I was asked recently to provide a simple look at worship and applications to making worship a more worthy endeavor in the Christian life.
My assigned area is worship. My specific focus is corporate worship.
So, what is significant about corporate worship? First, a definition: “Corporate worship is the formal gathering of the people of God on the Lord’s Day where God gives gifts to his children and his children respond in praise.” Corporate worship is to be distinguished from private worship and informal gatherings of the saints throughout the week. The Bible assigns a specific day called the Lord’s Day as a day when the people of God come together and offer themselves to God in truth by the Spirit and where God comes and gives of Himself to His people in Word and Sacrament.
Hebrews picks up this theme and says that we are not to forsake this gathering, because forsaking this gathering may lead to destruction. It may lead to the worship of false things. Ambrose Bierce, in his class, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary, says that a heathen is “a benighted creature who has the folly to worship something he can see and feel.” Essentially, a pagan worships that which can be created.The Christian worships the one who is a consuming fire, whom the Bible refers as Holy, Holy, Holy, Father, Son, and Spirit.
Why is it important? It’s important because corporate worship is the most power Biblical method used by a Christian to wage war against the world. When we gather, there is a general biblical consensus in the Bible, that what we are doing is changing the world. The first response of the Christian in crisis is to worship. This is what we were created to do first and primarily. We are worshipping beings (homo adoranis).
Finally, what practical steps can we take to steward this area of corporate Christian worship?
First, we can begin to train ourselves and our families to practice worship throughout the week. By practicing worship throughout the week in Scripture reading, prayer, and singing, we will be more equipped to worship corporately on Sunday.
Second, instead of passive creatures on Sundays, instead of merely watching or listening to worship like a passive individual, we are called to participate wholeheartedly in the task of worship. In whatever tradition we may be a part of, we are called to joyfully engage in what is happening in worship. Sing with joy. Pray with fervor. Love one another as you have been called to love.
Finally, and most importantly, be present. As Randy Booth once said, “The decision as to whether I will be in Church on Sunday is a decision made once in a lifetime, not every Saturday night.” Corporate worship is a requirement whether you are on vacation or a home.
When you worship God together as a people, you can begin to see why our forefathers sang so passionately, “ I rejoiced when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.”