I like to watch movies from time to time with family and friends. My own preference is to watch them early enough in the evening so that adequate time remains to discuss and evaluate what we just saw. What did we like about the film? What was the theme? How was it developed? Were the characters appropriately portrayed? Did the special effects enhance the overall impact of the movie, or did they detract from it in anyway? These and other such questions often occupy our after-movie conversation. Rarely, however, do we discuss or even consider the film’s director.
In recent years, both in visiting countless churches as well as in serving within my own congregation, I have come to notice that many attenders view the worship service in much the same way that my family, friends and I watch movies. What aspect of the service was most enjoyable? How good was the special music? Did the pastor’s sermon make any sense? Was the volume too loud or too soft? With what I now consider to be alarming regularity, people discuss, debate and criticize the various aspects of any given worship service, often without seriously thinking about the director.
Given this tendency as well as the overall tension regarding worship in our churches today, it is crucial for us to continue to reflect upon various theological aspects of worship, and in so doing consider how the Brethren in Christ Church might wed worship with the best of its own theological heritage. In addressing a Brethren in Christ theology of worship, I must freely admit that no such theology exists, at least to the extent that it is readily observable from one congregation to another. Yet by listening to the Bible as well as to voices from our own past, we might find some helpful insight to guide us along the way.
The Meaning of Worship
The word "worship" is in some ways rather difficult to define. Many people often confuse the meaning of "worship" with the "means" or "activities" of worship. After a particularly festive service filled with praise songs and dramatic readings, for example, someone might very well respond, "We certainly worshiped today." But what does the word "worship" actually mean?
According to Robert Schaper, worship is "the expression of a relationship in which God the Father reveals himself and his love in Christ and by his Holy Spirit administers grace, to which we respond in faith, gratitude, and obedience."1 Donald Hustad adapts an earlier definition from Evelyn Underhill and refers to worship as "the affirmative, transforming response of human beings to God’s self-revealing and self-giving, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit."2 More simply, Robert Webber cuts through the trimmings and defines worship as "a meeting between God and his people."3
In the Bible, various Hebrew and Greek words are at time translated into English as "worship"--words denoting such things as service, sacrifice, reverence, obedience and inquiry. As a result, to worship involves and affects every aspect of life; to worship is to serve, obey, seek, revere, and to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God. Yet by far the most common terms for worship in both the Old and New Testaments are those involving the act of bowing down before either a person, such as a king (2 Sam. 14:4; 2 Chron. 14:17; Esth. 3:2-6; Ps. 45:11; 72:11; Matt. 2:11; 8:2; Acts 10:25), or a deity (Exod. 32:8; Deut. 29:26; 1 Kings 11:33). To worship, in this sense, is to acknowledge your subordinate relationship to someone who is far superior to you, and to affirm your absolute allegiance to the one before whom you bow.
It is for this reason, of course, that the worshiping of anyone or anything other than God is repeatedly prohibited in Scripture. Worshiping other gods is forbidden (Exod. 34:14; Deut. 8:19; 11:16; 1 Kings 9:6-7; Ps. 81:9; Isa. 2:8; Jer. 25:6; Matt. 4:10; Luke 4:8), and is in fact punishable by death in the Torah (Deut. 17:2-7). Likewise, Peter quickly instructs Cornelius not to worship him, for he is "only a mortal" (Acts 10:25; cf. Rev. 19:10). Worship is serious business, serious enough that Satan would have surrendered control over all the earth if Jesus would only "bow down" before him (Matt. 4:9). "Worship the Lord your God," Jesus abruptly replied, "and serve him only" (Matt. 4:10). To worship God is to bow before him, to give him the honor and glory due to him alone. When I worship God, I am reaffirming my relationship with him and renewing my commitment to him. When I worship, I look beyond the other actors on the stage, encounter the divine director, and restate my vows.
The Basis of Worship
If the Scriptures invite us to worship God alone, they also give us clear reasons for doing so. The God of the Bible, unlike all other aspiring deities, is worthy to be bowed down to.
He has earned the right to receive our worship for at least these reasons. First, because of who He is. God is worthy of our worship simply on the basis of who he is. In contrast to the many other gods that people often bow down to, the God of the Bible is wholly other. While other deities are typically unpredictable and undependable, God is faithful (Ps. 22:24; 138:2; Rev. 7:15-17). While other deities are often unpleasable, God is gracious (Ps. 5:7; 138:2; 2 Chron. 7:3; Rev. 7:10). While other deities are themselves corrupt, God is holy (Ps. 99:9; Rev. 15:4). And while other deities are in reality often inept, God is strong and mighty (2 Kings 17:36; Ps. 22:28; 66:4-5; Rev. 5:14; 7:11-12). The God of Scripture consistently stands in stark contrast to any and all competitors, and therefore is worthy of being worshiped.
