Simply Christian, Chapter 11: "Worship"
“We are invited not just to watch- but to join in and sing with all of creation.”
I’m really grateful for Wright’s chapter on worship.
I’ve developed a fairly complicated relationship with worship over the years (perhaps we all have, in our own ways). I will confess that I get easily frustrated (and cynical, no doubt) by the trends and marketing around the “worship movement” in music. There are good things about it, I know. But when the concept of worship becomes a 3 minute pop song on the radio, there’s some serious rub. I have seen it commercialized, homogenized, and emotionally manipulated. So… Wright’s thoughts are very helpful as I wade through years of baggage with this cultural beast that is modern worship. And I know not to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater!
“God’s sphere and ours are not far apart, and at certain times and moments they interlock.”
When I can join in the ongoing worship of God, I am joining in the coming of God’s Kingdom here and now. I love that Wright ties these two ideas together- when we break bread and proclaim the life and death of Jesus, we are simultaneously worshipping God, and we become a conduit for the Kingdom coming.
“You become like what you worship.”
I find it helpful to reflect on some of the things that I tend to idolize- that is, to put in a place that only God is worthy of. My reputation, my finances, my sense of control, even at times my family. Wright reminds us that idolatry cheapens us and makes us “less human”, whereas true worship makes us more fully alive. We all know full well the difference between feeling cheap, and feeling fully alive.
I have one other thought on worship that is not necessarily Wright-approved. Many weekends I travel and cannot make it to church. I need whatever will put my heart back in a posture of awe- aware of my humanity, and God’s unending worthiness and glory. This might look like a time of reflection in the natural world- a hike along a quiet river, the grandeur of a mountain scene, overwhelmed by a sense of God’s creation and pursuing love for me. I am also starting to see missions and action/service as a form of worship. I want to respond to God’s love by serving others, giving myself away, echoing the love I have been given to those around me. It’s not the orthodox worship that Wright lays out for us, but still a formative expression and response to what God has first done. Maybe a point of discussion… does worship have boundaries? Is it a slippery slope to look at worship scenarios outside of a church environment?
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Anonymous on Aug 10, 2010 7:14am
Charlie
Interestingly I think your need to worship or as you say, that posture of awe-awareness, is something that is indeed nurtured in an authentic environment of worship as Wright describes it... this is what implants the heart to worship in other areas (the natural environment and in service).
We need to learn to worship somewhere before we can worship everywhere. Conversely, if we have never taste real worship then we won't be able to engage in the awesomeness of God outside of the confines of formal 'church'...
The person who says that they can worship as well on a walk in the park as they can in church may in fact be speaking truth.. but the question is "will they?". Once we have been trained to engage God in authentic worship in a liturgical environment we are more apt to be able to and indeed more apt to actually, worship outside of that.
Jerry+