WORSHIP PHILOSOPHY

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There are many worship philosophies out there, but we at First Lubbock have chosen to pattern our worship experiences after an idea borrowed from Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher of the 19th century. He said that worship of his day looked like this:

 

• The people in the congregation were the audience (judging the quality of the experience)

• Those involved in leading worship were the actors (giving the audience something to critique)

• God is the prompter in worship (telling leaders what to include in worship, e.g. songs, scripture, etc.)

 

But, in a very revolutionary, counter-cultural declaration, Kierkegaard said that biblical worship should look like this:

 

• God is the audience (the only one worthy to judge and receive our worship)

• Those involved in leading worship are the “prompters” (giving the “actors” in worship the words to use in their worship of God). They are there to help us focus on Jesus! They guide us on this journey called worship.  It might be one person or a ton of folks. It might be one instrument, no instruments, or a bunch of instruments.  It might be a full choir and orchestra, it will almost always include media assistance.  These are our modern-day prompters and they work really hard at reminding us what to say, when and how.  And as they exercise the gifts God has given them, as they help us, moment by moment, “…interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves…” focus on Jesus, we soon forget about them entirely, focusing on Jesus alone

• The people in the congregation are the “actors” or “performers” in worship (offering to God all that they are, loving Him completely with their heart, soul, mind, and strength)

 

This is why you will very seldom see those on stage “perform” for we want the vast majority of what we offer to God in worship to come from the congregation rather than the congregation to observe others offering worship to God. Yes, there are exceptions in our worship, but they are very intentional. This is not just a good idea from a really smart guy, it is very Christocentric worship.

 

• Jesus is part of the prompting

• Jesus is the One who unifies all who have gathered, having trust His completed work for our salvation, worshipping Him in spirit and truth

• Jesus is there, at God’s right hand, hopefully smiling His approval as we, His bride (the Church), express our love for Him

 

 

“Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God. Worship is the time and place that we assign for deliberate attentiveness to God—not because He’s confined to time and place but because our self-importance is so insidiously relentless that if we don’t deliberately interrupt ourselves regularly, we have no chance of attending to Him at all at other times and in other places.”

Eugene Peterson

Leap Over a Wall, pp152-153

 

“May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!”

Romans 15.5-6 MSG