Worship
This past Saturday Royce and I met with our pastor and finished our new member's class. I was very blessed by the lesson on a Biblical theology of worship. It really made me think about how I approach worship in the congregational setting especially. Here's what our pastors wrote:
"Over the last couple of decades, evangelicalism has been engaged in what has been coined as “worship wars.” At the heart of this battle lie such questions as, “What is the right way to worship?” “What kind of instruments should be used during worship?” “What kind of worship style is biblical?” “Should we use a screen or hymnbooks?” These and many other such questions of style and taste have caused much division in the body of Christ and confusion about how the church should worship. But, there is a root problem with these “wars” that must be acknowledged before it can be avoided. The problem is we have forgotten the essence of worship and focused on the form. We give higher priority to a philosophy of music than a theology of worship, instead of letting the latter dictate the former. We are more concerned with how we worship than why we worship, or even who we worship! Thus, the focus of this lesson is to lead us to answer the question, “what is the essence of biblical worship?”
I. Our Definition of Biblical Worship.
The essence of biblical worship is an intense inner, Godward experience of the heart that leads the believer to outwardly and consciously reflect the worth or value of God in word and deed, both individually and corporately.
II. Worship as seen in the Bible.
A. The term proskuneo is the main word used for worship both in the Septuagint (Greek O.T.) and in the New Testament. The term implied a physical falling down in reverence before a visible majesty (Gen 42:6; Ex. 33:10; Judges 2:12).
B. The use of this term in the New Testament is found mostly in the Gospels as people are confronted with the visible, incarnate Christ (26x, Matt. 28:9) and in the book of Revelation as the saints and elders are in the presence of the visible, risen Christ (21x, Rev. 22:8,9).
C. This term for worship is only used once in the New Testament letters (I Cor. 14:25), and it doesn’t occur at all in the letters of Peter, James, and John. Why? Because in the age between the ascension and the second coming Christ is not visibly here to worship. Thus, as John Piper states, “worship is radically internalized and delocalized” (Brothers, We are not Professionals, 230).
III. What is “true worship?”
A. Worship is not about a location, but true worship is done in spirit and in truth (John 4:19- 24). “Inner spiritual reality replaces geographic locality.”
· Because God is spirit, proper worship of him is also a matter of spirit rather than physical location. Also, it must be noted that how we worship is based on who God is. Our theology of worship cannot be divorced from theology proper.
· Worship in spirit suggests a contrast to merely external conformity, but an internal working of the Spirit that produces Christ-likeness in our manner of living.
· Worshipping in truth refers to the worship of God consistent with His character (Jn 3:33), the character of the Word made flesh, who ultimately revealed His Father (Jn 14:6), and the inspired Word of God (Jn 17:17).
B. Worship is not about tradition, but true worship is an attitude of the heart (Matt. 6:5-8; 15: 8-9).
C. Worship is not about self-gratification, but true worship is an offering of our lives to God for His service and glory.
· Philip Ryken makes an astute observation when he states, “In this self-centered age, worship is no longer about glorifying God; it is about satisfying myself, even feeling good about myself. It is all about me – what I need, what I like, and what I’m getting out of it.” (City on a Hill, 57)
· All of life and ministry is an expression of an inner sense of worship based on the character of God and the work of Christ. Worship is seen primarily and significantly in a daily living out of our reasonable service. (Philippians 3:3; Romans 12:1, 2; Hebrews 13:12-16)
D. Worship is not about self-glorification, but true worship is about living in a way that reveals or expresses how great and glorious God is (Philippians 1:20-21; I Cor. 10:31; Col 3:17). “Worship is all about consciously reflecting the worth or value of God” (Piper, 233).
IV. We keep worship God-centered by keeping it Word-centered.
· “To worship God we must know who God is, but we cannot know who God is unless God first chooses to reveal Himself to us. God has done this in the Bible, which is why the Bible and the teaching of the Bible need to be central in our worship.” – James Montgomery Boice
· Because we believe that the content of worship comes from the Bible, we will strive to preach the Scriptures, teach the Scriptures, pray the Scriptures, study the Scriptures, sing the Scriptures and live the Scriptures! (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17; 4:2; Colossians 3:16)."
