During this time of emphasis on missions and evangelism, I wanted to think about the question - Is our worship contagious? We find in scripture that our worship should affect and even infect others. That was God's plan from the start. Worship is the purpose of evangelism and missions. When Jesus reached out to the woman at the well, He talked to her about what it meant to be a worshipper. In worship we have talked about praise and worship being vertical, but it is also horizontal. Throughout scripture it moves back and forth between praise being to God and about God. The real question is - Is it God-centered? In a way, worship is vertical praise and missions and evangelism is horizontal praise as we share with people around us what God is doing.
When Paul evangelized, his purpose was to produce worshippers. Romans 15:16 tells us that when Paul preached the Gospel, it was "so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God." In Exodus, the Lord said, "Let my people go so that they may worship me." Peter said . . . "We were called out of darkness into His wonderful light" so that we can . . . "declare [His] praises" ( I Peter 2:9).
Not only is missions and evangelism the purpose of our worship, it is the outcome of our worship. After Isaiah experiences heavenly worship in chapter 6 of Isaiah, he is sent to . . . "go and tell the people." In reality the Great Commission was given in a time of worship: "When they saw Him, they worshipped Him . . . then Jesus came to them and said, ' . . . go and make disciples of all nations.'" Paul's first missionary journey was commissioned during a time of worship in Acts 13. Paul and Silas were worshipping in jail and the outcome was evangelizing the jailer in Acts 16.
It is clear in scripture that the most effective mission and outreach happens when there is a passion for authentic worship. May the world be able to see Him in our praying, giving and going because of our passion for worship. Then, truly our worship will be contagious, with many more joining us in worship of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! mjm
