Acts of worship

Not everything done in a Christian assembly is worship, despite the misbegotten term “worship service.” When the saints get together, various activities may be a part of the meeting, and rightly so. Some activities–both private and corporate–do tend to foster true worship (proskuneo) in our hearts, but not necessarily all.

In the Campbell-Stone tradition of churches, a legacy list exists that is probably as ill-conceived as the idea of the “worship service.” Many of us came up knowing the list of Five Acts of Worship. Nevermind that there were variations on the list. (Hmmm. Is it preaching or listening to the supposedly articulated Word of God that qualifies for The List?) We were instructed, and taught by example, that five things, and five things only, were authorized as corporate acts of worship.

Aside: a hermeneutic of authorization, set over against fear of doing anything not expressly authorized by God, no longer seems adequate to me. While some attempt (operative word: attempt!) to do those things God specifically instructs them to do in scripture, all the while refraining from things He appears to be silent about, I have learned not to trust “arguments from silence” and have become generally comfortable with a bit more open view of God’s will. This doesn’t mean I’m a liberal–far from it. I’d say that, in this context, I’m a different kind of conservative.

Now, I learned early on–owing to high-quality parental and grandparental heritage–that worship is much more than a list, and more than performance of activities associated with said list. Yet it serves a purpose, I think, to consider various activities that frequently are a part of congregational assemblies. Ponder these actions/media and the essence of each:

• Singing . . . sometimes worshipful, sometimes exhortative or instructional
• Praying . . . sometimes worshipful, sometimes petitionary or confessional
• Pouring expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiping them with hair . . . adoringly worshipful, sacrificial, vulnerable
• Preaching sermons . . . mostly exhortatory/didactic, may be worshipful–depending on the heart and intent of the preacher
• Listening to sermons . . . sometimes meditative & worshipful, introspective–again, depending on the heart of the receiver
• Observing the Lord’s Supper . . . sometimes edifying, sometimes introspective, sometimes worshipful
• Speaking praise-filled thoughts . . . worshipful, with an exhortation element present if spoken in the presence of others
• Meditating on His grace . . . worshipful, with elements of introspection & self-examination
• Serving others . . . edifying, perhaps evangelistic, redemptive, and, indirectly, perhaps worshipful
• Sharing information about illnesses of church members . . . caring, merciful, probably not worshipful per se
• Contributing money . . . sacrificial, and, depending on the person, perhaps worshipful in the Romans 12 sense
• Calling a sister to discuss what God’s been doing in our lives this week . . . edificational and worshipful, if the focus is on GOD, calling attention to His goodness

The above list may help in showing how the five traditional acts of worship fit in with a more adequate concept of worship. The list is certainly not exhaustive; I could not begin to provide a full description of the realities present in each act I named. Worship is no simple thing. It defies analysis in terms of checklists of things to do. Much better to worship than to discuss worship, anyway!

And yet, I like to discuss it, too. In my perfect world, I might have had enough time to think of another ten or twelve items to add to the above list. But I what about you? What could you add?