"O Church Arise"

Different Worship Styles - Same God

On Sunday we as a family participated in worship services of two VERY different styles. The fascinating thing is that the worship was directed to the same God: the Triune God of the bible.

As usual, we worshiped with our Chevis Oaks Baptist Church family during our morning and evening services. The worship style at Chevis Oaks is fairly standard for a Southern Baptist church. A visitor would probably say that joy dominates our worship services. We also tend to be informal. Although we are certainly reverent, our behavior most likely does not suggest that we are in awe at the presence of God during a gathering. I must say that at the conclusion of our services I always feel edified and loved.

After the evening service we made a quick stop at Wendy's. After that, we did something different. Instead of going home, we drove into the historic district of Savannah to attend Christ Church Savannah's Compline service. Christ Church is a member of the Anglican province of Uganda (this basically means that they preach, teach, and believe the biblical gospel).

Christ Church Savannah was founded in 1733. It was Georgia's first church. While in America, John Wesley (yes, that John Wesley) led this congregation. A few years after Wesley, George Whitefield (yes, that George Whitefield) took charge of this body.

The current church building (pictured here) was constructed in 1838. As we walked into the building, we were struck by what we saw. The candlelight atmosphere, stained-glass windows, and silence of the people present combined to generate a sense of reverence and awe. The Compline service, which takes place each Sunday at 9 PM, is a Christian service "dating back to monastic life in the Middle Ages." During the service, a choir sang from the balcony. The musical pieces were relatively short, holding to the Gregorian Chant style of hundreds of years ago. We greatly enjoyed this 30 minute respite.

What we experienced at Chevis Oaks differed greatly from what happened at Christ Church. Was one style better than another? Was one more acceptable to God than another? I do not think so. The key is that the services were biblical. The gospel was proclaimed in different ways, in different atmospheres. However, it was the same gospel.

Love of God and Love of Country - Two Very Separate Things

I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I also love my country. Although I love them both, these loves are very different and very separate. When we begin to fuse or confuse the two, we have a problem.

When we read the New Testament, we see Jesus and His followers facing persecution from those in positions of authority. Some of these were religious leaders, while others were political. The early church was never granted "religious freedom" by anyone here on earth. I seriously doubt the Christians described in the book of Acts, for example, confused their love for God with their feelings about countries in which they lived.

As in bible times, most biblical Christians today live where the ruling elites do not favor them. For example, in China the church faces various levels of persecution from the Communist government. In India, the church is often targeted by radical Hindu groups. In Islamic countries, Christians are frequently treated brutally simply because they confess Christ as Lord. I don't think these folks mix love of Jesus with love of country.

In the USA, we are in a unique situation. We are one of the few countries in the world that offers, at least for now, some semblance of religious freedom to Christians. This is a country which was founded on Christian principles, but has strayed far from those. However, many Christians in the USA still believe and act like this is a "Christian nation." Because of this, they often mix and match their love of God with love of country.

Some go so far as to say that if you love God you also love your country. They act as if you must love your country in order to love God. This even plays itself out in how conservative Christians, in order to show that they love God, almost all vote Republican instead of looking for better options (not Democrat, but rather this).

What bothers me the most about this odd mix of love of God and love of country is how it affects the church. This coming Sunday in the USA many churches will have a confusing worship service. The confusion lies in who will be worshiped. Is it God? Is it country? Is it a strange mix of the two? Listen carefully to the singing and the preaching. Who or what is the focus on Sunday?

I don't have a problem with singing an occasional patriotic hymn, if the focus of that hymn is on God and not country. What troubles me is when the overall theme of the worship service is bowing before the US flag instead of God Himself. This is why on this coming Sunday I have absolutely no plans to say anything at all about US independence day.

On Sunday, July 13th we will be celebrating the Lord's Supper at Chevis Oaks Baptist. I can't wait. This Sunday I will be preaching from I Corinthians 11:27-34. I'll be stressing what Paul stressed: the importance of partaking of the supper worthily; we go about this first by examining ourselves. By preaching on this text on Sunday, my hope is that we as a church will examine ourselves throughout the upcoming week (and continue to do so after the Lord's Supper).

The text has nothing to do with US independence. Therefore, I'm not mentioning it.

Let's stop confusing love of God and love of country. As Christians, our primary duty and joy is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Worship of Ball (or is it Baal?)

I may get in trouble for this one.

Growing up in New York State, I quickly learned that sports were important in our society. I played Little League baseball along with a few other sports. When I reached high school, my focus fell on soccer and basketball because those were the only two sports my school offered.

During that time, I don't think I ever actually worshiped any of these sports. My parents may have a different opinion, but I'm pretty sure I never glorified soccer or basketball.

Since we moved to the South about twelve years ago, I have run into folks who seem to go over that line. Their behavior suggests that they do, in fact, worship sports. They especially worship "ball."

