WORSHIPPING GOD FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD

It may seem off-base to worship God for the sake of the world. We might be more inclined to think that we worship God for God’s sake or at least for our sake. But for the sake of the world? Without denying the other options I want to suggest that we really should consider what it means to worship God for the sake of the world; especially as we work to reconcile what seem to be opposite impulses in the life of the church: worship and mission. First let’s review what we have discussed over the last seven weeks about mission ...

God’s Mission and the Christ
Christ is Lord over all creation. There is one kingdom. There are not multiple kingdoms with rulers other than Christ. The contest is over. Jesus is exalted as Lord or as Peter said, "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2:36). All the earth and all creation may submit to this rule or resist it.
Christ’s people live by that rule – everywhere in the world. Our allegiance to Christ is not determined by political, national, or cultural boundaries. We are not any more or less Christian based on where we live. Whether or not America is considered a "Christian" nation does not determine our allegiance to the rule of Christ. Whether or not the south remains the "Bible belt" does not determine our allegiance to Christ. Those who call on the Christ and submerge their lives into live by the rule of the savior and are citizens of his emerging kingdom.
We are defined by his rule and his mission. So ultimately, our character and the character of the church is shaped by the common Lord and the common mission that gathers up the people of Christ and sends them out into creation. We are shaped by the character of our king (When you think of a kingdom, the kings image and name are printed on all the money and legal documents and seals and his own person becomes the standard of measurement – a foot, a span, a yard).

God’s Mission and the Church
God’s Mission is to the world – Now we see how this defines the church. The church is not an institution or organization to keep Christians busy. The church is not a place to get together and do stuff or go to worship. The church is a collection, a community, an assembly of people called out by the King. We represent his rule in the world. How do we do that? We are like the Jesus who was sent into the world to represent God. We are being gathered and also sent out. Our calling out has purpose. We are not different just to be different. We are different for the sake of the world so it too may turn to the King.
Mission is the character of the church – It is God’s mission and we are involved in mission to the world because we follow God and our Lord to give witness to what he is doing. Not a program of the church – We are not independent contractors. God did not give us the evangelism concession for this planet. God is operating in the world and we are recipients of that mission and witness to what he has done, is doing and will do. Sent by God for sake of the world – Thus mission is not simply limited to "missions" or "local outreach." Those activities are part of mission in the same way the college ministry, the youth ministry, small groups, benevolence, education and all other activities are part of the mission. This is because mission is part of who we are in Christ and not just what we do. So everything is mission – even worship? Ah yes, here’s where the reality of all this starts to rub against the grain of our ingrained concepts ... By compartmentalizing and departmentalizing the activities of the church we have begun to think too rigidly about what is for "insider" and what is for "outsiders." It has created an "us and them" way of thinking that hampers our participation in God’s mission efforts in the world. This rigid "us and them" way of thinking is seen most vividly in the typical misconceptions about worship and mission and their relationship with one another.

The first, and probably the most prominent, view is a traditional one that for the purpose of discussion we will call the "Inside and Outside" view. The concept of insider and outsider or "us and them" separates worship and mission. Worship is for those inside the church. Mission takes place outside. The inside and outside approach views worship as the activity for those inside the church which equips them or refreshes them for the task of mission which is limited to work "outside" the church. Worship is reduced to motivation of the church for its mission to outsiders. Worst of all, worship and mission are distinct activities in the church’s life.

• Practical ways this model begins to break down: First, what do we do when our children and young people are added to the church? They have worshipped with us for years – perhaps their whole lives – and now they have somehow come "inside" the church. What nurtured them all those years and enabled them to make the decision to submit to Christ in baptism? In most cases it was the "insider" activities of the church. By participating in "insider" activities, like worship, these young people are now insiders but were they ever really outsiders?
• On the other side, consider the mission activities and the teaching that benefits many a so-called "outsider." We are amazed to see their lives transformed by their acceptance of the good news. Because they have undergone such a transformation of character and received hope when they thought all was hopeless they have a deep-rooted and sincere faith. They are so thankful and grateful for the good news. Many of these people go one to become some of the greatest evangelists. Now, if "outsiders" can benefit from hearing the gospel like that what about those of us who "grew up inside the church" and were nurtured to faith by the insider activities? Why can’t we benefit from outsider activities?

That’s why some have tried the next approach ... The "Outside In" approach responds to the Inside and Outside approach by bringing the mission activity of the church inside to the worship assembly. (Bring the "outside" activity directly into the context of worship for a presentation of the gospel.) In this approach the worship is regarded as either a presentation of the gospel for a captive audience of outsiders. This approach may be an attempt to unite worship and mission, but in the end we can never be sure if what we come up with is worship or mission. Bringing the outside in to the inside is sometimes called worship evangelism. But attempts at worship evangelism do not consider the unity of the two. Instead, they attempt to re-orient the focus of worship on the outsider. (And though rarely admitted, sometimes the attempt is to bring some of that good stuff we’ve been dispensing on outsiders back in here on the inside.) The "us and them" thinking is still in effect. What remains is the false choice that worship is strictly for insiders and evangelism is strictly for outsiders. The concepts of mission and worship are both warped. Mission becomes nothing more than outreach or getting folks into the worship. Worship becomes an evangelistic presentation that admits to being of little use to the so-called "insider." Worship is reshaped to accomplish the tasks of the church’s mission. The tasks of mission become the purpose of worship and the result is that neither worship nor mission really happens.

