True Worship
Today, for the first time since March 15, we worshiped at the church building. However, we never “quit church” or “stopped worshiping.” For a couple of weeks, we worshiped via YouTube from our couch. After that, we started gathering with a group of friends, sharing a time of worship and fellowship that lasted all day.
What IS worship?
Formally, worship involves singing, praying, the reading and study of scripture (preaching), communion (the Lord’s Supper), and giving. INFORMALLY, worship is so much more. Worship is the way we treat each other, the way we respond to situations, and even our internal attitude. Complaining is NOT worship. Causing strife is NOT worship. Arguing is NOT worship. Worship is service and sacrifice. Worship is both horizontal (how we relate to and serve each other) and vertical (how we honor and glorify God). Worship is both for the edification (encouragement) of the congregation and to praise our Creator and Savior.
Mountain Tops and Roosters
Over these few weeks, I have missed my church family, but I’ve loved the more intimate worship of gathering with a few families and sharing life together. We never stopped worshiping, we only took a break from gathering at a specific building and doing things in a specific way. We played together, fellowshipped together, ate together, laughed together, and cried together.
As we worshiped with puppies playing in the mud, kittens romping, chicks following their mama across the yard, and roosters crowing, I imagined what it may have been like in the first century. As we shared life together, I felt certain that’s how the early Christians took care of each other.
When I think about worship, I think of the Acappella song Mountain Top:
I am not saying that worship is wrong, but worship is more than just singin’ a song. It’s all that you say and everything that you do. It’s letting His spirit live through you!
Acappella
Worship is the sum of many parts. The “acts of worship” are meaningless if we don’t act in worship. While I miss worship with roosters, we take these lessons with us as we return to our home congregations.
