It has been months since I have had anything I felt like blogging about. I have blogged so little this year some of our newer readers probably don’t even know I am a contributor here at Fide-o. Since worship leaders are being picked on this week I actually have something I feel is worth addressing. By far the best definition of “what a worship leaders does” is given over at worshipmatters.com. If you have not read Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin then you need to stop whatever you are doing and go purchase it. Bob has done a tremendous job of answering the question “what does a worship leader do”. Along with some very practical biblical advice on leading worship.
I want us to look at what a corporate worship service looks like. This chart from Vaughn Roberts should help us begin to find a starting point for our services.
Why do we gather as believers on Sunday mornings?
The obvious answer is to worship God, right? We gather on Sunday’s in our corporate worship times to honor God. Proclaim him worthy. To Praise his name for he is greatly to be praised. And this is biblical, but it is incomplete.
More than not we think we show up on Sunday to “praise God”. As contemporary believers we gather as Christians to pray to God and to praise God, but have forgotten or ignored all the biblical aspects of corporate worship. We have become one sided in our purpose for corporate worship when there is much more to these gatherings than just praise. That is why you hear comments like, “I didn’t feel like I worshipped this morning” or “I couldn’t worship because I got distracted by the caterpillar on the ceiling fan”. Comments like these show a complete lack of understanding of the nature of biblical worship which is a lifestyle and the nature of corporate worship. We have the mindset that we gather to have a worship experience, but in reality we are here to build a worshipping community.
Our corporate gatherings are about much more than what we can give to God or the hope that at some point we get a tingly feeling in our spine’s. Our gatherings are also about God administering grace to us and what we can do for each other.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church he lays out instructions for the purpose of their corporate gatherings
He tells them in chapter 14 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
Why especially that we prophesy? The Corinthian church was given the gift of direct revelation from God in other languages. That is a pretty cool gift to have. What made prophesying better than speaking in tongues? He answers it in verse 3 the one who prophesies builds up the church.
The one who prophesies builds up the church.
What happened to the one who spoke in tongues? Verse 4 The one who spoke in tongues only built up himself. He even goes on to say in verse 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
By the way all you theologians whose minds just shifted to a lesson on self-indulgent applications of spiritual gifts don’t get sidetracked. Stick with me.
The Holy Spirit laid the criteria for corporate worship and said to us the greatest things we can do are those things that build up the church. This is why we are so often encouraged to love one another. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
In Colossians chapter 3 12 -16 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
And then in the same chapter on how to treat one another in love we are told 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
At the top of our diagram we have God who is the center of all things. All things come from Him and should point back to Him. In part of our corporate gathering is God pouring out grace upon us through the preaching of the word and the sacraments of Lord’s Supper and Baptism. The ministry of the Word is primary because it equips us to do the bottom of the chart and that is use our spiritual gifts to build up the church to encourage one another in the word. That is why it is so important that actual scripture is preached and taught not just some philosophical, bible based, pep talks. It is the Word of God that teaches us to love one another as Christ loved us. It is then we use our spiritual gifts to build up the church, for encouragement and edification. This is what makes New Testament worship unique from the Old Testament.
As we grow together in love and knowledge of Christ it will lead us to praise and prayer. Then we can praise God from an overflow of grace that has been administered through Him.
It is with this thought in mind we reversed the order of our worship service. We now have the bulk of the praise and prayer at the end so that the congregation can praise from hearts that have been administered to by God Himself through the means he has established.
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36 year old husband, father, pastor, singer, musician, reader, eater, rider, watcher,
“Why do we gather as believers on Sunday mornings? The obvious answer is to worship God, right?”
The Old Testament Jews were constantly being chastised by God for mixing pagan practices with their worship toward God. Why would we think it is any different today? Can you explain to me how you justify mixing rock music (as pagan practice as any) to worship a holy God? Is this corporate worship you are talking about or a circus?
Stephen, I can’t really tell if you are joking or not. Is this a conversation you really want to have?
Which by the way has nothing to do with my post.
I’ll tell you what I’ll will do a post on style of music in a couple of days. Address any other comments directly about the post.
I quoted you directly and then I asked you questions about what you said in this very post. You said we gather in church on Sunday mornings to worship God. I asked you how you think you worship God when you mix your worship to Him with rock and roll. How is this not related to your post?