Inside Out
The trouble with both of the previous approaches is that they are flat, two-dimensional and they do not account for God’s missional activity in the world and our participation in that activity. If we consider how God is the outreaching creator who sends his son and sends his people then we will understand how worshipping God turns us inside out to serve the world he loves and how his love gathers us up to worship him.

• God’s desire is to reconcile with the world. He is a reconciling God. This is his mission.
• God gathers the church and sends them out. The church are those who respond to the call to enter into and receive the kingdom of Christ’s rule. The church is formed and made visible in the world as a called out assembly and community that represents the kingdom. This church comes up from the culture, but is changed within the culture – and at times changes the culture. Since it remains in the world (though not of the world) it would not be accurate to draw a tight circle and declare it the inside and the world is then the outside. The boundary between world and church is "semi-permeable" and we cross through it as we are gathered in and as we are sent out. All were once outsiders. All are potentially insiders. The boundary is not static. What you get is a centered set (not a bounded set) that is centered around the worship of God in Jesus Christ.
• Christ is Lord over the entire world. He is the head and ruler over all things. When he is confessed as Lord there is worship. Worship is the proclamation of what God has done/is doing/will do – and it is also the response of the glad and liberated. Worship is as much the character of the church as mission. It is what we do because of who we are. The church in worship demonstrates its kingdom, Christ-like character in a very open and public way. Even churches that meet in secret, like our brothers and sisters in some of our related congregations, are still going public with their worship because they do come together and someone does see what they are doing to serve and praise their true ruler and authority. These governments understand what we sometimes do not: that worship is an act of allegiance to the only true authority that sometimes puts us at odds with the powers that be!

Warping and War
If we do not bring worship and mission together again, then worship and mission are both going to be warped – which leads to misunderstandings that get us into worship wars with one another and those on the outside. False Choices about worship: Traditional or Contemporary? Reflective or Emotional? Seeker or Founder? Meditative or Enthusiastic? Spontaneous or Ordered? These false choices are the result of separating and reducing worship and mission. The result will be distortions, or warping worship. And it leads to questions like "Which is more important – worship or mission? Which does God care about most?" It is difficult to find biblical answers to unbiblical questions.

• Worship divorced from mission, is manifested as introversion as the church puts its own survival before its mission. Worship becomes self-affirmation and no concern for the church’s relationship with and responsibility to the world is considered. Survival and comfort are more important than mission. The church cannot be introverted if it would be the Spirit of God incarnated. (Jesus brings His friends with Him!)
• The other type of distortion is mission divorced from worship. Mission apart from worship is prone to self-glorification and can become so aggressive and conceited that the church attempts to be the promoter or marketer of Christ rather than his servant. God-centered worship reminds the church that it exists for the sake of the world because God loves the world. Marketing worship to the culture may seem like extroversion rather than introversion, but the agenda for worship is still survival and self-promotion. A church formed by the gospel should not fear losing its life for the sake of Christ and others "for those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for [Christ’s] sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). When we forget that we are Christ’s servant, we become his proprietor. We become the marketer of gospel and the survival of the church means working harder to sell more product. We become a vendor of religious goods and services.
• Distortions create camps that lead to the worship wars. We fail to realize that worship and mission are balanced parts of life in God’s kingdom.

A Royal Priesthood
The biblical images always balance worship and mission. The connection between God and his mission to the world and the worship of his people who are gathered up in that mission is always clear. We will look at some others, but for now consider 1 Peter 2:9-12. Our connection with the world is clear: We share in the brokenness and suffering of the world. Once we were not a people but now we are the people of God! We are now a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation – but not to shun the world but to invite the entire world to our nation. We witness to the world and bring the world before God (we are representative of the world). Like the breastplate of the high priest that brought the names of Israel’s tribes before God we too bring the names of the world and its woes before our creator. In our worship we proclaim God’s power and grace for all to hear, and in our participation in his mission we bear witness to God before the entire world.

How do we worship God for the sake of the world?

1. Focus on God. True worship encounters the living God who is real and present. In worship, we respond to the call of God.
2. Enact the Gospel. Worship must be rooted in the gospel event as it is being re-experienced Our worship must be a response to the good news of God’s action rather than our self-interests. Worship that enacts the good news creates a people who share God’s mission. Worship that celebrates our church agenda is at best merely satisfying and at worst vulnerable to forces of a consumer market.
3. Structure worship to embody the gospel. Worship is an incarnational experience. Worship is more than mere talk or thought. It is a living event. The language and form are the body or outer shell in which the living event, the celebration of the risen Christ, is re-enacted and renewed.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 20 February 2005

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