We Have Seen His Glory

I didn't read as much on this week of vacation as I usually do, but I did get through an interesting book. Ben Witherington has recently published, We Have Seen His Glory: A Vision of Kingdom Worship [Eerdmans]. Witherington is rightly concerned by the consumer mentality of today's worshiper and attacks it through what is in essence a very fine New Testament theology of worship. The author believes that worship should be seen in light of the eschaton 'rather than in light of what has already gone on in the past, in light of Kingdom Come rather than in light of kingdoms gone' [ix]. He writes, "I am convinced that one of the great detriments to having a more reflective and more Christian approach to worship is that even many of our ministers and worship leaders have very little understanding of what the New Testament actually says about worship" [x]. With those words in the preface, Witherington proceeds in eight chapters to concisely present what the New Testament does say about the subject.

Here are some salient quotes from the book that resonated with me:

• Salvation is a means to an end, not an end in itself—that end being the worship of God [7].
  
• Worship is the ultimate ethical act on earth, the most important act on earth because it is the ultimate fulfillment of the Shema, the Great Commandment, and indeed the First and Second Commandments [8].
  
• The function of music in worship is not to set the mood or even to rev up the troops, but rather to engage them at the affective level so that their whole being . . . are caught up in the wonder, love, and praise of God [17].
  
• One of the most disturbing trends in worship is its anthropocentric character. Worship is to be theocentric/Christocentric [20].
  
• Only God's glory should show up in worship [23].
  
• The confession of Jesus as Lord changes everything, including worship [31].
  
• We take the America's Got Talent approach to deciding who does what in worship. Paul says that the prerequisite is having given oneself totally to God, and then recognizing the character and measure of one's faith [40].
  
• Early Christians did not hold to theological principles which suggested that edifices for worship were inherently bad and worship in houses was theologically better [51].
  
• Worship is not just a matter of adoration, but also involves edification [66].
  
• We would do well to see invoking Jesus' name at the end of a prayer as signing his name to our petitions. If so, then we need to ask, Would Jesus sign off on our entreaties? [81].
  
• Did any of the New Testament writers believe they were writing sacred, God-breathed texts? The answer must be surely yes [97].
  
• The fundamental reason why Christian worship should be different is not because Christ has inaugurated his kingdom on earth, but because believers are different and should worship differently [134].
  
• All acts of work should be doxological, and thus should be acts of worship [136].
  
• As the biblical understanding [of worship] ebbs and the consumer mentality flows and grows, it is hardly surprising that worship has been turned into something it was never intended to be: a performance of the few fo the couch potatoes for Jesus in the pews [146].
  
• Worship is the means God uses to mold us into our better selves [150].
  
• Too often people evaluate worship and which sort they want to participate in on the basis of style, and this is a serious mistake . . . The issue is not style but substance. The issue is not 'where am I most comfortable. Did it ever occur to you that worship might be most helpful when it unsettles your ways and makes you profoundly uncomfortable with your present state of spiritual lethargy [153]?
  
• Worship without good preaching is not adequate worship, because God wants to clear his throat each week and address his people [155].
  
• It is not the preacher's job to 'put the cookies on the bottom shelf.' It is time to stop serving pablum in worship instead of real soul food [160].
  

Witherington does a marvelous job taking a difficult subject and dealing with it biblically and theologically. He synthesizes the NT witness about worship and makes is available to all who wish to 'have an ear to hear.' I found his thoughts on how the early church felt about 'buildings' over against 'homes' especially helpful, given statements in the "home church" movement that worshiping in homes is more 'biblical.' On the negative side, I felt his emphasis on rhetorical criticism a bit out of place. However, his chapters dealing with John 4, Revelation 4-5, Worship as Sabbatical, and Work and Worship, were very insightful and helpful to me. The reflective questions at the end of each chapter make this an even more helpful text. Preaching/Music professors should consider it. I may even use it as a book review text in New Testament because of the importance of the subject.

Ministers need to read this book. The consumer and narcissistic tendencies in today's worship is at partly (and maybe more) our fault. Ministers do need to understand worship, particularly from the NT point of view. Witherington has done us a service in writing this book.