Worship, Part Five - The Church Service Is Not a Worship Service

          Worship is our response when we see God. In the Old Testament it was primarily done at the location where God dwelt. With the advent of a new dispensation in the New Testament worship transitioned away from being geographical. Now it did not matter where you were you could still worship God. (I have a sneaking suspicion that a bunch of people who will not agree with today's post won't bother to take the time to read the other posts in this series which establish this paragraph. I have a word for people like that – lazy.)

          …all of which brings us to this statement: the New Testament church service is not a worship service. Yes. You read that correctly. The New Testament church service is not a worship service. Yet around the corner from you is a church with a marquee that says, '11 AM Worship Service' on it. In point of fact, your church marquee probably says that. Worse yet, the vast majority of people in your church believe that. They think they go to church to worship God. Indeed, they think that is the very point of the church service. The stubborn truth is that the church service was not designed or purposed to produce worship. God does not live in a building. You do not need to go to a geographical location to meet with Him.

          Obviously, the vast majority of Christianity, quote and otherwise, disagrees with me. I find talking to those willing to talk about it to be an interesting activity. I often ask them to take the Bible and show me the scriptural support for declaring the church service to be a worship service. Right away they want to run to the Psalms or Exodus or some such Old Testament reference. This is highly problematic for the church is explicitly a New Testament institution. In fact, the New Testament says the church was not even imagined in the Old Testament. I do not deny that Christianity has its roots in Judaism, but it is hermeneutically unsound to use Old Testament passages as the doctrinal support for your philosophical approach to the church service. Otherwise I expect to see a lot of churches slaughtering some animals at the altar next Sunday morning.

        Turning to the New Testament then they grasp for all they are worth on the solitary passing reference to worship in a church service. And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. (I Corinthians 14.25) That's right. This is only New Testament mention of worship in connection with a church service. The only one. And it does not say that the church service was designed to worship God. It says that the lost man recognized God being in them and responded appropriately.

          All over the Bible you will find examples of people bowing down to someone who was a representative of God. Balaam bowed to the angel after his donkey reprimanded him. Manoah bowed to the angel after receiving news of Samson's arrival. David bowed to the angel sent to destroy Jerusalem. Obadiah, Ahab's minister, bowed to Elijah. Nebuchadnezzar bowed to Daniel. Daniel bowed to Gabriel. The wise men bent a knee before the infant Jesus. Lepers bowed before Christ. Various demon possessed people bowed before Christ. Jairus bowed before Christ. The woman with the issue of blood bowed before Christ. A Greek woman bowed before Christ. The blind man in John 9 bowed before Christ. Cornelius bowed to Peter. The Philippian jailer bowed before Paul and Silas. John twice tried to bow before an angel in Revelation.

          All of these people bowed instinctually before someone they deemed as God or the representative of God. Paul's statement in I Corinthians 14 about the lost man falling down on his face in worship during a church service is simply the 17^th example of a person in Scripture recognizing God was somehow in someone and responding with worship. God is in you of a truth. The simple truth is that this verse comes nowhere near stating that the church service should be designed to produce worship.

          Even if you discount my explanation of I Corinthians 14.25 asserting it as the foundational support for viewing the church service as a worship service is still problematic. It certainly is not a clear statement of church service purpose. It occurs in relation to the most disorganized, unruly church in the entire Bible. And it only occurs once.

Further, to say that I Corinthians 14.25 establishes the cardinal rule that the church service is a worship service brings an additional problem. Logically then it makes the church service primarily evangelistic for it was a lost man who bowed in worship. If I take this verse as the normative foundation for my philosophical approach to church then my philosophical approach must primarily be using the church service as a tool to reach the lost. Such an approach violates the entire context of the rest of I Corinthians 14. For instance, look at verse 22. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for that believe not, but for them which believe. In other words, the preaching of the sermon is designed to help believers not unbelievers. Winning the lost to Christ is clearly the purpose of the church but it is just as clearly not the purpose of the church service.

          No, beloved, I Corinthians 14.25 cannot mean that the purpose of the church service is worship. Such an interpretation violates our understanding of how and why worship shifted between the Old Testament and the New Testament. God does not live in a building. God is not in a geographical location. In the New Testament we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and thus we can worship God anywhere at any time.

          If worship is not the point of the New Testament church service than what is the point? I am so glad you asked. The point of the church service is spiritual growth. How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. (I Corinthians 14.26) Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. (I Corinthians 14.12) For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. (I Corinthians 14.17) The simple truth is that in the chapter of the Bible that most discusses the church service edify is used seven times and worship is used once.

