The Worship of the Church

From its very beginnings the church has been a place where the followers of Christ have gathered together in communal celebration of what God has and is doing. Although there can be many reasons for such gatherings, it can be safely said, I believe, that all of these reasons can fall under the category of worship. We must, however, be prepared to re-evaluate what we mean by “worship”. [1] As those who are filled with the Spirit, the gatherings of Christians is more than a simple guild meeting. What is done as a gathering is done in celebration and honor of the Triune God, both informed by and directed to the work of God in the lives of the individual believers and in the community as a whole. As such, the topic of worship is extremely broad and requires essentially a lifetime of study in order to even begin to approach an understanding of what it actually entails. However, in this brief paper I will seek to at least begin to approach some kind of understanding. Christian worship it seems consists primarily of allowing ourselves to be used in such a way to minister to the community around us in such a way that brings edification to other believers, and glory to God for what he is doing in the life of the community.

It is remarkable that the language of worship is not used very frequently in discussions of church life and gatherings. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul writes that the Corinthians are to offer their bodies as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,” and that this is their “spiritual act of worship.” Worship directed towards God is not fulfilled by an act of sacrifice as it was in the Jewish Temple, nor by saying the proper words, but is instead the acting out of the truth within the life of the believer. Christian worship is an orientation, a lifestyle that requires total devotion of life in and outside the specific Church setting. Worship is not contingent on what the believer does or says, but is dependent on the heart and mind of those within the congregation, with an understanding that the activities and thoughts of the rest of the week goes into the quality of the worship in a specific gathering. [2]

Although there are indeed certain forms and actions which have been established as vital to a Christian service, [3] the worship itself is not necessarily dependent on these particulars, but seems to be more directly correlated to what is going on in the hearts and minds of those participating. [4] These vital attitudes include an awareness of our humble stature before God and an awareness of the equality of all humanity before Him. W.D. Maxwell writes that worship is “the outward expression of out homage and adoration, when we are assembled in the presence of God. This worship is governed by two things: our knowledge of the God whom we worship, and the human resources we are able to bring to that worship.” [5] There is both a vertical attitude of worship in reaching out towards God, and a horizontal aspect as we are called as a Church to edify each other as a primary reason for gathering. [6] IH Marshall, however, argues that this latter aspect is the primary activity of the church, with formal “worship” directed towards God alone being apparently a secondary function of the early gatherings. [7]

There are two words which are primarily used in discussion of worship in the New Testament. The first is leitourgevw, which is used fifteen times, and is primarily translated as “service”, in a practical and spiritual sense combined, offered to God and to others. [8] It has the sense of meaning duties performed for God, though these duties often are directed towards those in need or towards others in general. [9] The other main word which is used is proskunevw. Interestingly, while this word is used often in reference to bowing down and honoring God, including Christ, [10] Paul only uses this word once in 1 Cor 14:25 to apply to what goes on in a Christian meeting, and it is a reference not to Christians but rather to an outsider who witnesses a Christian meeting and is struck by the Glory of God evident in the meeting. Thus, we find something distinctive about Christian worship in comparison to other cultic or temple gatherings.

Ralph Martin writes of three distinctives which arise from a study of Paul’s view of Christian worship, and which form the criteria of acceptable worship. [11] The first is a “firm nexus between the Jesus tradition and the Christ of experience”. Essentially, this is the idea that Christian worship entails an already/not yet aspect in which the promises of the resurrection life have begun, but have not yet been fulfilled. [12] The next distinctive is the “primacy of love”, in which God’s love for all his people is to be reflected by each individual and the community back to others within the community and towards God. The final distinctive of Christian worship, as found in Paul according to Martin, is the horizontal goal of edification, in which all that is done in the gathering is done in order to build up others within the community in order to help the community as a whole grow in its maturity and understanding of the Divine.

It is understood that the distinctives and vitality of true Christian worship does not come necessarily in the specific forms and styles, but rather in how we approach worship before God and with each other. In his discussion about Christian worship outside of the Pauline communities, Ralph Martin writes that “the configuration of Christian life and worship, along with the more important aspects of belief and praxis, changed according to the places that spawned the literature emanating from such regions.” [13] Basically, there are no set guidelines as to what entails “proper” Christian worship, as was given the Jews in the Pentateuch, so the goal in our gathering together should be to best facilitate an atmosphere which fosters a truly Christian orientation towards God and all of life. Martin continues his comments by stating, “it is undeniable that the pluriformity of expression of both teaching and expected life-style represented in the documents of the later NT and its developments into the so-called apostolic fathers is an attested reality.” [14]

With this comes the understanding that there is not a set manner in which this can be accomplished, a single style which can be universally applied to all congregations. Rather, because worship comes out of who we are, there should always be elements and evidence of this source. Christian worship should have as its heart our devotion to Christ, but can take on many different styles and elements which lead us and guide us in this devotion. While historical patterns of worship have become established, these are not necessarily the only acceptable or useful patterns. Rather, worship is most engaging and powerful when the object of worship itself becomes the focus rather than the approach to the worship. This is why worship patterns can change over the years, and why, I believe, that we have not been given an authoritative order of worship. Instead we have been encouraged to foster the attitudes and perspectives of a lifestyle of worship, and in our meeting together to express these in whatever manner best fits the general understanding of devotion and honor towards God and each other.

