The Mission of Worship

This past week, I began my final semester at IWS. The class is all about multi-cultural worship, how to use it, and why it is important. One of our readings entitled “The Mission of Worship” by Sandra Van Opstal, has a quote that really struck me. It says “The mission of worship is therefore experiencing God in all his fullness as well as embracing God’s mission to proclaim and demonstrate his kingdom of reconciliation and justice.” Wait…when I am worshipping I am actually on a mission? Yes in fact you are!

Now I don’t know about you but when I “worship” I don’t normally view it as a missions trip. Usually I am in the comfort of my pew or my home, how can my worship be missional? The reality is that every part of our lives is worship when we are living for Christ. While we are singing in church we are indeed attempting to “experience God in all his fullness” but at the same time we are doing more. We are joining with Christ’s Body throughout the world as they sing praises to Him. By doing this act we are proclaiming to God and those around us that we are on board for God’s mission.

James 1:27 says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Worship is between you and God but it cannot end there! It has to continue to the rest of the world! This is why it is so important that we do not view worship as “going through the motions.” It means so much more than just crossing something off your check list for the week. It is a proclamation that you are standing in solidarity with all Christians and committing to “proclaim and demonstrate his kingdom of reconciliation and justice.” Start to view your worship as part of God’s mission and see how he transforms your heart and attitude in worship.