Doesn’t it sound strange to say that we should be focused on people when we come together? That’s not the way most of us learned Christianity.
Why did we put on our Sunday best? To present ourselves before God. It wasn’t about people.
Why did we speak in hushed tones before the assembly? We were supposed to show reverence to God.
Why did so many of us close our eyes or look down when taking the Lord’s Supper? Because it was a personal time with God.
None of these, of course, is in the Bible. The New Testament says to avoid showy clothes when coming together; we tend to misread the concept of modest dress in the Bible. It’s about avoiding ostentation.
The hushed tones? Not in there. I dare say that there’s more about shouting to God than whispering to God.
And the Lord’s Supper? Oh, that’s an old pet peeve of mine. Much of this comes to a real misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 11. Suffice it to say that the Corinthians’ problem was that they weren’t aware of one another when taking the Supper; the same problem exists in a lot of churches today.
I think Hebrews 10 is helpful as we consider all of this, especially verses 19-25:
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:19–25)
We draw near to God together, considering one another, looking how to spur one another on to love and good deeds, seeking to encourage one another through our meeting together.
We honor God in our assemblies, but we must never neglect the body of Christ. We come together, joining lives of worship together, in a build-one-another-up moment.
Mike Root’s book Spilt Grape Juice (1992) re-wired and biblically grounded my thinking on topics/relationship of worship and assembly. Probably, Kierkagaard’s ideas about God’s being “the audience” in our worship assembly need to be gotten over. The assembly is for human benefit, pure and simple; as Paul writes, “all these things for the strengthening of the church.” Now, focusing on God and his powerful acts and his steadfast love does a lot towards encouraging people. But we lose sight if our main understanding of assembly is a worship drama structured to have an effect on God. I have heard the line, “It’s not about us; it’s about God,” when the impression is more, “This is about focusing music and affecting people emotionally so they are personally aware of God’s presence,” which fairly or unfairly, seems rather subjective – one person’s “God presence” is another person’s “talk slowly with a lot of breath, dim the lights, fog the stage” manipulation. “It’s not about us” is mistaken. It is about us, as David says in Psalm 8 – “you made him (us) a little lower than God and crowned him (us) with glory and honor.” I think assemblies are geared to remind us of God’s glory (how excellent is your name in all the earth) and link that with the shared dignity he has granted human beings (crowned us with glory and honor) in an attempt to coax and coach from us the appropriate response of gratitute and obedience. We are never so in tune with reality as when we honor God as God and give thanks. Assembly is a time when we are moved to realize our place in creation; it is “about us.”
I believe everything we do should be to please God. We make it our goal to please Him. Our assemblies, in which we are commanded to encourage one another, are themselves an act of obedience to God. Assembling together is itself an “act of worship”. The focus is still on God while we encourage one another right? For me I’m am encouraged when I see other Christians remaining faithful, meeting together, praising God, and proclaiming the Lord’s sacrifice and resurrection!
Later in Hebrews the writer redefines the old covenant idea of sacrifice (key part of OT worship) as the sacrifice of praise to God, doing good, and sharing what we have. These sacrifices are pleasing to God. Heb13.15-16
I suppose this is not restricted to the assembly.
On a related note, my mom used to say we dressed up for church for the same reason we dress up for funerals and weddings.