By Adam Faughn
How do you
describe what we do when we gather on Sundays? I suppose that most of the time,
we just say that we are "going to worship" or that those are our
"worship times."
But if you had to
put a word after the word "worship" to describe what we do, what word
would you choose? Probably, the main way we would fill in that blank would be
to use the word "service." We might even announce that it is time for
us to begin our worship service. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with that.
It is an accurate term for what we are doing, as worship is meant to be in
service to our heavenly Father.
But I want to
suggest another word that means a lot to me, and that might further help us
focus on what we are doing.
For about seven
years, I worked with Andy Kizer in Haleyville, Alabama. He meant a lot to me as
a very young man trying to learn the ins-and-outs of local ministry. Outside of
my own family, he is likely the man whom I would consider my "mentor"
in the ministry.
One thing that he
used to say then--and still does--is in describing worship. It is not that he
never said "worship service." He would from time-to-time. But it was
not his main way of describing these periods of time. Instead, the vast
majority of the time, he would refer to them as "worship privileges."
If you think about it, that is actually quite profound.
To be allowed to
worship the almighty God of the universe and to know how to do so in a way that
pleases and honors Him truly is a privilege. We should not be allowed in His
presence, but He seeks such (cf. John 4:23-24). We would never know how to
approach Him in a pleasing way, but He has clearly told us how to do so and
that He delights when we do. What a privilege!
For various
reasons, though, we sometimes struggle or even fail to see worship for the
privilege it is. We treat it as common. We decide other things are more
important. We want to change how it is done. We are present physically but a
million miles away mentally. We would rather stare at Facebook than sing to the
Father. We find mundane things of this world more interesting than the glory of
worshiping God.
When we act in
these types of ways, it is obvious that we are not seeing worship for the true
privilege it is. But, oh, how we should! To come before God should humble us
deeply.
To know we can please Him as we do should cause us great
joy. And to be allowed to do so each week should cause us to realize what an
amazing privilege worship truly is.
It is a worship service. There is no doubt
about that. But may we never forget that it is also a worship privilege and
reverently treat these times as such.
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