1. Personal Reflection – Do you have the light? Do you shine with the light? How have you buried your light due to cowardice or indifference?

   Yes, I have the light. The light shines through me frequently, though I wish it were more frequently. All too often I lose my focus and think of myself, my work, my hobbies, or nothing rather than thinking first of my Lord and savior, Jesus. I don’t think I back down with cowardice, though I am sometimes uncertain of whether the current situation is the time for calling out or sharing the gospel (which is stupid, since all times are perfect for sharing the gospel, as it is the Good News). That, I think, is more attributable to my lack of getting alone with the Lord and lack of focus. And what indeed should take my focus away? Nothing. Have I not died to all things for the Lord (1 Cor. 6:19-20)? Since Christ is my life, let me then live with a solid pursuit of Him (Phil. 1:21).

2. Kingdom Reflection – How does our study of the characteristics of the kingdom affect this issue? How does it make you think of this passage differently? How does it reinforce your previous thoughts on this passage?

   Our study of the characteristics of the kingdom–deliverance / salvation, joy & rejoicing, peace, authority / rule, justice / righteousness, comfort / shepherding–expands my understanding of what it means to be light to the world. Previously, I have always thought it mostly as a way of saying we must share the gospel we ourselves received. Now, I find I am not only called to share the gospel but to live it out that others may see the kingdom in me and the way I live my life. As Tommy Nelson commented early in his study of Romans last year, we should be able to say to our lost friends, “Just watch how I live my life, and then let me know if I don’t look different to you.” But how many of us can say that? I have always known I should live my life that way, but I have been more error prone to rely on the grace of God than to truly subvert my own desires for His. His power has washed me; it transforms me daily that I may walk in His image so that others may see this truth: that I, too, was lost but now am found; “I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:13-25).

3. Theological Issue – This can sound much like salvation by works. Is it? If not how is it different?

   My salvation is not based on what I have done. I am a reprobate, one who is more prone to follow my own desires than that moral law handed down to Moses. That law was given as a mirror that I may know my sin and how far I have fallen (Nelson in his Romans series, Romans 1-2). That I should live according to the commands of Christ is not of my own power, as that would have sunk me further into deeper and more depraved sin (Romans 1); rather, that I have resurfaced and can walk in obedience can only mean that Someone reached into the sea to pull out this drowning man. Now I live in honor and worship of the One who saved me. The way I live is not why I am saved; I was saved, and thus I walk this way.

4. Artifact Issue – How are we bringing the light into the darkness? How are we ignoring this responsibility?

   As a church, we shine into the darkness by coming together to confess and walk with one another through difficult times. However, we have ignored our responsibility by sticking too closely to ourselves. We all came into this thing with the hope of rescuing friends or acquaintances from certain death at the Judgment. Let’s refocus and instead of building community by hanging out, build community by working together to warn this dying world of the imminent peril they face when Christ returns.

5. Cultural Issue – How does being the light of the world affect our views of being citizens of America? Our national pride? Our thoughts on domestic policy? Our thoughts on social policy? Our thoughts on foreign policy?

   This is a tough one for me. I struggle with even wanting to vote sometimes, but certainly I should. We have a responsibility to warn people of the dangers of straying from the laws of God, even those found in nature (Romans 1). Voting is one way to demonstrate our dedication to our warnings, imperfect and incomplete as it is. As far as national pride goes, I don’t know that we should really have any, though I don’t think it’s always a bad thing. (When it comes to the Olympics, it can be fun; when it comes to war, it can be dangerous.) What good does it do? Why is America any better than China, Cuba, France, or Kenya? We have more freedoms and fewer fears than those countries, but do not some still worship there as well? Is God not redeeming His people from there? If anything, I think we are bound to encourage our government to help the poor and needy, to end oppression, and to follow the laws of God. Yet our government should not be seen as the vehicle of salvation. Christ chose us, His Church, for that purpose, and so we must march on towards that end. We are His emissaries to a dying world.