Some will say, 'Well, worship is edifying.' I do not dispute that in the least, and if you take this post as a screed against worship you do not know me at all. But I dare not make worship the primary tool for edification in a New Testament church service. I do not have the scriptural authority or example to do so.

          What tools am I to use? How then am I as a pastor to edify the saints who show up for a church service? First of all via music. Again, I reference I Corinthians 14.26. Psalms are to be sung as a means of edification. Let me be explicitly clear – music in church was primarily designed to teach you and grow you, not to help you worship God. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5.19) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3.16) This is precisely because the service itself is primarily designed to grow you spiritually. It is not designed to enable you to worship God.

          The second tool I am to use in edifying the saints in a church service is the tool of preaching. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. (I Corinthians 14.3-5) Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. (I Corinthians 14.19) My understanding of the word prophesy here drives me to see it primarily as preaching. As such, it is mentioned 14 times in this chapter. It is highly emphasized. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy. (I Corinthians 14.39) Why? So that you might edify the brethren. So that they might learn what God says in the Word. So that having been taught the truth they might grow in grace. That is the point of the New Testament church service.

        I can hear you from here. 'Why is he so upset about this? What difference does it make if we call our church service a worship service and you do not?' It makes an absolutely tremendous difference for when you misunderstand this you point your church service in the wrong direction. Practically speaking, even worse it makes it incredibly easy to swallow the lines offered by the contemporary Christian movement for dramatic changes in your church service.

          Next week I will lay that out for you. See you then. 

Worship, Part Four - Worship's Change

          Worship is our response when we meet with God. (See how I arrived at that definition here.) But we haven't always met with God the same way. A dramatic shift in worship came with the shift from the Old Testament economy to the New Testament one. Today I am going to discuss this huge shift with you. Over the next two weeks I will discuss the practical ramifications of what understanding and misunderstanding that shift means to modern American Christianity.

          In the Old Testament (OT), other than occasional theophanies, God was present above the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. We see this vividly illustrated in the story we all learned in Sunday School as children about the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day that hovered above the Mosaic Tabernacle. To tabernacle means literally to dwell and those pillars visually indicated God's presence among His people.

          This is often called the Shekinah Glory, so named after the Hebrew word for dwell. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40.35) The original language word abode has the idea behind it of a bird's nesting place. Solomon, who I think wrote Psalm 132, said in verse four and five, I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. The original language word habitation is the same root word as abode in Exodus 40. It is the word that gives us in English the shekinah in Shekinah Glory. In Solomon's day there was a place but it was a thousand year old tent. Solomon, influenced no doubt by David, wanted to build God a more appropriate dwelling place. He did. Solomon's Temple sat on the same spot where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed. God liked that specific location. Still does, by the way, as will be made clear when Christ returns.

          In the OT we see then that worship was strongly associated with the particular spot your god or God lived; that was where you went to meet Him. Indeed, the very first mention of worship in the Bible indicates this concept. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship. (Genesis 22.5)

          This is seen in the many OT mentions that discuss going to a particular location to worship God.

Elkanah did this. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. (I Samuel 1.3)

David mentions this repeatedly. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped. (II Samuel 12.20) Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill. (Psalm 99.9) We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool. (Psalm 132.7)

This concept, that one worships at a particular location, is the entire reason why Jereboam, the leader of the breakaway Jewish kingdom of Israel, built two false gods. He knew that his people would continue to go down to Jerusalem to worship unless he furnished them a particular place to worship within the boundaries of the new northern kingdom. This is also the reason why Hezekiah and other godly OT kings sought to physically destroy the altars and groves in which false gods were worshipped. If you physically destroyed the place you practically destroyed the god. Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it? (II Chronicles 32.12)

The post-Captivity prophet Jeremiah found this still true in his day. Thus saith the LORD, stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's  house. (Jeremiah 26.2)

          This is why there is a strong indication that when one could not be physically present where God was at you worshipped facing in that direction. I will worship toward thy holy temple. (Psalm 138.2) Daniel is the best known example of this. Daniel 6 does not use the word 'worship' but it does say that he had the lifelong habit of opening the windows of a room that faced Jerusalem and kneeling upon his knees three times a day in prayer.

          In summary then in the OT God's people worshipped Him at a particular location or at least faced their hearts and bodies in that direction. God dwelt in the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Since worship is the response that comes when you meet with God His people went to that particular place to meet Him and to worship.

