Some time ago I began musing on Marva Dawn’s How Shall We Worship? (Tyndale, 2003). After nearly a month off and two subsequent interruptions in my routine, I feel happy to return to this. Chapter four was a fantastic read for many reasons, the least of which is not the challenge Dr. Dawn offers to Jesus followers in 21st century North American culture. Before I dive in, please remember that these posts are not a final opinion or a “thus saith the Lord” statement; they are my musings as a turn thoughts and feelings around inside me. :)
Dr. Dawn uses chapter four to tackle the question of the result of worship. Of course this chapter had my attention because I have experienced several perspectives on this question. Some people in my past told me that worship results in an emotional bath that cleanses our hearts and minds, leaving us in a spiritual euphoria. Others told me that it results in our intellects being boosted with theology and doctrine that reinforce Christian dogma and instruct “right” Christian living. Still others told me that worship results in engaging God at church, shutting out the rest of the week, and preparing to hear someone teach from the Scriptures.
Before reading this chapter, my big assumption was that the result of worship was all of these - and none - all at the same time. I’ve often wondered if it’s a good idea for us to spend so much time looking at the result. Dr. Dawn challenged me by challenging something much more basic, our theology of “going to church” (39). Likely one of the biggest reasons there are too many perspectives of the result of our worship is that we tend to link worship with going to church. Church is not something to go to; Church is something that Jesus’ followers are. Dr. Dawn calls people not to go to church but, rather, to be Church (40). If we are Church, then we rethink worship and its results. The result of worship is simply being Church: it is Jesus’ followers learning to live together and to impact the world around us (45).
This perspective is terribly important, particularly for our North American churches. Many churches I’ve served and heard about are attended by people who view church as a place to go, a weekly event to take in. We families and individuals choose whether or not to attend church every week for thousands of reasons. Once we get to church, we choose whether or not to participate in the worship activities for thousands more reasons. Then we leave church, going into the other 167 hours of the week either by analyzing how well we received what we just attended or by ignoring it altogether. Meanwhile, as Jesus’ followers, we are still the Church, only we have not connected with other people who make up Church, nor have we attempted to engage Christ. If worship really is our response to God’s grace, as Dr. Dawn previously wrote, then worship didn’t take place at all!
If we genuinely worship, being Church instead of attending church, then we can agree that “the result of worshiping will be that we know the Trinity better and will be formed to be more like Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit” (40). What inevitably flows out of that is a witness to the people around us (42). That witness may or may not be verbal, may or may not be logically organized, and likely will not be programmed. It will simply flow out of us to people whom we can bet are certainly paying attention to whether we who claim to follow Jesus actually follow Jesus. (A personal note: what I find scary is that if we claim to follow Jesus, then whatever we do will reflect on Jesus, rightly or wrongly, allowing people’s perception of Jesus to be shaped by what we say and do. If you don’t believe me, just think about the last conversation you had with someone who doesn’t follow Jesus. Was the conversation about Jesus being unworthy of being followed, or was it about how Christians and churches have majorly dropped the ball?)
Sometimes we wonder if it’s reasonable to think anything would flow out of us when we leave worship. It certainly won’t if we simply attend church or program church. However, “if our worship is filled with God’s Splendor - in all kinds of sounds and songs, artworks, Scripture texts, homiletical insights, holy silences, corporate prayers, forgiveness and peace-filled blessings - then we’ll have much to tell!” (43). This is the type of statement that resolves the tension between “worship” and “evangelism” in my mind. We cannot stress ourselves over attempting to evangelize when we come together in public gatherings, nor can we ignore the people coming to church who aren’t being Church. Since it’s worship, we invite the Spirit to fill what we do with God’s splendor. Then we are drawn close to God, God draws close to us (James 4:7), and Jesus is lifted up, drawing people to God (John 12:32). Our response when we come to church is actually, then, to be Church, reveling in how worthy God is of our time and attention. The result is that we’re more like Jesus, less like the humans who turn people “off” from church. Then witness takes place.
A final thought is important, since we acknowledge that witness is something that flows out of a life that is filled up with Christ. Dr. Dawn brings the reader back to Acts 2, a passage we Jesus followers often use to tell people go out and “preach those people into heaven!” Looking at Acts 2, we see that tons of people believed when Peter explained what was going on. However, even more people believed in the discussions that followed, and still more believed when people lived a life that reflected Jesus (44). Being a witness is part of being Church, but most effective witness flows out of a life that worships 168 hours per week. The witness may come about in several ways, but it will always reflect Christ and point people back to Christ, just as our worship will always reflect Christ and point us all back to Christ.
My final question is this: why do we concern ourselves with the result of worship (meaning the hour on Sunday) in the remainder of our week? Shouldn’t the public gathering culminate as the result of an entire week of worship?
LE
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