Holistic Worship

This past weekend Joannie and I attended a church—a church that was a medium size, growing in a suburb of a major US city. By all accounts it seemed like a very healthy and effective church. However, I couldn’t help but notice the three large banners that waved from the tall walls in the foyer saying: Worship Jesus, Walk with Jesus, and Work for Jesus. While I love the alliteration and the easy language for memorization, I cannot help but nit-pick at the message it sends to people. The message it sends is that: Worship happens when we all get together, sing songs, and hear preaching. The second half of the message is that the rest of the week is spent walking with Jesus and working for Jesus. The subtle, alarming message, one that is prevalent throughout evangelical churches, is that worship is something we attend and participate in, while the rest of the week is spent doing Christian biblical things. This sublime message also leads to the bifurcation between the sacred and secular; we sacredly worship Jesus when we come to church, but we, during the secular work week, live for and work for Jesus.

Truthfully, all of life, every sphere falls under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and provides believers with the opportunity to worship Jesus through our family, vocation, recreation, hobbies, relationships, etc. In other words living, walking, working, serving, fellowshipping with/for/to Jesus is worship.

Some may dismiss what I am espousing as parsing words or nuancing semantics. But, I would argue that our words matter. Our words carry meaning. In addition, our words communicate and develop the thinking and mentality of people. Therefore, my prayer is that we, as evangelical believers, would begin to disciple, train, teach, and equip our people to understand that all of life, life in every sphere, is to fall under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in humble worship to him. Worship is simply ascribing the utmost worth to Jesus Christ as the supreme ruler, sustainer, L0rd, and God over “all” our life.