Are
you
interested in starting a long and possibly heated discussion in
churches these
days? All you have to do
is mention the
word “worship”. In most
places, you will
get an earful about what is being done or what should be happening
– both good
and bad.
One of the
problems here is that
worship has come to mean everything from what Christians do for an
hour or two on
Sunday morning to our personal, daily commitment to Christ. With such a wide scope and so
many variables
in play, there is no way that this short article will sort out any
of the
specifics (Besides, I do not think I am qualified to do that for
you or your
congregation anyway). What
I can do is
offer you two pictures that may form a good foundation for the
rest of the discussion.
The
first comes from Numbers 2. God
has just
rescued his people from Egypt and now they are living in tents as
they wander
toward the Promised Land. Therefore,
he instructs
them to build him a tent, the tabernacle, as a place where he
would dwell, and
where they could gather for worship.
Then he gives them these instructions: “The Israelites are
to camp
around the tent of meeting (the Tabernacle)… on the east, toward
the sunrise,
the divisions of the camp of Judah… the tribe of Issachar… and the
tribe of
Zebulun… On the south will be the camp of Rueben… Simeon… (and)
the tribe of
Gad. On the west… Ephraim…
Manasseh…
(and) Benjamin. On the
north… Dan…
Asher… (and) Naphtali”.
Did
you
get the picture? No matter
where they were
and regardless of what was happening, God was in the centre of
everything. Always!
The
second picture is from Numbers 9:15-23.
In part says, “On the day the tabernacle, the tent of
meeting, was set
up, the cloud covered it. From
evening
to morning, the cloud above the tabernacle looked like a fire…
Whenever the
cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; whenever
the cloud
settled, the Israelites encamped.
At the
Lord’s command the Israelites set out and at his command they
encamped”. This is
repeated at least seven times. There
is no missing the point: God
was leading them.
These
two concepts will not solve every debate, but they are a great
starting point. In fact,
when God’s followers have been able
to keep him in the centre and let him lead, some remarkable things
have happened
in and through his people (See the end of Acts 2 and Acts 4).
If
we
get the centre right and if we remember who is in charge, there is
a much
better chance that we will be shaped into God’s image instead of
shaping him
into ours.
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