A Blog by John Zimmer

I read a blog today by John Zimmer (http://www.friarfricasee.blogspot.com) - He has some great articles which I recommend for all of my readers. John comes to his conclusions and challenges on worship from a different perspective than most of us in Charismatic circles, so for that reason alone, I urge you to take a look at his blog. In the end, we are all worshiping the King of Kings, and we have so much to learn from our brothers and sisters in other denominations.

I happened upon one of Johns blog entries titled "Come to the Dance" (Come to the Dance) There are some questions in here that are of great interest to me, and I wanted you to read this section:

Zimmer, John W

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Come to the Dance

Isaiah 6:1-8

Among the myriad of gatherings we attend in life, how are these roles sorted out in worship? I believe the roles I have described above are sometimes confused when we come to worship. Who is the host? Is it God, or the pastor? Is the audience the congregation? For there to be effective, meaningful worship directed toward God, the roles need to be clear.

When you attend worship which role do you assume.  A Danish theologian and philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, identified three roles in worship that are much like a dramatic presentation. God is the audience, the congregation is on stage and the worship leaders are the directors. Be introspective for a moment and ask yourself a few questions about how you talk or think about worship. Do you have preferences in your worship style? That is, do you prefer a more reverent, structured worship time that is quiet, contemplative, and solemn or do you prefer a more celebrative atmosphere that is marked by shouts of joy, spontaneity and less structure. Are there things you don’t like in worship? Do you have favorite songs? These questions sound like survey questions for an audience, don’t they? Have you assumed the role of audience in your worship gathering? 

As in many of the gatherings of our lives, we are most often the audience. Having participated in each role, I would think the audience has the easiest role. You just show up. Not a lot of preparation is involved and you can just sit back, relax and watch. There is so much in our lives that we “watch”. We watch sports, television, concerts, weddings, graduations and so forth. We watch so much, it makes it difficult to step into different roles.  Taking the stage takes preparation, planning, and focus.

 John's conclusion...

When we gather to worship, God wants to hear from us. He wants to watch us worship Him. At any moment He may take over and remind us He has already paid the price that makes the gathering possible. Without the sacrifice Jesus made that provided the bridge of forgiveness, our worship of God would go unobserved. We need to be careful what role we assume in worship. He wants our best, which ironically, He has made possible.

Our answer to this question: Who is the audience in worship, who are the performers and who is the director? ...reveals so much about our theology and practice of worship. I fundamentally disagree with Kierkegaard's premise that God is the audience - the congregation are onstage and the worship leaders are the directors, but I do understand the heart of this matter. We all desire that our worship would be pleasing to the Lord and that we would be true ministers of the praises that ascend to his throne.

I think that the ultimate description of "roles" in worship is this:

• There is NO audience - only communing hearts

• There is NO one on stage - only conversing lovers

• There are NO directors - only facilitators and doorkeepers of the Divine presence

Some of this might simply be semantics - directors vs facilitators for example...although I prefer to think of worship teams as servants and doorkeepers rather than directors...but this is a very small point. The larger issue here is the role of the congregation in worship. 

Congregations used to think of themselves as an audience, and church leaders definitely treated them as an audience by having the "professionals" do and say everything in the service. I still hear congregations mistakenly referred to as an "audience."

A few years ago, we became a little more sophisticated and entertained thoughts of the congregation as the "performers" and God as the "audience of One!" However, this is also incorrect in my view. 

I see worship as a journey into the presence of the Lord where God and His people can commune. There are moments when the people pour out their hearts before Him, but the RESPONSE of the Lord must be welcomed and encouraged. If the people do all the talking and singing, we only have half of a conversation. The Lord wants His voice and will to be heard. The Lord has a plan and purpose for every service - it is up to the worship team to make way for God to speak through the congregation (1 Cor. 14:26), the singers (Col. 3:16), Instruments (1 Cor. 14:7-8; 1 Chron 25:1-8), the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12-14), the sacraments (Lu. 24:35), all of the arts (Ex. 31:1-11), and of course the Church leaders (Eph. 4:12).

I believe that the interaction between heaven and earth is a foundational issue in worship. The fact that God's voice comes through human vessels is a problem for so many churches, and for that reason it has been easier to keep the "conversation" of worship one-sided. Many mistakes have been made as we attempt to "carry" God's voice to the people - through the people. That doesn't mean that we should eliminate this entire part of the worship conversation. Peter calls every Believer to this worshiping priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) - every believer is to be a mature, holy, royal Bride who carries out praise duties as part of God's plan for his people. We are not the audience in worship...neither are we the sole performers. We are the kingdom priests and ministers who pour out praise before our Beloved, and who carry his voice and songs back into the hearts of the Church and into this desperate world.

The voice of God is imperative. What do we have without this? His voice and presence are the most important component of worship. Let us not relegate Him to the place of an audience. Rather, let Him be very present in every gathering and let his voice be part of every service. This is what He says to every church:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Rev. 3:20

Those who love the truth listen to His voice—John 18:37

Thank you John for your blog - some great thoughts on worship are there to inspire all of us.