Second, because of what he has done. God has created all things. Insofar as he is our maker, he has the right to make claims upon our lives that no one else can make (Ps. 95:6; Acts 17:24; Rev. 14:7). Other objects of our veneration, according to the prophets in particular, turn out to be nothing more than the products of our own human hands (Isa. 2:8; 46:6). God made us, and he made us well. Therefore, he claims and deserves certain rights of ownership.
But beyond his role as Creator, God has spared no time or expense in acting on our behalf. In this sense, two events within Scripture serve as dominant foci for worship. From the song of Moses (Exod. 15) onward, Israel’s worship recalls and grows out of her deliverance from Egypt and the covenantal relationship that ensued. "You shall worship the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm...," the writer of 2 Kings reminds his readers (17:36). God with a mighty hand redeemed his enslaved people, inviting them into a privileged position as his special possession . In response, they are to worship him.
In the New Testament, the exodus gives way to the incarnation. The same God who freed Israel now enters time and space in human form in order to take upon himself the sins of the world. Zechariah can scarcely find the words to describe it:
John sees in the incarnation the opportunity for people to become "children of God (1:12)," and Paul suggests that all will bow as a result (Phil. 2:10). God has acted in history on our behalf, earning the right to be worshiped.
Third, because of what he will do. God’s people have repeatedly fallen to their knees in response to the hope that his promises provide. Upon learning that God would act on their behalf in Egypt, the Israelites worshiped (Exod. 4:31). After hearing of God’s intentions to free Israel from the Midianites, Gideon worshiped (Judg. 7:15). Likewise, the songs of Revelation reverberate with praise in anticipation of the final victory that God will surely bring about. Upon hearing of God’s ultimate defeat of the great whore who corrupted the earth, "the twenty-four elders and four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne..." (Rev. 19:4).
God’s people bow down, they worship, because of who he is, what he has done on their behalf in the past, and in anticipation of what he has promised to do for them in time yet to come. God’s people bow down in gratitude and praise to the divine director.
The Purpose of Corporate Worship
While it is true that worshiping God is sufficiently comprehensive to include all of our daily activities, both the testimony and instruction of Scripture emphasize the place of corporate worship in the life of the community of faith. On a regular basis, the people of God are bowing down together before the Lord. Such corporate worship serves at least the following purposes:
First, corporate worship enables us to gain a renewed and revitalized sense of who God is. As the characters in Scripture repeatedly marvel at the wonder of God, so too does corporate worship enable us together to “lift our eyes to the Lord,” to paraphrase the Psalmist (121:1-2). Although we may often be warn down by the affairs and responsibilities of life, worshiping together provides an avenue through which we can encounter once again the God who overshadows everyone and everything else. In corporate worship, we gain a fresh vision of the Lord.
In order to illustrate precisely this point, N. T. Wright likens the potential of corporate worship to that of Moses’ encounter with the burning bush (Exod. 3).4 Distraught by the conditions of his fellow Israelites in Egypt and no doubt paralyzed by his own criminal behavior and subsequent exile, Moses stands in need of a divine visitation--he needs to see God. Likewise, we and the people around us often fall prey to our own circumstances and conditions. In the process, God seems frightfully distant, helplessly small, or happily controllable. Worship can be the antidote to these and similar misconceptions.
For corporate worship to function in this way, and therefore for worship to be genuinely biblical, the participants must begin to encounter the fullness of the Lord. All too often, worship services seem preoccupied with an abridged view of God, an obsession of sorts with one or two of his many attributes. Our songs and readings repeatedly speak of divine love or mercy, for example, but little transpires that helps us to experience God’s majesty and holiness. Worship, in order to be enjoyable, accessible and user friendly, loses any profound sense of mystery, the sense that someone far greater than us is present in all of this. What often remains is in reality not worship at all.