"Over the last couple of decades, evangelicalism has been engaged in what has been coined as “worship wars.” At the heart of this battle lie such questions as, “What is the right way to worship?” “What kind of instruments should be used during worship?” “What kind of worship style is biblical?” “Should we use a screen or hymnbooks?” These and many other such questions of style and taste have caused much division in the body of Christ and confusion about how the church should worship. But, there is a root problem with these “wars” that must be acknowledged before it can be avoided. The problem is we have forgotten the essence of worship and focused on the form. We give higher priority to a philosophy of music than a theology of worship, instead of letting the latter dictate the former. We are more concerned with how we worship than why we worship, or even who we worship! Thus, the focus of this lesson is to lead us to answer the question, “what is the essence of biblical worship?”
I. Our Definition of Biblical Worship.
The essence of biblical worship is an intense inner, Godward experience of the heart that leads the believer to outwardly and consciously reflect the worth or value of God in word and deed, both individually and corporately.
II. Worship as seen in the Bible.
A. The term proskuneo is the main word used for worship both in the Septuagint (Greek O.T.) and in the New Testament. The term implied a physical falling down in reverence before a visible majesty (Gen 42:6; Ex. 33:10; Judges 2:12).
B. The use of this term in the New Testament is found mostly in the Gospels as people are confronted with the visible, incarnate Christ (26x, Matt. 28:9) and in the book of Revelation as the saints and elders are in the presence of the visible, risen Christ (21x, Rev. 22:8,9).
C. This term for worship is only used once in the New Testament letters (I Cor. 14:25), and it doesn’t occur at all in the letters of Peter, James, and John. Why? Because in the age between the ascension and the second coming Christ is not visibly here to worship. Thus, as John Piper states, “worship is radically internalized and delocalized” (Brothers, We are not Professionals, 230).
III. What is “true worship?”
A. Worship is not about a location, but true worship is done in spirit and in truth (John 4:19- 24). “Inner spiritual reality replaces geographic locality.”
· Because God is spirit, proper worship of him is also a matter of spirit rather than physical location. Also, it must be noted that how we worship is based on who God is. Our theology of worship cannot be divorced from theology proper.
· Worship in spirit suggests a contrast to merely external conformity, but an internal working of the Spirit that produces Christ-likeness in our manner of living.
· Worshipping in truth refers to the worship of God consistent with His character (Jn 3:33), the character of the Word made flesh, who ultimately revealed His Father (Jn 14:6), and the inspired Word of God (Jn 17:17).
B. Worship is not about tradition, but true worship is an attitude of the heart (Matt. 6:5-8; 15: 8-9).
C. Worship is not about self-gratification, but true worship is an offering of our lives to God for His service and glory.
· Philip Ryken makes an astute observation when he states, “In this self-centered age, worship is no longer about glorifying God; it is about satisfying myself, even feeling good about myself. It is all about me – what I need, what I like, and what I’m getting out of it.” (City on a Hill, 57)
· All of life and ministry is an expression of an inner sense of worship based on the character of God and the work of Christ. Worship is seen primarily and significantly in a daily living out of our reasonable service. (Philippians 3:3; Romans 12:1, 2; Hebrews 13:12-16)
D. Worship is not about self-glorification, but true worship is about living in a way that reveals or expresses how great and glorious God is (Philippians 1:20-21; I Cor. 10:31; Col 3:17). “Worship is all about consciously reflecting the worth or value of God” (Piper, 233).
IV. We keep worship God-centered by keeping it Word-centered.
· “To worship God we must know who God is, but we cannot know who God is unless God first chooses to reveal Himself to us. God has done this in the Bible, which is why the Bible and the teaching of the Bible need to be central in our worship.” – James Montgomery Boice
· Because we believe that the content of worship comes from the Bible, we will strive to preach the Scriptures, teach the Scriptures, pray the Scriptures, study the Scriptures, sing the Scriptures and live the Scriptures! (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17; 4:2; Colossians 3:16)."
posted by Sharyne @ 9:04 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:24 PM,
Joy said…
Thank you for sharing this! Scott and I have been thinking and reading and listening to messages about worship a lot lately, and this reflects our understanding as well. We respond to the truth of God found in His Word with worship of Him and praise to Him. Worship should be informed by the Word and flow out from us in praise and love of God based on Scripture. And no matter what form our worship takes, whether corporate in a service or personal in our quiet time or worked out in our daily lives, it should always be focused on, rooted in, and directed to God.
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