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"Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts (Colossians 3:16).

There is a lovely song that I have heard sung at a number of youth events by the title of this article. Here are the words:

"When the music fades, all is stripped away, And I simply come

Like many songs, there is a story behind this one. Matt Redman was involved with a church in England that had been growing but had hit a wall. One of the struggles concerned its music. So he did a radical thing, he got rid of the sound system and band for a while, began singing a cappella for a while. His point was "that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away" (1).

We know that worship has been a much debated topic over the last decade or so. Among churches of Christ, praise teams vs. a single song leader, contemporary music vs. the traditional, and more recently an introduction of instrumental music into the assembly have all been part of the discussion (2). But there is more to worship than just music. What exactly is worship? Another aspect of the debate centers on some who see the assembly as a "worship service" with certain forms to be practiced and those who see life as an ongoing worship to God, practiced in ways that bring glory to God. Within this debate is yet another. When we come together, is it to worship, to worship exclusively, or is it to edify one another.

One speaker in discussing worship talked about visiting two different types of churches. One was a church of what is called a high church tradition, very formal. The pulpit was high, everyone faced forward, the music classical. In another church of the same tradition was a congregation that met "in the round," that is, everyone sat in a circle facing one another, less formal, more contemporary music, more modern. For most of us, these might be considered extremes.

When we come together, what exactly are we trying to accomplish? Will we worship God or will we edify each other? Will it be focused on preaching, the Lord’s Supper and the praise of God or will it be focused on experiences, prayer and the encouraging of one another? Is worship something that is only formal and is edification only found in relax atmospheres?

First, we need to understand what the New Testament says about worship. There are a number of texts but two or three are very important. When Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well, among the topics discussed was worship. She saw worship being at places like the mountain in Samaria or the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus said that the time was coming when we would worship "in Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24). I see Him saying there that worship was going to be an attitude, not simply a place. We see this in Paul’s writings. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer you bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is true worship" (Romans 12:1). When one offers a sacrifice one is worshipping God. We are to offer ourselves as daily sacrifices, that is, we have a worshipful attitude daily. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). One final texts continues this view of worship as an attitude. "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Hebrews 13:15-16). When we speak we are offering to God a sacrifice. No wonder so much is said about speech, especially in the New Testament. We do not do well here, do we? What kind of sacrifices have we been offering to God through speech? Likewise, doing good and sharing is worship as well (3).

There are no examples in the New Testament of a "worship service," and in fact, there is no formal description on worship at all. We do see some problems in the assemblies of the Corinthian church (chapters 11-14). There Paul emphasizes building up or edifying the church (4). When we come together, what should be the emphasis?

Let’s look at our two texts on music and see what we can draw from them concerning worship. Why these texts? "For most believers, music is not a frill or an ornament, not some illustration of a theological truth; much more, music is the good news in word and sound, the purest and most potent expression of God’s presence and transcendence, and the best way to engage our hearts and imaginations, our bodies and souls" (5). We are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Music can help center our minds on God as well as encouraging our hearts in worship.

Our assemblies should be moments of teaching. How do we know what God wants if we do not study what God has given us through His word? We have a sermon. We have songs that we can learn from. We have experiences and wisdom. Teaching offers us the opportunity to open the door to scripture. Who is God? What has He done? How can we draw closer to Him? Sermons should stay away from personal opinions, though on some texts, that might be all we have to offer, not understanding everything about those texts. We should stay away from ridicule and judgmental attitudes, realizing that it is God who is the judge. We can show the love of God even in the texts where He judges people and nations. There are warnings there, much like we see in the prophets. There is guidance and hope as well. In teaching, our focus should be in helping people see God, especially in Christ.

In our assemblies we should praise God. If all of life is worship, so is the assembly. It is a time for God’s people, in the presence of God, to praise Him for being the King of the universe, the Almighty and Powerful God of creation. We praise Him for His salvation found in Christ. This is done in word, song and prayer. We focus our attention on why He has brought us together and worship Him for this. We cannot ignore this aspect in our assemblies because it affects other aspects as well. Formal or informal settings should not make a difference. We gather together because we are saved in Christ.

When we assembly, we also should encourage one another. Fellowship is part of our time together. It is a broad topic in that it involves the assembly, a meal together, a greeting, visiting, and learning about each other. The assembly is an escape from the harshness of the world where we see anger, selfishness, and unkindness. Those things should never be found in an assembly. As the song above suggests, it’s not about me. Humility and service are indeed two attitudes found when we come together. People struggle, lament, are hurting and in pain, both mentally and physically. Encouragement considers these things and finds ways of standing along side of the strugglers. It is a time of confession and repentance, knowing we have not always been pleasing to God. It is a time of joy and hope offered to the pilgrim wandering in the wilderness, heading home to the Garden. The assembly should seek to be concerned about edification because when others are edified, so am I.

Finally, the assembly is a time to give thanks. Again, there is a focus on God. We look up because we understand who we were and who we are. The Lord’s Supper is one means of giving thanks, calling to mind the awful cost and sacrifice of Jesus as our sin offering, so that we can be in fellowship with God. And He is with us around the table as we celebrate the joy of our salvation. We thank God for each other, for family, jobs, country, and providing for us. When we "collect" money, we are offering to God what He has given to us. In reality, we are offering to God ourselves daily, taking up our cross and following Jesus (Luke 9:23).

Worship doesn’t have just one aspect to it. We have too often emphasized forms and missed relationships. By the same token, we can build relationships and miss praise. We can praise and miss encouragement. Tying to do it all in an assembly, when one thinks about it, can be difficult. I don’t have any easy answers to this. That is where the body of Christ comes in. Each of us can in some way contribute to the various aspects of the assembly as we continue our worship to God.

Let me conclude with the following, again found in the context of music, but I think, important to our understanding of assembly worship. Are the people taught? Is it true scripturally, understandable, and meaningful? Are the people inspired, that is, does it engage the emotions? Do we receive balance? Is there joy and reverence? Will we find a sense of community? Are we encouraged to participate? Is there a sense of awe? Is God really among us (6)? Answering these questions will go a long way in drawing us closer to God and one another. This is the heart of worship!

George B. Mearns

(2) Instrumental music was a major problem from the 1850s which lead to an official recognition of a split between churches of Christ and the Christian church in 1906.

(3) Other texts include Philippians 2:17; 4:18; Romans 15:16; 2 Timothy 4:6; 1 Peter 2:5

(4) See 14:1-5, 12, 16-18, 26

(5) Darryl Tippens, Pilgrim Heart, The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life, Leafwood Publishers, 2006, p. 146.

(6) Tippens, p. 153.