WORSHIP NOTES
Volume 20, No. 3 ( March 2025)
An Astounding Truth
Jesus Christ, Paul tells us in Colossians 3:11, “is all, and in all.” And that extends to our worship.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)
As our great High Priest, Jesus represents us before the Father. He not only mediates our response of praise, he participates in it! This concept plumbs one of the most profound depths of the mystery of the incarnation: that Jesus Christ, who as God deserves and receives worship (Heb 1:6), should also as a human be a worshiper himself! In the words of James Torrance:
“Here lies the mystery, the wonder, the glory of the Gospel, that He who is God, the Creator of all things, and worthy of the worship and praises of all creation, should become man and as a man worship God, and as a man lead us in our worship of God.” (“The Place of Jesus Christ in Worship” in Theological Foundations for Ministry, 351)
When believers gather for worship, Jesus has promised to be in our midst, lifting up his own praise and leading us in ours:
“I will proclaim your name to my brethren,
and in the midst of the congregation I will praise Your name.” (Hebrews 2:12)
When Christ our model and brother praises the Father, he leads the way for us. Because we are in union with him, his worship is our worship. Through him we come into the Father’s presence in worship; we come clothed in his righteousness, and he bears up our weak offerings of worship and makes them one with his own perfect offering of praise.
The Church on earth lives and acts only as it is directed by its heavenly Lord, and only in such a way that His Ministry is reflected in the midst of its ministry and worship. Therefore from first to last the worship and ministry of the Church on earth must be governed by the fact that Christ substitutes himself in our place, and that our humanity with its own acts of worship, is displaced by his, so that we appear before God not in our own name, not in our own significance, not in virtue of our own acts of confession, contrition, worship, and thanksgiving, but solely in the name of Christ and solely in virtue of what He has done in our name and on our behalf, and in our stead. Justification by Christ alone means that from first to last in the worship of God and in the ministry of the Gospel Christ himself is central, and that we draw near in worship and service only through letting Him take our place. He only is Priest. He only represents humanity. He only has an offering with which to appear before God and with which God is well-pleased. He only presents our prayers before God, and He only is our praise and thanksgiving and worship as we appear before the face of the Father. “Nothing in our hands we bring—simply to His Cross we cling.” (Thomas Torrance, Theology in Reconstruction, 167)
[for more on this incredible truth, please see Worship Notes 1.8, 4.11, and 19.3. Also, Ron Man, Proclamation and Praise: Hebrews 2:12 and the Christology of Worship; and chapter 26 in Ron Man, Let Us Draw Near: Biblical Foundations of Worship.]
A Liberating Truth
The true source of worship’s power is the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of his people, leading us and joining with us in the our praise of the Father.
God accepts and delights in our worship, not because of even our best efforts (we can’t impress him with our artistry or even with our spirituality), but because of the Son’s continual offering of worship in our place and on our behalf. He gathers up our imperfect expressions of worship into his own perfect one. It is not the excellence of our worship (quality, quantity, or form) that makes it acceptable and pleasing unto God, but the excellence of his Son, with whom he is eternally well pleased (Matt 3:17; 17:5; 2 Pet 1:17).
We, as worshipers and as worship leaders, do not have to come to public (or private) worship fearing if it will be “good enough,” if it will be acceptable to God. When we come through and in dependence upon Christ, our worship will always be good enough! We must repent of trying to do worship in our own strength and depend on Christ to do what only he can do!
And that is indeed true freedom for those of us involved in worship planning and leading!
In Search of a Better Title
When I was teaching a conference of young worship leaders in Bangladesh a few years ago, I shared some of these precious truths, then boldly told them they were not really worship leaders! Only Jesus is; and I told them that our role is more like that of a worship facilitator.
Imagine my surprise when I saw this banner for that ministry’s next worship conference: they were really listening!
To call our role that of worship facilitator is a step in the right direction, and reserves for Jesus the title of Worship Leader, that truly only he can fulfill.
But “facilitator” seems a little bland, and doesn’t quite capture the richness and privilege of our role.
However, a friend who is a missionary doing worship ministry in France recently wrote me this:
“I’m doing some practical workshops for a church in northern France this weekend. They call their group of musicians and leaders their “serviteurs du culte” (worship servants) which is both original and quite appropriate!”
Appropriate indeed! I love it:
WORSHIP SERVANTS
Serving God in worship, and serving His people in worship.