A. W. Tozer once wrote, “Worship is the missing jewel of the Church.” I agree. However, I say that looking at ‘worship’ in a different light than Tozer did in his book or that many people today mean when they talk about worship. For I believe that Romans 12:1-2 shows us clearly that worship cannot be seen as anything less than the entirety of one’s life.

Therefore, we could say that what we have done for the past few weeks is looked at all the individual aspects of what worship is, while this morning we are going to take a step back, as it were, and get a vision of the whole picture of what worship is.

Now, going back to Tozer’s quote, I believe he is right when one understands worship in the light of Romans 12:1-2. For the greatest need of the church is not that we need to reform our music, add or remove liturgy, or add or remove certain instruments. Rather, the great need of the church is that those who make up the church live transformed, counter-cultural lives that draw attention to our God. For this is what worship is. And, with that understanding, it is not only the missing jewel of the church but the jewel that we as believers must recover if we are to draw attention to our God’s glory in this world.

Paul does something quite necessary for us in Romans 12:1-2. He has spent the entirety of the first eleven chapters laying out clearly what the gospel is and how God has worked in redemptive history (In fact, Romans 1-8 is probably the clearest and most concise recording of redemptive history found in Scripture). Then in Romans 12:1-2 he brings home the implications of who God is and what he has done, writing, “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.” Thus, we are not left to wonder about how we are to respond to these miraculous workings and ways of God which Paul tells us are unsearchable and unfathomable.

But there is something he tells us subtly in these verses that we need to realize if we are to rightly understand worship …

Worship is no longer about entering into a temple

He tells them, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (12:1 – emphasis mine). I think he writes that to contrast with the sacrifices that were once offered in the tabernacle and temple upon the altar, as bulls, goats, and lambs were killed. No longer do we offer such sacrifices, for the ultimate Lamb has been sacrificed to take away our sins. And he has made our bodies the temple of his Holy Spirit. Therefore, worship has changed.

The day about which Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman has come: “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father … But the hour is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-23). That is, it is no longer about going to a certain place where God’s presence is so that we may worship him. For “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

Therefore, Paul tells us that it is no longer about going and offering animals as sacrifices to God in the temple so that you may worship him; it is now about living your life as a living sacrifice unto him. That is what is holy and acceptable worship to God, and it is that which is our spiritual worship.

But what does this look like? So far, we know that it is a living sacrifice; therefore, we know that one must not literally die. But of what is such a life composed?

Worship demands living transformed, counter-cultural lives

Paul gives us such details in verse 2, writing, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:2).

Therefore, we may now say that offering our bodies as living sacrifices means that we are not conformed to the culture of this world but that we renew our minds to the truth of God, discern what his will is, and live it out in our lives. That is what worship is – nothing less.

So what is the urgent question for the church for our day? It is: How can we produce individuals who will live transformed counter-cultural lives that will draw attention to our Lord? Or to break down this question in a series of questions, we may ask:

- In a culture where divorce is seen as a perfectly fine option in marriage, how do we produce marriages that reflect God’s glory? For even the unbeliever is supposed to see God’s glory within marriage; that is its design.

- In a culture where the only wrong thing is to tell someone he or she is wrong, how do we produce people who will evangelize their neighbors, telling them that Christ alone is the way in which men may know God and any other avenue is wrong?

- In a culture where sin is looked over with ease, how do we produce people who do not sin, not because they might get caught but because they might detract from God’s glory?

- In a culture where stupidity is cool and few seem to know the Bible, how do we produce children who can go off to state universities and not only not be shaken but stand and walk counter-culturally, knowing and declaring the truth?

- In a culture where premarital sex is not only acceptable but encouraged, how do we produce people who will not have sex until they’re married, enduring possible mockery because they want God’s glory to be displayed?

- In a culture where we are taught to get and keep all we can, looking out for ourselves, how do we produce people who will live to honor Christ when it means losing their jobs or becoming the mockery of “all” men?

These are the questions that we must answer. And when we do answer them and live out the results, then (and only then) will we recover the missing jewel of worship. For lives like this are what worship is.

How do we live such lives?

Paul tells us that we are not conformed to the world but transformed by the renewal of our minds so that we might discern what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is. He doesn’t elaborate here on how this is done, but reading throughout Scripture (including his epistles), it is clear that we must renew our mind to God’s truth in his Word.

We must learn the Word, teach the Word, and constantly renew our mind to what the Word tells us. We must memorize it and meditate on it. For otherwise we have forfeited our foundation upon which we will live transformed counter-cultural lives. It is the Bible that instructs us as to God’s will and the Bible which tells us the mind of the world and that it is wrong in light of God’s truth.

And we have a blessing in a sense, for as Dr. Mohler said (rightly, I believe) in class the other day, “Our environment now is probably most like the first century in its culture.” Pluralism is not a thought that would have been new to those on Mars Hill. The lack of rationalism seemingly in the gospel and in our doctrine of revelation is not so new that we must be the first to say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” For the first century is much like ours; we are simply repeating that culture.

Therefore, we must read, memorize, meditate upon, and renew our minds to God’s Word, and then we must obey it. For the Word demands certain duties. For the non-believer, to repent and place his or her faith in Christ is a duty commanded in the Scripture. Ignoring and not obeying that duty will result in being thrown into hell for all of eternity.

For the believer, however, there are also duties that we must obey. Some of them were listed in the questions above. But the question that we should probably end with this morning is not how do we produce people like those mentioned in the questions (i.e., those who are obeying God’s will/commands) but rather, “Are we ourselves those kinds of people?” For we can scarcely begin laboring to produce others when such is not our aim. But once it is our aim, we must answer the question of how to produce others. For one duty given to us in the Scripture is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that our Lord has commanded.

Therefore, it is my prayer that though we will end this series hopefully saying we have altered anything like music, or prayer, or preaching to better line up with the Word. We will also say that we have changed the way we live our entire lives so that we might be an example of a life that is being transformed so as to be counter-cultural and draw attention to our Lord. For that is indeed what worship is.

WORSHIPING THROUGH LIVING COUNTER-CULTURAL LIVES