I have come to enjoy the definition for biblical worship that came from David Peterson’s book Engaging God, Worship is engaging with God on the terms he has given us. One area of worship that seems to have been ignored by many Christians is the nature of community that should be present in corporate worship. We are told to show our love for God by our love for each other, and we sense that corporate worship is worshipping God with others, as though we were all one body.
But we all decide how we will individually worship. We all decide who we will worship with. We see some who we know well as hypocrites for coming before God, even though we ourselves are fraught with sin. We all seek to get the most out of the sermon for ourselves, regardless of how it may affect others’ experience. This ought not be. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul frowns upon Christians coming to the Lord’s table with no regard for others. It seems that Paul would much rather the believers give of themselves, and worship God AS ONE. It is the same in all of our worship. The Greek word for one another has a very unique feel to it. It is almost as if the word would be better translated one of each other as if each person was just a piece of one much greater thing.
If this were our mindset, that looking out for the interests of others was looking out for our own interests, it would have to change our conduct. We would show God how much we value him when we show his children how much we value them. This would be a beautiful picture of corporate worship.
Hey Luke, thanks for your work in the class. I think Peterson's definition of worship is right on. Worship is an engagement with God and not a preoccupation with ourselves -- "on the terms he proposes and in the way he alone makes possible." Have a Merry Christmas!
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