Soon after encountering Christ as a teenager, I began telling everyone about my new faith. Once, as I tried to convince a friend that Jesus would make a huge positive difference in his life, he expressed doubts - he felt that Jesus made no difference at all.
“I used to wait outside a church every Sunday morning,” he said, “asking for a lift to work. My family needed the money and I couldn’t afford the bus. But, every week I walked because the people just drove by. I can’t see any difference that Jesus made to them.”
Over the years I have thought back on his words many times. Now, as a minister and worship leader, I find myself wrestling with this question – what difference does worship make?
Each week churches around the world are filled with worshippers. But, in spite of this, violence between people of faith remains a reality and the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen even in countries that claim the name of Christ. I find this deeply disturbing.
But, as Amos 5:23 & 24 indicates, God’s desire is that our worship should lead us to make a difference in the world:
Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. (Amos 5:23,24 NLT)
Worship, then, is the fuel that inspires and drives God’s people to engage with the problems of the world.
Jesus' challenge is to live our worship in every every moment. Rather than just a weekly “fix” of joy, the worship service offers us God’s perspective on the world, and guides us to live from this vision.
This means that worship leaders need to move beyond a focus only on what God has done for us and include what God has called us to do. It means that preachers must wrestle with the tough teachings of the Scriptures, and offer a new vision of what the world can be. It means that worshippers must shift from being ‘consumers’, to being collaborators in God’s mission for healing our world.
When lives are changed by worship and the world is changed by worshippers, there is no question – worship really does make all the difference.
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.