7 Reasons to Work Hard at Worship

Liturgy comes from two words: “Work” and “people.” Therefore, liturgy can be accurately defined as the “work of the people.”

Our Lord was so righteously angry by the easy business transactions (easy worship) of the Temple that he turned upside down the world when he overturned the tables of the money-changers (John 2:13-16). Such audacity should be imitated by God’s people but cautiously exercised in light of our sinfulness. So here is my attempt to cautiously turn a few tables upside down with the hope that some will decide to keep it that way rather than try to put it back up or mend the broken pieces.

Worship has become perfunctory in our day. The seeker-sensitive movement of the 90’s has morphed into a thousand strategic models for church growth, offering easy worship choices that would be best spread in a meal for pagan gods than the God who made the heavens and earth. Easy worship produces light Christians. Light Christians produce weak men, and weak men produce feeble societies. A worship that does not demand the body and soul is not worthy of its name.

I offer several reasons why worship is and should be hard. And by “hard,” I do not mean “mathematical,” demanding intellectual prowess and a high IQ, but simply that it is fitting for God’s people to bring their bodies as actionable beings into the throneroom of grace. In fact, the best worship is one which can be absorbed within a couple of weeks of practice. But one must be willing to invest in this effort to benefit from its glory.

So, why, then, must worship be hard?

First, worship must be hard work because God demands those who worship him to do so in “spirit and truth (John 4:24).” I take “Spirit” to mean in, “Spirit-led” form. Worship requires a Spirit-shaped liturgy. It must be guided by the inspired words of the Spirit and the indwelling presence of the Spirit. Jesus demands that we take up the cross and follow him, which is hard work lived out by the power of the Spirit.

Worshiping in truth also demands much from the worshiper. John the Baptist had borne witness to the truth (John 5:33), and that witness cost him his life. Thus, worshiping in truth is a challenging task. Our gathered assembly must be prepared to fight hard to/in worship. If worship demands little or nothing from us, it fails the John 4:24 test.

Second, worship must be hard because God’s commandments require perseverance (Ephesians 6:18). Grace is not a synonym for a lackadaisical posture. Grace, instead, calls us to serve the Lord with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The people of God are called to worship by loving him and his neighbor and both demand a high alertness to God’s principles for worship (Col. 3:16). Worship is a picture of our own spiritual walk. If we do not invest in our sanctification, we will grow apathetic. Worship trains us for intentional growth in our walk. On the other hand, passivity in worship may lead to passivity in our Christian walk.

Third, worship demands most work on the Lord’s appointed day. Many say that they can worship anywhere as a way to avoid worshiping in the consecrated time of worship on the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). It is true that worship can take place anywhere, but the particular worship God commands is the worship of his gathered assembly (Heb. 10:25). Worship is hard because there are competing temptations that draw us away from the gathered assembly. Everything done in the name of God can be worship, but if it is used to substitute a clear call to worship him on his appointed day, it becomes less than worship and a violation of the principle of worship. God places a higher priority on gathered worship than on earthly tasks, which is why we ought to apply ourselves with a greater fervency to Sunday worship than to other worshipful activities.

Fourth, worship demands postures. The Bible offers many postures for the Christian in worship. Worship has bodily demands for those who are able. It is hard work and requires a proactive response from the Christian. Passivity is not in the vocabulary of worship.

Fifth, worship teaches us patterns. The beauty of patterns is that it requires repetition. The angels in heaven maintain a glory pattern of worship day and night (Rev. 7:15). They are not discontent with the patterns or repetitions. They worship again and again. Similarly, earthly saints must repeat without fear but with a hunger to see such repetition become fervent and acceptable in God’s sight. Every stage of human life demand patterns, whether kisses, hugs, sex, greetings, discipline in the home, waking, sleeping, eating, etc. Repetition is part of life. The thirst for the new and change in worship reflects a concern for human desires rather than God’s demands.

Sixth, hard work in worship stresses the sacrificial nature of the God/Man. It’s been many years since Christian Smith coined the phrase “moralistic therapeutic deism,” but the term still accurately identifies the modern display of false piety in worship. We are more comforted in being entertained than giving our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12). When we worship, we are making an offering to a God who is mighty to save, a God who offered his own body as the unblemished lamb and who calls us to imitate him in our self-giving bodies.

Seventh, hard work in worship teaches consistency in life. Someone who attended a congregation where hard work was expected from the people asked sarcastically: “Why do you all have to make things so complicated?” The question was addressed to a congregation that took worship seriously and demanded participation from its people. Ironically, this individual cherished a hard work ethic and decried the lack of real men in our culture.

“Work hard in school. Work hard to save money. Work hard to change a liberal culture,” he’d say. But “do little work when you come into worship” was the implication. This inconsistency is consistent with the easy worship practices of many churches in our day. Let the experts do their thing, and our role is to simply sit and watch while we let others do the work for us.

Worship is discipleship training. We do the work repeatedly to become competent and equipped for it. Contrary to popular opinion, hard work in worship is not the invention of cranky Presbyterians who wish to take away our joy. In fact, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And the Lord takes joy when we are strengthened by worshiping Him. Working hard in worship has nothing to do with earning God’s favor; working hard in worship means God is deserving of our praise. We don’t come and offer Him the least we can give; we offer Him our spiritual sacrifice. Indeed we offer Him our entire self.

Worship is warfare. Warfare is hard. Worship prepares us for the race ahead. By the end of the hour, we should feel the exhaustion of having worshiped a great God who demands and is worthy of praise, confession, singing, adoration, kneeling, standing, and lifting holy hands. No one should come from such worship feeling lethargic. The liturgy–the work of the people–trains us for the hard work of perseverance through life. Let’s work hard with God’s people until our final rest, when our work will be perfected by the God who calls us into His presence.