Painful, but true…

Legos. Especially in the middle of the night when anything above a whisper potentially wakes a sleeping baby. My oldest son loves Legos, so we have literal bins filled with Legos from various packs he’s received at Christmas, for his birthday, as a reward for weekly chores, good grades, etc. You get the point—we have more Legos than any child really needs.

Legos are a simple concept in and of themselves. In the context of a Lego set, each individual piece is equally important. According to the designer’s plan, each piece has its own characteristics and role to play. Those numerous pieces of plastic in various shapes, sizes, and colors are designed deliberately for the sole purpose of coming together to project a singular identity. Each piece is in its most beautiful and purposeful state when joined as a completed set. When you think about a rogue Lego piece, you think of its sharp corners, the jump-scare you receive when you run over it with the vacuum, and the age-old question of ”how many containers does it take to keep Legos off of the floor?” Compare that with what you see when you look at a finished Lego masterpiece. You see the glory of the identity each piece was meant to show forth together. You look for a place to display the set, rather than trying to keep them from becoming a minefield you tip-toe around. And so it is with the local church: reborn for life together for the glory of God and the joy of unity in Christ.

All that we do, from the moment we gather to the moment we depart, weaves the tapestry of congregational worship.

Part of the beauty and blessing of the identity we have in Christ is that it is shared and binds us together as one body—the Church. We gather for worship not primarily to receive, but to give what is necessary in order to show the world our oneness through Christ-centered, gospel-driven, self-sacrificing love.

Our unity isn’t such that we’re homogenized so that each individual is indistinguishable from another. Rather, it is in the sense of being dynamically fused together in such a way that no single member can be regarded as less than another. Though we may vary in talents and resources, no one should covet another because all are gifted by the Holy Spirit and fit together according to God’s perfect plan for His glory and our good.

A major shift that must take place in our mindset toward Sunday morning gatherings is that we’re joining together for the sake of one another and the call to glorify Christ as His unified body. I mustn’t think that I’ve come to church to simply receive, but rather to play a part in making much of Jesus with all of my being.

Congregational worship is a unified pursuit

Individualism. Hedonism. Consumerism.

Three sneaky worldview dragons that unfortunately have left their mark on the local church and its practice of gathering together. Consider Smaug, the dragon from The Hobbit, who guarded his treasure without a care for what it took to do so (if you haven’t read the book or watched the trilogy, it’s definitely worth your time to do so). As the dwarves come to reclaim their treasure, Smaug is stirred to pride-filled wrath. By the end of the story, an entire town is burned to the ground over Smaug’s defense of his selfish desire. Such a scene lifts the veil to reveal the gross destruction that such self-centeredness can bring. And this self-centered posture is the root of the three worldview dragons mentioned above. We could call them ”me first”, ”me regardless”, and ”mine”.

Such words have no business characterizing the church, and yet churches split and churches close over an unwillingness to kill these dragons and pursue God in unity.

Hebrews 10:19-25 shows us a church that is void of such dangerous ideologies.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. — Hebrews 10:19-25¹

Notice the language used here. It is not aimed at the individual. Brothers and sisters…we have confidence…inaugurated for us…we have a great priest…let’s approach God…our hearts sprinkled…our bodies washed…Let’s hold firmly…our hope…let’s consider…encourage one another…not abandoning our own meeting together…encouraging one another. Individualism, hedonism, and consumerism have no place here.

What is it that we are blessed to do together as brothers and sisters in Christ? Fellowship with the holy God. Not with fear of judgment, but in full assurance of salvation, with confidence in the One who is faithful and true. We get to draw near to Him and to one another, giving one another the encouragement needed to press on as we see the day drawing near. Our assembling together is the closest we get to our true home on this side of eternity. Let’s not allow the dragons of this world to separate us from our brothers and sisters and the joy of worshiping our Lord together.

Congregational worship is humble sacrifice

I have a friend in ministry from my previous church where I served as Student Pastor. When he began working at our church as the Administrative Coordinator, I noticed quickly that he seemed to always be ready and willing to accept a random visit from one of the staff or a church member throughout the day. His office door seemed to always be open. I believe it was part of a staff devotional that he said something to the effect of, I’ve learned to stop seeing interruptions as disruptions. I choose to see them as opportunities for ministry. I love that!

What makes that kind of attitude possible? Sacrifice. If you’re going to truly live with such an “open door policy” of the heart and mind, then you first have to be willing to say not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). And this applies to congregational worship as well. When we come together to worship, we must do so with hearts and minds humbled before the Lord. We must be ready to be interrupted. What do onlookers see when they observe our churches? Do they see the humble, sacrificial body of Christ? Or do they see factions, cliques, and little wars over preferences? Humble sacrifice of selfish desire and ambition removes the veil of the flesh so that others may see the glory of Christ living in and through His people.

you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. — 1 Peter 2:5

The sacrifices we make individually are for the sake of becoming what we were meant to be together. If unity is the destination, sacrifice is the road to get there.

Looking ahead…

Worship is more than music, and in the next part of this series we’ll unpack a few more pieces to the congregational puzzle: gifts, prayer, and the songs we sing.

Footnotes

1. New American Standard Bible, 2020 ed. (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 2020). ↩