FusionLife

I’ve been reading N.T. Wrights book Simply Christian and I just finished chapter 11, Worship. It’s really interesting that I just listened to a podcast about using Revelation (the last book in the bible) as worship and now he goes into this chapter on worship talking about chapter 5 & 6 of Revelation also. Now I’ve held the view that there is more to end times material (if that is in there beyond the last few chapters) in Revelation but never really been able to put my finger on I, this has helped.

As I read the chapter one huge piece stuck out to me and I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around it since.

“Telling the story (of redemption of man), rehearsing the mighty acts of God: this is near the heart of Christian worship, a point not always fully appreciated in the enthusiastic, free flowing worship common in many circles today. We know God through what He has done in creation, in Israel, and supremely in Jesus, and what He has done in His people and in the world through the Holy Spirit. Christian worship is praise of this God, the one who has done these things. And the place we find the God-given accounts of these events is of course scripture: the Bible.” N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, Ch. 11, Pg. 150

He goes on in the chapter to talk about reading scripture in (you choose the word: service, gathering, big church, little church, home church) your corporate time together. Not just what the preacher is using in his sermon, not some small amount like a verse or two, but reading large clumps of scripture.

Here is where I have been wrapping my mind at how to work that into a gathering of the God’s people that isn’t by nature liturgical. As I was riding in the park with my son in tow in his trailer it came to me (Thanks Holy Spirit). Wright refers a little to it so I can’t take complete credit to it but if you (the preacher) where to select a larger selection of scripture around the central text you are using to read in your time together it could give greater context to what you are preaching (if it’s not expository of course) and add to the validity of what you are trying to get across.

The reason I have been working to get my mind around this idea is because I agree with him that scripture is a great way to worship God and the telling of it corporately shows it’s great importance in worshipping Him and in the lives of God’s people but more over I’ve been trying to figure out where it plays out in a church that is reaching predominantly non-Christians. I’ve heard Mark Batterson say, “That when you reference scripture you gain buy in from Christians, but when you use non-Christian references you gain buy in from non-Christians”. And where I agree with him and that is an extremely helpful point. But where does this play into that?

So I end with this question. Can we use scripture in a way that brings validity to our message and brings a greater picture of the one we are worshiping in our gathering and still be a place that non-Christians feel at home? I hope so.