Many of us have wrestled with what worship is, and how to engage wisely in worship. In worship we sing, pray, read, give, testify, and even at times eat and drink. Yet these activities do not tell us what worship actually is. If we are to be wise in how we practice these activities, we will need to ask what they are supposed to accomplish. Beneath the practices of worship lie the more foundational principles of worship.
What is worship? God created us in His image. Essential and unique to the imago Dei is our capacity to respond to God. God spoke the entire creation into existence. In speaking to Adam and Eve, however, the divine monologue became a divine-human dialogue.[1] God spoke to them expecting response; this dialogue, where God speaks and humans respond, is the essential rhythm of worship.
In worship, we enter the ongoing dialogue between God and His people.
Worship, then, is encounter with God. In worship, we enter the ongoing dialogue between God and His people. Throughout human history, God has spoken to His people and has acted in specific ways to redeem them. Worship tells this story, the story of who God is, and of His acts of salvation to redeem His people. We proclaim “the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders he has done” (Ps. 78:4 ESV).
Our response of worship is not merely the words we say, but the lives we live; God expects our obedience to His commands. We tell the story of God so that we would “not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments” (Ps. 78:5-7). In the church, then, we gather to rehearse the story of God, and we scatter to live the story of God.
Worship is communal.[2] We can and should worship God individually. But when the church gathers in worship, a beautiful symbol is in motion, for God has called us out of the world to gather in His presence. We are not isolated individuals, but “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for His own possession,” called out that we may proclaim God’s excellencies, for “once [we] were not a people, but now [we] are God’s people” (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Individual worship can never substitute for coming together as a people to proclaim God’s excellence.
Worship is participatory. The congregation is not an audience, passively observing others in action on stage. Worship enables the entire community to participate in response to God. As Ezra read to the returned exiles from the Book of the Law, the people were attentive; they stood, lifted up their hands, blessed the Lord, answered “Amen, Amen,” bowed their heads, and understood the reading (Neh. 8:1-8). They actively participated with heart, mind, and body, worshiping the God who revealed Himself through His Word. Giving ample opportunities for congregations to actively participate reflects a biblical model of worship.
Worship is formative. It does not leave us unchanged. We become what we behold. This principle is seen tragically in the negative with regard to the non-hearing, non-speaking, non-seeing idols of the nations: “Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them” (Ps. 115:8). But for those who worship the triune God, the formative nature of worship is a gift: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” In worship, the imago Dei that was distorted by the Fall is being restored—even re-storied—as we behold Jesus in His multi-faceted glory. Christian growth is more than exhortation. Though exhortation is essential to the Christian community (Heb. 3:13), it is encounter that enables transformation. A careful and consistent focus on Jesus in worship is never wasted.
Finally, although people from many religions gather to worship, only Christians worship the triune God. The Church was created through the action of the Trinity. Peter interpreted the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost in his sermon: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, [Jesus] has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:33). The birth of the Church was a deeply trinitarian event, and her worship should be deeply trinitarian as well. We do well to recognize all persons of the Trinity often in worship. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
“Worship wars”—our opinions and debates—often center on the activities of worship. I believe these principles of worship can help provide foundational understandings to help frame and shape both our debates and our worship services.
[1] Bernard Och, “The Garden of Eden: From Creation to Covenant,” Judaism 37, no. 2 (Spring 1988): 146. See Gen 1:28.
[2] Constance M. Cherry, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2021), 13–28. I am indebted to Dr. Cherry for identifying many of these principles of worship.
Photo credit: Styka, Jan. Saint Peter Preaching in the Catacombs. [Date unknown].
