Basic Preparation for Transformation
Week 4, Email 3, Friday
Week 4, Email 3, Friday
Field Guide for Lifestyle Worship
Worship in the field. There is a fantastic opportunity to worship in our Christian relationships as we just naturally live our lives. The Togethers are great privileges to reflect back to God his own character. Our very lives are to be worship, reflecting to God his nature by our obedience to his commands that originate from His very nature.
A simple and popular definition of worship is that it is “ascribing worth to God”. Anything less than God’s character cannot be adequate to praise God. Something inferior cannot ascribe worth to something superior. So, essentially, true, authentic worship is reflecting back to God his own character and nature. It is reflecting the attributes of God – to God.
When we praise God with words, we speak of his wonderful nature, his character, and his attributes. When we thank God sufficiently, we refer to his attributes such as his forgiving nature, his love, etc. So when we worship in prayer or in song, we use words to reflect back to God his own attributes. We describe Him by his own character, since any other description would be below Him, inferior to His standard.
Christian relationships can expand worship dramatically.
. . . offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God –
which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1
holy and pleasing to God –
which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1
What happens when we reflect Jesus using our bodies sacrificially? Love is self-denial for the good of others, even enemies. It is therefore sacrificial. So, when we love in the specific ways taught in Scripture, we are reflecting back to God the Father the image of His Son.
That fits the definition of ascribing worth to God, especially if we go somewhat beyond our comfort zone and reach out for more Christ-likeness. Putting conscious, deliberate effort in obeying the Togethers of Scripture will result in 65 specific ways to worship God by offering our bodies as living sacrifices.
For example, when you or I forgive someone, we reflect to God his own forgiving character. Forgiving someone, then, is a costly and quite valuable act of worship. It is harder than singing songs in the congregation, as necessary as that is, and expresses stronger love for God and worship of Him.
God most delights in the corporate worship of his people -- together. There is the praise and worship we give God occasionally, like every Sunday in an organized church or house church. But, let’s not throw out the much more frequent lifestyle worship that can go on all week long in each Christian’s inner Christian circle of relationships.
And, what if the larger congregations worship in song and prayer but ignore worship in daily life? Do the words from the prophet Amos have a warning for us?
That fits the definition of ascribing worth to God, especially if we go somewhat beyond our comfort zone and reach out for more Christ-likeness. Putting conscious, deliberate effort in obeying the Togethers of Scripture will result in 65 specific ways to worship God by offering our bodies as living sacrifices.
For example, when you or I forgive someone, we reflect to God his own forgiving character. Forgiving someone, then, is a costly and quite valuable act of worship. It is harder than singing songs in the congregation, as necessary as that is, and expresses stronger love for God and worship of Him.
God most delights in the corporate worship of his people -- together. There is the praise and worship we give God occasionally, like every Sunday in an organized church or house church. But, let’s not throw out the much more frequent lifestyle worship that can go on all week long in each Christian’s inner Christian circle of relationships.
And, what if the larger congregations worship in song and prayer but ignore worship in daily life? Do the words from the prophet Amos have a warning for us?
I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.... Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream.
Amos 5:22-24
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.... Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream.
Amos 5:22-24
So it seems that the relationships of believers in daily life can enhance or cancel out the worship of the congregation. See what led God to withdraw from the congregational worship of Israel.
For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
Amos 5:12
and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
Amos 5:12
It would seem that churches would want to protect the acceptability of their worship services by preaching all of the Togethers of Scripture. This might be the very best way of “covering all the bases”. What alienated the nation of Israel from the Lord in Amos’ day might be different than the ways we offend the Lord today, some thousands of years later.
It is Christian relationships that give the church a most important and essential opportunity to reflect to God His own character. Each of the 65 Togethers are acts of corporate worship in that each is reflecting in some important way God’s own nature back to Him.
Urgent: Most of Worship through the Togethers is Limited to Now
While the kingdom of God on earth is in many significant ways preparation for the kingdom of God in heaven, there are aspects of all Togethers that are only for the kingdom before each of us dies. The opportunity, the magnificent, great privilege to worship God through these temporal Togethers is limited to this earthly life. In other words, if we want to act like Jesus did in a sinful environment and reflect back to God his character as it was and is in dealing with Christians while they live surrounded by evil, we better do it now.
Consider that a very special event is coming to town and it is the only possible chance you will have to participate. It will never come again. That event could be an evangelistic crusade or a special movie right down the alley of your interests or a championship athletic event that might never ever again occur or a visit from your great grandmother who will most likely die before you can ever see her again. You would not want to miss it! You and I would do all we could to rearrange our schedules so as to be able to take part.
When we look at the Togethers of Scripture, we find that all of them can only offer us the opportunity to worship and praise God in some specific ways only this side of heaven. All those wonderful opportunities to reflect to God his graciousness toward sinners will disappear when we go to heaven, since there will be no sin or sinners there.