          In the New Testament (NT) we find a fascinating turn of events. Worship is not discussed near as much in the NT as it is in the OT but it is still certainly discussed. The most important NT chapter on worship is John 4. This is well known as Jesus' best example of personal evangelism. But in the context of the discussion in which Jesus leads the woman at the well to place her faith in Himself there is a very revealing interplay regarding worship.

John 4.19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

         

          The woman at the well was a Samaritan, which is crucial to understanding this part of the conversation. The Samaritans share many similarities, religiously speaking, with the Jews but they also differ in some serious ways. These differences cause great animosity. One of those differences is a disagreement about where the Temple should be located. The Jews believe the Temple should be on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. The Samaritans insist that it ought to be in their neighborhood on Mt. Gerizim.

          This woman immediately perceives Jesus to be in her words a prophet. Yet He is also willingly traveling through Samaria and conversing with Samaritans. She questions Him about this dispute. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus' answer reveals the heart of this incredible shift that takes place in worship between the OT and the NT. He tells her that worship will soon no longer be done at or directed toward any one particular location as had been done all through the OT. The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.   

          Jesus then goes on to explain the reason for this shift in worship. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. In the OT God tabernacled with His people in a tent first and later in the Temple. In the NT God tabernacles with His people via the indwelling Holy Spirit. In the OT the Holy Spirit only 'came upon' or visited people. In the NT the Holy Spirit takes up residence in them.

          Thus it is that in the OT, when one wanted to worship – which is our response when we meet God – he had to go to a location. But in the NT dispensation when he wants to worship he no longer has to go to a place. There is not a spot in the NT where God lives because He lives in the heart of every believer. Thus – and I cannot emphasize this next sentence enough – the NT believer can worship God anywhere provided he does it with the right doctrine and the right heart.

          Paul, a Jews Jew if there ever was one, understood this shift. He grasped that one's physical location and direction in worship no longer mattered. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.3)

          Worship is our response when we meet God. But in our day we can and should meet Him everywhere. Join me next week as I begin to discuss the ramifications of that for the modern American church.

Worship Part Three - Worship's Neighborhood, Cont.

          Worship is our response when we see God. But closely connected with this definition are a number of spiritual concepts. Last week we examined briefly three of them – service, praise, and humility. In and of themselves these three are not worship but they are often found in conjunction with worship. It is wrong to conflate them with worship and I will speak more to that later but it is not wrong to associate them with worship. Today I want to give an additional three connected concepts.

          The fourth is the idea that there is only one God. This is foundational to the Christian but it cannot be overlooked. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34.14) There is no point in intricately discussing worship if we do not realize all of this must be directed at Jehovah God alone. The very first of the Ten Commandments says this, and it is repeated more times than I can count throughout the Word of God.

          The fifth connection point is music. There is much I want to say here but I plan an extensive series of blog posts on music later this year and next. For the moment let me just say that music does not equal worship. Entirely too many Christians in our day think it does, and even those who give lip service that it does not still structure their approach to church as if it does. It is a terrible insult to the concept of worship to equate it simply with music.

          Having said that, it is also true that there are two instances in Scripture in which worship takes place in a musical environment. The first is in reference to to Hezekiah's reign. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. (II Chronicles 29.30) The second is a more generic reference in Psalm 66.4. All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.

          It is not hard to understand why these two are connected occasionally. Much of the music sung in the Old Testament as in the New is not just about God; it is actually directed to God. When such words are taken seriously the singer is actually voicing a musical prayer. Since it is in prayer that we meet God, and since so much of musical prayer is direct praise to God we can easily see how such musical prayer and praise becomes worship.

          The sixth connection point is holiness. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29.2) The idea here is that I cannot worship God if I am not right with Him. My soul and spirit must be squared away before I can approach Him and give Him the worship He deserves.

          Saul was Israel's first king. He began well and ended badly. As things began to deteriorate toward the end he violated the sanctity of the priestly role. When Samuel called him on it Saul responded Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. (I Samuel 15.25) We can debate whether Saul was genuinely repentant here but we cannot debate the truth of what he uttered: we cannot worship God unless our hearts are rightly related to him in obedience. Worship is not a mere external, physical action in which I bow my knee or my face to the ground. No, worship takes place first and foremost in the heart. That heart must be yielded to Him in every known area if it is to worship Him in a way that is acceptable to Him.

          So far in the first three weeks of this series on worship I have focused on what worship is and what accompanies it. Next week I will shift that. I will describe how worship changes from the Old Testament to the New Testament, for it does, and dramatically so. The last two weeks of this series I will discuss how that shift in worship has a direct bearing on twenty first century American Christianity and its concept of church.  

Worship, Part Two - Worship's Neighborhood

          There are only three rules about real estate – location, location, location. You may have two houses exactly alike and yet they may have radically different values based entirely on the neighborhood that surrounds them. In other words, how we view something is often determined not just by what it instrinsically is but also by what is often found around it.

          In a sense worship is this way. When we examine it in the context of its surroundings in the Word of God we often find things that inform how we view worship itself. While these things are not necessarily worship in the strictest sense of the word they do help us to understand worship because they are often seen in its company. They are part and parcel of worship. They are the package that often surrounds it.

          In today's blog post I am going to discuss three of these and I will follow that up with another three next week.

          The first of these is serving. The original language words so often translated as some form of the word 'servant' in the King James Bible (253 times) is also translated nine times as 'worship' or 'worshipper.' In fact, in one particular usage in the New Testament the English word 'worshipper' actually comes from a word that means 'one who sweeps and cleans the temple.'

          There is a direct connection between your sense of worship and whom or what you choose to serve. In practical terms that means if you claim to worship Jehovah and yet you do not serve Him I highly doubt whether you actually do worship Him. By the same token, if you serve yourself or money or any one of a number of false idols often found in current American life it cannot be reconciled with a claim to worship God.

          Jeremiah believed in this deep connection between worship and service. Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. (Jeremiah 22.9) In the same generation Daniel's three friends saw the same thing. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3.18) Five centuries later Paul grasped the same truth. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator. (Romans 1.25) Jesus Himself, quoting no less an authority than Moses, established this emphatically as truth when He said to Satan, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matthew 4.10)

          I am writing this on Easter Sunday afternoon. All across America this morning millions of people gathered in churches to worship God, at least as they see it. Yet a large number of those people made no effort in the last week to serve Him. They gave no cup of cold water in His name to one that was thirsty. They fed no hungry man in His name. They clothed no naked person in His name. They completely ignored the spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial needs of their neighbors. For one hundred sixty seven hours this week they pursued a selfish course yet because they sat in a worship service and sang worship choruses this morning they think they worship God. They could not possibly be more mistaken. If you worship you serve.

          The second connection point we often find with worship is praise. Last week I defined worship as our response when we see God. As I enter His presence I am deeply convinced of my own unworthiness and His transcendent supremacy. I place Him in my heart and mind into the proper sphere He ought to hold and I place myself appropriately as well. Consequently, I bow before Him. I worship Him.

          Such a view of God almost inevitably leads me to praise Him. The sweet psalmist of Israel, who full well knew worship and praise both, saw this connection. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. (Psalm 86.9) Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. (Psalm 99.5) I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth. (Psalm 138.2)

          Overall I take a rather dim view of contemporary Christian America's praise and worship music but I have the greatest respect for the sincerity of the motives behind it. Praise and worship do go hand in hand and ought to go hand in hand in the life of God's people. They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. (II Chronicles 7.3) The one thing that such churches and such people get right more than any other is a deep desire to praise the God we all worship. I love them for it.

          The third connection point Scripture implicitly and explicitly pairs with worship is humility. We saw last week that humility is central to the whole idea of what worship is. This is borne out repeatedly in Scripture. I will not bore you with a long list of quotations. I will allow myself just one. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. (Psalm 95.6)

          Humility is necessary for the proper exercise of every spiritual grace but none more so than worship. If I am to bow in my heart it must be because I see myself as completely unworthy of Him. Pride is anathema to all that God would build in us. At the same time it is mother's milk to all that is wrong and wicked in this world. The older I get the more shocked I am to find famous preachers and ministries that seem to embrace pride so thoughtlessly. Do they not understand? Can they not see? If they really are as close to God as they represent themselves to be the result would be the opposite of great pride – it would be a profound humility.

          Yet it is exactly here that I must pause. I must pull back my indignantly outthrust arm and retract my accusatory finger. I must cease peering around the corners of the beam in my own eye. I must drag the clandestine cavities of my own heart into the full orbed light of God's day and see the filth contained therein. While I want to throw everyone else at God's feet in my self-righteous judgment I must instead throw myself there. I must humble myself under the mighty hand of God and let Him worry about humbling everyone else.

          Worship is not service but if it does not include service it is not worship. Worship is not praise but it will naturally produce praise. Worship is not humility alone but without humility worship cannot exist. Humility is the air in which worship breathes.

          Beloved, do you serve Him this week. Do you praise Him this week. Do you humble yourself before Him. In these ways, then, let us worship the Lord our God.

Worship, Part One – What is Worship?

