The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Regulative principle

Thank you for your patience.

I think the difficulty we are having is in the definition of worship. Your definition, if I understand you correctly, is that every single thing we do is to be considered worship. If that is true then eating is the same as worship, cooking is the same as worship; gardening, fixing the car, mowing the yard are all worship. This is where I disagree with you. By broadening the definition of worship to include all aspects of the Christians life, you divest it of all meaning.

I agree wholeheartedly that our Christian faith must have a radical impact in every area of our lives. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The life we live as Christians is to be glorifying to God. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. When we live a life of obedience, prayer, and devotion, letting our lights shine, so to speak—others will see our good works and give glory to God. I am not at all disagreeing that we are to live lives of obedience before God, only that it is for the purpose of glorifying God.

My concern is that if we say that everything we do is worship we immediately go beyond what God has instructed and begin to make up our own rules about what is proper worship and the measure of what is proper is how we feel about what we are doing. The standard becomes ours and not His.

Worship is not only a verb, it is also a noun. It is a thing that has content and God is the One Who determines that content.

You said:

Yes, I do believe that what you call a “church meeting” and I call worship really is set apart as different. Not because I say so, but because God says so. God clearly makes a distinction with the way we go about our lives on the other six days and the way we are to set aside the Sabbath. Why else would He give such detailed instructions?

You said:


While you promote your definition as one that is fuller and more meaningful than “outward rituals only for brief periods at certain times and in particular places” (your words) what you have done is minimize what is going on when the church comes together as the Body of Christ. You make it little more than a class to learn how to “worship.”

As His covenant people, we are not only joining together with members of a particular congregation, in a real spiritual sense we are entering into the heavenlies and join the saints and angels in the worship of God. The components of our worship (remember, this thread was started to discuss the Regulative Principle of Worship) are not simply for the intellectual and spiritual building up of the saints, but they are also for the purpose of showing forth the eternal glories of heaven. These components include the preaching of the Word, reading of the Word, prayer, singing praise, presenting tithes and offerings, the administration of the sacraments and vows. I suspect you seen no continuity between the services and parameters that God established with the children of Israel. God was careful to instruct them on what is permissible and what is forbidden when entering into His presence as an assembly. For, in the final analysis, the service of worship is for Him and to Him.