Each blog in this series I have used to hint to the upcoming blog. Last blog was no different, although all the previous blogs in this series really built up to this. What has the church done to pervert our ideas of corporate worship? We have replaced covenant theology with the idea of individualism.
Corporate worship is corporate, and it is based on the covenant. We do not go to church on Sunday morning because it seems fitting with the previous week. The theology the church has today seems to put worship at the last day of the week; after God has blessed us throughout the week, we come together to recap and share our experiences and increase our personal relationship with Jesus.
Although there may be a certain amount of this that in its proper context can be good, this theology is very problematic when it comes to worship. We do not go to look back at the previous week, and then play songs that relate merely to the personal aspect of our faith; we should come to remember God's covenant and look ahead at the week in light of God's covenant.
So what is corporate worship? Is it worship itself? Is it evangelism? Is it education? Is it what we do for God or what God does for us? Ultimately, it is all of these things, but none of these things specifically. We do not go merely to give basic worship to God, but a service with no worship would be wrong. We do not go simply to evangelize the world - that is what we do throughout the week. But our church service should equip us for evangelizing, and that is what the church universal functions for. We do not go to church just to learn about the Bible, but that should certainly happen through our church attendance. When we go to service, we go to give to God, and for God to work in us. Corporate Lord's Day worship is a full experience.
In light of our relationship with God, there are some definite things we should do. There is a certain amount of creativity as well, and it is not right to create a certain "standard" worship service. But the church today focuses more on the creativity than the definite. To give you an idea of a service that I believe would be appropriate, I will give a run through of our church service (I do not claim this to be perfect, nor other styles of worship as something God does not hear; this is just my opinion).
After announcements, we have a call to worship. The Pastor quotes phrases in Scripture dealing with a group of God's Covenant People coming toward Him. The people respond to this calling by saying "Our feet our standing within Your gates, O Jerusalem" or something to that affect. In this call of worship, we come forward into the real presence of God, and can only worship in praise at His glorious throne. We have a hymn that resembles this mentality.
But as we approach God's throne, it is obvious to us and to God that we are sinners. We must "wipe our feet on the welcome mat" so to speak, before fully entering God's presence. We kneel for corporate confession of sin, where after this we are given the full assurance of God's forgiveness. It is here that we ascend into the real presence of Heaven, lifting our hands and looking up toward God in our ascension hymn.
After this, we have Scripture readings, from the Torah, the Psalms, and the Epistles (or sometimes the prophets instead of the Torah?). After each Scripture reading, the speaker says, "The Word of the Lord" where the rest of the congregation responds "Thanks be to God." After these readings, we have a hymn of celebration. Then the Gospel is preached, where the Pastor walks amongst the Congregation during the reading, symbolizing how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, as is recorded for us in the Gospels.
After this, we have our sermon, where we learn and take personal application to God's Word.
After the Sermon, we take our tithes and offerings. After this, we have corporate prayer for the specific needs of the congregation and of the world. We sing hymns, confess the common basic Christian faith as expressed in the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed (we do one or the other). Finally, we come for the Lord's Supper, each week. Real bread, real wine. Being strengthened and nourished, we sing a hymn of dismissal, and then receive the Benediction to go in the peace and favor of the Lord, fulfilling the Great Commission.
This is much different than most typical Christian churches today. In most churches, you will see something like this: the congregation sings a bunch of contemporary Christian songs with personalized lyrics, followed by the choir singing their songs. After this, you may see a video presentation, telling us perhaps the problems with evolution, or a motivational "Tell your co-worker about Jesus" spin. Then, we have a motivational sermon, perhaps a "Seven steps to being a closer to your family, step one, take a vacation" sort of deal. After the sermon, a guess speaker may come and give a motivational speech and just as the people are caught up in their emotions, the tithes and offerings are collected. If you are really lucky, you may get a bread-flavored cracker and grape juice. After this, there will be a dismissing prayer.
Now many of these things are good, at least in some context, but how many mainstream evangelicals know why they do what they do in corporate Lord's Day worship? What does each aspect of the service mean?
It is interesting that the first of the two liturgies resembles the covenant structure we see in the Bible. We have a call to worship, where God calls us into His presence, taking hold of us, in order to do something with us. After this, God separates us, individually acknowledging our sin, and cutting it off. We are separate, and then our sin is separated from us, so that God may make something new out of us. After this, God speaks to us through His Word and the sermon. Then, soon after this, we partake in the Lord's Supper - the sign and seal of our covenant. Then we are prepared for the future with the benediction, so that we may go forth in the world, proclaiming the Good News (The Great Commission). All throughout we have education, worship, and are prepared for evangelism. We make our bodies one living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). We worship as sacrifice, not the sacrifice of blood, but as one living sacrifice for God, where all our other sacrifices come from our corporate worship. In a sense, the Lord's Day worship is the most important thing of the week. We do not come to remember God in the past week, but to remember and renew our covenant with Him, looking ahead to the blessings that are assured for us in the future.
I know some Christians who do not attend church. But church is not just icing on the cake. It is where our salvation is found. What if a husband and a wife never saw each other? Are they married? Maybe on paper, but they are not in spirit. I think that the spirit of our salvation outweighs the legality of our salvation. Salvation comes from God, but He offers it to us through the church - it is our identity as apart of the Body of Christ. People who do not attend church should realize two things about church life: how we need the church, and how the church needs us. We all need the communion of the Saints to carry on in a personal relationship with Jesus. We all need to be reminded of our corporate covenant that joins us with Christ. This is what, in a real way, secures our salvation. We must be faithful until death (Rev. 2:10), and we can not just assume an easy feeling for our salvation. We stay faithful through the church. We all need the church. At the same time, the church is filled up with people like you! So if you need them, then they need you! Your work for the church, both maturing those within, and witnessing to those without, is drastically important. No "Seven steps to being a better family man" message by Joel Osteen on TV does justice to the real gathering of the Saints (Heb. 10: 26-27, Acts 20:7).
UPCOMING BLOGS: I will try to post a blog on the politics of the church. Is the church too political? Is it not political enough? What role should the church play in shaping our politics? I also want to post a blog on the 'other side' of feminism. Is feminism a threat, and if so, who is to blame? I am also wanting to post a blog on rethinking perfection. How have we fallen from the real idea of perfection in our society, and how does this false ideology affect Christianity worldwide? My answers to these questions may surprise you. I have a few other ideas as well, and they will come in time.
What do you think?
God bless His Church
God bless you
February 24, 2008
Ryan Hampton
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