Zach and Nikki, Part 3 June 27, 2010
It’s Sundayafternoon, and Zach and Nikki are discussing their visit to Parker Hills thatmorning. Neither of them knows much about Jesus or the Bible, but they haveassumed from the self-description on the PHBF sign—“Bible based, Christcentered”—that they can learn all about Jesus and the Bible if they just watchand listen at one of our worship services. In last week’s column we listened inas they discussed a variety of topics; now their conversation turns to one lastthing: what the worshipers at PHBF did with their bodies during the meeting.
They chat for afew moments about the various things the congregation did as elements of theirworship: singing, contributing to the offering, eating and drinking during theLord’s Supper, etc. And then Zach sums up: “Based on what I saw, I guesssitting down or standing up are the two sacred postures Jesus wants people into worship Him.”
A reasonableconclusion? Maybe “reasonable,” based on what they saw at PHBF. But is it Biblebased? Are standing and sitting the two postures the Bible advocates forworshiping God? Hardly. Scripture commands us to worship by singing, kneeling,lifting our hands, bowing down, clapping, shouting, playing instruments,dancing, standing, and more. You get the impression that God’s worth calls outa whole variety of physical responsesfrom His people! God is so glorious and overwhelming, engagement with Him can’tbe contained inside! Even when people are just standing before Him, they aren’t“just standing”; they are to “stand inawe” (Ps 33:8).
Furthermore, it’sinformative to study the worship vocabulary of the Scriptures. The most prominentHebrew word for worship (shachah,used 172x) literally means “bow, bend, pay homage.” Several other terms convey physical expression: “bow down” (kara, used 36x), “bless, kneel” (barak, used 330x), “throw forth thehands” (towdah, used 32x, oftentranslated “praise”).
If you’re startingto suspect that you’ve been set up by this whole “Zach and Nikki” thing, you’reright. But it’s a set-up with a point. We claim to be a Bible based church, andI know that is the genuine desire on most of our hearts. But are we willing tolet the Bible be our basis for what we do with our body in worship? Think aboutit, and stay tuned…