          

          One of my wife's favorite movies is The Princess Bride. I confess to enjoying it myself. It has such tremendous number of often applicable lines. One of those lines came to mind as I thought about the subject of this new blog series. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." The word I mean is "worship".

          American Christianity has probably never spent more time and emphasis on worship with so little equivalent understanding. People go to church to worship. When they get there they walk into a scheduled worship service. During this service they sing praise and worship. These song sets are directed by a worship leader. They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means.

          For the next six weeks we are going to delve into the subject of worship. We are going to define worship. We are going to examine a number of things that are often found in conjunction with worship. We are going to talk about the shift in worship between Israel and the Church. We are going to explain why the church service is not a worship service. Finally, we are going to show you the compounding errors that come to a church when it wrongly aims its service at worship.

          Are you mad at me yet? Hang on, it is probably going to get worse before it's over…

          Some form of the word "worship" is used one hundred ninety times in the King James Version. In the Old Testament the vast majority of those (99) come from the Hebrew word "shachah" which literally means to bow down. This original language word is also translated in the KJV Old Testament as bow, bow down, obeisance, reverence, fall down, stoop, and crouch. Additionally, Daniel, which is not written in Hebrew but in Aramaic uses "worship" twelve times. The Aramaic word Daniel used, "segeed" means to prostrate oneself.

          In the New Testament the vast majority of the usages (60) come from the Greek word "proskuneo" which means kneeling or prostration. The root word underlying it implies a dog kissing his master's hand. There are a few other usages translated as "worship" but they are much rarer. We will look at some of them in the context of what worship includes rather than as what worship is defined as.

          What I gather out of my examination of these definitions and out of the predominance of the word usages is that worship is bowing myself before God when I enter into His presence. Worship strongly implies a whole heart and body attitude of an inferior humbly notifying his superior that he understands and believes in the validity of their arrangement. For instance, in the context of a promised answer to prayer in battle II Chronicles 20.18 records And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. Satan exhibited a similar understanding in the New Testament when he said to Christ during the temptations All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Matthew 4.9)

          With that as a basic understanding of the word itself let us look at some examples in Scripture of this kind of behavior.

Moses

Exodus 34.6-8 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

Joshua

Joshua 5.14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

the people at Solomon's Temple dedication

II Chronicles 7:3  And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

the Wise Men

Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

the women after the Resurrection

Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

the 24 elders in heaven (repeated two more times in Revelation 11.16 and 19.4)

Revelation 5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

the angels in heaven

Revelation 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

          In each of the nine cases I have cited so far we see specific instances of people meeting God and responding in deep humility by physically bowing down and worshipping. After noticing this pattern as I studied the word "worship" in the Bible I decided to examine every case I could find of a human being seeing God. I wanted to determine if I could find the same reaction. In other words I wanted to see if humans prostrate themselves in God's presence whether or not the Scripture actually uses the word "worship." Not surprisingly this is exactly what I found. Here are some illustrations of what I believe to be worship even though the word is never used:

Abraham

Genesis 17.1-3 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

Moses and Aaron

Numbers 20:6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.

The priests at Solomon's Temple dedication (repeated II Chronicles 5.14)

1Kings 8:11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

the crowd at Elijah's battle with the prophets of Baal

1Kings 18:39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

Ezekiel (repeated six times in Ezekiel)

Ezekiel 1:28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Peter, after Jesus filled the net with fish

Luke 5.8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

the Apostles at the Transfiguration

Matthew 17:6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

Paul's conversion

Acts 9.3-4 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

John the Revelator

Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

          To me the definition of worship is relatively simple: worship is our response when we see God. It is what happens in our heart and soul when we enter into His presence, in awe of His greatness, conscious of His holiness and our own sinfulness, when in humility and amazement we fall at His feet and esteem Him rightfully in every way our superior.

          Jehoshaphat did it. Moses did it. Joshua did it. The people and the priests at Solomon's Temple's dedication did it. Abraham did it. Aaron did it. The crowd at Elijah's battle with the prophets of Baal did it. Ezekiel did it. The Wise Men did it. The women who met Jesus after His Resurrection did it. Peter did it. The Apostles at the Transfiguration did it. Paul did it. John did it. The twenty four elders will do it in Heaven. The angels do it.

          Do you do it? Do you worship God? Do you ever meet with Him? Did you meet with Him this morning? When you did, did you worship Him? Did you, in your heart, throw yourself at His feet and proclaim Him in every way your superior? Did you worship Him today?

          It is not too late. The day is not over. If you have not done it yet today steal away from your screen, find a quiet place, throw yourself at His feet, and worship Him, beloved. He is most deserving.

