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Worship is Relational

Biblical worship requires relationships that have both vertical and horizontal dimensions.

Worship begins with God, and God invites a response from us. Without a vertical dimension to worship, worship doesn’t happen.

Remember God initiates relationship with us. Numerous examples abound. God came down to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3). The LORD initiated covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12 and 15). God gave Isaiah a vision of his holy splendor in heaven (Isaiah 6). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1).

Because God initiates relationship (and by extension worship), then our worship activities build upon the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ. In doctrinal terms, relational worship relies upon our union with Christ.

Because worship is vertical, proper worship depends upon a proper perspective of God and a proper relationship with God.

In his classic work The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer affirms:

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.

Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.

What we think about God forms the foundation for our worship of God. Tozer continues:

A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.

Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.

Tozer underscores the necessity of making sure our view of God is true and accurate. In order for our perspective on God to be true, relational worship must be based upon Scripture. Scriptural Worship will be a subsequent post, but it is important that we grasp here that worship being relational depends upon a correct view of God.

In making sure the vertical dimension of worship is right, we should regularly seek God’s forgiveness. What keeps us from worshiping in a manner pleasing to God is our sinfulness.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

Relational worship not only contains a vertical dimension, but also a horizontal dimension. Because congregational (gathered) worship is so vital for God’s people, we must also be aware that our relationships with others (horizontal dimension) affect our worship of God (vertical dimension).

Jesus addressed this very concept in his Sermon on the Mount.

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 

Matthew 5:22-24

The context for Jesus addressing anger is worship, “offering your gift at the altar.” Jesus expects that his followers will seek reconciliation with one another before continuing the worship of God.

Paul echoes Christ’s sentiment as he closed his second letter to the Church at Corinth.

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11

So, how do we practice and apply this worship value?

  • Before entering gathered worship, confess sins and ready your heart to focus on God. In recognizing the vertical dimension of worship, thank and praise God for initiating relationship with us. We must ever be grateful that God would invite us to worship. Our thanksgiving and praise directed upward to God should help us to see our sinfulness and lead us to confession and repentance.
  • Before entering gathered worship, seek peace and reconciliation with others. Unreconciled relationships present one of the most harmful realities to gathered worship. As much as depends on you, pursue peace with one another. Forgive others quickly. Make things right if there is something wrong. I realize that reconciliation is a two-way responsibility. And some do not want to be reconciled. But as much as depends upon you, seek reconciliation. This is the lesson Jesus teaches in Matthew 5. It is vital for our worship to be relational and meaningful.
  • When worshiping, realize that both vertical and horizontal dimensions are at work. We sing praises to and about God, but we also address one another (Ephesians 5:18-21). Our praise and testimony in song is to exalt God deservedly and to encourage and strengthen one another helpfully. One of my favorite expressions of this has been how encouraging congregational singing has been to me from our worshipers at Wilkesboro Baptist Church.

This week when you gather for worship, look up. Worship is from, about, and to God. Also, look around. Our gathered worship is to encourage our fellow believers.

Photo by Carolina Jacomin on Unsplash

Worship is Theocentric

Theocentric worship begins with God and is about God; it does not begin with us nor is it about us. Worship that is Theocentric is also Christocentric and Trinitarian. It is through Christ that we are able to worship God the Father. Christ is the very image of God incarnate who has made knowing and worshiping God possible (John 1:1-5; 14). Theocentric worship is also Trinitarian meaning that the Holy Spirit enables our worship (John 4:24) and the filling of the Spirit empowers our worship. It is important to note that congregational singing and praise is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

See Paul’s argument in Ephesians.

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:18-21

Theocentric worship is another of the worship values at Wilkesboro Baptist Church. You can see all the values listed in a previous post or here on our church website.

What is Theocentric worship? Theologian J. I. Packer argues:

The history of the word gives us our answer. The noun worship is a contraction of WORTHSHIP. Used as a verb, it means to ‘ascribe worth’ or ‘to acknowledge value.’ To worship God is to make recognition of his worth or worthiness–to look Godward and acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity glorifying God or giving glory to God. It views this as our ultimate end and, from one point of view, our whole duty. ‘Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name’ (Psalm 29:2; 96:8). ‘Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

J.I. Packer, Knowing Christianity, 135-6. 

God’s glory and worth deserve our praise and honor. This is why the focus must be on God in our worship. True worship begins with God, not with us. In our worship services at Wilkesboro Baptist, we begin with Scripture (revelation) and then move to songs of praise and adoration. The very majesty and worth of God deserve our worship and invite us to respond to God.

I’m writing these posts for those who are believers. My audience is primarily made up of Christians and church attenders, but note the following observation by Eugene Peterson on the desperate importance of Christians centering their lives on God.

In worship God gathers his people to himself as center: “The Lord reigns” (Psalm 93:1). Worship is a meeting at the center so that our lives are centered in God and not lived eccentrically. We worship so that we live in response to and from this center, the living God. Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live manipulated and manipulating lives. We move in either frightened panic or deluded lethargy as we are, in turn, alarmed by specters and soothed by placebos. If there is no center, there is no circumference. People who do not worship are swept into a vast restlessness, epidemic in the world, with no steady direction and no sustaining purpose.

Eugene Peterson, Living the Message, 74.

Here are some observations about our Christian lives regarding Theocentric worship.

  • When God is not the focus or center of our lives, we will fail to worship properly. This is the single most unfortunate reality of human experience. Sure, people worship many things besides God. The problem is that only God deserves our worship; only God is worthy of worship. Worship in our temporal lives is merely a tune up for worship in our eternal lives. Forever, we will either worship in the presence of the only One worthy of worship or we will be damned to ourselves, our idols, and our demons in eternal torment. It would be wise of us to worship now in preparation for worship then.
  • When God is not the focus or center of our worship, we will trend toward the preferential and self-absorbed. There is nothing wrong with having personal preferences in life, Christian experience or even worship. But God does not receive more or less glory because of how our worship experiences feel to us or whether or not they affirm our preferences. That God is Savior of the nations and the peoples of the world means that he receives worship in a vast variety of languages, songs, styles, and methods. Christian, the next time you are at church and the song, sermon, or structure of the service is not your preference, pause to remember that if what is said or sung is true, then it is glorifying God. God’s pleasure, not our own, should drive our worship.
  • When our worship is Theocentric, Christocentric, and Trinitarian, we are able to reset our daily Christian experiences to be satisfied only with God. C. S. Lewis once observed that our problem is not that we are satisfied with too much, but with too little. Peterson’s observation above reminds us that without proper worship our fears and temptations drive us to restless lives and unfulfilled purpose. Is this not the reason for so much despair that surrounds us? Beloved, we need God, and when we find and experience him, we must and will worship.

Would you make plans to gather with God’s people this week and worship? When you do, would you pause before you enter your worship space and remind yourself that the gathering, the songs, the sermon, the structure, the giving, and all else are all about, for, and to the One Living God? Would you let your private and your public worship reset your heart on the God who is worthy?

Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash