Body Worship

Body Worship?

No, I don’t mean we should worship our bodies. I mean that the Body, the one Paul talks about in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, worships.

You may have heard the worship gathering referred to as “corporate worship.” And that word—corporate—may stir images of the corporate ladder, or corporate lawyers or corporations. But get this: our English word comes from the Latin “corpus,” which actually means… body.

That’s how we worship together…as a body

I remember vividly my time in East Africa just over a decade ago. One of the many striking things about the worship gatherings I attended was the interconnectedness of everything. The children and youth I saw lead in worship did so as groups, looking more like extended family than neighbors. The preaching was as conversational as any black preacher I’ve been around. And the singing… everybody sang from the gut. Everybody. Together. 

It was like seeing this passage lived out:

The human body has many parts,

but the many parts make up one whole body.

So it is with the body of Christ.

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,”

that does not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,”

would that make it any less a part of the body?

If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear?

Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.”

The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

...So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care

are given to those parts that have less dignity.

This makes for harmony among the members,

so that all the members care for each other.

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it,

and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

Which brings me to one of the dangers I see in worship in our day, at least in the US. I hear it often. “I just want to close my eyes and imagine that I’m the only one in the room.” OR “I want the room to be dark so I don’t have to worry about people seeing me.” OR “I’m afraid of what other people will think if I show on the outside what I’m feeling on the inside.”

And so in our fear, we defy the images of 1 Corinthians 12 and withhold ourselves from each other. 

Lord, have mercy.

A priority of the faith community described throughout the New Testament is spiritual intimacy. When we close ourselves off from others we, well… close ourselves off from others. We forsake intimacy.

It’s like the eye is saying, I don’t need you. And like the the ear is saying, you don’t need me.

But God made us to need one another. 

I need you to worship on the outside like you feel on the inside. I want to see your joy. Your lament. I want to see you.

And I want you to see my delight. My sorrow. I want to be seen.

So let’s keep out eyes open. Let’s keep the lights on. And let’s worship like the body we are.