Christian Unity

John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God seeks worshipers. As Jesus told the woman at the well, true worshipers of God worship in spirit and truth. Obviously Christians today need to strive to be that kind of worshipers. But what did Jesus mean by that?

Churches of Christ have traditionally taught five (and only five) authorized “acts of worship” which must be performed in the Sunday “worship service.” A typical explanation of that doctrine is available on the web site of the Knollwood Church of Christ.

The traditionally approved five acts include teaching, contribution, communion, praying, and singing. Based on the hermeneutic of Command, Example, and Necessary Inference (CENI), together with the Regulative Principle (prohibitive silence), these churches hold that all five acts must be present in every Sunday assembly, and that no other activities are authorized. According to the strict application of this doctrine, introduction of other activities to the “worship service” (instrumental music, dramatic presentations, videos, interpretive dance…) constitutes apostasy.

This is obviously a relevant topic for those who long for Christian unity. Did Jesus mean for us to break fellowship over those variations in Sunday worship?

To answer that question, we first need to understand what Jesus meant by “worship.” In John 4:24 the Greek word for “worship is προσκυνέω (proskuneo). This word occurs 60 times in 52 different verses in the New Testament, so we have plenty of examples from which to understand the meaning of the word.

Let’s take a tour through Matthew to see how προσκυνέω is used. The three wise men in Matt 2 sought to find the baby Jesus so they could προσκυνέω. Satan tried to tempt Jesus to προσκυνέω him in the desert. The same word is used for what the leper did when he ran up to Jesus as he descended after the sermon on the mount, and for what Jarius did when he came to Jesus on behalf of his daughter. προσκυνέω was the reaction of the disciples in the boat who saw Jesus walk on the water. The Canaanite woman προσκυνέω when she asked Jesus for the crumbs falling from the children’s table. The unmerciful servant in the parable προσκυνέω when he begged his master to forgive his debt. The mother of the sons of Zebedee προσκυνέω before asking for the favor for her sons. And after Jesus rose from the dead, we are told of two occasions where his disciples προσκυνέω him.

What is evident about all these examples is that none of them involved corporate worship– that is, the kind of worship done together in an assembly of believers. In random places and times where people in need encountered Jesus, they προσκυνέω. Similar examples can be found in the other gospels.

The woman at the well asked about where people should worship God. Jesus answered that it is not where we worship, but how, that matters to God.

The word προσκυνέω occurs several times in Acts, but is not used in reference to a Christian assembly. Once (Acts 24:11) Paul said that he had come to Jerusalem to προσκυνέω, but remember that he had been seeking to arrive in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, a Jewish religious festival (Acts 20:16)

προσκυνέω is used in the letters only three times. In 1 Cor 14:25 it refers to what an unbeliever would do (falling face down) when convicted by prophecies exposing his heart. The other two occurences are in Hebrews — one referring to angels worshiping God, and the other referring to Jacob worshiping as he blessed his grandsons.

So there is no use of to προσκυνέω in either Acts or the letters referring to the Sunday assembly of Christians.

Similarly, the numerous uses of προσκυνέω in Revelation do not refer to Christian assembly. Instead, it is used in the context of worship in heaven by angels, and by elders. προσκυνέω is also used to identify worship of the beast and idols, as well as a couple of occasions where John fell down to worship the angel bringing him the message.

In short, προσκυνέω is never used in scripture to refer to an assembly of Christians. Nor is it used to describe what Christians do when they assemble. There is no basis for the conclusion that, in his comments to the woman at the well, Jesus had in mind the assembly of Christians.

There are at least seven other Greek words that are translated “worship” in one or more of the English translations of the New Testamant. A similar survey of these words would bring us to the same conclusion: that none of these words refers to the “acts” that are performed in a Christian assembly.

There really is not a lot of detail in scripture about how (nor when) to conduct an assembly of Christians. (1 Corinthians 14 provides the most complete set in a single place of the data points we have available.) People have gone to great lengths to fill in the gaps between the data points, coming to various conclusions. That is understandable and probably inevitable. The problem is not that we imagine different explanations for the data we have been provided. Rather, the problem occurs when someone insists that everyone else accept his explanation as the only valid one… and starts dividing the church over such issues. Some people are entirely too confident in their own understanding, and as a result are dividing Christians.

God wants worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth. Most of our disputes are over the “truth” part. A great place to study what “truth” means in the New Testament is the three part series that Jay Guin recently posted.

God seeks worshipers who come to him on the basis of the core Gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son as an atonement for our sins. That is the only way for a sinful man to come to God! May God have mercy on me, a sinner! When we come to God on that basis, we come with the right spirit and on the right basis of truth. That is the kind of worshipers God seeks.

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living,
So different now from what it seemed…
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed…
— from “I Dreamed a Dream”, Les Miserables

What was it about Susan Boyle’s performance (available at youtube) last week on “Britain’s Got Talent”, that captured the attention of the entire world?

Surely it was not just her vocal talent that has drawn over 60 million viewers to the various You Tube videos of her performance in a single week’s time. Although she did perform superbly, there are many other great singers in the world whose performances were not viewed 60 million times this week. Something else is behind the phenomenal interest in Ms. Boyle’s performance.

Neither was it the magnetism of her personality, nor her commanding stage presence, nor her appearance that has made her an overnight celebrity. Rather, she appeared unpolished and unsophisticated in demeanor. In fact she was quite ordinary.

