The Nature of "Worship" - Part 1: What Has Changed in the New Testament?--Daily Worship!

[James Nored]

Today, there are numerous, endless really, debates about "worship" (not only in Churches of Christ, but in other fellowships as well, though our debates seem to be of a different nature, perhaps). Still, these debates seem to miss the most fundamental issue in the Scriptures about the nature of worship today, which is this. Worship in the New Testament is not limited to a time or place, but is a constant, continual lifestyle.

Jesus explained some of this change in John 4 in the story of the woman at the well. Confronted by Jesus with her moral choices of having a series of husbands and being with a man who is not her husband, she switches to the latest worship controversy. She asks Jesus who was correct in the worship controversy--the Jews, who said that worship was centered in the temple at Jerusalem, or the Samaritans, who said that worship was centered in the temple in Samaria. 

 

To this Jesus said the following:

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24).

 

In the Old Testament Law, worship was centered in a specific time and place--the temple in Jerusalem. There the Spirit of God was located in the Most Holy place, which only the high priest could enter once a year. Outside of this, God's Spirit was only given to certain leaders like Moses and David or the prophets. 

 

With the coming of Jesus and the Spirit, however, this changed. Jesus is the bridge between God and humanity, and at his death, the temple curtain--which separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place--tore, symbolizing that God's Spirit was no longer primarily located in a place and restricted to the high priest. God's Spirit--whom the Father and Jesus sent into the world--was now available to all at all times and places.

 

This is what Jesus is referring to in John 4, a point that is emphasized by the debate about the "location" of worship and its availability only to one group/race (Jews or Gentiles). Such debates soon will become pointless, as worship will soon be centered in a person (Jesus himself), giving glory to the Father, through the Spirit--who indwells all believers. When Jesus speaks of worship in "Spirit and truth," this is what he is talking about.

 

(The dividing of worship into two parts - worship in spirit and worship in truth, with "truth" being used as a way to somehow talk against instrumental music--from this passage is a common fallacy. Hebrews thought holistically. Just as loving God with ones heart, soul, strength, and mind is meant to indicate the whole person, so "spirit and truth" is something more akin to the truth of Spiritual worship or Spiritual truth of worship.)

 

Many other passages in the New Testament speak to this change in NT worship (that it is Spiritual and not limited to a certain time and place). Christians carry around in themselves the Spirit, whether individually or when gathered. Paul gives instructions to the church in Corinth based upon both of these and applies this Spiritual truth to how they live their lives.

 

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul chastises the Corinthians for, though they have the Spirit, acting and thinking in worldly ways with their divisions based upon human followings. Paul says, "16 Don’t you know that you yourselves [plural you] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?" (1 Cor. 3:16). In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul tells Christians that they are not to unite themselves with prostitutes, saying, "19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you [singular you], whom you have received from God?" (1 Cor. 6:19).

 

Paul further articulates this theology of worship in Romans 12:1f, saying, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship" (Rom. 12:1). The passage goes on to talk about how believers think, act, and serve all the time. Because believers carry around in them the Spirit of God, worship, again, is not limited to a specific time and place, but is a constant, daily lifestyle, whether alone or gathered.

There are numerous other examples of Old Testament cultic (gathered worship) acts being applied to daily living, including:

• 1 Peter 2:5 - "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." The church as a whole and its individuals is a priesthood, offering up continual sacrifices.
• Hebrews 13:15-16 - "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Again, believers offer constant sacrifices to God--not just what we say in words, but what we do in our good deeds.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
• Romans 15:15-16 "15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."  Being a minister and proclaiming the gospel is a "priestly duty" and an "offering."
• Philippians 4:18 - "18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." Giving by all Christians is a "fragrant offering" and an "acceptable sacrifice."

These passages show that most of the worship discussions about what is or isn't "acceptable" worship to God totally miss the point. In the Old Testament, worship was laid out very systematically and very specifically--endless chapters about the different types of sacrifices and how they were to be done. The New Testament, however, has no such systematic outline of worship for a number of reasons.

1. First, the writings of Paul are "occasional letters"--that is, they were written to specific churches to deal with specific issues that come up. Paul was not writing comprehensive theological treatises. Therefore, seeking to comb through and find every "worship act" and seeking to make that the definitive, comprehensive list is problematic. It is not as if Paul was thinking, if don't get this issue about, say, the Lord's Supper in Galatians I have to make sure that I get it in 1 Corinthians. No, Paul dealt with the issues that that particular church happened to be dealing with. And I don't think that God's approach was, I will not ever lay worship out comprehensively; instead, I will count on people being really, really smart and have them sift through a bunch of occasional letters written to different people with different situations where they only hear part of the conversation with little historical background and have them come up with this list on their own. Oh, and I will zap them and condemn them for all eternity if they get this wrong. 
2. Second, the New Testament is not a law book. Some have tried to make it such, but it is not. It is neither written like a law book (and God knows how to be write law and be very specific) nor are we under law. We are under grace and the Spirit. "17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Therefore, seeking to approach the New Testament as a new type of law book neither fits the documents nor what Scripture testifies about itself. Are there individual commands written to various churches and Christians in the writings of Paul? Yes, and we can learn from them, and many (though not all, like Paul's instructions to not marry in 1 Cor. 7 and other similar passages) are normative for us. But the primary commandment(s), according to Jesus, was to love God and our neighbors as ourselves (Mt. 22:37-40).
3. Third, as we have discussed, worship in the New Testament is not limited to specific times, places, or even acts. There is no way to list out every good deed and every good thing that we are called to do as a sacrifice to God and service to others. We are given broad principles and commandments in the New Testament--like love God and others--and numerous examples. But never a comprehensive list.