The challenge before us, then, includes the call to diversify our worship so that multiple images of God flash across our mental and emotional screens. Forms, symbols and activities depicting God’s holiness and majesty help us understand that we worship a God who transcends even our most pressing needs. Songs and testimonies speaking of God’s love and mercy encourage us to realize that, despite our frailties, the Lord is actually fond of us. Readings, stories and music from Christian communities in other cultures remind us that God is the Lord over all of the nations. As we select songs, readings, dramatic presentations, and other helpful activities, we do so with a far greater goal than congregational appeal. We seek to present a God who shatters our conceptions and stretches the very limits of our hearts and minds. All of us, within and outside of the church, need a fresh vision of the living God. Worship, in the words of Wright, is "designed to fuel and fire that vision."5
Second, corporate worship enables us to recall what God has done in the past. Both the Israelites in the Old Testament and the followers of Jesus in the New Testament are repeatedly encouraged to remember what God has done for them in the past. Biblical history is neither flat nor static. God is directing this world toward a desired end. In remembering the past, we can learn from the successes and failures of our spiritual predecessors, gain a sense of community or belonging that transcends the present moment, and above all, witness the hand of God in the ongoing affairs of life. Therefore, whether through verbal reminders, as with Moses’ address in Deuteronomy 1:6-4:40 or Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:14-36, or through symbolic reenactments, such as Passover or Communion, God’s people are never to neglect or forget the past. We often find them reflecting on the past in corporate worship.
Our society here in the West has often been accused of having no memory. While the events and experiences of the past are relived again and again in the minds of most Middle Easterners, many of us see little importance in the things of the past. Yet cultivating a corporate memory remains as vital for us today as at any other time in history. We are simply living in the present phase of what God has been doing throughout all of time. Worshiping together provides a wonderful opportunity for us to explore what God has done in the past.
With this in mind, we should increasingly see corporate worship as a time to retell the story for the current generation. Such a retelling will of course emphasize the many events and experiences recorded in Scripture. We will recount the exodus, seeing ourselves as the present benefactors of God’s ability to free and deliver. We will relive the resurrection, seeing ourselves as moving from death unto life. But in retelling the story, we will also move beyond the biblical texts in seeing the presence and activity of God in the 2000 years since the earthly ministry of our Lord.
In our attempts to take Scripture seriously, we at times run the risk of insinuating that God worked during the biblical period and the present, but not in between. This risk is at least one reason why I consider the traditional versus contemporary debate to be somewhat troubling. The question of hymns and choruses goes well beyond musical preferences. While I deeply enjoy much of what we call contemporary music, I fear that by discarding traditional music and various forms altogether, we may in fact be discarding the past. Hymns from various time periods, for example, provide windows into the experiences of the community of faith at that time. Were we to make the effort to learn them and understand the situations out of which they developed, we might discover riches that we never knew were there before.
Living in the past and discarding the past are not the only two options. One can live in the present and anticipate the future more authentically and faithfully if one stands upon the past. "I worship the God of our ancestors," Paul replied to Felix in Caesarea, affirming his connectedness to those who went before (Acts 24:14) Corporate worship, then, provides an opportunity for us to affirm a similar connectedness, see ourselves as part of a community that stretches across the years, and to recall and reflect upon what God has been doing throughout all of time.
Third, corporate worship enables us to envision what God will do in the present and future. For those who genuinely encounter the God of Scripture, people like Moses at the burning bush, Israel at Sinai, Isaiah in the temple, and Paul on the road to Damascus, such an encounter transforms their conception of what lies ahead. This same God who repeatedly acted in the past now offers hope and direction for the future.
With this in mind, it seems vitally important that corporate worship reflect appropriate contemporary components. If indiscriminately discarding tradition runs the risk of forgetting the past, then stubbornly refusing to adjust to the present and future runs the opposite risk of making God and worship appear obsolete. The prophet Hosea, for example, criticized the Israelites for their lack of a vibrant up-to-date experience with God--they knew only of the testimonies of days long ago (4:1-2, 6). If corporate worship revolves around a fresh encounter with the Lord, then people in our congregations must encounter a Lord who is alive, well, and alert to the present age. If they do, they too will experience a transformation similar to those of Moses, Isaiah, and others before them.
Such a genuine transformation regularly finds expression in two distinct ways. First, people who encounter God have a far deeper understanding of themselves. In seeing God, they see their own limitations, their own blemishes, their own sin. Yet a genuine encounter further enables people to see, not just who they are, but who they can become. As a result, they leave with a renewed sense of their value in God’s sight. As true worship travels through recognition of sin and confession, it leads eventually to hope.