This Easter season, my church Artifact has been focusing on understanding and living out the kingdom of heaven that Christ brought to us⁸. This past week, we were challenged to answer five questions, and I intend to answer them, for my part, here. More will be coming over the next few weeks, and I hope to make a consistent effort in answering them and would love for you to post your thoughts as well.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
- John 4:23,24

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
- Romans 12:1

In his album And All the Decorations, Too…, Ross King included a song he wrote called “Clear the Stage.” Up to that point, I had always thought of worship as the part of a contemporary, evangelical service commonly called praise and worship. Having been raised in the Catholic church and no prior connection with the term worship, I just adopted this definition in my own budding walk with Christ. As a few years passed, however, I started noticing that I didn’t actually like some of the songs. I felt guilty that I should not like a song and reminded myself that this was to be done unto the Lord, not myself.

Ross’s song woke me up to the realization that should have struck me sooner. Worship could never be just singing. If all I ever gave God was singing, why then would He ask for my obedience in other things. In addition, Scripture describes the act of falling face down before God or an idol as worship. Isaiah fell down before God as though dead, Peter before Jesus in the boat, and John before the angel, for which case he was rebuked (Isaiah 6, Luke 5, Revelation 22:8,9). However you might read those passages, you won’t find singing as the expression of choice for those men.

Therefore, I define worship is the daily remembrance and surrender of our own selves to the active presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. This definition finds its source in the above verses (and partly from the Caedmon’s Call song “I’m Coming Home”). God is spirit and is meant to be “worship[ped] in spirit and truth.” That’s a nice catchy “Christianeese” phrase I’ve heard for a few years. However, I really didn’t know what that truly meant until thinking back to a memory verse from last year: Romans 12:1. Paul describes what spiritual worship is.

The real meaning of my definition still wasn’t all too clear until a few days ago, when I spoke with my boss about a seemingly unrelated issue. During that conversation, we brought up the topic of what happens before, during, and after the time a nonbeliever repents and accepts Christ as Lord and Savior. First, God gives the nonbeliever faith to believe. Then the nonbeliever repents and confesses Christ. At that time, the Holy Spirit enters the new believer. Yet that’s not all. An oft-forgotten and misunderstood transaction takes place when the Spirit enters. We remember this event in the sign of baptism, but we don’t speak much of it in our daily lives. Our old self dies, is crucified with Christ, is taken away. We are reborn, complete with a new Spirit, God’s own Holy Spirit. Paul called this “the hope of glory” in Colossians 1:27. Again, in Colossians 3:3, Paul reminds each of us, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul expounds on this further in Romans 7.

Following Romans 7 into chapter 8, I find a bridge between the work of Christ in justification and the work of the Spirit in sanctification. I see a correlation between Christ’s own sacrifice to purchase our freedom from sin and make us righteous before God–not by any work of our own–and the Spirit’s indwelling presence enabling us to love, pray and practice the works of obedience found in the fruits of the Spirit and in the commandments (Ephesians 2:8-10, Galatians 5:16-26). When we surrender and find ourselves in Him, we truly worship our God in the full. In Him, we may practice everything in the manner that best pleases God for we know His will and work in His strength for His glory, just as Jesus did in His earthly ministry (Philippians 2:5-11).

Yet if all our righteousness and works occur through the Lord’s power, what have we really offered? Worship, then, is simply our recognition that we are incapable, incomplete. We need the Lord to do anything at all. Indeed, we could cry with King David, “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things have come from you, and of your own we have given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14). Or we could state with Paul, “‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:35,36).

The ‘Church’, or more accurately, my own lack of searching deeper, has caused me to compartmentalize worship solely as singing on Sunday mornings. I have come to realize that this is a completely limited, empty and spiritually-lacking perspective. So, therein lies the question – what is a true expression of reverence and adoration for God? Stillness before Him. The byproduct of this is true obedience. WIthout taking time to recognize who He is and who I am in Him, I am useless. Although I know He should, I rarely allow Him to permeate every area of my life. Taking time to solely focus on Him is the only way I can keep my mind, heart, strength & soul focused correctly on Him. Its a daily effort, but a necessary one. Not one limited to Sunday mornings.

As a functional part of Church – this does not mean we should force identifying (or purposefully not identifying) what worship ‘looks’ like for Church. It resides in challenging those in the Church that Worship is more than what we’ve made it. Encouraging personal seeking out of what that means to one another – a walk, sitting in your house, singing a song, journaling, praying, etc. – making worship an active part of your Walk. Corporate singing is powerful, but that is not the only way to worship.

- Julie