Regardless of your church background, you’ve undoubtedly heard one of these phrases during a Sunday service:

• Scenario #1: Contemporary megachurch. Dual big screens and rock band on-stage. Laser lights and smoke machine, to boot. Young song leader with hip clothes and hip shoes begins the service with a Michael Buffer-esque, “Ladies and gentlemen: Let’s get ready to worshi-i-i-i-i-i-p!”
• Scenario #2: Traditional small church. Dusty hymnals and a slightly-out-of-tune piano up front. Light bulb above the pulpit needs changing. Older song leader with a hip replacement (who was actually pretty hip during the Johnson Administration) says, “Now, let’s sing this last hymn with a worshipful attitude…”

Two very different scenarios, one all-too-common mistake: confining worship to the sung words of Christians on a Sunday morning.

This unfortunate misunderstanding dominates modern Christian culture more than one may think. Dedicated record labels produce “worship” albums, sold at your local Christian bookstore (in the “Worship” section, no less). A plethora of “worship-leading” conferences are available to aspiring singers and musicians in the church. I even saw a musical manuscript asking singers to sing “Worshipfully”. (In some churches, hymnals may as well state “Stone-faced and passionless” atop the notes and lyrics to “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”.)

Stephen Miller had this to say on the matter: “The Bible is clear that worship has an all-of-life-ness about it that can’t be relegated to just singing.” Maybe the publishers of the aforementioned choir piece were onto something. That word “worshipfully” isn’t such a poor term after all. If we split it into two, we actually arrive at a biblical concept that may guide us effectively: Worship Fully.

How can we worship fully in every facet of life? Here are
four (of many) areas wherein we can worship fully our all-deserving Almighty God:

1. The WORD. God’s Word is our life-giving food (Hebrews 5:14) and water (John 4:14). It also a “light to [our] path” (Psalm 119:105). On Sundays, the reading and preaching of God’s Word is no less “worship” than the singing of “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16). The rest of the week, our own reading and meditation upon God’s Word must be our daily delight (Psalm 1:2). This, too, is an act of worship. Some of us can’t sing to save our lives, but all of us can take up and read God’s Word!

2. Our WORK. While some worship their work, we as Christians are called to worship through our work. The Hebrew word ‘abad (Genesis 2:15) and the Greek word latreia (Romans 12:1) both carry with it the idea of service, or work. The common English rendering of the latter biblical word? “Worship”. This revolutionizes how we ought to approach our daily nine-to-five! From the VP of a large company to the janitor that cleans it, as children of God we all can worship Him through whatever work we’re called to do.

3. Our WEALTH. Why is it that, according to one statistic, only 5% of Christians faithfully give tithes and offerings? How can the other 95% be exhorted to change? Simple: remind such brethren we are commanded to “honor the Lord with [our] wealth” (Proverbs 3:9). Even Adam’s sons understood that worship of God was always accompanied with an offering (see Genesis 4:2-5). Practically speaking for our generation, purposefully set aside your offering to the Lord (I Corinthians 16:1-2) and give cheerfully (II Corinthians 9:7).

4. Our “WHATEVER”. Paul basically leaves no room for excuses with these words: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31). This covers all activities under the sun (so long as those activities are not sinful). How can we tell if our “whatever” is being done as an act of worship? Answer by asking yourself this question: “Is this activity causing me to love God more?” Only you can truthfully answer that question. But whatever our “whatever”, may it be that we do it for God to be glorified.

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Whether you attend that megachurch of 20,000 in the city or that small church of 20 in the country, may our worship no longer be reduced to a weekend vocal chord exercise. Whether we have been a child of God for five decades or five days, may our affections increasingly be for the things of God. And whatever our “whatever”, may we do all to worship fully our infinitely awesome God!

One of the wonderful things about the Church is the community we share. In Christ, God has knit us together, and instead of admonishing us to become a community, he tells us that he has already made us into one. In John, we read that our unique love for one another is what will set us apart and show that we are disciples of Christ.

I recently attended a women’s breakfast and listened to a talk on friendship, specifically the masks that we have a tendency to hide behind. It seems that despite our bond, many in the Church are feeling lonely and disconnected. Over the last year I’ve spent much time evaluating and praying through my own experience with loneliness, and have sought to dialogue with both men and women, hearing their thoughts and desires for our brothers and sisters. From this, two principles have come to define how I seek out and approach friendships.

1) Dig deep from the start. The popular assumption is that before a relationship can move into a posture of worship, prayer, and confession, a sufficient amount of time needs to be spent in ‘casual’ fellowship. It follows that the friendship will then come to a level of comfort where expressing emotion and vulnerability can take place. This is not impossible, but in my experience the opposite has more often been true. I have found that the sooner a friendship boldly makes Christ the center of the relationship, the deeper the roots have grown.

Lore Ferguson gives a beautiful illustration here:

After dinner worship, twenty-five people, most transplants from elsewhere, some strangers, all sinners and saints, we sang and some wept. And then confession. The right of the gospel is confession, one to another, and oh how often we forget that holy act of worship. Strangers confessed doubt, fear, weariness, rejoiced in a hope that does not disappoint, and then became friends.”

Sharing in these ways can remind us of, and strengthen, our common bond. Engaging in the practices of prayer, worship, and confession together will lead us to a greater want of Christ, and mutually shape our desire for him. While not every relationship will experience the same level of depth, as believers in Christ we already have the bond that we need to feel safe with one another. We are united in Christ, and because of this we have grace, forgiveness, and compassion for each other.

2) Focus on extending friendship. If you let it, loneliness will turn inwards, become selfish, and rob you of your joy. It will convince you that the blame belongs on others for not serving you well, and you will forget about your exhortation to serve others well.

Galatians 6:2 tells us this:

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Experiencing loneliness gives you an empathetic vantage point that not everyone will share. You understand what it’s like to pray for friendship, and you know the difficulties that come with this longing. What is a thorn to you can become a blessing to others.

There are many walking in your midst that carry heaviness. Do what you can to lift their burdens – ask questions, encourage, make yourself available, offer to pray. This may mean that we worry less about how to remove the mask we’re wearing, and we shift our focus to seeing others remove the burden of theirs. But in the words of John Piper, doing this “will bring you more satisfaction than if you became a millionaire ten times over.”

* Sarah writes at sarahvanbeveren.com, and you can folllow her on Twitter here.