Worship That Makes a Difference

By Robin G Jordan 

A point Jesus appears to be making in his teaching is that our worship of God should impact our lives and through us it should impact the lives of others. Jesus us gave us the two Great Commandments—to love God with every atom of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In his teaching Jesus expanded on who is our “neighbor” to include not only those who are close to us, those who are like ourselves, but those whom we do not know, those who are different from us. We express our love of God in our worship, in our Sunday worship gatherings, in person and online, and in our daily devotions. We also express it in our obedience to the teaching of his Son, Jesus. Obeying Jesus is obeying God.

Worship that does not affect our lives is not true worship. True worship not only turns our hearts, minds, and affections to God, but it also turns them to those who Jesus called our “neighbor.” We experience concern for their emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being and we act on our concern.

It is not enough to go to an in-person service or view an online service and come away from this experience with warm fuzzy feelings about God and ourselves. The purpose of our worship is not to elevate our mood and to enhance our self-esteem. The purpose of worship is to deepen our relationship with God and in turn our relationship with those Jesus called our “neighbor.”

The purpose of our worship is also not to strengthen the bonds of fellowship between ourselves and the other members of our church albeit the strengthening of these bonds is one of its benefits. The purpose of our worship is to draw near to God, to acknowledge our sinfulness, to ask and receive God’s forgiveness, to proclaim God’s mighty acts, to hear what he requires from us, to intercede with God through his Son for our fellow human beings, to celebrate what he has done for us through his Son, and to offer our praise and thanksgiving.

Our worship, however, does not end when the in-person service or the online service ends. It continues as we go about telling others about Jesus and ministering to their needs, loving and serving Jesus in them. It continues as we go about living our lives the way Jesus taught us to live them.

This does not happen by itself. Those attending our in-person services or watching our online ones must be taught that our worship extends beyond these services. Worship is more than singing a hymn or reciting a psalm or canticle. For followers of Jesus worship is a way of life in which we live the two Great Commandments. We live our lives to God’s glory. We do not just talk about it. We do it!

It is something that not only new believers must learn and practice but also long-time Christians. There is considerable evidence that many who call themselves Christians have not been properly discipled, particularly when it comes to living their lives in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and example.

It also has bearing on the way we conduct our assemblies, our worship gatherings. In his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul offers some helpful guidance. 

First, our assemblies must be edifying. They must build up the faith of those participating in them. They must encourage, inspire, and instruct.

Second, our assemblies must also be orderly and dignified. This does not mean that they must be staid—stodgy and dull—but it does mean that they should exhibit a seriousness of manner, appearance, and language. An affected folksiness and excessive familiarity are not appropriate. God knows us better than we know ourselves. This does not rule out informality in worship or the use of plain speech and humor.

Third, our assemblies must be conducted in the vernacular, a language that is easily understood by the population of a locality. While we should be respectful in addressing God, we do not need to adopt a special language to communicate our respect. Paul set as a test of the understandability of the language used in our assemblies an outsider wandering into one of our gatherings off the street and understanding everything that he hears.

While most churches observe these guidelines, they may overlook a fourth guideline. Those who attend our assemblies should come prepared to actively participate in the gathering, to make a contribution to the gathering. They should be given an opportunity to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God has given them.

This entails far more than listening to a choir or a praise band and to a preacher. It requires a high level of congregational participation in songs, Scripture readings, prayers, and other elements of the service. Worship is not something that others can do for us, but it is something which we must do for ourselves. Such a degree of involvement conveys and reinforces the message that worship is something in which all Christians are expected to take part—not only in church meetings but also in their lives.

The relegation of churchgoers to the role of passive spectators is an error into which the church has fallen several times in its history. They include the Medieval period, Puritan times, the Catholic Revival, and our day. While I have not seen any research that backs up this observation, I suspect that passivity in the Sunday worship gathering encourages passivity outside that gathering.

Choirs and small ensembles of instrumentalists and vocalists have a place in our assembles. Their role is to lead and support the singing of the congregation and not to take the place of congregational singing. They may contribute special music to the assembly’s worship, but this music should not overshadow the assembly’s song. The role of the priest or ordained minister is to preside over the assembly, not to do all the Scripture  reading, preaching, and praying.

Worship may then be described as the reorientation of our heart, minds, affections, and lives to God. We cannot reorient ourselves to God on our own. It requires God’s intervention in our lives in the form of God’s grace—God’s undeserved and unmerited favor and goodwill toward us and God’s presence and power working through the Holy Spirit in us.

This reorientation to God also entails a reorientation to our neighbor. The two go hand in hand. It is more than a change of attitude. It is also a change of behavior. We not only act differently toward God, but we also act differently toward our fellow human beings. It makes a difference not just in our own lives but also in the lives of those around us.