Soon after we moved to south Georgia, we realized that for most people "ball" refers to baseball for boys and softball for girls. When our first spring in Georgia rolled around, I think about 98% (a bit of an overstatement, but not by much) of the kids here played "ball." Playing baseball or softball almost seemed required. Everyone did it.

The ones who worshiped at the "ball" shrine the most seemed to be the parents. Although I heard them complain about the hectic schedule, tired kids, and no evenings at home, they still pressed on with "ball." In general, most of the parents sure appeared to be much more committed to "ball" than they did to their church activities.

"Ball" trumped all.

I find it sort of ironic that the word "ball" is so similar to "Baal." The similarities don't stop there. The pagans in the O.T. worshiped "Baal" by sacrificing to it, spending great time with it, and devoting themselves to it. Many parents here in south Georgia do the same with "ball."

It is obvious to anyone watching all this that there are many parents and kids involved in "ball" who by no means worship the sport. They simply do it because it is fun. However, it is disturbing that not a small number worship at the modern altar of "ball."

Church Reform - Worship

Worship is such a large topic that I certainly cannot begin to touch all aspects of it in a blog post (maybe one of you readers could do a series all about worship in the church; I would like to read that). Books have been written on worship by folks much smarter and more learned than I. Therefore, in this post I just want to focus on one aspect of worship that I believe is problematic in American churches today: the compartmentalization of worship.

If you walk into many evangelical churches today, you will eventually enter the “worship center” for the “worship service.” This seems to imply that worship does not take place in other areas of the church building, such as the Sunday School rooms. At some point early in the service, the “worship leader” will ask you to stand and worship (Does this mean that the people who read scripture, give a testimony, or preach are not leading worship?). The worship time is understood by many to be the time when the people sing. This seems to imply that the worship concludes when the people sit down after the last song. I’m not sure what everyone thinks is going on during the remainder of the service.

Most Christians realize that they need to worship more than just in song at church. They would probably admit that all of the service is actually worship. When asked about the rest of their lives, they would also probably say that they should be worshiping through prayer and bible study. Beyond that, they would say that they should be living out their Christian witness each day.

The problem I see is that Christians seem to be putting worship into different artificial categories. Worship is viewed as falling into the categories of worship in song at church, worship in private, and worship when serving others. What this leads to is a view of worship only taking place at certain times and places. It suggests a life where worship occurs in small blips here and there as the day rolls along.

This is not what the bible tells us about worship. I believe scripture tells us that worship is something that all followers of Christ should be doing at all times. The life of the Christian is a life of worship all day, every day. Romans 12:1-2 give us our daily “marching orders.” Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We are to present our whole selves to Christ as an act of worship. This is something we are to do each day as a living sacrifice. This may certainly take place as individual worship (Psalm 95). It should also be expressed in corporate worship (I Cor. 14:26). As noted above, it must be a part of all of life (Rom. 12:1-2).

Hebrews 12:28-29 may help us see this more clearly. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

This verse falls into the broader section of Hebrews that is dealing with living out the Christian life (application of the wondrous truths found in the previous eleven chapters). However, these two verses also immediately follow a section of Hebrews chapter 12 that deals with individual and/or corporate worship. One thing we can glean from this is that the biblical writers did not intend for worship to be compartmentalized, falling into isolated acts throughout the day. Rather, we are intended to worship as a way of life. This may be through prayer, bible study, song, listening, service, living a holy life, etc. as described in the scriptures.

So what can we do to help our fellow Christians see that worship is not just singing on Sunday? What can we do to help our brothers and sisters in Christ realize that worship is not supposed to be isolated blips occurring here and there? Can we do anything to assist others is realizing that worship is a way of life?

These ideas may be a place to begin:

1) We must live this out. Others will see what we do. We must view worship as something we are doing all day, from scintillating times of prayer and song to acts that may seem like drudgery (washing dishes, taking out the trash). Let me say that I am in no way equating the importance of prayer with trash removal. What I am saying is that all acts that honor God should be viewed as worshipful.

2) When given the opportunity, we should teach this. The teaching may occur one-on-one, or in a group format (Sunday School, preaching, cell group, etc.). It would be interesting to ask churched people to write out their definitions of worship. You could then walk through Romans 12:1-2, and compare these two verses with what they had written.

3) Remind people that faith apart from works is not real faith. In other words, if they are only worshiping in tongue but not in deed, then they are not offering acceptable worship to God.

4) On a pragmatic note, it would do a lot of churches much good if they would simply rename a few things. For example, get rid of names such as “worship center,” “worship service,” “worship leader/pastor,” and “worship songs.” Be creative; this is not difficult. Names such as these only exacerbate the problem of worship compartmentalization.

Agree or disagree? Any other ideas to help the situation we face?