In drafting a theology/philosophy of worship, it's important to me
for it to be broad enough to incorporate both individual worship as well
as corporate worship. It's also important to me that it considers the
whole sweep of scripture's use of worship and considers verses that
explicitly explain or define worship. Such a task cannot adequately be
attempted here, but below I'd like to share what approach I'd take in
light of my heuristic understanding of worship.
Overall and most often, worship seems to be an action word that is
translated into "bow down." Sometimes it's used in a literal way, other
times it's used in a figurative way, and yet other times it is grouped
with the words "serve" or "follow." Another way I like to communicate
this is by saying that worship is the submission to a particular
creation narrative. When worship is used in regards to an individual's
(or community's) loyalty to the LORD and His work in Christ, it is
Christian worship. Contrastingly, when worship is used in regards to an
individual's (or community's) loyalty to something finite, such as the
self or it's own prestige or existence, it is sin (Jones, 1986). Such
ideas about worship as an allegiance to the LORD permeate the Old
Testament. More so, Jesus uses the language to describe worship as an
action taken that links both "Spirit and Truth." Later in Romans
(12:1), Paul pens "In view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of
worship" (NIV). Such language from both Paul and Jesus parallel the
Hebrew words of worship that often translate into "bowing down." I also tend to think of bowing in a figurative sense in which a worshiper aligns their heart,
their actions, their words, their attitudes to the LORD's redemptive
narrative as epitomized in Christ Jesus.
There's a characteristic about bowing down that is important to
recognize. Bowing down is a repercussion of something else. Bowing is a
secondary consequence of a primary action. We learn that Paul teaches
the church in Rome how worship is a repercussion of an
individual's (or community's) "view of God's mercy." More so, what Paul
was referring to throughout his Roman letter was the mercy of God
revealed through the atonement of Christ (Romans 3:25). It's important
that every time we talk about worship, it's with the understanding that
worship is reactionary. Worship is a reaction to the knowledge and
acceptance of what Christ has done through the cross; this has
incredibly personal implications for every worshiper.
I think this initial conception of worship is broad enough to include
many different Christian traditions, but it is also precise enough as to attain accuracy to the Hebrew and Greek words of worship found in scripture and ancient culture. Personally, within church tradition's different perspectives, I like "The Proclamation Model" when it says, "God proclaims
and we respond. Jesus Christ is God's perfect proclamation and our
perfect response. it is the Word of God which creates the church and
makes present the saving event of Christ" (Webber, 1994). I also
appreciate "The Process Model" and it's focus on the concept of
"becoming," which I think is a great descriptive word for worship
(Webber, p. 265). Then again, I resonated with the way "Liberation
Model" communicated worship when it said it's the "place where one's
affections and emotions are to be transformed so that imaginative ways
can be found to bring about this restructuring of society and the
conversion" of people (Webber, p. 266).
As a millennial, I enjoy incorporating and communicating God's mercy
(in Christ) from various perspectives. First and foremost in regards to
the church's weekly gathering, I think it's necessary to communicate
the good news of God's mercy, made available through the Cross. How can
the repercussion of worship be accomplished if we, as church leaders,
don't communicate the reality of redemption in some way, shape, or
form? Because I'm a millennial and because we're part of a church plant
consisting of people who come from a variety of faith backgrounds, I do
my best to incorporate liturgy from a variety of backgrounds. Overall,
I think our church's theology of worship is in tune with Wesley's "all
of life" philosophy, but we also incorporate other's into our gathering
arrangement. We use Catholocism's "life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ," we use Orthodox's "infusion of Christ into the life of
the believer," we use the Reformed emphasis on the proclamation of the
Word, we use (my personal favorite) the Anglican's view of the church's
gathering being the incarnation of Christ in the world, and although
there's more we probably incorporate without knowing it, we probably
incorporate a Restoration Theology of Worship because we don't steadily
hold to one consistent creed or theology other than "Jesus is Lord."
Honestly, we celebrate the faith of those who have gone before us and we
participate in their understandings to broaden and deepen our own
"view."
We don't refer to our Sunday gatherings as "worship." Rather, we
continually use language that invites people to worship through
different forms (singing, giving, praying, serving, and the
sacraments). Our gatherings are understood to be the current physical
presence of Christ in the world - the gathering of the "body." More so, we pray that we're able to
respond in worship, but we place more emphasis on worship as something
that applies to "all of life."
References
Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (pp. 316–317). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Webber,
Robert E. (1994). The Complete Library of Christian Worship. Volume 2
"Twenty Centuries of Christian Worship". Peabody, MA. Hendrickson
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