Second, people who encounter God gain a greater sense of calling for the world. In seeing God, people finally look beyond themselves and see, perhaps for the first time, the faces of others. Worship, though not the primary channel for evangelism and mission, is certainly the springboard. Worship spreads out its tentacles, so to speak, in a great variety of kingdom-building activities. People who truly encounter the Spirit of God in corporate worship can only long for others to do the same.
Voices from Our Tradition
As Brethren in Christ, we have long since recognized the theological synthesis that makes us who we are. Such a synthesis is, as many have pointed out, both a blessing and a burden. In looking at the various dominant components of who we are, what might each say to us concerning worship?
Anabaptism
In seeking to return to what they understood to be the fundamental teachings of the New Testament, the early Anabaptists placed their ecclesiology or doctrine of the church at the center of much of their thinking. As a result, any Anabaptist theology of worship must be rooted in an understanding of the church as the visible, counter-cultural gathering of Christ’s followers on earth.
With this in mind, several important ideas quickly emerge. To begin with, people have always been central in Anabaptist thought. The early Anabaptists stressed lay involvement, and it was these same people who reacted strongly against the rigid structures of the established church. Corporate worship cannot be dominated by a select group of individuals, but must instead seek to transform all observers into participants. Whatever particular activities and experiences are included when we gather to worship, allowance must be made for significant congregational involvement. Leaders, to borrow Philip Yancey’s terminology, should be "prompters" rather than the primary actors.6
Beyond this, the early Anabaptists would unquestionably encourage us to pay close attention to matters of purity and obedience. Whether through the singing of songs, the sharing of testimonies, or the reading and preaching of the Word, corporate worship should assist the participants in their ongoing journey toward Christian maturity. Worship must not be reduced purely to the affective level, nor should its primary thrust be to appeal to or entice those outside of the church. When the church gathers, the truth in all of it fullness must be evident.
Finally, the early Anabaptists would encourage us today to be more discerning with respect to the world around us. That they lived within a hostile society that marginalized and regularly persecuted them no doubt reinforced their views of separation, the Anabaptists would voice concern about a society that is overly friendly to the church. While being deeply committed to establishing the Kingdom of God in the world and thereby disseminating the Gospel to all people, they would caution us against allowing the surrounding culture to be the primary driving force behind our worship practices. They would, in other words, stress the fact that Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman about worshiping in "truth." Unlike certain other groups, including some affiliated with Alexander Campbell and the so-called Restoration Movement, the Anabaptists did not typically adopt a view in which only those things specifically sanctioned in the New Testament were appropriate. They would insist, however, that distinctions need to be made. Not all activities are appropriate in Christian worship.
An example of this might very well be found in Jesus’ comments concerning prayer. In Matthew 6:5-8, he specifically instructs his listeners to avoid praying like the hypocrites and Gentiles. In so doing, Jesus teaches his followers to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate forms of worship. Today, when it seems as though many churches seek to use whatever styles and activities are immediately accessible to the surrounding culture, our Anabaptist ancestors would ask us to think carefully and to discern prayerfully.7
Pietism
Growing increasingly dismayed with what they perceived to be the rigid and stifling traditions of their day, our Pietist ancestors sought to promote and nurture a warm and more personal form of Christian worship. While not dismissing the importance of sound theology, these Pietists sought to establish a more intimate community in which worship was experiential and heartfelt. They no doubt would have emphasized that knowing God went far beyond affirming his various attributes. To know God is to be one with him, and to be one with him is cause for joy and celebration.
With this in mind, the Pietists would ask us to pay careful attention to avoid institutionalizing our rituals. In emphasizing that Jesus also and indeed initially told the Samaritan woman that God seeks to be worshiped in "spirit," these Pietists would encourage us to make plenty of room for the affective dimension of Christian worship. We should, in other words, allow for and even encourage the open expression of various human emotions in our worship.
To this end, Pietists would be quick to point out the wide range of human experiences and responses that come to the surface in biblical worship. Overcome by joy, David dances enthusiastically as the ark of the covenant returns to Jerusalem. Distraught over the loss of his son, this same David nevertheless "went into the house of the Lord, and worshiped." (2 Sam. 12:20). Delighted about the news that they will in fact bear sons, Hannah and Mary after her shout: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." (Luke 1:46-47; cf. 1 Sam. 2:1). Overwhelmed at the report that his property and children have been lost at the hands of invaders, Job "arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped." (1:20) Again and again, people bow down and worship in the midst of life’s varied circumstances.