Let it be stated very clearly. This is the only time we will get to honor and glorify God through the Togethers as related to man’s sinfulness. This is a one-time limited opportunity.
Of the 65 Togethers, it appears that 30 will be completely lost when we die. We will never get another chance to reflect back to God in behavior with one another his loving nature and character with regard to sinfulness. There will be no more opportunity to hurt with one another and imitate our Lord’s crying over Lazarus. We will never again be able to battle temptation together and reflect God’s standing with us in our weakness. We will never again be able to live as Christians in a non-believing society and show love to unbelievers in the fashion that God provides rain to the just and the unjust. And we will never again be able to proclaim the gospel to unredeemed men and women imitating God’s declaration of His existence through nature or His reaching down to save men and women from their sin.
For example, the opportunity to bear one another’s burdens will be gone. The privilege of bearing one another’s burdens is actually the very great privilege of paying the consequences of other Christian’s sins. It is the closest we can come to imitating our Lord Jesus’ paying the penalty for the sins of believers. Certainly, we do not want to miss this one-time opportunity to worship so costly, so significantly, so like Jesus!
Furthermore, there are another 35 Togethers that are not limited to but have significant applications to the sinfulness in mankind. We will never again have the opportunity to hold to the truth together in the face of challenge as did Jesus in the wilderness when He was challenged by Satan. We will still hold to the truth together in heaven, just not in the face of dispute which reflects to God his holiness in a specific way not available to us after death. In heaven we will most likely still administer God’s grace to one another, just not to sinning men and women. And while in heaven we will live in unity, it will be much, much easier and not reflect the same unity that was hindered by sin.
We must know and be able to automatically remember the 65 Togethers in order to capture precious opportunities to worship God through true Christian community, especially in our friendships, families, and marriages. It is how we help bring an answer to our prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
It is Christian relationships that give the church a most important and essential opportunity to reflect to God His own character. Each of the 65 Togethers are acts of corporate worship in that each is reflecting in some important way God’s own nature back to Him.
Urgent: Most of Worship through the Togethers is Limited to Now
While the kingdom of God on earth is in many significant ways preparation for the kingdom of God in heaven, there are aspects of all Togethers that are only for the kingdom before each of us dies. The opportunity, the magnificent, great privilege to worship God through these temporal Togethers is limited to this earthly life. In other words, if we want to act like Jesus did in a sinful environment and reflect back to God his character as it was and is in dealing with Christians while they live surrounded by evil, we better do it now.
Consider that a very special event is coming to town and it is the only possible chance you will have to participate. It will never come again. That event could be an evangelistic crusade or a special movie right down the alley of your interests or a championship athletic event that might never ever again occur or a visit from your great grandmother who will most likely die before you can ever see her again. You would not want to miss it! You and I would do all we could to rearrange our schedules so as to be able to take part.
When we look at the Togethers of Scripture, we find that all of them can only offer us the opportunity to worship and praise God in some specific ways only this side of heaven. All those wonderful opportunities to reflect to God his graciousness toward sinners will disappear when we go to heaven, since there will be no sin or sinners there.
Let it be stated very clearly. This is the only time we will get to honor and glorify God through the Togethers as related to man’s sinfulness. This is a one-time limited opportunity.
Of the 65 Togethers, it appears that 30 will be completely lost when we die. We will never get another chance to reflect back to God in behavior with one another his loving nature and character with regard to sinfulness. There will be no more opportunity to hurt with one another and imitate our Lord’s crying over Lazarus. We will never again be able to battle temptation together and reflect God’s standing with us in our weakness. We will never again be able to live as Christians in a non-believing society and show love to unbelievers in the fashion that God provides rain to the just and the unjust. And we will never again be able to proclaim the gospel to unredeemed men and women imitating God’s declaration of His existence through nature or His reaching down to save men and women from their sin.
For example, the opportunity to bear one another’s burdens will be gone. The privilege of bearing one another’s burdens is actually the very great privilege of paying the consequences of other Christian’s sins. It is the closest we can come to imitating our Lord Jesus’ paying the penalty for the sins of believers. Certainly, we do not want to miss this one-time opportunity to worship so costly, so significantly, so like Jesus!
Furthermore, there are another 35 Togethers that are not limited to but have significant applications to the sinfulness in mankind. We will never again have the opportunity to hold to the truth together in the face of challenge as did Jesus in the wilderness when He was challenged by Satan. We will still hold to the truth together in heaven, just not in the face of dispute which reflects to God his holiness in a specific way not available to us after death. In heaven we will most likely still administer God’s grace to one another, just not to sinning men and women. And while in heaven we will live in unity, it will be much, much easier and not reflect the same unity that was hindered by sin.
We must know and be able to automatically remember the 65 Togethers in order to capture precious opportunities to worship God through true Christian community, especially in our friendships, families, and marriages. It is how we help bring an answer to our prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”