Articles From Our Bulletins
Is "Worship" Life or Congregational?
Perhaps “yes” is the best answer to the title question! And as is often the case, “it depends” is the reason….
First things first: “worship” is usually translated from the Greek term proskuneo, and literally means, “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand” (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon). More generally, it refers to kissing the hand to one, in a token of reverence; or in the NT, to kneel or prostrate oneself to do homage or make obeisance- either in respect or to make supplication (Ibid). In common religious vernacular today, it is used to refer to specific acts such as singing hymns of praise, offering up prayers of adoration, memorializing the Lord’s death through partaking of symbolic emblems, and hearing devotions and exhortations from His word.
But, there has been a movement afoot for many years based upon a stated principle that “All of life is worship.” Whether subtle or more directly, the intention seems to be to suggest that “worship” is how we live on a daily basis rather than what we do when we are assembled “as a church,” cf. 1Corinthians 11:18. I get it. There are plenty of examples of the corruption of what should be “worship” into either entertainment or a talent show, or both. But remember, corruption of the original intent and practice into something else shouldn’t condemn the genuine, but the fraudulent imposter! Let’s note a few passages that should shed some light on the subject…
Genesis 22:5, “…and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you.” Abraham and Isaac performed specific acts at a specific time and place that were called “worship.” They made specific preparations, and journeyed for more than two days in order to worship, vv.1-4. Such does bode well for the “all of life is worship” notion.
Acts 2:42, “And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” The fact that the early Christians did these things continually seems to foster the “all of life is worship” position. But if we notice the verses that follow in the context, we see that there seems to have been a distinction made between the holy and ordinary activities, “And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.” The spiritual activities associated with worship (from v.42) were done in God’s house, while the physical eating of meals occurred in their own homes (see also 1Corinthians 11:22ff). Why, if “all of life is worship”?
1Corinthians 11:18, “For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part, I believe it.” In this context, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for turning the Lord’s Supper (an act of worship) into a common meal, cf. vv.20ff. But notice from v.18 that “coming together as a church” was assumed to be common practice. Later, in 16:2, the “first day of every week” was specified as the time for monetary collections to be made by church members. Why then? They were coming together “as a church” at that time, as we’ve already noted. Now, why were they coming together as a church at that time- or at least why should they have been coming together as a church at that time if “all of life is worship”?
One more from Hebrews 10:25, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” Say what you will, there is really just no way around it: God expects Christians to assemble together to worship and encourage one another. And why shouldn’t He? It is for our own good! Worshipping God and encouraging one another is the best thing for us!
There is no doubt or argument that we can “worship” God outside of the specified time and place we gather on the first day of the week. Several passages support such, Matthew 14:33; 28:9,17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; et al. Romans 12:1 even states that the presentation of our bodies as living and holy sacrifices- which I take to refer to our lives and how we live them, should be a “spiritual service of worship.” Again, I get it: we can worship outside of the church building with how we live our lives. But, this does not negate that God also expects His people to gather weekly, at a specified time and place, to perform specific acts of worship to glorify His name, and thereby to be lifted up and encourage one another. One need not exclude or eliminate the other. Just remember a couple of things: 1) abuses of congregational “worship” by some doesn’t mean it can’t be and isn’t being done properly by others; and, 2) we can and should worship by living sacrificially holy lives, but such doesn’t negate the expectation of God that we assemble weekly for congregational worship, or thankfully, the benefits of so doing!
- Worship_Life_or_Congregational.pdf (86.34 kB)
