MarkSooy
07-08-2007, 06:42 PM
Following is an excerpt from a recent magazine article I published. Enjoy...
I would like to suggest that what we do in corporate worship is to help people learn and keep perspective. Having the proper perspective is absolutely key to the Christian walk, and leaders of the church are to constantly help the congregation understand what this is. We can break down this idea into three general categories:
Corporate worship is to help the congregation to keep perspective…
a. …on how to think about God,
b. …on how to think about ourselves, and
c. …on how to think about others.
So where do we gain this perspective and how do we learn it and teach it? Of course, we must fundamentally learn perspective about God, ourselves, and others through the word of God. We must repeatedly remind ourselves of God’s activities on behalf of man. Why has He done what he has? How does He reveal Himself? How has man responded? How should man respond? How does this change the way I treat my family, friends, neighbors – and enemies? This is what God did for Israel, and when we read the Old Testament history we often find Him reminding Israel of what He did for them at the exodus, how they responded, etc.
First of all, we must remember that He is God and we are not (Isaiah 55:8 ff). There are differences in the way God thinks and acts in comparison with the way we think and act. Though He has revealed much about Himself in His word, and through Christ, He has not revealed all. There is some hiddenness in God. Some mystery. He doesn’t fit into the boxes we create for Him no matter how big the box might be. God is a different kind of being than we are. We must remember that.
Second, we also must remember our own place in the scheme of things. We live in a constant state of dichotomy. We know that Christ has saved us from our sins, yet we continue to sin (Romans 7:14-25). We are unified beings as humans – body, soul and spirit – yet there is always that inner sense of disjunction in our lives. As many reformed theologians liked to suggest, we live in a state of “now-but-not-yet.” For example: we are freed from our sins in Christ, but not yet completely free from sinning. It helps if we remember this.
Third, it will also help if we remember that others are in the same state of being as we are. The body of Christ is an organism of diversity bonded in unity. We can’t read 1 Corinthians 12 without realizing the importance of the different parts that each of us play. Where would the hand be without the foot? God expects a forgiving attitude in us as we remember that the human mold is broken by sin. He is our example of forgiveness and love, and we are to forgive others just like He forgave us (Ephesians 4:32)!
In planning corporate worship, we must make it a weekly task to learn and teach this perspective. By using this idea as a framework, the “gospel” and “Christian truth” fit into the overall perspective God gives through His word. As we do this, the world and its problems will make more sense to us because we are learning to see through God’s eyes.
I would like to suggest that what we do in corporate worship is to help people learn and keep perspective. Having the proper perspective is absolutely key to the Christian walk, and leaders of the church are to constantly help the congregation understand what this is. We can break down this idea into three general categories:
Corporate worship is to help the congregation to keep perspective…
a. …on how to think about God,
b. …on how to think about ourselves, and
c. …on how to think about others.
So where do we gain this perspective and how do we learn it and teach it? Of course, we must fundamentally learn perspective about God, ourselves, and others through the word of God. We must repeatedly remind ourselves of God’s activities on behalf of man. Why has He done what he has? How does He reveal Himself? How has man responded? How should man respond? How does this change the way I treat my family, friends, neighbors – and enemies? This is what God did for Israel, and when we read the Old Testament history we often find Him reminding Israel of what He did for them at the exodus, how they responded, etc.
First of all, we must remember that He is God and we are not (Isaiah 55:8 ff). There are differences in the way God thinks and acts in comparison with the way we think and act. Though He has revealed much about Himself in His word, and through Christ, He has not revealed all. There is some hiddenness in God. Some mystery. He doesn’t fit into the boxes we create for Him no matter how big the box might be. God is a different kind of being than we are. We must remember that.
Second, we also must remember our own place in the scheme of things. We live in a constant state of dichotomy. We know that Christ has saved us from our sins, yet we continue to sin (Romans 7:14-25). We are unified beings as humans – body, soul and spirit – yet there is always that inner sense of disjunction in our lives. As many reformed theologians liked to suggest, we live in a state of “now-but-not-yet.” For example: we are freed from our sins in Christ, but not yet completely free from sinning. It helps if we remember this.
Third, it will also help if we remember that others are in the same state of being as we are. The body of Christ is an organism of diversity bonded in unity. We can’t read 1 Corinthians 12 without realizing the importance of the different parts that each of us play. Where would the hand be without the foot? God expects a forgiving attitude in us as we remember that the human mold is broken by sin. He is our example of forgiveness and love, and we are to forgive others just like He forgave us (Ephesians 4:32)!
In planning corporate worship, we must make it a weekly task to learn and teach this perspective. By using this idea as a framework, the “gospel” and “Christian truth” fit into the overall perspective God gives through His word. As we do this, the world and its problems will make more sense to us because we are learning to see through God’s eyes.