Worship and Outreach
WOO HOO! I’m coming around the bend and I can see the finish line for this semester of Seminary. It turns out that my coursework will be complete by the first week of December, which leaves only a thesis next semester. Again: WOO HOO!
I’ve been giving some thought to my final paper in my Church Renewal and Evangelism class and here’s where I’m coming out:
John Piper has this great quote that I love. He says,“Mission (Evangelism) is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists where worship does not.”
I totally agree. I think there’s a huge link between the two in a few different ways. That’s where you come in:
Would you please tell me about your practice of relating to God.
Honestly and briefly answer:
• Would you call yourself a Christian?
• Do you pray? If yes, how do you pray? (Where/when)
• What tends to be the focus of your prayer?
• Do you regularly attend church? If no, why not?
• How many churches have you been a member/regular attender of in the last 10 years?
• Are you connected to the people at your church? (Do you know them and they you?)
It will be great to know you a bit more!
I’m real because God is so real. ~ Nancy
Nancy:
I’m not familiar with the context surrounding the Piper quote referenced. In addition, I image the the above comments and questions come from a larger framework of which I’m also unfamiliar. Thus, given the limited context above and assuming that I do have an incomplete view of the larger dialogue about mission and worship, I am aware that my statements may be somewhat misdirected and/or miss the general direction of your intention above. (If that’s the case, please disregard the below). That said, I have some strong opinions about the link between worship and mission.
The word “worship” seems to have many different meanings within the Western church, and I’m not sure why. Paul clearly defines “worship” for us in Romans 12 – “Therefore my brothers, in light of Gods mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices – holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.”
Worship – at its core – is about the total and complete surrender of all we are and all we have to God. Nothing more and nothing less. That type of unconditional and total surrender is only possible when a person has total trust and confidence in the person to whom he’s surrendering. Which is exactly what God wants from each of us – an intimate relationship built on a backbone of trust. Piper himself would agree with this, as he has said, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” The level to which a person will surrender to God is directly related to the level of which a person is satisfied in God.
Jesus himself said the same thing, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must first pick up his cross and follow me.” (i.e. – offer your body as a living sacrifice to God). Worship is surrender, and surrender is followship.
W
hich begs the question that we need to ask ourselves, “What does it look like to follow Jesus?” Fortunately, we have 4 different ancient manuscripts that provide us with details accounts of exactly what that looks like. And when we look at how Jesus lived His life, and when we look at how his closest followers lived their lives, we get a pretty good idea of what following, and what worship looks like.
How did Jesus spend his time? By going to where the people were. He went to the crowds. He went to the villages. He went into the marketplace. He went into people’s houses. He went to them. When asked what he was all about, he declared that he was sent to seek and save those who were lost. And he told his closest followers to do the same thing right before he left, “go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus didn’t tell his followers to wait for others to come to them. He instructed them – and instructs us – to GO. To follow Jesus is to go to the people. A person who is truly worshipping God (offering herself as a living sacrifice) will go. A person or a church who isn’t actively and intentionally going OUT to where the people isn’t truly following, and isn’t truly worshipping.
Unfortunately, in Western Christianity has this all backwards. And it’s why the local churches in America have lost so much of their relevance with society and their impact on eternity.
Instead of viewing the church as a movement made up of people who are actively following Jesus, offering themselves both individually and collectively as living sacrifices, going out to seek and save the lost, we view the church as a building where we meet with strangers and acquaintances for 1 hour on Sunday mornings. Even worse, we’ve come to view worship no more than singing a couple of songs together with those same strangers and acquaintances.
Can singing spiritual songs with other folks be worshipful? Of course! But don’t miss the forest for the trees. singing songs is an expression of worship and a form of worship, but it’s not the essence of worship. The essence of worship is following.
Can getting together with a bunch of like minded people in a building 1 morning a week be educational and informative? Yes! Can it be encouraging and inspiring and challenging? Absolutely! But, in the same was as worship, don’t confuse “going to church” with “The Church.” Going to church may be a very helpful activity that many folks in The Church participate in, but it’s not The Church.
Surrender –> Worship –> Following –> Going
If the church isn’t focused on evangelism and outreach and going out, it’s not really worshipping. The Church is most worshipful when it most surrendered to Jesus, and when its most surrendered, that’s when it follows Him the closest. lAnd just as Jesus sent his followers out 2000 years to “proclaim the kingdom of heaven and heal the sick,” he sends us his followers out today to do the same thing – to GO.
Totally with you, Ryan, and well put. Now, what do we do with this mindset of the Western Church? In the class I teach each Friday morning, I came up against this very thing – we want the grace, but not the mission. Now what does following Jesus look like today in this twisted western culture? I’ll take Jesus…uh, but hold the “taking up the cross,” thanks.