I probably won’t be back in a couple days to see your post about worship styles because this is the second time you’ve avoided discussion with me and who’s to say you won’t do it again? I could have this conversation with my wall and get better responses. If you have no idea why you do the things you do, just say so. Remaining silent really just makes you look bad, though.
I suggest taking down the part of your blog that says:
“The FIDE-O blog, pronounced “fido”, is named in honor of sola fide and aims to stimulate a helpful conversation among Christians about life and doctrine. But, mostly, this blog is a glimpse into the thoughts and conversations of Jason and Scott. Enjoy.”
Instead, it should read:
“The FIDE-O blog, pronounced “fido”, is named in honor of sola fide and is a glimpse into the thoughts and rants of two hippies who are able to fulfill their life-long dreams as rock stars in the church praise band. Enjoy.”
Well there Stephen, it could be that “hippie” Scott did not understand your question.
“Hippies” sometimes do that you know. So why don’t you just school us out here a bit. What exactly has God told us that New Covenant, corporate worship looks like?
In other words, please tell us what, according to the New Testament, worship under the New Covenant is to look like and be. Book, chapter, and verse will do nicely.
But before you do, please explain the meaning of your question. It seems to make no sense. (although that could be just my mad cow)
Your question follows your comment:
Comment: “The Old Testament Jews were constantly being chastised by God for mixing pagan practices with their worship toward God.
Question: Why would we think it is any different today?”
Are you suggesting there are still some Old Testament Jews around for God to chastise?
Rabbi Mad Cow
Speaking of standing apart from the pagans, not looking like or acting like them…
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (1 John 13:35)
Debate is good, and healthy–iron sharpens iron. But let’s remember that this is a public forum, which anyone could happen to stumble upon. I say we keep the conversation open, continue to challenge each other and point one another toward the truth–but maybe we could do so without the all the sarcasm and antagonism?
Scott,
I think you are exactly right that for many Christians, they have become “one sided” in their worship.
I know that we pastors can be imbalanced at times in our instructions to the congregation about what “corporate worship” is all about. We emphasize the “to God” aspect of worship. We continually emphasize it because we know that our people haven’t fully accomplished that yet.
But is it possible that the reason they haven’t is because they aren’t practicing the other “sides” of worship?
In other words, if we do not teach a comprehensive definition of biblical worship then we aren’t teaching our people to worship period.
Rabbi Mad Cow,
I would like to answer your questions but I think I’m supposed to wait until your questions are relevant to this post.
Stephen,
Please tell us what church you go to as is requested in the sidebar.
Scott,
If you were trying to disciple someone in the basics of worship, which “side” in your diagram would you start with?
Stephen, although you quoted me I missed the connection between my quote and your question. It doesn’t surprise me I have missed things before. That is why I asked you to keep questions related to the post.
I was not avoiding your question. I chose rather to answer you in a post rather than the comments. Which I thought was sufficient and would what I see as different topics seperated.
I chose not to address the comment on traditional worship (which I assume you mean music) being more biblical, because honestly I thought you were joking.
However, I will answer your question about music in a post, as promised, by the end of the day. and then we can discuss it in the comments all you want.
April, over the last year I have been learning from some great men on what it means to practice humility. If you look back through my posts and comments you hopefully can see a transition between the way I used to deal with commenter’s in the past and currently. I have been trying to practice more humility on this blog. I don’t have any issues with sarcasm personally, but don’t want my sarcasm to just be masking my pride. Sometimes guys like Stephen test that. Thanks for the reminder.
Jason, do I have to tell you what church I am affiliated with every single time I post a comment? My very first comment in “Cut the Worship Leaders a Break” has that information. But just for the record:
I am a Presbyterian (PCA). Not all my beliefs reflect Presbyterianism or reformed theology, but when it comes to predestination, covenant theology, supralapsarianism, and infant baptism I am definitely on board with the PCA. I do have some liberal views, though, because I do believe in some cussing, public naturism/nudism, and getting drunk whenever my wife allows me to. When it comes down to it, I guess I believe in the Bible, not what one church tells me I should or shouldn’t believe.
Jason, that is a really good question. I think I can answer, but reserve the right to change my mind in a couple of days.