To those who argue that these and other examples primarily describe private worship, the Pietists would respond that such experiential and heartfelt worship plays a similar role in corporate worship in the Bible. In the Psalter, for example, one finds a great variety of Psalms for all occasions and for virtually mood. There are marvelous Hymns celebrating the blessings of life, but here are also moving laments in which the entire community cries out for divine assistance. There are psalms of praise in which the goodness of God dominates, but there are additional laments and imprecatory Psalms that voice deep frustration and even rage. Whether in the face of accomplishments or setbacks, victories or defeats, we are people with feelings. So, the Pietists would ask us, without discarding theology and sound doctrine, what better place is there for appropriately expressing the deep movements within our souls than in corporate worship?
In order to avoid being misunderstood, our Pietist ancestors would lastly add at least two words of clarification. First, worship that allows for and even encourages the expression of such varied emotions should not consistently elevate one emotion over the other. The Pietists would ask us to avoid emphasizing joy and celebration, for example, to the almost total exclusion of pain and suffering. They would quickly point out that there are more laments in the Psalter than any other type of Psalm. During any given worship service, certain people in the congregation are hurting. Rather than laughing, they are longing to shed a tear. The goal of worship is not to make everyone feel good, but to assist them in coming, as they are, into the presence of God.
Secondly, the Pietists would encourage us to allow for blunders in corporate worship. Without disregarding good planning and order, Pietists assume, no doubt correctly, that we at times avoid expressive and heartfelt worship for fear of losing control. "You just never know what might happen," some say, so lets stick closely to the script. In his rather extensive discussion of corporate worship In 1 Corinthians 11-14, Paul acknowledged disorder and sought to correct it. However, he refused to ban such congregational involvement in order to preserve rhythm and dignity. In this sense, the Pietists want us to see corporate worship, not so much as a tightly controlled performance, but as a guided journey or pilgrimage.
Wesleyanism
In an age marked in part by religious indifference, John Wesley and his early followers found themselves on a stage in many ways similar to our own. Likewise, Wesley himself wrestled with various issues taken directly from recent issues of Leadership and Christianity Today. Wesley made no apparent effort to hide his appreciation for the more formal Anglican tradition with which he was familiar, yet he cared deeply about the unchurched commoners living in and around London. This tension between what we might call "maintaining the tradition" and "reaching the masses" led to what James White has aptly called Wesley’s "pragmatic traditionalism."8
With respect to tradition, Wesley and the early Methodists took the Church calendar seriously, used written prayers, and saw hymns as an avenue for teaching sound theology. Yet the crying needs of London’s urban poor prevented these pragmatic Methodists from merely performing their rituals in some cold and outdated fashion. What resulted was a fresh and expanding sense of enthusiasm, an uninhibited and expressive form of worship marked by joy and, at times, spontaneity.
As Wesley’s influence spread to North America, however, the delicate balance between tradition and pragmatics eventually led to the almost total dismissal of all tradition. In a series of developments clearly outlined by White in Protestant Worship, Methodism increasingly sacrificed all traditional forms of worship in order to reach the unchurched on the frontier.9 Prayer books were discarded, and only the simplest of songs were sung. Clearly, spontaneity and excitement won the day. Corporate worship was now little more than an evangelistic device for reaching the lost. When the dust finally settled, what remained were relatively full churches with little if any theological foundation. During much of the present century, many of Wesley’s descendants have been seeking to rediscover at least some of what was lost.
Given their range of experiences, Wesley and his followers would encourage us to be pragmatically traditional. Embrace the fullness of Scripture and the richness of the past, refusing to sacrifice substance for the whims of the age. Use time-honored forms, and lead your people into a deeper understanding of what worshiping God actually entails. Rather than rejecting and discarding the past, invite congregants to learn from and appreciate what is in fact a part of their own spiritual history. Yet never freeze or finalize the way you worship, as though one generation’s forms and rituals are somehow to serve as the ultimate paradigm for all who follow. Keep one eye on the past, and the other on the future. The Spirit of God, after all, dwells in both worlds.
Conclusion
In speaking through Isaiah, God announces that his people were formed "so that they might declare my praise" (43:21). That’s precisely what the heavenly chorus does in Revelation 7:12: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." In worship, we look through and beyond the various characters and props, many of which are here for our assistance, and meet the director of this grand and glorious production. And when we do, we bow down together, and rise transformed, for when we genuinely encounter the director, everything else suddenly seems far less important.
