Worship Basics

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Leadership

April 2001

SWORD DEFENDING

Worship Basics

Rev. David Groenenboom

Worship would have to be one of the buzz words of CRCA life over the last 15 years. In many ways this reflects some of the changes, growth and tensions in the wider Christians community. In some places, what happens with worship makes or breaks the congregation. It’s pretty important then, to get the right perspective in this area. Allow me to share a couple of thoughts

In our church culture it is too easy to worship worship. Irrespective of what style of worship people prefer, they often view worship as a means of drawing near to God. They look at what is done (eg. songs, prayer, sermon) as a means to be built up and encouraged in their faith. Consequently, worship easily becomes something that gives a fulfilling or upbuilding experience.

The problem here is that God has provided only one Way to Himself: through Jesus Christ. He is our mediator, and our worship experience is not. Further, while being built up is often the result of true worship, Scripture consistently sees worship as being addressed to God, the Lord. He is the object of prayer and praise. He is the One who speaks through His word. He is the one who receives our offerings. We worship Him, and Him alone.

Yet this is often not where people are at. If the singing isn’t right, or if the deacon wears thongs and a T-shirt, or the kids in the second row move too much, people say that “their worship” (an amazing statement on its own) is ruined. Maybe their worship deserves to be ruined! Maybe they shouldn’t be thinking too much about themselves and what they need. God doesn’t want people to enjoy worship so much as He wants them to enjoy Him! (Westminster Shorter Cat, Ch.1) A church that is hung up on whether worship meets their needs has cut God out of the picture and turned worship on its head.

We need to understand how our culture dominates what we think about worship. We live in a world that panders to our every want and desire. “What colour would you like that car?” “Is that brown, white, multigrain or rye for that sandwich, with or without mayo?” “Would you like some fries with that?” This stunning array of choices actually leads us to believe what the marketing moguls say, “what you want is most important. If they don’t give you what you want, go to someone who will.” Christians all around the western world have been drinking from this individualist well for the last 60 years and the consequences are clearly seen. People even talk about the “revolving doors” of the church: people come in liking what they get, others move out looking for something else.

These dynamics are not foreign to the CRCA. Whatever the 1500 people who have left the CRCA in the last 10 years thought about worship, I would suggest that a significant proportion of them believed what they had was not to their liking, and they preferred something else. I say this because these are the consistently dominant themes in grassroots CRCA discussions.

Getting it right. In order to regain a responsible view of worship we need to remember the following:

God initiates true worship. God comes to people... always has... always will. He sought our first parents in the Garden; He seeks lost sheep; He comes to us in His Son in grace and draws us to Himself.

We give ourselves to what God desires. Rather than our wants and preferences being central, our focus is on what He wants: Hearts that are true. Lives that are dedicated to live for Him. Worship that has Him and His works in Christ at the centre. Worship that has its foundations in the Word. Worship that is first and foremost directed to God. Using the play metaphor, we need to remember that God is the audience, we are the actors, and the Holy Spirit is the prompter through the Word. For too long we have been the audience and seen the minister the actor.

Whatever benefit we receive is a by-product. We truly go to worship God. We sing His praise. We do that with His people. We listen to His Word, and we praise Him for life and grace in Jesus Christ. These things strengthen the people of God. Their worship draws them together in praise of the Lord. Consequence: their unity is focussed in Him, and not what they do. Their encouragement comes from the Gospel and it’s fruit in their lives. Their song is joyful and heartfelt because their eyes are set on the Christ who has given them life. As their hearts are set on God they find their needs naturally met. Worship, then, is a weekly reminder of Jesus command: “Seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness, and everything else will be added to you as well.”

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