For the average Christian I think it would be necessary to begin on the left side of the chart with the Word and Sacraments and follow the natural flow. If God, as a means of grace, has given these two things to us it is vital to explain this concept and what it means. These are things God has given us. So there is a sense in which we go to a corporate meeting to receive something from God. However, most Christians believe that what they are going to be given by God is a feeling of worship euphoria.
I think because of this they fail to see the significance and importance of both. Which in turn leads to a low view of preaching and an even lower view of Baptism and Communion.
We have also been given spiritual gifts, but while these are also given to us by God they have been given to us for the sake of others, not ourselves. They have been given to us to build up the covenant family. This is the area I feel personally the most convicted in. I have realized that I have also focused so much on prayer and praise that I have not allowed certain things in our corporate worship services that might not have fit into the Prayer and Praise side of the chart, but most definitely would have fit into the encourage and edify one another portion.
That is why the more I see it played out and the more I think through it I am convinced that one of the best things we ever did was change the order of our services.
Scott,
Our worship begins with “God’s Initiative.” I like that. It seems most consistent with biblical theology.
Even though it can be said that no “side” can exist or function without both of the others, logically it must begin with what God does!
The Latin term for the order of salvation is ordo salutis. What is the Latin term for order of worship?
Ordo adoratio?
or maybe Ordo Cultis?
My Latin is rusty. “Cultis” means reverence or splendor which would be close to the Hebrew “schachah, but not exact. It would probably be easiest to translate the Latin into English rather than the English into Latin to discover the answer.
Great post, I really like the diagram to help show the balance in worship. I also like the idea of moving the singing to the end. We need to have more conversations about the church
(Are you guys really hippies?)
I’m not barefoot, beflowered, or beaded but I know how it feels to be on my own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone… Like a true Nature’s child, we were born, born to be wild… so c’mon people, now smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now… and give peace a chance.
Those lyrics sound familiar. is it from “An Very Osmond Christmas”?
RMC: We are going to have peace, even if we have to fight for it! Ike
Pastors: I had the pleasure of meeting a very interesting fellow at the gym over the past few weeks, and I posed your query about the Latin verbage for the “Order of Worship”. I surmise that this gentleman is an octagenarian, as he enlisted in the Navy right after Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941), when he was 15 yrs old, (using a friend’s birth certificate)! We connected because he was the Air Officer on the USS Saratoga during many of the WWII Pac Island campaigns, such as Saipan and Iwo, and I am a fellow Naval Aviator. Bill was initially an enlisted aircrew/aerial gunner and brought a wounded fighter/bomber back to the carrier after it was hit by AAA and his pilot was disabled. He finished the bombing run and landed the plane on the carrier, (after the LSE ordered him to “wave-off”), catching the wire and crashing into parked aircraft. He was awarded the Air Medal (2 of which I earned in Desert Storm), and was subsequently given a field commission to Ensign, followed by promotions to Lieutenant and Commander.
Anyway, (and sorry to drone on about this national hero), I found out later that he holds several degrees, and is a language expert. He won the national title in a 15,000-person U.S. competition, (mostly priests), in the Latin language. The following is a recap of your posts, and his reply to my query. Enjoy!
Jason wrote: The Latin term for the order of salvation is “ordo salutis”. What is the Latin term for order of worship?
Scott replied: “Ordo adoratio”? or maybe “Ordo Cultis”? My Latin is rusty. “Cultis” means reverence or splendor which would be close to the Hebrew “schachah, but not exact.
Mr. Bill Penn replied to my query:
“Phil: It depends on your point of view whether you chose to use the word “adoratio” derived from the verb adoro, adorare, adoratus, or to use the noun “cultus”. I am not Catholic, so I do not know what the ecclesiastical interpretation might be, but it seems to me they might prefer “adoratio”, as in the Christmas carol “Veniste adoremus”, or “Come Let Us Adore Him, (in the sense of “worship” Him). On the other hand, the Romans would have used “cultis” which has multiple meanings, one of which is to give homage to (worship) their gods.”
Pastors: Let me know if you would like any further translation. I used our discussion to segway into evangelism, and I gather that Bill believes in God, but is not saved. He does not believe that Scriptures can be a correct literal translation, nor does he believe that the Bible is the inerrant and inspired Word of God. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to enhance my ability to communicate the Gospel to this fine, old gentleman. I would love for you to meet him some day. (Maybe he could give the Church a class on Latin, and answer pointed questions regarding Scripture?)Phira, out.