From the Boardroom...
Back to the Burning Bush
Worship in the Open Church
by Lynn Reddick, Ph. D.

"I thought I had been carried by warp speed back to the church described in the Book of Acts," her voice bristled with excitement. "There I stood in the midst of 200 people caught in a web of joy and excitement, entangled with the living Christ in their midst. Someone stood to share a song, another accented the theme with a brief scripture, a third followed with a five-minute teaching. The next few moments of silence were broken by weeping of a sorrowful saint confessing a sin to the group. Several people immediately gathered around him to pronounce forgiveness and offer encouragement. Another song by a young girl, a testimony by a mechanic, a spoken blessing by a husband over his wife followed. Where am I? I wondered."

Worship in open church continues to astonish people unaccustomed to lively, spontaneous, joyous, and unrehearsed gatherings where the Spirit of God can suddenly break in and dominate the meeting.

Moses was no stranger to surprises on the backside of the desert. A bear or lion could suddenly appear to test his response. However, he was not accustomed to surprises from bushes, except perhaps an occasional flurry of nesting birds. This bush was different–no birds, just an angel surrounded by fire that wasn’t consuming the bush. Quite a flabbergasting sight! So Moses went over to investigate, only to be halted by a voice in the bush, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5). A holy ambush indeed!

Fast forward some 3,500 years to a church boardroom, where the only smoke present is from friction and strife. Many times I gathered there with leaders without inviting Christ’s presence or even mentioning His name. Whoever heard of worship in the boardroom?

Open Church: How We Meet

"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church" (1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV).

Open churches–meeting in homes, church facilities, or anywhere–focus on "how we meet." There is open worship, open sharing, and open ministry described above. Sharing and ministry flow from worship. One has only to recall the instance when Jesus encountered the demoniac who worshiped Him. He was then told to share and minister to family and friends (Mark 5:1-20).

The origin of the word "worship" comes from the Old English weorthscipe. The word is actually worth-ship. To worship is to ascribe worth to someone or something. Ralph Martin writes: "To worship God is to ascribe to Him supreme worth, for He alone is worthy" (Worship in the Early Church).

From an open church perspective, worship–both personal and corporate–is shaped by several factors:

Daily Walking With God

Personal worship

Daily living can be pictured as a walk. At least thirty-six times in the New Testament the believer’s experience is called a walk. Prior to carrying the designation "Christians," they were known as "those of the way" (Acts 9:2). In other words, they were known by their walk. For the writer of Hebrews, this is a walk of faith (halakhah). So for us. Who we are and what we do on the walk when no one watches is the essence of our being.

We were created to walk with the Triune God. Our worship comes from the walk; it is the walk! "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more . . ." (Genesis 5:24). When we walk with God daily and consistently, we will be no more also! The walk will so change who we are and what we do that His dominant life and character will merge with ours. It was written of Noah: "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). Consider that his position of righteousness and blamelessness resulted from the walk with God. Judson Cornwall says, "God’s ultimate desire is intimate relationship with His people. God wants to walk and talk with us as He did with Adam. God wants us to enjoy His presence as Enoch did on his daily walks with God" (Let Us Abide).

This principle of walking with God is basic to everything we are and do. It is the heart of God. He created men and women to walk with Him. We hear the call to the garden dwellers, "Where are you?" It is the call of One accustomed to the daily walk, calling to one who was hiding because of rebellion. Are you surprised that when God became flesh and lived on earth, He chose twelve men to walk with daily for over three years? Add to this His last words of covenant promise: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). These words were fulfilled 40 days later with fire and fanfare (Acts 2).

There are some identifiable elements present in our daily walk with God:

*Walking in faith

"The righteous will live by faith" (Romans 1:17). We walk with the invisible King, yet we know He is with us, gracing us with love, power, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

*Speaking with God

This is implied in the walk. As we walk with God, conversation should flow back and forth. The Bible calls this "prayer."

*Learning to hear His voice

Recently, the Lord appeared to me in a night vision and said, "Son, tell people how to hear my voice. First, tell them to get quiet before me and listen. Secondly, tell them to take a pen and paper and write down what they hear me say. Thirdly, tell them to do what they hear!" Simply amazing!

*Studying and meditating on His word.

The Psalmist said, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you" (119:11). Not only is His word a hedge from sin but instructs us in our walk.

*Obeying what He says

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22). How can two walk together except they agree? He asks us to obey Him; we agree.

*Sharing the walk with other people

"He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’" (Mark 16:15). In other words, we model our walk with Him before other people so they can walk accordingly.

The open church model of corporate worship necessitates daily personal worship (walking with God) to bring the sense of Divine presence in the meeting. In open church the appropriate question can be asked, "How’s your walk? What did you bring to the meeting from your walk this week?" This trigger question releases people for open worship, open sharing, and open ministry–sharply contrasted with churches of rehearsed articulate actors and bored silent spectators.

God’s Presence in the Meeting

Public worship

It is not coincidental that the events in the upper room (Acts 2) came after those gathered had spent days walking with and worshipping God. This holy ambush came amid their walk. While such visitations are at God’s pleasure rather than our design, there are some conditions that set the stage for God’s manifest presence in a corporate meeting. They include a daily walk with God by those present, fervent prayer, expectant faith, and focused worship.

God’s presence in the corporate meeting is essential for open church gatherings, since there is little rehearsed activities planned. Without the Divine presence, an open church gathering becomes little more than a civic club meeting or other social affair. Howard Snyder in The Problem of Wine Skins, characterizes God as "dynamic, not static, mobile . . . a God of surprises." He is the God of tabernacles, not temples. Worship that is dynamic, mobile, and flexible is sharply different from worship where form and order are dictated by tradition and the past.

A. W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God, observes:

The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God, and the church is famishing for want of His presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged. This would burn away the impurities from our lives as the bugs and fungi were burned away by the fire that dwelt in the bush.

Fearing wild fire, many congregations have opted for no fire at all. With the dousing of the fire goes the presence of God!

Leadership:

Coach or Player

Leadership is the third factor shaping worship in open church. While some gatherings refuse any leadership, I believe the biblical model sets forth servant-leaders. These elders were appointed by Paul and Barnabas in each church (Acts 14:23) and qualifications were carefully given (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). The issue is not leadership or the absence thereof; rather leaders who will facilitate everyone’s participation in the meeting as set forth in 1 Corinthians 14:26. Leaders should be coaches on the sidelines, not players on the field carrying the ministry ball before cheering spectator Christians.

A casual glance at many churches reveals a different picture. Pastors and staff are most often center stage with the sermon viewed as the most important part of the meeting. In smaller churches, at best, it is the pastor’s desire to have things done well that places him constantly before the people; at worst, it’s ego. Instead of raising up leaders by releasing people to do ministry, passivity is encouraged.

Back to the Bush!

Whether it’s someone stumbling unexpectantly into an open church meeting or an old man being dumbfounded by a strange bush fire, the effect is the same–the Living God extending His hand for a walk. Worship is the walk. Even boardrooms can become places of worship if the walk doesn’t stop at the door.

Dr. Lynn Reddick is president of Open Church Ministries, a work of restoring New Testament principles of community interaction and worship experience to the body of Christ internationally. Open Church Ministries stresses the home as the locus for spiritual development and the importance of interactive learning and worship as strengthening and maturing the church. Lynn and his wife Linda, who teach and minister as partners, live in Statesboro, Georgia.

For information on the extensive work of Open Church Ministries, contact Dr. Reddick at 1 (888) OPEN123 or write: 329 Reddick Rd., Portal GA 30350

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