Thesis Chapter 5: The Means: Worship Discipleship

The role of the church is to worship God, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Luke 4:8) and make disciples for Christ, “teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20) Both worship and discipleship, or religious education, are primary ingredients within the kingdom of God. Yet, even though they are intertwined objectives and functions of the church, too often they are made into separate purposes and activities. Worship is seen as sacred because it involves the liturgy of the church, and religious education is viewed as commonplace because it confronts existential issues of everyday living. Yet, in Christ there is no distinction between sacred and commonplace aspects of life; all is sacred, all is worship. Ephesians 5:15-18 says, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise…be filled with the Spirit.”

Worship discipleship, the teaching of liturgy and of worship as a lifestyle, is generally infrequent in American churches. People are expected to learn the symbols and actions of the liturgy through habit, not intention, and many people are not taught to enter the presence of the Lord and work through their existential condition with God. Yet, if people do not know the meaning of worship ceremonies and traditions, they can neither enter into God’s presence nor spiritually approach their life passages through worship. They are hampered in their ability to enter into the fullness of the mysteries and wonders of God. Worship discipleship teaches people that it is in discovering existential realities to be spiritual realities that God meets us among the ordinariness of life. And since it is in the ordinariness of life that God walks with us, calls us, and speaks to us, worship is brought into an ordinary context or a lifestyle understanding and practice. It becomes a natural part of life; it becomes primary. In contrast, when this knowledge and skill are lacking the church loses some of the Holy Spirit’s energy and direction that is so necessary for accomplishing goals, ministries, and programs, the social context of Christianity.

The scope of fellowship in the gathering of the saints also can be limited by lack of a knowledgeable and natural practice of worship. This lack restricts the movement of the Holy Spirit, and the comprehension of God in the world because people see and hear the Word enacted weekly in liturgical worship, yet cannot fully integrate it into their daily existence. Neither are people able to pass an understanding of worship on to their children. Instead, children are left to fend for themselves in the large communal worship gathering, and many of them are restless and inattentive to the sharing of God’s wonders that take place during the rites. Additionally, few learn neither to develop private worship habits nor to work through their existential issues with God, hampering the spiritual maturity of people throughout their life span.

Children can be creatively and sensitively taught to enter into God’s presence and understand the symbolism of the worship elements and traditions, as can adults. Often adults, who are adrift in their own understanding and habits of worship, miss the presence of God in the service of the Word and Holy Communion. An intergenerational educational method, that brings both adults and children together to explore God’s presence in the large communal worship gathering, in small groups, and in personal situations, would span a gap in the fabric of the congregation and, therefore, in ministry to the world.