worship

I'm loving what I'm learning about worshiping God.

These past few months have been a roller coaster of new experiences, new lessons and new revelations. God teaches us so much when we give up to Him expectations and desires - the more we lean on Him, the more we learn that He is solid, good, and strong. I've been convicted by my attitude which sometimes reasons, "I haven't the experience to show that God will support me in this situation, and, it being a serious situation which I don't want to mess up, I don't think I can put my trust in Him for this one." It sounds so foolish when I write it out, but you know what I'm talking about, right? There are so many things in our life that self-perpetuate a lack of trust in the Lord, simply because we haven't trusted in the past and as such, we have no trust for the present. It's a scary, freeing and exciting path to walk when you decide to start that process of trusting... and I hope that this journey turns itself upside down and becomes a self-perpetuating path of trust!

Anyway, that was a tangent.

I have been continuing to learn the... I'm looking for words.... our purpose for worship. Not the purpose as in, "Why we worship," although to an extent, yes, I've been learning that as well. But rather purpose as in, "Worship gives us purpose." I've been learning that fulfillment and completion and purpose (and after all, isn't that what we all seek for, anyway?) come only through worship.

Worship is such a huge word - and such a huge activity - that sometimes I'm at a loss for how to practically dive into it. It's not that I can't find somehow to get involved... it's that there's too many options to choose from.

But as I've learned about worship - as I continue to learn about worship - I'm desiring that my youth group, HYPE, become a place which, "cultivates a community of true worshipers." Obviously, the phrase "true worshipers" needs to be defined. I think it important that we never talk about "a true worshiper," but rather always concentrate on "true worshipers." God did not institute individuals to worship him, but rather communities and groups - a Church - to accomplish His will.

I also think it important that we move beyond a conception of worship as a purely internal pursuit of God: ie. "Jesus in my heart." While not neglecting the surrender, sacrifice and internal transformation which Christ must accomplish in, yes, an individual, we also must turn our attention to external worship. Christ commands us to live lives which reflect his Father's character and concerns: chief among those is social justice. I would highly recommend Mark Labberton's highly readable, "The Dangerous Act of Worship," to aid in processing though this concept.

The question which I wrestle with now is how evangelism interacts with worship. Obviously, evangelism is subsumed under the heading, "worship," because I believe any decent and appropriate pursuit of a Christian is worship.

The first point is that the function of evangelism needs to be rewritten from, "An act which brings about the salvation of souls," to, "An action which works to the honor and glory of God by introducing to Him souls in desperate need of his transformative power - both spiritual and physical." Evangelism needs to be viewed primarily as worship rather than "task," and I believe that if it were by the Evangelical church, a different attitude would arise concerning evangelism even in the non-Christian world.

I also believe evangelism needs to concern itself not simply with the spiritual salvation and emancipation of souls, but also - and I cringe at the word also because it makes this task seem secondary when in fact I believe it must be complimentary, ie. not adding to but rather expositing the task of spiritual salvation - but also the salvation and emancipation of physical persons from whatever they may be bound.

Flowing from a reconceptualization of the function of evangelism as a task of worship comes a retooling of the form of evangelism. Often, evangelism takes the form of preaching, instruction and promises - "You will be set free if you accept Jesus." Yes, Christ's transformative power will work wonders in a life which submits itself to him, but throughout Christ's own life we see him working transformatively in individual's lives which then lead to submission to his Lordship. Is there then an extent to which the Evangelical church is failing at this task of liberative evangelism?

These thoughts all translate into thing which I'm working toward at HYPE. One of my firmest held beliefs is that, "a worshiping Church is an attractive Church." We focus on what worship is and how worship is accomplished, and as worship becomes lifestyle, worship becomes the catalyst for growth and life-change.