We are a lot more than a combined effort; we are one!
17 February 2006
Christian Worship
Okay, this might start something. What do you think makes worship "Christian" as opposed to any other religion or adjective that you might put in here? Why bother?
i think it has to do with two things: who (or what) we are worshipping, and how we are worshipping (direction and method).
christian worship is only christian if those two things line up with the truth about God and how he wants us to live as taught through scripture.
for example, worshipping the creator God, Jesus, etc... would be good. unless i was worshipping by sacrificing my firstborn child. misdirected method. what if i was worshipping a wooden statue of the creator god by loving with perfect intent? also bad - misdirected direction. i think worship can be distinctly christian only when it meets both criteria of properly directed direction (toward creator God and/or saviour Jesus) and properly directed method (giving without regret/cheerful giving/perfect intent, etc.)
i would have to say that there have been some great comments here.
i would like to add that Christian worship is in the Spirit and through the Son to the glory of God the Father. we not only worship Jesus, but with Jesus and through Jesus. we only worship with and through Jesus by the Spirit and in the Spirit. so, i think God is both object of worship (who our praise is directed toward) and the subject of worship (the first actor in worship). so, worship is for God, by God, and in God. that can only be said of a trinitarian God!
I think I am in line with the other theologizers in saying that what makes it "Christian" worship is that it's communication, not just ritual or empty adoration. As AP said, "it is for God, by God, and in God", but somehow, "Christian" worship also affects the worshiper in a way that can only be described as personal.
I don't think worship is Christian. I don't think that it can be labeled only Christian and everything else isn't worship. Jesus himself said that people worship false Gods and Idols and even money. It is easy for any human to worship anything but Christ. It is generally frowned down upon in today's society to direct one's attention to Christ as Savior and not just the homeboy on the cool tshirt. Worshiping Christ is made possible only through Christ. In the old testament sacrifices were made in atonement of sin-- a physical/monetary/grain/animal so forth sacrifice was made. To me that seems more logical to know okay I messed up--I repented and here is my sacrifice that I can see and God can see. Today we live by faith for we cannot see the sacrifice for our sins- though we can feel his power through the Holy Spirit- this does make things a little more complex and harder to understand or accept. The human mind isn't able to mentally comphrehend the meaning of grace... never has been and never will be fully understood until one visibly see's Christ as Lord in all of His glory in heaven. The only thing that makes worship Christian is the Christ that we worship- standards for worship are in the Bible yet we as humans tend to restrict or form new rules for the Body of Christ to follow as "worship". But at the end of the day the only thing that will matter is that you believed Christ as Lord, Accepted his sacrifice, and followed his spirit's leading. i guess the bottom line is worship is what you make of it-- you can worship anything you choose-- but worship is not Christian- Christian is nothing more than a label.
I miss you lynn! And normally I would jump on this topic like no tomorrow. But I am tired and my thought processes are probably not working at full speed. So to sum up:
Wow...realization...I passed up a worship chat with an Erskine? That is so weird. They always come up and we are always analayzing.
Also, I still up for the church planting idea if you are. hehehe But I think I want Hawaii instead of DC because I would be moving farther north and I love the south. Mmmm...Hawaii!
7 comments:
i think it has to do with two things: who (or what) we are worshipping, and how we are worshipping (direction and method).
christian worship is only christian if those two things line up with the truth about God and how he wants us to live as taught through scripture.
for example, worshipping the creator God, Jesus, etc... would be good. unless i was worshipping by sacrificing my firstborn child. misdirected method. what if i was worshipping a wooden statue of the creator god by loving with perfect intent? also bad - misdirected direction. i think worship can be distinctly christian only when it meets both criteria of properly directed direction (toward creator God and/or saviour Jesus) and properly directed method (giving without regret/cheerful giving/perfect intent, etc.)
my two cents off the top of my head
i think we worship best by doing good works inspired by Jesus. :) but then again, i wasn't gifted with a singing voice.
i would have to say that there have been some great comments here.
i would like to add that Christian worship is in the Spirit and through the Son to the glory of God the Father. we not only worship Jesus, but with Jesus and through Jesus. we only worship with and through Jesus by the Spirit and in the Spirit. so, i think God is both object of worship (who our praise is directed toward) and the subject of worship (the first actor in worship). so, worship is for God, by God, and in God. that can only be said of a trinitarian God!
I think I am in line with the other theologizers in saying that what makes it "Christian" worship is that it's communication, not just ritual or empty adoration. As AP said, "it is for God, by God, and in God", but somehow, "Christian" worship also affects the worshiper in a way that can only be described as personal.
I don't think worship is Christian. I don't think that it can be labeled only Christian and everything else isn't worship. Jesus himself said that people worship false Gods and Idols and even money. It is easy for any human to worship anything but Christ. It is generally frowned down upon in today's society to direct one's attention to Christ as Savior and not just the homeboy on the cool tshirt. Worshiping Christ is made possible only through Christ. In the old testament sacrifices were made in atonement of sin-- a physical/monetary/grain/animal so forth sacrifice was made. To me that seems more logical to know okay I messed up--I repented and here is my sacrifice that I can see and God can see. Today we live by faith for we cannot see the sacrifice for our sins- though we can feel his power through the Holy Spirit- this does make things a little more complex and harder to understand or accept. The human mind isn't able to mentally comphrehend the meaning of grace... never has been and never will be fully understood until one visibly see's Christ as Lord in all of His glory in heaven. The only thing that makes worship Christian is the Christ that we worship- standards for worship are in the Bible yet we as humans tend to restrict or form new rules for the Body of Christ to follow as "worship". But at the end of the day the only thing that will matter is that you believed Christ as Lord, Accepted his sacrifice, and followed his spirit's leading.
i guess the bottom line is worship is what you make of it-- you can worship anything you choose-- but worship is not Christian- Christian is nothing more than a label.
I miss you lynn! And normally I would jump on this topic like no tomorrow. But I am tired and my thought processes are probably not working at full speed. So to sum up:
I MISS ERSKINES! COME TO ROANOKE!
Wow...realization...I passed up a worship chat with an Erskine? That is so weird. They always come up and we are always analayzing.
Also, I still up for the church planting idea if you are. hehehe But I think I want Hawaii instead of DC because I would be moving farther north and I love the south. Mmmm...Hawaii!
Post a Comment