With this in mind Christian worship is not a static exercise, but rather one that is continually adapting and evolving reflecting the culture it is in and at the same time transforming those within that culture. In reflecting the culture, Christian worship can take on the various styles and influences that the culture in general defines as honoring and expressive. A musical culture should have very musical worship. A culture that holds art in a high regard should use art in their worship. Because we are not concerned with the specific forms, Christian worship should reflect in its various styles the various modes of expression that different cultures and times may hold as vital to the expression of that culture in general. Worship should come from who we are, and thus should reflect that source in its expression.

However, Christian worship is not simply a cultural endeavor, but is in fact an activity which is very grounded in history, and has strong traditions of its own which have been found to inform and build those in the congregations throughout history and in a wide variety of locales. In his study of the early churches, IH Marshall discovered certain elements which seemed to make up the worship of these communities. [15] The first can be called “addressing God.” This includes offering praises to God, [16] expressing thanks to God, [17] and praying to God. [18] Early Christian communities also had as an integral part the idea of God wishing to speak back to Christians, through the various gifts, but especially through prophecy and teaching. The other gifts of the church were to be used as part of the third element, that of “mutual upbuilding.” This, Marshall calls “the main emphasis in church meetings.” [19] This includes the idea of ministry or service, [20] and the idea of edification. [21] Finally, early communities included celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, though these were also not understood as being acts of worship directed towards God alone, but is rather a witness to each other of the grace and life which had already been given through Christ. [22]

So, while we must take into account contemporary modes of expression in our worship, we must also be continually aware of our past, letting those who have gone before us inform and guide us in our worship settings. In doing this we let Christian worship shape us and transform our culture into something more. It is through this exercise we can truly become communities of true fellowship and true love, which are the hallmarks of Christian worship. [23] We connect with the expressions of the past and in doing so reach beyond our own abilities and insights to grow past our own deficiencies. A key part of this is to understand, as Marshall writes, that the “primary element is the God-man movement, downward rather than upward, in which God comes to his people and uses his human servants to convey his salvation to them, to strengthen and upbuild them.” [24]

Although each generation and locale has a great deal to contribute, each also has areas and weaknesses which must be addressed if we are to truly be communities seeking after God and edifying each other. So, while it is important that worshipping communities be continually aware about whether the forms and styles are truly expressions of the people, it is also vital that these communities are aware and engaging with the wider Church throughout the world and throughout history so as to gain and grow from what has gone before.

[1] Using traditional definitions of “offering service or honor to God”, IH Marshall states that to “sum up what goes on in a Christian meeting as being specifically for the purpose of ‘worship’ is without New Testament precedent”, and continues by saying that “Worship is not an umbrella-term for what goes on when Christians gather together.” IH Marshall, “How Far did the Early Christians worship God?”, Churchman 99 (1985), 220

[2] ibid.. Romans 12; Isaiah 1:10ff.

[3] Including prayer, singing, speaking of various kinds, reading of various Scriptures, eating (in general and celebrating the Lord’s Supper), etc. See I Cor. 11:17-14:40.

[4] 1 Cor. 11:17ff;

[5] WD Maxwell, An Outline of Christian Worship (Oxford, 1936), p. 1, quoted IH Marshall, 217.

[6] See I Corinthians 12-14.

[7] Marshall, 227 writes “Church meetings are for the benefit of the congregation and so indirectly for the glory of God. Worship in the sense of giving praise to God is thus logically secondary to ministry in the sense of God’s ministry to us.” See also Marshall, 217ff.

[8] Luke 1:23;Ro. 13:6; 15:16; 2 Cor. 9:12; Phil 2:25, 30; Heb. 1:7, 14; 8:2; 10:11.

[9] Cf. Is. 1:10ff.

[10] See Mt. 2:2, 8; 4:10; 20:20; John 4:21ff; Acts 8:27; 24:11; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 4:10; 9:20; 11:1; 13:8; 14:7; 15:4; 22:9.

[11] Ralph P. Martin, “Worship”, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Gerald Hawthorne and Ralph Martin, eds. (Downers Grove: IVP, 1993), 990.

[12] Cf. Col. 2:6-3:17.

[13] Ralph P. Martin, “Worship and Liturgy”, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids, eds. (Downers Grove: IVP, 1997), 1225.

[14] ibid.

[15] Marshall, 220ff.

[16] Acts 2:47; Rom. 15:11; Heb 13:15; Rev. 19:5.

[17] Especially related to eating and drinking as a community in the Eucharist and other occasions. See Acts 27:35; Rom. 14:6; also 1 Cor 14:17. Marshall, 220 writes, “Paul describes frequently how he gave thanks to God for his readers, and it would be reasonable to assume that he prayed in the kind of way he describes not only privately but also publicly.

[18] Acts 1:24; 6:6; 8:15; 12:12; 13:3; 14:23; 20:36; 21:5. While Marshall would agree that prayer as praise and petition was an integral part of the church he would argue that it was not the only element in their meetings and not the primary purpose of them.

[19] Marshall, 222.

[20] Gk. root diakonoV. See Acts 19:22; Rom. 15:25; 2 Cor. 8:19ff.; 2 Tim. 1:18; Phm. 13; Heb. 6:10; 1 Pet. 1:12.

[21] Gk. root oikodomew. See 1 Cor 14:5, 12, 26; Eph. 4:12, 16; 1 Thess. 5:11; Acts 9:31; 20:32. Marshall, 223 states, “the point is that the function of church meetings and the activities which take place in them are now clearly seen to be directed towards the congregation itself and only indirectly towards God.”

[22] Marshall, 223.

[23] See Marshall 225ff.

[24] Marshall, 227.