From My Mailbag - 8 Reasons Why the Great Commission is Personal

Dear _________,                                                            

Please forgive me for the delay in answering your letter. I wanted to answer it carefully and I appreciate your patience with me. I will begin by including the text of your letter in italics here followed by my response.

I have a great deal of respect for you, as one of the most helpful messages in recent times has been the "39 Years..." message.

Like you, I have examined much of what I believe and have kept most of it because I find most of it to be Biblical.  There are four areas in which I think teaching I've received is rather weak (without much Scriptural support) - in no particular order, they are (1) total ban on alcohol  (2) multiple pastors  (3) tithing and (4) soul-winning.

I am writing about #4; allow me to say that by the grace of God I have never drunk any alcohol and I have no desire to. I think the Bible clearly indicates that it is very dangerous.  I am not looking for an excuse to drink.

Likewise with #3, I believe that the NT teaches that every Christian should give as the Holy Spirit leads him; that may be 10% for many, and 25% or 50% for others. I have always at least tithed, and am not trying to get out of the obligation to support my church.

With all of these, I think the standard arguments used by the IFB preachers I've heard are pretty weak.

But I'm writing to ask for thoughts regarding soul-winning.  It seems to me that the so-called "Great Commission" was given to the church as a whole, and not to individuals.  (Most churches I've been a part of do not allow any member to baptize - part 2, reserving that for the church, and also don't let every Christian teach - part 3.  So, I fail to see why the "Great Commission" part 1 is supposed to apply to everyone.  I worked at a bank in my youth. Not everyone was a teller, out in front of people; some worked behind the scenes in the bookkeeping department; others made decisions about loans; others filed checks. Not everyone had the same job, even though we were all part of the same bank.  This seems, to me, to more of the model of the New Testament church.

Furthermore, when I read the New Testament, I  find lots of passages where Paul is encouraging Timothy and Titus to tell people to live godly and love one another, etc... but "soul-winning" is strangely absent from ALL of these commands.  I find examples - Paul says something like "woe is ME if I preach not the gospel", but he doesn't say "woe is YOU if YOU preach not the gospel"

So, I would welcome your thoughts on this subject... I am also a very shy person, so this going door-to-door among strangers, interrupting their time at home (as it seems to me), and insisting that I have answers for them (as I think I appear to them) has always been very hard for me.  On top of that, my unsaved parents were dead-set against us selling anything door-to-door during school fund raisers - they insisted that no one wanted the junk stuff we were selling, and only purchased it out of kindness, and they were completely unwilling to reciprocate, so they were against us going out.

Your replies have generally been reasoned and not hysterical, so I wanted to seek your input, if you have the time.

I commend you wholeheartedly for your desire to discover the why behind what is preached and taught. I greatly wish more people had that same desire.

Now, in relation to the specifics of what you asked…

It seems to me that your position here is that the Great Commission (GC) applies to the Church corporately but not to the Christian individually. My position both agrees and disagrees. I believe the GC applies to the Church corporately but also to the Christian individually. IOW, to be perfectly clear, I believe that every Christian has a mandate/command given to him by Christ to witness to the lost.

Here are my reasons…

1) The GC was given to the Church but the Church is composed of individuals.

Matthew 28:19–20 

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

If this is the case why then do not all individuals teach and all individuals baptize? First, I also think all individuals should teach. That does not mean I think every individual is capable of teaching in a class setting/format. Such are limited to those with the gift of teaching (teachers are a gift to the church, Eph 4.11) in my view. But even those without the gift of teaching to groups are still supposed to be teaching – in a mentoring capacity one on one, their children, etc. Every Christian ought to be teaching somebody something about Christianity. Second, I also think all Christians could baptize. Yes, I realize that puts me out of step with many of my brethren but I don't see anything in Scripture that limits baptisms to ordained clergy. If you were a member of my church and you won someone to Christ and you wanted to baptize him I would let you. Additionally, the 'lo I am with you always' is not just corporate; it is corporately personal, to coin a phrase. It applies not just to the Church generically but to each person in it – just like the rest of the GC. Ergo, I think I am being consistent when I say that the first of the three parts of the GC also applies to the individual.

2) The GC is explicitly connected with the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church; that gift is not just corporate but extremely personal.

Acts 1:8–9 

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

One of the primary reasons the Holy Spirit was given was to enable God's people to witness. If I, as a child of God, want the multiplicity of great blessings that come with a personally indwelling Holy Spirit then I also must take the corresponding responsibilities that come with it – to live holy (Romans 8) and to witness (Acts 1).

3) There is no indication in the New Testament that personal evangelism is a gift only given to a few.

