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For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt
In reflecting upon the last several weeks, of one thing I am sure: in our present culture and even in our church community, there exist many misconceptions concerning the term “worship.” Some say they go to worship indicating that it is a place or a destination. Some say they enjoy the worship time indicating it is a segment of a church service, (or they didn’t enjoy the worship,) indicating some sort of music entertainment evaluation. Others describe their hour on Sunday morning as a “worship service,” indicating that the entire time is spent engaging in this act! Perhaps the scariest misuse of the term is one that I have actually used myself (ouch!) referring to our band’s rehearsal time each week as “worship practice!” Sadly, in our church community, we have somehow cheapened this term of worship.
N.T. Wright in Simply Christian has said, “When we begin to glimpse the reality of God, the natural reaction is to worship him.” So we begin to grasp worship as an act, a response, to knowing God as the Great Creator, the Sovereign King, the Redeeming Savior, and the Triune God. It (worship) comes when we are face to face with the God who has loved us; the God who has made Himself known to us; the God who has pursued us; and the God who has done for us what we could not do for ourselves: restored us to our Creator after sin had entered the world and separated us from Him.
As we respond to the God who has chosen to reveal HImself to us, we bow down, we fall down; we humble ourselves, we submit, we repent, we surrender. In so doing, we give our allegiance and loyalty to the King of heaven and earth. We begin to see the Big Story with Big God and how He sacrificed His only Son, so that we might join him in this great story of love and redemption. When we see this, we see Him, and we worship. We worship Him for who He is and His great attributes; we worship Him for the great deeds He has done; we worship Him for allowing us to participate in the story.
This worship brings about the greatest sacrifice; a living sacrifice of our whole lives. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom.12:1, ESV) This “living worship” is the way we respond to the person who has just offended us; it is the way we conduct our business affairs, it is the way we work, it is the way we give, it is the way we invest our lives in other people; it is the way we care for the earth; it is the way we relate to the poor; and it is the way we live when no one else is looking. Worship is not a destination; it is not music, it is not a time slot, and it is certainly not a rehearsal. It is in fact a lifestyle.
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When you define worship as a response to knowing God as creator, it’s hard to think about the study of theology as dry and boring. And really no matter what we study or enjoy it all points back to God somehow, either as creator or redeemer.
Comment by Louis August 2, 2008 @ 2:31 amThank you for sharing these life changing thoughts on worship. Always happy to still be learning! This is so interesting…I have never thought of worship as a lifestyle.
Comment by Pamela Cott September 21, 2008 @ 3:30 am