter Lublink is studying to be an officer of The Salvation Army, he has a passion for communication in all its forms and strives to see that churches and individuals are equipped with the digital resources needed to engage the postmodern culture. Visit him online.

1 Comment to Cleaning out the worship closet

1. The first thing that leaps out at me is the focus you place of God as the centre and object of our worship. This is an essential element that I believe is one of the first things to go in our worship. Too often the music becomes the focus of our attention, rather than the Lord it is supposed to point our hearts, minds and bodies towards.

   The second thing that comes to mind as I read is the forgotten value there is in a set liturgy. The focus that some of our more established sister denominations have through liturgical forms is more on God. By abandoning written forms we have lost the place of the Bible in our worship, and also of the rhythm within the church year.
Graeme Smith on March 13th, 2007

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