I can't give you a verse for this one. Which is the point. There are many different gifts mentioned in the epistles. Soul winning is most definitely not on any of those lists. If it is, as you basically maintain, something that only some people in the church are gifted to do then why isn't it on those lists anywhere?

4) Personal evangelism was modeled by Jesus and He is the example for every believer.

Matthew 4:19 

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Is there anything Jesus did that you and I aren't supposed to do? In a sense the answer is yes – we are not supposed to do the things specifically associated with His first advent such as miracles, be crucified, etc. But I don't think any right minded person would argue that the personal witnessing He did was mission specific. It was normative. It was designed not only to win the person to whom He was talking but also to be an example to those who followed Him.

5) The GC is implied to every individual in the command of Luke 19.

Luke 19:10–13 

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

The context of each servant receiving the pound and the command to occupy is one of witnessing. 'Occupy' literally means to go into business. My business, whatever else it may be as a human being, is God's business and God's business in this context is the salvation of humanity. That task and instruction is committed to all of His servants.

6) Fulfilling the GC is in no wise dependent on whether it will bother or harass or offend the lost.

Luke 2:49 

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

One of the statements I make often in preaching is that every word in the Bible is there on purpose. That word 'business' here directly links this passage to the one in Luke 19. Jesus knew His parents would take offense to how He chose to serve the Lord; He did it anyway. We see that pattern all through the Scripture from one end to the other. Does that mean we ought to be careless about causing offense to the lost while trying to win them? Certainly not. But it does mean that I do not allow a misplaced concern about pestering, harassing, interrupting, or bothering the lost man to keep me from trying to witness to him.

7) Fulfilling the GC is in no wise dependent on my personality.

Luke 14:18 

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

I realize God created every one of us different. I realize witnessing is easier for some people than others. So is being kind but all of us are supposed to be kind. So is being cheerful but all of us are supposed to be cheerful. So is being patient but all of us are supposed to be patient. So is controlling our temper but all of us are supposed to control our temper. To take any other approach is to offer a justification for any number of people disregard any number of commands simply because they find them difficult to fulfill. I understand shy people have a harder time witnessing that outgoing people. Witness anyway. An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. A retiring personality is an excuse not to witness rather than a reason.

8) Lastly and most importantly, Paul most emphatically did not say 'I' (referring only to himself) am supposed to preach the Gospel; he said 'we' are supposed to preach the Gospel.

This is really key to my whole response to you. Paul did not just personally witness; he also laid on every Christian the same personal responsibility. And he did so repeatedly in a plain context in relation to witnessing.

2 Corinthians 5:6–20 

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

…

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

You believe in the personal comfort of the 'we' in verse six. You believe in the personal instruction of the 'we' in verse seven. You believe in the personal comfort of the 'we' in verse eight. Etc. etc. Then you must believe in the personal command of the 'we' in verse eleven, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty. You cannot pick and choose in this chapter. 'We', 'us', 'all', 'every one', 'any man', clearly and repeatedly refer to every single Christian.

Allow me one more word in closing. I do not believe the Bible teaches that you have to walk up to a stranger's door on Saturday morning at 11 AM and witness to him. I do that and I encourage my church people to do that for a large number of very good reasons but I do not believe that is a specific command. But you do have to personally be active in witnessing to the lost. That is most clear in the Word of God. The GC is not just a corporate responsibility. It is a personal command given to every single Christian.

Respectfully,

Tom Brennan

Help! What Should We Pay the Pastor? – Part Six, Three Helps to Come Up With the Numbers

          You are an independent Baptist. No overarching denominational board tells you how much you are to pay your pastor. You want to do a better job of it but you don't know how to go about it. In today's post I offer you three suggestions to help you come up with the numbers.

     

     The first and probably simplest way to do it is to purchase some resources from others who have studied such things. I recommend churchlawandtax.com. In addition to a wide range of clergy law, insurance, and tax supports it issues an annual book called the Compensation Handbook for Church Staff. Not only is this updated every year but it has editions tailored to a wide range of employee types and church sizes. It is carefully researched, detailed, and legally accurate. For a small amount of money the committee that determines the pastor's pay could educate themselves rather well and do so on an ongoing basis.

