The Vertical and Horizontal Nature of Worship
Among
worship leaders, often the topic of vertical worship arises. In other words,
there is the belief that worship is only vertical in that it focuses only on
God. Nonetheless, while God certainly is both the subject and the object of
worship, there is also a horizontal aspect to worship. This is evident in the
fact that the bride of Christ, the church, is a single body comprised of many
parts (or people). Worship gatherings are corporate, and even our daily
individual lives are part of the joint offering to the Lord as a sacrifice of
worship. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 to present our bodies as a
living sacrifice. The singular and plural aspect to this command point to both
vertical and horizontal worship. Unity is worship; fellowship is worship; and
communion is worship. We are each individually worshiping the same God, but we
are also corporately presenting our worship to him in fellowship with him and
with each other. Worship then is not only vertical; it is also horizontal. I
would like to examine what each of these two aspects imply and mean for us as
God’s children and how it should affect the way we live our lives.
Vertical
I would
like to focus on both aspects of worship. It is certainly both vertical and
horizontal. In other words, it is directed toward God and in response to who he
is, but it is also horizontal in that it is communal and corporate as the body
of Christ. The most evident way worship is vertical is through the individual
response of each believer. Matthew 15:8 reads, “This people honors me with
their lips, but their heart is far from me.” No believe can reject the truth of
this scripture. Corporate worship should be a sincere reflection of a group of
individuals’ personal worship. The key here is response. A proper response of
worship to God is obedience. To simply honor God with words but live a
drastically different life is not the proper response.
The
vertical nature of worship then is found in the response. We respond to God.
This is the second half of the dialogue. God initiates, and we respond. In this
dialogue of life called worship then, we, his people, are required to obey;
that is our proper response, and it is in that manner that our worship to him
is vertical.
This is seen very obviously in a
personal sense, but it is also revealed in a corporate sense. In many contexts,
the Lord’s Supper is referred to as the Eucharist.
This is derived from the Greek word meaning thanksgiving.
Therefore, when we commune with Christ at the table, our response is
thanksgiving. This is no small thing, for we must understand that our response
to undeserved communion with the Lord must always be thanksgiving. It is not
thanksgiving to each other or to anyone else other than Christ himself.
Our lives must be lives of
continual and active response. God has not only initiated and we responded, but
he continues to initiate and we continue to respond with our proper response
being continued repentance and obedience. Initiation and response is vertical.
It looks to and from the Lord alone.
Application in
Ministry Context
How is this
applied in ministry contexts? How do we model vertical worship? To help answer
this question, I would like to submit my personal philosophy of ministry. It is
as follows:
All
ministry, work which delivers the gospel, exists for the glory of God, namely
worship, through the three-fold function of his bride, the church: upreach, the
glorification of God through the praises of his people and the acknowledgement
of his sovereignty; inreach, the edification of the saints through fellowship
in the local church, study and effect of God’s word, and prayer with a
sovereign God; and outreach, the spreading of the fame and glory of God to
those who have not yet been changed by the power and message of the gospel.
While
ministry is threefold in its approach, it is singular in its focus, which is
worship or the glory of God alone. We must not confuse approach with focus.
Lost people are not the focus of the church; the glory of God is. The sick,
hurting, and poor are not the focus of the church; the glory of God is. And
indeed morality is not the focus of the church; the glory of God is. These
other very crucial aspects of ministry stem from the glory of God; his glory is
where it begins though. Even in the sacred dialogue, the reason he has
initiated a relationship with his people is for his own glory and purposes. To
elevate mankind over God’s glory is idolatry. The proper response to his glory
certainly is ministry, which is carried out in these various ways, but the
purpose of our acts of ministry is first and foremost the glory of God. All
worship looks to and from and points to and from the glory of God. This is the
vertical nature of worship.
Horizontal
Worship is
also horizontal in nature. One might think that by horizontal, I mean that
worship is the collective response of the people of God. That is only a small
part of it though. The church is at its best when she is unified. We, as the
bride of Christ, are many members but part of one body. 1 John 1:7 reads, “But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” The Apostle
Paul tells us in Philemon 1:6, “…I pray that the sharing of your faith may
become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for
the sake of Christ.” The implication of sharing is togetherness. Some
translations have fellowship rather
than sharing. There is a corporate
aspect to worship, and scripture is clear as to the importance of it. Christ’s
desire is that his bride is unified, and the only way that can happen is
through and in him. Our commonality in all situations is Christ, for he has
redeemed us and unified us. He is central to our work and ministry, and he must
be our purpose for existence.
This
fellowship we have as the church is not only in the context of corporate
worship; it is for all of life. Just as each part of a body must do play its
vital role, each member of the church must function in accordance with the will
of the Lord. This is not to say that there are not disagreements. God’s church
is made of many members with many varying backgrounds, points of view, and
beliefs. The secondary issues should not divide us though. They are secondary
because they are not salvation issues. It is the primary issues we must agree
on. If the world knows we are Christians by our love for one another, perfect
worship is evident in how we act toward each other. This is for all believers
of all traditions and denominations. We focus on the Lord, but we act in
fellowship with him and with each other. In this sense, worship is horizontal.
How to Live within the Dialogue Both Vertically and Horizontally
We must
live lives that first and foremost glorify God, but we must also live in unity
with each other. Certainly this is evident to be applied in our personal lives,
but we must also apply it in the corporate worship gatherings of God’s people. Do
our sacred actions in worship focus on God but have a broad approach to view
the bride of Christ through the lens of love and mercy? It can be easy to
neglect one or the other. Often either we focus on people and minimize the
glory of God, or we focus on only the glory of God with no thought of Christ’s
bride, the church. The hymns and songs we sing, the scriptures we read, the
prayers we pray, the Lord’s Supper, baptism, and any other action we practice
in worship must focus on the Lord with a broad view of his bride. I have heard
some say that they love Jesus but hate the church; this is an impossibility. No
one can love Jesus and hate the very body that he gave his life for. We are
God’s people. Our lives must be lived in response to him, who he is, and what he
has done. He has sent Jesus Christ as the propitiation for the sins of the
world, and it is through the communion of the Saints that God is glorified. We
worship him, but we worship him with each other as many individuals part of one
body. This is how we live lives of vertical and horizontal response in this
sacred dialogue.
