Articles
The Value of Collective Worship
There is a strong individual component in worship. That is, worship begins in the heart of each person who is moved to honor God. Salvation and fellowship with God are exclusively individualistic. We are not saved by group association; our fellowship with God is not determined by congregational affiliation. Granted, interaction with the spiritually mature can make our faith stronger, but the faith itself must be our own.
This is noted by the author of Hebrews, “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (8:11-12, quoting Jer 31:34). God’s forgiveness is dispensed on an individual level – to those who have faith in Him and in Jesus as the Savior (cf. Rom 1:16-17; 3:22, 25, 28, 30). And in order for an individual to have faith in God, he/she must first learn these truths and be convinced that the eternal future depends on how they respond to God’s grace (Rom 10:17; 1 Th 1:5-6; 2: 13). Once one grasps these sobering truths, gratitude and adoration stir our souls to worship God.
But there is a collective engagement in worship as well, a social desire, if you will, for believers to come together and share their veneration of God. Before the Law of Moses came into effect the primary worship collective seems to have been the family. The patriarchs were the worship leaders and offered sacrifices for the family (cf. Job 1:8; Gn 8:18-22. Note: there are scant pre-Sinai references to worship and sacrifice).
But with the covenant formation of the nation of Israel, both family and national worship are instituted and regulated to a high degree. Sacrifices, feasts, the Sabbath observance, music via instruments and songs, etc. all play a role in worship. The Levitical priesthood unified worship among the people and served as proxy directors. What did God expect such collective worship to do? Three things, at least, seem to flow from these regular, joint actions:
Reminder. In the annual Passover there was to be a reminder of what God had done to liberate Israel from the tyranny of the Egyptian Pharaoh: “So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage’” (Ex 13:14). The sacrifices themselves were “a reminder of sins every year” (Heb 10:3).
In a similar way, when Christians gather weekly to observe the Lord’s supper, we do so “In remembrance of Me,” as the Lord Himself instructed (1 Cor 11:24-25). So, the pertinent question is, “Do I think it is important to remember the death of the Lord every first day of the week (cf. Heb 10: 25)? When we choose to do something else on the Lord’s day, or when we just don’t feel motivated to commune with His people – and Him as well – (Mt 26:29; 1 Cor 10:16), what exactly are we admitting?
Perhaps we feel that we don’t get much out of joint worship. If so, we have some serious reflecting to do. Worship is an act in which we get back in direct proportion to what we put in. Or, we may feel it is no big deal to miss one, or two, or four or more Sundays, that it is not imperative to be present for as many worship opportunities as possible. But it’s hard to believe that willful neglect is anything other than the “forsaking” that is condemned in Heb 10:25; so we run into another spiritual dead end. We need to be reminded regularly that the Lord died for us, and we need to commune regularly with others who share the same conviction. To argue against consistent worship is to argue with God – an unwise thing to do.
Unification. It seems obvious that God wanted the Israelites to engage in joint worship to create unity, mutual love and appreciation among them. Internal dissension and conflict abound in Hebrew history in spite of God’s efforts to create cohesion and brotherly fellowship among them. The feasts, especially Tabernacles, were to be joyous occasions of rest, eating, conversation – things that would bond and solidify the people. The songs and sacrifices were to foster humility, thanksgiving and praise, for their opposites – pride, ingratitude and indifference – are fertile grounds for friction and contention.
Israel couldn’t rely merely upon common heritage to withstand the rigors of sinful attitudes, political intrigue, the enticement of idolatry and foreign cultures. They needed to constantly reinforce their devotion to God, their identity as His people, their commitment to unity and show to the world the wisdom and joy of serving the only true and living God. But isn’t this true of the church today? Is there a better way to unify ourselves as God’s people than worshiping together, expressing our common spiritual heritage and shared goals of serving Christ and helping each other get to heaven? Again, what are we saying when we willfully absent ourselves from worship? We are literally acting out the disunity that is vital to being a distinct, unified people of God.
Inspiration. If we take worship for granted or fail to see its deeper value, we may reach a point where the value of such can only be restored by being deprived of it. After the return from captivity “all the people gathered together as one man in the open square … So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation of men and women and all who could hear with understanding … Then he read from it in the open square … from morning until midday … and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law” (Neh 8:1-3). The people were deeply saddened by what Ezra read, and he thus encouraged them: “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved’” (8:10-11).
Those who treat missing the assembly lightly are forfeiting the deeper inspiration that only springs from the camaraderie of joint worship. There is no substitute for this; otherwise, God would not have specified collective worship. True, gazing out across the Grand Canyon is emotionally inspiring, but it pales in comparison to engaging in the worship of the Lord together with His people. If there is not a deep yearning in your soul for such occasions, something crucial is missing in your faith that calls for serious soul-searching.
