No Static Center

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Because Jesus has been established as both Lord and Christ, our worship of God through Him is the center of the world. Everything else we do, like the water flowing out from Ezekiel’s temple, proceeds from that reality. Not only is it the center of the world, but it also shapes the world. It was never intended to be a static center.

Worship is the center of all cultural transformation, which begins, obviously, with the task of evangelism. That doesn’t make this service an evangelistic service directly, in the same way our Threshold service is. But it does mean that this service is the genius of evangelism. Life in the church, with Christ at the center of it, enthroned there by faith, is what we are evangelizing people to, even though it is not what we are primarily evangelizing people with. At the same time, on another level, this service is why we evangelize. It provides an important motive force, an important rationale.

So do not say that this service is our central evangelistic effort, even though nobody is ever converted. And do not say that since people must be converted, we need to alter the service to be more inviting to nonbelievers. There is a third option. We do not adjust the service as though it was a product, and the people out there were consumers. The consumer of our worship is God; and we are blessed as He receives it. Once we have learned that we are blessed when He receives our worship, we want to include others in that great blessing. But it is the blessing of God-centeredness.

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