That ordinariness was key to the impact of Susan’s story. People were drawn by the totally unexpected wonderfulness that emerged from such an ordinary person. Susan’s story is one of redemption, of sudden and unexpected victory in a seemingly impossible circumstance. Millions of people saw her stunning performance and were overcome with emotion and tears of inspiration and joy. Where did that emotion come from?

Most of us started our adult lives with dreams of becoming somebody, dreams of doing something significant, dreams of making a difference. Somewhere along the line, a lot of those dreams have died. As Susan’s song says, “Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.” We are a world full of broken dreams. Millions upon millions of us long for a turnaround in our lives. We are starved for redemption. We want to matter. We want Susan’s story to become our story. We want to be somebody.

We were meant to be somebody. We were created in the image of God. But we corrupted that image and fell to a hopelessly lost state. We became dead in our sins. But then God intervened:

Eph 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
Eph 2:5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.

Though we were dead in sins — the ultimate impossible situation — God has made it possible for us to be redeemed. He has made us be somebody in Christ!

As Christians, we have a story so much bigger than Susan’s. Our cheering crowds are not in a studio audience. Instead they are that great crowd of witnesses, of faithful children of God from the past.

Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Those witnesses are joined by thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, praising God for what He has done in our lives.

Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

We will not be singing for the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Instead we will meet God, and will live with him in heaven forever:

Rev 7:13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes–who are they, and where did they come from?”
Rev 7:14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 7:15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
Rev 7:16 Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

If the world only knew what God has done for us, our story would bring tears to their eyes, just as Susan’s story has. People would long for our story to be their story. Unfortunately even as Christians we don’t realize the magnitude of the story into which we’ve been invited. It has become too routine for us to really appreciate it. We are somebody, but we have forgotten who we are. We have forgotten whose we are!

We need to understand better what God has done for us. Then we can really appreciate the greatest story ever told, a story into which we have been miraculously invited. And perhaps then more and more people will be drawn into that redemption story.

Editing to add: The Susan Boyle videos on YouTube have set an internet record for the most views in a week. That’s powerful evidence of the hunger of people worldwide for a story of redemption.

Today’s churches of Christ are making the same mistakes as preceding generations.

Thomas Campbell admonished the church in his day for its tendency toward exclusivity. They debated aggressively and treated their opponents dismissively. Apparently their desire to prove themselves right trumped the biblical command to accept one another without passing judgment over disputable matters. Campbell called them to stop trying to produce “theological orthodoxy” which leads to “partyism.” Instead, he called them to focus on the core principles of Christianity:

Now these are precisely seven, viz.–The knowledge of God–of man–of sin–of the Saviour–of his salvation–of the means of enjoying it–and of its blissful effects and consequences.

By focusing on these seven topics, and insisting only on what is explicitly stated in scripture, Campbell believed that the Restoration Movement would be much more likely to accomplish the original goal to take down the walls between believers.

Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing through the present day, churches of Christ have chosen a different path. Most have consistently pursued “theological orthodoxy,” following a policy of purifying the doctrine of the church through division. Brotherhood journals and public debates have been the weapons of choice in these wars between brothers. Division after division has resulted. As a result, instead of reaching the lost, these churches are in decline.

But today, a new generation is questioning that direction. We have an opportunity to abandon a religion of quarreling and controversy, and to return to the kind of sound doctrine that Paul taught Timothy:

1Ti 1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
1Ti 1:4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work–which is by faith.
1Ti 1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1Ti 1:6 Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.
1Ti 1:7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
1Ti 1:8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.
1Ti 1:9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,
1Ti 1:10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers–and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine
1Ti 1:11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Doctrinal quarrels produce controversy and consume the energy that should go into the work God called us to do. Instead we should be working to eliminate the behaviors (sins) that are contrary to sound doctrine, both in our own lives and in the lives of others.

Paul continued in chapter 2, talking about prayer, godliness, holiness, modest dress, the role of women, elders and deacons. Then he wrote:

1Ti 3:14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that,
1Ti 3:15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

These things he was writing about all pertain to how we conduct our lives as Christians — tht is, how to live godly lives. That is what Paul meant by “sound doctrine.”

Then in chapter 4, Paul called out the false teachers who were forbidding people to marry and ordering them to abstain from certain foods. Those who added rules and restrictions not from God were following deceiving spirits and things taught by demons! So Paul urged Timothy:

1Ti 4:6 If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
1Ti 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

Paul then gave Timothy instruction about benevolence to widows, his relationship to elders, and attitudes toward money.

All of these issues revolved around godliness and holiness. Paul wanted Timothy to lead the church in such a way that the people would learn to live godly and holy lives. The issue wasn’t intellectual, but experiential. They needed to live a certain way, and it was the job of Timothy and the elders and other leaders to train the church in that kind of living.

Why do churches spend so much energy quarreling about words? Have we solved all of the issues of godliness and holiness in our members’ lives? Are their marriages all healthy? Are the children godly? Are all of our members managing their finances in a godly way? Are our members all living exemplary lives? Are we bringing sinners to repentance and into the grace of Christ? Are we helping the poor? Are we visiting those sick or in prison? I suspect there are many things we need to be doing that are more important than questions about communion cups, pianos, kitchens, or whatever else we’ve been preoccupied with. How are we doing on those more important matters? I think that is what Thomas Campbell was saying to the church in his day. And I think it is the same counsel Jesus would give to the church today.

Let’s stop straining out gnats and swallowing camels. There is important work to be done.