Unity itself is not worship. Unity in the body is a by-product, or a result, of worship. I am not speaking of unity about worship, but unity among the body. This was the theme of our Baptist Church Music Conference Meeting this week here in Dallas. I want to comment and elaborate on some of the statements I heard about how worship builds unity in the church. We are talking about the spiritual reality of unity among the body.
First of all - the simple gathering together of the people of God brings unity to the body. We are told in Hebrews to "not forsake the assembling of ourselves." Obviously if we don't bring the people of God together in worship then unity is impossible. If the church is to truly know unity as a spiritual reality we must gather together on a regular basis.
Second - when we gather together we are connecting people with God. As a worship leader I constantly pray and think - "How can I help, enable, encourage people to make a connection with God when they gather for worship?" If people will connect with Him there will be the transforming healing power of God moving on worshippers' lives, and people will leave worship different than when they came.
Third - when we gather the people of God we are exposing them to the Word of God on a regular basis. Unity among God's people is totally dependent on feeding on the Word of God. We must remember that worship is a dialogue - God speaks - we respond. If we are not faithful to expose people to His Word then it is no longer a dialogue. Our church is blessed to have one who is faithful to expose us to the Word.
Worship is for the people, not for the leaders. It is the work of the people of God. It is not for the preacher. It is not for the worship leader or music leader. It is for the people of God. A. W. Tozer once said, "Forty pianos tuned to each other will not be in tune. But, forty pianos tuned to one tuning fork will be in tune." That's how we find unity in worship - by all being "tuned" to Him! mjm