          The second way is to do your own work comparing the pay structure of other churches in your particular area. When I came to Chicago eleven years ago I felt I was underpaid. This was the route I chose to go to address it. No, you cannot find information on independent churches this way but almost every mainline denominational group publicly posts its pastoral salary structure and recommendations. Further, they generally do so broken up by geographical regions. With some digging, I was able to determine what Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Christ, and Assembly of God churches of equivalent size to ours in the same geographical region paid their pastors. I was able to gather the forms they sent to their local church clergy salary committees. Printing off stacks of such information several years in a row I took them to my annual budget meetings with the men of our church. I used them to explain the areas in which I thought our church should improve and why those requests were reasonable. This made sense to our men because their unions often use a similar concept to compare pay rates across an industry. Over a roughly four year span I was able to gradually bring my church to improve to a position roughly average to a little above average in that department. Through these years they have ungrudgingly maintained it and appropriately added to it from year to year.

          To do this one must needs be comparing apples to apples. In other words, if your pastor is making the same salary as the custodian at the local Presbyterian church everything is not hunky dory.

          The third way is to build a formula.

          In my research, in addition to benefits, I have generally found three criteria used to determine a pastor's pay rate. The first is his level of education. This is widely used as well in the secular world in areas such as medicine and education. The working assumption is that a higher level of education usually corresponds with a greater effectiveness on the job. This is essentially true when that work involves some sort of research, study, or relatively arcane expertise. I know people who dispute this as being reasonable. I am not one of them. Generally speaking, I would rather learn from a professor with a doctorate than one with a master's degree. There are exceptions to this, and the ministry lends itself to such. Many a man without advanced degrees makes a wonderful pastor. Such a man can even be a deep preacher if he diligently follows a program of self-directed study. But the truth of this does not rule out the wisdom of using an educational level as one of a number of such criteria.

          The second widely used benchmark is the size of the congregation to which the pastor ministers. Please do not hang me here. I do not believe there is anything inherently more spiritual about a larger church. But there is generally a larger, broader, heavier responsibility in a larger church. For instance, right now the only staff I supervise at my church is a secretary. In a larger church the pastor might need to supervise assistant pastors, a Christian school staff, etc. That adds a layer of complexity to his work. I have more work to do now as the pastor of an average size church than I used to have as the pastor of a start up church. I do more counseling. I do more long range planning. I do more financial administration. I do more mentoring. I do more shut in visitation. As my work load has increased in the past 19 years as a pastor so has my pay. That just makes sense.

          The third point of comparison is experience. I cannot think of a single vocation in which this is more valuable than the ministry even more so than academics. Let's take two pastors for example. Pastor A has a church of 130 members in a city of about 100,000 people in a southern state. Pastor B has a church of 150 members in a city of about 80,000 in a southern state. They both have bachelor's degrees from a reputable Bible college. But Pastor A has been a pastor for 25 years while Pastor B has four years of experience as a youth pastor. It is patently obvious that Pastor A should make more money. He offers his congregation a veritable plethora of Bible knowledge, life experience, and people knowledge that Pastor B does not. Pastor A's sermons are richer and deeper. Pastor A's diagnosis and consequent treatment of weak Christians in his church is much more accurate than Pastor B's. Pastor A's counseling is almost always spot on while Pastor B's is more hit and miss. Again, please do not misunderstand me. I am not criticizing Pastor B. I used to be him. He is tremendously useful to the cause of Christ. He is helpful to his church. But Pastor A is more helpful to his church and that hard won experience will be rewarded if his church is a wise church.

          Of course these three criteria cannot take everything into account. For instance, if a pastor with one child leaves and the pastor who follows him has seven children the church must needs notice that. Additionally, these criteria do not take into account the financial health of a church nor the average condition of its members. If the formula states that a pastor should make $100,000 a year but no one in his church makes more than $30,000 a year than paying him the formula's salary will breed resentment and distrust among the very people he is trying to reach. By the same token, if the board of deacons averages a personal salary of $75,000 a year but the formula only says to pay the pastor $25,000 those deacons will struggle to respect their pastor. Another way of saying this is that formulas are only helpful. They are more like guidelines than actual rules.

          The advantage, though, of using the formula as a guideline is there is no need for emotion or hurt feelings. Once it is determined it chugs along the track by itself. What percentage of pay is a year of experience worth? What percentage of pay is a master's degree worth? What percentage of pay is a 50 person increase in average attendance worth? Plug the numbers in, include a yearly addendum based on inflation, and the formula spits out an answer that no one can be offended by.

          With this post I leave the subject of pastoral salary. Much more could be said on the subject surely but I have spoken my piece for the moment. As always, I invite you to share your response if you so choose. My aim has been to cover the basics of a necessary approach by both the pastor and the church. In short, may God's men be contented, sacrificial, wise, and bold in their leadership. May God's people be conscientious and generous in their support.

          New series launches next week… Stay tuned.