{"id":987,"date":"2010-01-30T20:56:26","date_gmt":"2010-01-30T20:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2010\/01\/we-have-seen-his-glory--the-nature-of-nt-worship.html"},"modified":"2010-01-30T20:56:26","modified_gmt":"2010-01-30T20:56:26","slug":"we-have-seen-his-glory-the-nature-of-nt-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/01\/we-have-seen-his-glory-the-nature-of-nt-worship.html","title":{"rendered":"‘We Have Seen his Glory’– The Nature of NT Worship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"weve.jpg\"<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My latest book,  which comes out on Feb. 15th, and can be ordered now at Amazon deals with the issue of the sorry state of worship in the Protestant Church these days, with much of what passes for worship being little more than Christian entertainment or stand up spotlight monologues or anthropocentric ‘felt-needs’ based preaching.   In this new book I am attempting to call us towards a more theologically rich and Biblically centered practice of worship.  Below you will find a sample of it from the  Forward to the book. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

—————<\/p>\n

One of the things that has
\npreoccupied my mind in recent years is the issue of worship.  <\/span>I have been surprised to discover how very
\nlittle time NT scholars spend talking about it, or even about the texts in the
\nBible that describe worship.  <\/span>I have
\nlooked in vain for good textbooks written by Biblical scholars on what the
\nBible, or even just the NT, says about worship.[1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>As Shakespeare would say, this is ‘passing
\nstrange’, especially since worship is something most of us are involved in
\nevery single week.   <\/span>Perhaps one reason
\nfor this surprising silence comes to light when I report a recent discussion I
\nhad with a NT colleague.     <\/span><\/p>\n

I asked him where
\nhe was going to church these days.   <\/span>He
\nbeat around the bush for a while, and then confessed that he had not yet come
\nupon a church that he and his wife really found ‘ministered to them’ and got
\nthem excited about worshipping God, so they went to church sporadically and
\ntried different churches, never committing to one in particular. These were
\nrevealing comments, and what they revealed is that my friend had gotten caught
\nup in the consumer approach to worship, the attitude that one goes to a church
\nbecause it ‘ministers to me’.  <\/span>Not, mind
\nyou, ‘I go to a church because that’s where I can best serve’ but rather ‘I go
\nto a church where I am best served’.  <\/span>This
\nsort of anthropocentric or consumer oriented approach to worship is all too
\ncommon in our narcissistic culture, and it got me thinking about what the NT
\nactually says about worship, especially about the ultimate and final vision of
\nworship,  <\/span>both heavenly and
\neschatological worship as depicted, for example, in the book of Revelation.   <\/span>Alas, worship as we experience it is
\nimperfect, always caught betwixt and between, but perhaps a clearer vision of
\nwhat worship can be will give us some guidance for better praxis of the art of
\nworshipping.<\/p>\n

            <\/span>My
\nthoughts on this subject have developed over time both while I have been an
\nacademic for the last 30 years and also with the pasturing of six churches
\nalong the way. Some urgency came into my thinking when I realized how little
\ntheological reflection goes into the planning of a worship service these days.  <\/span>Whether the service is some form of
\n‘traditional’ worship or a modern ‘praise’ service,  <\/span>whether it is highly liturgical or just a
\n‘hymn sandwich’, worship as we practice it seems to dwell entirely too much on
\nthe past, and too little on the finish line–Kingdom Come.  <\/span>Suppose, however, we were to ‘pay it forward’
\nrather than replaying it backwards? 
\n<\/span>Suppose we envisioned Christian worship in light of the eschaton rather
\nthan in light of what has already gone before in the past, in light of Kingdom
\ncome rather than in light of kingdoms gone?  
\n<\/span>And trust me, in America
\nthere are some ecclesiastical kingdoms which have come and gone, even though
\nsome Christians are fervently praying that next year will be 1954. In this
\nlittle study I hope to explore the possibilities of a Kingdom come sort of
\nworship.  <\/span>What would that look like, and
\ncould we get excited about it and actually do it?   <\/span>Isn’t it about time, here at the cusp of the
\n21rst century that we thought seriously and theologically about these matters?<\/p>\n

            <\/span>I
\nam convinced that one of the great problems to having a more reflective and
\nmore Christian approach to worship is that even many of our ministers and worship
\nleaders have very little understanding of what the NT actually says about
\nworship, what it is meant to be, what it entails, and what we ought to do.   <\/span>In this study I hope to remedy some of that
\nproblem and tease some minds into active thought about what worship should look
\nlike if we really believe that God’s kingdom is coming.  <\/span>In so doing I hope to make clear that worship
\nshould involve “an assurance of things hoped for, and a conviction about things
\nnot yet seen” (Heb. 11.1), and so should be an act of forward looking faith,
\nhope, and love.  <\/span> <\/span>Hopefully, these opening remarks have peaked
\nyour curiosity.  <\/span>Its time for us to
\nexplore a more Biblical and Kingdom-oriented vision of worship.[2]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n

[1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> For
\nexample, hardly a passing reference is made to a theology of worship in the
\notherwise useful recent study Theological Interpretation of the New
\nTestament, <\/u>K.J. Vanhoozer Gen. Ed (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005) and even  <\/span>F. Matera’s full dress and very helpful study
\nNew Testament Theology, <\/u>(Lousiville: Westminster\/J. Knox, 2007)  <\/span>give scant attention to the subject.  <\/span>The OT was covered long ago by H.H. Rowley,
\nbut his study is very dated at this juncture. 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> Since I
\nhave written three volumes on the sacraments (one on baptism, one on the Lord’s
\nSupper, one on the Word of God as sacramental) I do not intend to focus on
\nthose aspects of worship in this particular study, not because I do not think
\nthey are an important part of worship— I absolutely do. Rather, I want to
\nfocus here more broadly on a proper theological understanding and orientation
\nto what Christian worship actually is and does.   <\/span>Those books are Troubled Waters, Making a
\nMeal of It, <\/u> <\/span>and The Living Word
\nof God, <\/u>all published by Baylor U. Press in 2006 and 2007.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest book,  which comes out on Feb. 15th, and can be ordered now at Amazon deals with the issue of the sorry state of worship in the Protestant Church these days, with much of what passes for worship being little more than Christian entertainment or stand up spotlight monologues or anthropocentric ‘felt-needs’ based preaching.  …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n'We Have Seen his Glory'- The Nature of NT Worship - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/01\/we-have-seen-his-glory-the-nature-of-nt-worship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'We Have Seen his Glory'- The Nature of NT Worship - 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A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}