While I believe we, as Christians, are to set aside special times to worship God both by ourselves and together with others, I also believe that— as our very nature is transformed into the likeness of Christ— we should be responding to people and situations in an increasingly godly manner. This is one way of explaining how our daily lives can be worshipful.
John
Frame gave an illustration that helped explain this idea. He
compared our lives as Christians with a servant working in a king’s palace. In
essence, all of our labors are a service to the king (i.e., God), yet from time
to time “something special happens: you find yourself talking to the king
himself. …the occasions— even a casual meeting— become somewhat
ceremonial.” In other words, there is a sense in which we are always
in God’s presence... On various occasions, however, God seems to draw nearer. I believe we should
continually and honorably live before God, yet we should also have times
throughout the day and week that are especially focused on, or consecrated for,
meeting with God. I have outlined three different aspects to
consider in an attempt to understand the focus of worship— that it is
God-focused; it has to do with the way in which we daily live in God’ s
presence; and it is found in the way we edify the Body and evangelize the
world. Church leaders and other mature Christians should model and
teach a theology of worship that holds all of these aspects in tension. For
example, the way leaders speak about and plan worship services should help
others to understand that it is a time to focus more specifically on worshiping
God, a time to reach out to others (with the love that God has graciously given
to us), and a time to learn more about what it means to love and serve God in
day-to-day life. Effort should be made to draw together these
different aspects of the same tension rather than letting them remain in
mentally (and practically) segregated ‘boxes’.
There are
many ways that churches design their worship services, most of them probably
thinking their way is the best— if not the only proper way to do things. As was
discussed in the “Theology of Christian Worship” though, it is important to
keep the “content” central in our thinking about the way to worship/Christian
life— versus making style the primary concern. Keeping that in mind,
let’s focus on practical ideas for how people can actually worship God
corporately, privately, and through their daily lives. Corporate
worship services can be a special time set aside from jobs and everything else
to which people give their attention specifically on God. It is in that public
space that members of the Body of Christ (and more specifically— the people who
are part of a certain local church) can come together to do things such as:
give praise to God; retell the story of God’s ultimate faithfulness (as well as
the faithfulness he’s demonstrated in individual lives); thank him for his gift
of salvation and grace; and learn more about his character, ways, and
purposes. The manner in which that is done may include elements such
as spoken and sung prayers to God; art, dance, and music that directs people’s
attention to Him; the reading of/teaching from the Bible; Communion; and
Baptism. The Bible does not specify the order in which things must
always be done, or even which aspects of worship must always be included in
order for a worship service to be considered pleasing to God. Honoring God seems to be much more dependent
on the heart/attitude of the worshipers than on the specific acts, amounts of
time, or order of events.
God is to be the focus of Christian worship in our private or
corporate worship meetings with God as well as in our day-to-day lives where we
edify and serve others (as unto the Lord). God is transcendent and we need to give him the
homage, service, and respect/reverence that he deserves. At the same time, God is imminent and wants to
have a loving, personal relationship with us— made possible by the death and
resurrection of Christ incarnate. We must continue to keep these aspects in
tension so that we do not avoid him by thinking he is unapproachable due to his
perfect and terrifying holiness, or become too casual by thinking of him only
as a close buddy because of his intimate love and unfailing graciousness… God
is great and God is good.
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