Way-of-Lifers

If the TV game show Jeopardy had a category entitled Biblical Concepts Gone Awry, one of the “answers” would be “A way of life”, and I’m convinced the right question would be “What is worship?” 

Jesus’ way of living is about much, much more than going to church for “worship services.”  Like the biblical concept of church, worship somehow has lost its original meaning over the centuries, and we are feeling the burden to redefine it in biblical terms. 

Taking “church” as an example… According to the word of God, church is not a place we go to or a set of rituals we perform in a religious service but a kind of people we are called to be in every moment.  Anytime two or more Jesus-followers are gathered in pews or at a dining room table, in a moment of crisis or on a fun trip to the zoo, at a Christians-only potluck or at a party in the midst of God’s missing ones – the church is there and we have ourselves an “assembly” (a word we have over-spiritualized).  The question is not whether or not this particular gathering “counts” as a church assembly, but whether or not we will make this assembly (gathering) of Jesus-followers count for his glory.  Will we honor (that is, worship) Christ by what we say and do in this present place, in this present situation, among these people?

According to the word of God, worship primarily is not an event or a process we observe but a daily, sacrificial way of behaving and thinking (Romans 12:1-2).  When we allow Jesus to take the throne of our hearts, He makes a difference in the way we think, behave, and relate to people, and what we do when we’re alone.  All of this is worship!  There is no separation of the sacred and the secular.  God’s word is to permeate all areas of our life, making everything truly sacred – when we’re at home training our children, when we’re in the marketplace making decisions about how to handle our money, when we’re on the job relating to supervisors and clients, we (are called and equipped to) worship in virtually every place and every part of life. 

Don’t get me wrong.  There is a place for event-worship and Christians-only gatherings – they provide spiritual recharge and healing for weary and wounded disciples.  Sometimes I just need to be with my ‘spiritual family’ – they understand me, teach me, hold me accountable, and need me, too.  That’s why we highly value making a habit or routine of gathering with other Christ-followers. 

But as a friend of ours once put it: “If God were to speak to churches in an audible voice today about our worship, I think he would say, ‘That’s – not – what – I – meant!’”  For so long we have put so much effort into our Sunday worship services as if the goal of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is to make “regular attenders” out of all of us.  But when I look at the biblical concept of worship, it seems like God would rather us be way-of-lifers than regular attenders.