The Assembly and Whole-Life Worship

It has been rightly said that nothing compares to the joy expressed in Christian worship.  The spiritual worship that takes place in the assembly of the saints is unique to every other activity in the Christian's life.  While moments of personal devotion and worship are integral to the Christian life, nothing truly compares to the worship of the saints in the assembly.

Recently much discussion has taken place about something called whole-life worship.  Perhaps you have heard some describe the daily walk of a Christian as worship.  What follows this description is an emphasis, which is correct in and of itself, on the spiritual sacrifice of living a godly life.  Nothing could be closer to God's will for man than to live our lives in such a way that everything we do in word or in deed is in the name of the Lord.  We should live our lives in such a way that Christ - not ourselves - is seen in us (Galatians 2:20).  Worship, either private or corporate, is not something that encompasses one's whole life but is a specific spiritual event, an event with specific instructions to govern its observance and uniquely identified from all other activities and events of Christian life.

The misunderstanding comes with the mistranslation of some key scriptures in this discussion.  The New International Version, for instance, translates the Greek word latreuo as "worship" in Romans 12:1.  By this rendering, it would appear that the day-to-day service to God is, in fact, worship.  Nothing could be further from the true meaning of this text. The most accurate translation reads something like this: "Therefore brothers, I beg you through God's mercies, to give your bodies a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service."  The Greek word latreuo, used in this passage, is a verb which means quite literally, "to serve, or to render homage" (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words).  Stephen uses this same word to say, "But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven" (Acts 7:42 NASB).  Latreuo is the worshipful lifestyle that characterizes the Christian walk.

Jesus himself illustrates the difference between true spiritual worship to God (proskuneo) and true service to God (latreuo).  With the Greek word proskuneo meaning literally, "a specific act of reverence or homage" (Vine), the meaning of Jesus' words becomes quite clear.  "Then Jesus said to him 'Begone Satan!  For it is written: "You shall worship (proskuneo) the Lord your God, and serve (latreuo) Him only" ' "(Matthew 4:10).  Both areas of a Christian's life are important.  If a person eliminates his worship to God, he would be sinning and in danger of losing his soul.  The same result will occur with the person who may worship in the assembly but live a life that is unworthy the rest of the week.

Why is it important to make such a minute distinction between two very important areas of Christian life?  With some in the religious world now making arguments to the effect that corporate assembly is a non- biblical idea, and the only motivation we have to assemble is that it is part of a whole-life worship already taking place, the distinction must be made.  Otherwise, a person could come to the false conclusion that no specific instructions govern our worship assemblies, and therefore assert since our whole life is worship, why not take the Lord's Supper on Friday evenings instead of Sunday?  The list of necessary inferences from this line of reasoning is endless.  It would affect everything from adding instruments to the assembly to increasing the role of women.  The fact is that words have meaning.  When we say our whole life is worship, it may sound good and politically correct, but it is biblically false and leads to false teaching.

Worship that takes place in the assembly is a spiritual event ordained by God whereby the saints commune with God in a way distinct from any other act of service to God.  Indeed, nothing compares to the joy expressed and experienced in spiritual worship.

Tony Price
"Reprinted with permission, Gospel Advocate"