Last Sunday I visited an
independent Christian Church and as I scanned their bulletin for the order of
service I read, “Gathering times: Sunday 9:00 am.” The reasoning behind
replacing the term worship with gathering gave me pause. Certainly there are
always changes in church terminology, but in this case I sensed a loss in the
spirit of worship; and I wonder if the Lord feels a similar loss. I thought of
the old hymn “Shall We Gather at the River” (1864), refrain:
“Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.”
To
me, gathering with saints is not the same as gathering with the saints in worship.
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Some terms have less scope than others. “Gather” does not of its own entail worship. So, the concept of “worship” must be implied by the context of “church being for worship“. In its context, “gather” always connoted the involvement of worship to me until the last five years or so. “Worship” to me no longer necessitates the connotation of gathering.
-----Dictionaries fail to define “worship” to the extent the Bible means it. Their usual shtick is to define it as some kind of reverent love or extravagant respect or admiration or devotion given to a deity or hero or such, or as an act expressing these attitudes. The “worship” of the Bible is a concept far more than just reverence and devotion and expressive actions, though devotion begins to rub elbows with it. And the American Heritage Dictionary gets closer with, “Ardent, humble devotion,” not so much for its reference to devotion, but for its specifying a humble kind of devotion.
-----Again, dictionaries barely recognize an important Biblical concept about humility, let alone express it outright. This is why “humility” and “humble” most generally connote “lesser than” or some nature of diminishment. But the way the Bible uses the term means far more than a lower place. It is more of a proper place, when referring to places or ranks, or a willingness to step into a proper place or idea when referring to attitudes and relationships. The Biblical usage of “humility” and “humble” is of a meaning seminal to new life in the Lord and worship, not because we lower ourselves in doing these (which we do,) but because what that “lowering of ourselves” is. It isn’t just putting down ourselves. It is a correction of ourselves, an adjustment to what has been discovered as the right thing which should be in place of our wrong. So we humble ourselves to be what is right. We put our wrong down to take up what‘s right. We change. That is through humility.
-----Then worship in its full, Biblical picture is that attitude towards God, that consideration of Him and regard for Him, working inside us change towards His nature. Worship is holding to something as the soul’s fundamental anchor and defining concept, revolving around it unto becoming like it. Worship has a giant scope.
-----And that scope has much to do with gathering, but not just “to church” gathering. The Lord’s attitudes are relationship attitudes. The most basic concepts about Him, truth and love, are relationship concepts. But truly loving relationship happens also alone, like elevating a pot of beans with maple syrup and bacon for the family’s delight is love done at the stove, alone. And still, it always involves the loved ones eventually, like setting baked beans before the family. So by worship of our Lord we bake beans into our hearts (fruit of the Spirit) for feeding whom we love where we gather. It’s just that “church” is more particularly for gathering to make a big deal out of what should be happening inside us 24/7. The more it happens in us everywhere all the time, the more church becomes simply a gathering where everyone’s worship intersects unto an elevation of our Lord.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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