 

How then, do we know what to do in "worship"? Is it Katie bar the door? No, of course not. We should ask questions based around some of the clear principles and commands found in Scripture, such as:

• What would demonstrate and show love to God and our neighbor? (Jesus gives examples in the the story of the good Samaritan, and James gives examples of people who come into the assembly in need and taking care of them)
• What would bring glory and honor to God? (The writer of Hebrews talks about both the fruit of our lips and the general--and broad--practice of doing good--and doing good can be expressed in many ways. Practices like getting drunk in the assembly, which Paul addresses, obviously do not honor God and others.)
• What would encourage others in daily life or in the assembly? (Many examples can be found, but the command to encourage one another in Heb. 10:24-26 is again a broad command)
• What would be understandable and uplifting to the broad group? (This seems to be a broad principle that Paul lays out in 1 Cor. 14, which includes even seekers)
• What are the lasting practices that Jesus gave to the church? (Lord's Supper, clearly, but also the taking care of the poor)
• What clearly articulates the gospel and tells the gospel story? (not only Scripture, but our actions)

 

I have not sought to be "comprehensive" in this list, for obvious reasons. Broader commands and principles always demand more of us than a law list, for it means that our sacrifice to God is never done. Grace truly understood will always engender greater devotion than law. 

 

Taking this approach also would help us understand and have a Scriptural basis for many things in our assemblies (and daily lives too), many of which we do already, like having services that honor fathers, mothers, and graduating seniors, baptizing (there is no example of baptizing in a Christian "worship service" in the New Testament!), having someone "confess the gospel" (which we even let women do, despite no "example" of this) share testimonials, give (there is no clear example of giving in a "worship assembly" in the New Testament) show uplifting videos, pray over missionaries and hear missionary reports, smile, clap with joy and to show approval (offering our bodies and lifting "holy hands"), listen to Leadership Training for Christ presentations, announcements (again no "example" of this--though this is one I would not mind getting rid of sometimes! :), etc. 

These worshipful acts all bring glory and honor to God, are encouraging and uplifting, show love of God and neighbor, etc. And if we try to hold to some strict patternistic view of those passages--well, then we ought to not baptize anyone in an assembly, because there is no example of that. Or we have to baptize after a closing prayer--but wait, Rom. 12:1, 1 Cor. 3:16, John 4:24, etc. indicate that that is worship too . . . . . 

When we realize that we are always carrying God's Spirit within us, and that worship is a daily act, then many of the common worship debates become quite non-sensical and myopic. Like using a prayer to artificially divide "worship" from well, I guess that "secular" stuff that we do . . . . Or debating whether or not there there can be a talent show in a building . . . Or insert your own application/debate. If God had wanted to write a singular comprehensive list of all of the "worship acts," could he not have done this? Why did he not? Could it not be that he wrote such a list before (and people failed in it), but that now the nature of worship in the New Testament is different? Jesus said that we now worship in a new way--Spiritual worship centered in him--which Paul further indicates we do every day and at all times as we carry the Spirit of God within us.

 

What do you think of the nature of New Testament worship? How has Christ and the coming of the Spirit change worship today? 

 

[James Nored]

@Uchenna F. Bekee-Wow--thank you for sharing this insight and perspective. Yes, the "five acts" is a very limited understanding of worship. And yes, this "sacred/secular" divide--with 1-3 hours on Sunday being "sacred" and the rest of the time being "secular"--does leave people very vulnerable to walking in the flesh, rather than the Spirit. Glad to know that you have been studying this. Hopefully you can help others grow in their understanding of this as well. Thanks for sharing!

[Evangelist UChenna F. Bekee]

its is sometimes if not always to see brethren talking about worship as a ritualistic event that lasts for 1-3 hours every Sunday. limited to sects of acts called five items. I have being studying the scriptures to observe this campbellite limitations on worship but yet to find. it has made many ceremonial worshipers who leave the building to walk in the flesh till the next Sunday. thank you for reminding us the the worship of the new testament is free and spontaneous,

[James Nored]

Thanks, Joy! I tried to look up your blog, but I did not see which one you were referring to. Which blog post are you referring to? Can you post the direct link? Thanks!

[Joy Rousseau]

http://joyofbiblelearning.blogspot.com/  Just discussing all this in a 6 part lesson series with my class...quoted YOU in my blog- ;-) We have 4 more discussions to post on this topic...thank you for getting back to this topic...once again we MUST restore first Century Ekklasia and not 312AD Contintinian "church"