Living WORSHIP

Through my work with the MDIVnetwork, I produced a document I like to call "Living W.O.R.S.H.I.P." To live worship is the call of every disciple. We are to discern what God is doing and get involved in it. Our salvation is God's glorious presence among us. So to follow Jesus 24/7/365 means that we dedicate our whole lives to worshipping God.

This is the idea behind "Living WORSHIP". It's quite basic, and nothing really new. I was inspired by the ELCA's "marks of discipleship". I had often used these marks for coaching discipleship in our churches, but was never satisfied with them. Then recently I was able to put my finger on the source of my discontent. These marks reflect an inward missiology. For example, when the ELCA speaks of the mark called "invite", they mean by that inviting people into our buildings -- preferably to worship. In other words, invite people to get involved in what we're doing. Also, when the ELCA speaks of the mark called "give", they mean by that giving money (oh and by the way time and talents too) to the church. Again, giving your resources to "us" to support what we're doing.

So I took the same seven marks of discipleship and reshaped them with a missiology that discerns what God is doing in our world to get involved in that work. So for example, when I speak of "invite", I mean by that inviting people to recognize our risen messiah Jesus already present in their lives reconciling them to God (cf. Mark 1:14-15). Likewise, when I speak of "order" (similar to the ELCA's "give") what I mean by that is ordering all our resources to participate in God's salvific work among us in our schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, markets, etc.

You see the directional change in our mission? The marks of discipleship as Living WORSHIP challenge us to be the church in the world. Rather than trying to get more people involved in what we're doing, we get involved in what God is already doing among people in the world, helping them to recognize Jesus already reconciling them to God and then to appropriate their lives accordingly. This is how the church makes disciples of our Living Lord.

Intrigued? Want to know more about Living WORSHIP? Here's the breakdown.

Worship the Living Lord always and everywhere
Order all of your resources to do so
Read scripture to discover your role in God's continuing story
Serve your neighbors and enemies to participate in God's work
Help your fellow disciples grow in their faith and utilize their gifts
Invite people to recognize Jesus already transforming their lives
Pray for God's reign to come always and everywhere

So there's the background of discipleship as Living Worship. Stay tuned to the next post to hear how this translates into a practical and effective ministry as the basis of coaching discipleship.