The Subtle Power of Worship

BIBLE INSIGHTS in 500 words

BIBLE INSIGHTS: The Subtle Power of Worship
Richard Leslie Parrott, Ph.D.
1 Timothy 2:1-6

Here is the point of this brief article:

Insistence on our preferences in worship
may undermine the subtle and sustaining power of worship.

Consider our preferences:

• I “worship” as a consumer – “I focus on what I like in worship; my kind of music and my kind of preaching.”
• I want “worship” to be comfortable – “I don’t know that song; I don’t care for that singing group; that sermon made me uncomfortable.”
• I “worship” only if it is contemporary – “I define ‘contemporary’ to fit what I think is contemporary.”

We all have ‘preferences’ in worship, of course.  Our preferences become a problem when they undercut the subtle and sustaining power of worship in our lives and  the life of the church.

Let’s cut through the preferences and get to the heart of worship: Worship is about God. God leads worship. God receives our adoration in Worship. We enter into worship expecting nothing; yet, God gives us his grace, grace to fulfill his purpose for in the world.

• Worship preferences focus  on “self” sustaining only a feeble connection between worship and mission.
• Worship focused on “God” supports a durable link  between mission and worship.

1-On one hand, worship attracts unbelievers with a genuine experience of the presence of God. C. S. Lewis shared his experience: “I dislike very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music.  But as I went on I saw the great merit of it…I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots.  It gets you out of your solitary conceit.”

2-On the other hand, worship prepares believers to live faithfully in a hostile world. Worship is for God and about God. Here is the transformative power of worship: when we focus on God, seek him, praise him, and serve him, something transformative happens. To join other Christians in losing ourselves and finding God is the best preparation to live as a witness in a hostile world.

I invite you to read a timely and succinct call to worship from a fresh translation of 1 Timothy 2:1-6:

So, first and foremost, I urge God’s people to pray. They should make their requests, petitions, and thanksgivings on behalf of all humanity. Teach them to pray for kings (or anyone in high places for that matter) so that we can lead quiet, peaceful lives—reverent, godly, and holy— all of which is good and acceptable before the eyes of God our Savior who desires for everyone to be saved and know the truth. Because

There is one God and one Mediator between God and us—
the man Jesus, God’s Anointed,
Who gave His life as a ransom for all
so that we might have freedom.