September 25th, 2025
This blog was originally published on February 12th, 2020.
Worship isn’t a performance, nor is the gathered church an audience. Most church leaders would agree with this, however, is our methodology really informed by our theology? A.W. Tozer, an American pastor in the early to mid-20th century, presciently observed, “The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.” Many unquestioned practices of the church today encourage people to be consumers and spectators. But Scripture teaches us something completely different.
In John 4, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is seeking worshippers who would worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The Apostle Paul made it clear that our worship is a response to God’s revelation of Himself but is only made possible as we build one another up using our spiritual gifts. The church at Corinth is pictured as a place where “each one” participates for the “profit of all” (12:7). Additionally, Paul describes their worship in I Corinthians 14:26 as various members bringing “a psalm…a teaching…a tongue…a revelation…an interpretation.” This isn’t criticized by the apostle; instead, he emphasizes the governing principle, “let all things be done for edification.”
In a recent Sunday night series, we studied passages on the New Testament church and concluded that the whole tenor of NT teaching about the church describes to us church gatherings where God’s people, empowered and gifted by His Spirit, come together to worship God through ministry to one another. Really, edification (the horizontal dimension) and worship (the vertical dimension) are two sides to the same coin.
The Bible uses the metaphor of the human body to illustrate the importance of every member of His church. In Ephesians, we need “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share” to bring about the “growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” In a longer passage, Paul uses the body metaphor in I Corinthians 12:12-18 to underscore that every member is necessary, whether visible or behind-the-scenes.
We don’t step into our weekly gatherings and forget these Scriptural truths. Though pastors and others lead the worship, the rest of the congregation doesn’t idly stand by. Rather, they are active participants in every part of the worship service. When one leads in prayer, all lift up their hearts to God in corporate dependence. When musicians and song leaders initiate the singing, the whole church teaches and admonishes each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). When the offering plate is passed around, each one gives out of the cheerfulness of their hearts (II Corinthians 9:7). When folks are greeted and welcomed to the service, many employ their gifts of encouragement and exhortation. And when an expositor stands up, reads Scripture, and gives the sense of what’s been read (Nehemiah 8:8), the whole church submits to God’s Word together. Furthermore, those gatherings don’t take place if individuals aren’t using their serving gifts, setting up chairs, preparing the Lord’s Table, and clearing the snow so individuals can make it to the front door.
At Emmanuel Church, we value the participation of each member because all of us together constitute the worshipping community. We believe that everything we do should encourage engagement and participation rather than merely sitting and watching. We train and encourage our children to sing from a very young age. We value the youth and their contributions to our services. We integrate those with musical gifts into the service as much as possible. We encourage men to stand up and read Scripture and pray. Every Sunday night includes testimonies and special music. Pew Bibles allow everyone to follow along with the teaching. We explain ordinances and other practices in order to continually inform our people why we’re doing what we’re doing. Sermons are constructed to engage the mind, heart and will and therefore increase faith and action.
Church is not a show, a performance, a program, or a spectator sport. Rather, the worship God desires from His people includes all of us, “as living stones…being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5). A church engaged with truth about God, responding to His character and works as it is empowered by the Spirit’s gifts to all – that is what the Bible describes as worship.
Worship isn’t a performance, nor is the gathered church an audience. Most church leaders would agree with this, however, is our methodology really informed by our theology? A.W. Tozer, an American pastor in the early to mid-20th century, presciently observed, “The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.” Many unquestioned practices of the church today encourage people to be consumers and spectators. But Scripture teaches us something completely different.
In John 4, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is seeking worshippers who would worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The Apostle Paul made it clear that our worship is a response to God’s revelation of Himself but is only made possible as we build one another up using our spiritual gifts. The church at Corinth is pictured as a place where “each one” participates for the “profit of all” (12:7). Additionally, Paul describes their worship in I Corinthians 14:26 as various members bringing “a psalm…a teaching…a tongue…a revelation…an interpretation.” This isn’t criticized by the apostle; instead, he emphasizes the governing principle, “let all things be done for edification.”
In a recent Sunday night series, we studied passages on the New Testament church and concluded that the whole tenor of NT teaching about the church describes to us church gatherings where God’s people, empowered and gifted by His Spirit, come together to worship God through ministry to one another. Really, edification (the horizontal dimension) and worship (the vertical dimension) are two sides to the same coin.
The Bible uses the metaphor of the human body to illustrate the importance of every member of His church. In Ephesians, we need “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share” to bring about the “growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” In a longer passage, Paul uses the body metaphor in I Corinthians 12:12-18 to underscore that every member is necessary, whether visible or behind-the-scenes.
We don’t step into our weekly gatherings and forget these Scriptural truths. Though pastors and others lead the worship, the rest of the congregation doesn’t idly stand by. Rather, they are active participants in every part of the worship service. When one leads in prayer, all lift up their hearts to God in corporate dependence. When musicians and song leaders initiate the singing, the whole church teaches and admonishes each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). When the offering plate is passed around, each one gives out of the cheerfulness of their hearts (II Corinthians 9:7). When folks are greeted and welcomed to the service, many employ their gifts of encouragement and exhortation. And when an expositor stands up, reads Scripture, and gives the sense of what’s been read (Nehemiah 8:8), the whole church submits to God’s Word together. Furthermore, those gatherings don’t take place if individuals aren’t using their serving gifts, setting up chairs, preparing the Lord’s Table, and clearing the snow so individuals can make it to the front door.
At Emmanuel Church, we value the participation of each member because all of us together constitute the worshipping community. We believe that everything we do should encourage engagement and participation rather than merely sitting and watching. We train and encourage our children to sing from a very young age. We value the youth and their contributions to our services. We integrate those with musical gifts into the service as much as possible. We encourage men to stand up and read Scripture and pray. Every Sunday night includes testimonies and special music. Pew Bibles allow everyone to follow along with the teaching. We explain ordinances and other practices in order to continually inform our people why we’re doing what we’re doing. Sermons are constructed to engage the mind, heart and will and therefore increase faith and action.
Church is not a show, a performance, a program, or a spectator sport. Rather, the worship God desires from His people includes all of us, “as living stones…being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5). A church engaged with truth about God, responding to His character and works as it is empowered by the Spirit’s gifts to all – that is what the Bible describes as worship.
Recent
Archive
2025
January
February
2024
January
February
Categories
no categories
Tags
no tags
No Comments