Missions and Worship in Perfect Harmony

By Daniel Aaron Webster

Whether worship or missions is more important has been long debated. Should Christians dedicate their lives to telling others about Jesus or to the praise and worship of God? On one side, the rationale goes something like this: “Missions and witnessing are the only things we won’t do in Heaven, so we should make evangelism our highest priority on earth.” On the other side, the reasoning is: “Missions was not created in the Garden of Eden, and will not exist in eternity, so worship is the most important thing a believer can do.”

In Psalm 96, the psalmist addresses both weighty matters, yet without dissonance. The psalm harmonizes worship and missions, providing a finely tuned perspective vital for individual believers, Christian families, and churches.

Without Dissonance

Psalm 96 begins with an emphasis on worship and missions. In fact, it sounds as though missions and worship are so entwined the psalmist can’t imagine one without the other—two sides to the same coin. He first invites the people of the earth to sing to the Lord (verse 1) but immediately moves away from the emphasis on “all people” and invites “God’s people” to sing and declare His name among the nations (verses 2-3). For the psalmist, singing alone is not enough. Singing praise to the Lord is not even enough. Both singing praise to the Lord and declaring His name to the nations is the commission of this psalm.

The harmony of worship and missions is a common theme throughout Scripture. In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord high upon His throne, with encircling angels worshiping His holiness. One might assume the prophet’s response would be to join the worship scene. Instead, Isaiah—now with a purged mouth and bowed head—states, “Here am I, send me.” He followed through, going to a people who rejected his call to salvation.

In John 4, Jesus declared, “True worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth,” and in the next phrase, He revealed the Father’s mission to save the lost: “for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” In Acts 2, as people from various cultural backgrounds gathered in Jerusalem, thousands came to Christ under the preaching of the Apostles. Meanwhile, the Christians were devoting themselves to simple, ordinary acts of worship as they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). Like the writer of Psalm 96, these scriptural references make it clear missions and worship are compatible, even harmonious.

Prescription Against False Worship

Pastor and author John Piper famously said, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” While this is a helpful and pithy way to begin to think about the harmonization of missions and worship, Psalm 96 presents it in a different way: “Missions exists because the worship of all sorts of worthless idols also exists.” If humankind continues its operation of forging idols that rob God of the glory due His name, missions must continue. Missions is how the Church carries out the battle against the idols of the world.

After commanding the people of God to call the nations into a covenant of worship with God (verses 1-3), the psalmist reveals the primary hindrance to worshiping God: idolatry. He presents God as great and mighty, and a God to be feared (verse 4). Inanimate idols are no competition. God proved His sovereignty and might through the creation of the earth (verses 5-6). No idol has ever created something out of nothing, so why would the peoples of the earth turn to them?

The sad but simple answer: idols are fashioned by humans, in the image of humans. Thus, idolatry is the elevation of humankind as God. How dare we take the elements of God’s creation and fashion them into a god to worship in plain view of the almighty Creator? Idolatry is not a passing problem; it is treasonous worship and the very reason for the existence of missions.

A Call to Right Worship

The psalmist’s call to worship, which invites the earth to sing, sing, sing (verses 1–3) is repeated in a call to give, give, give (verses 7–8). Here, the nations are invited to come and sacrifice in the temple courts of the Lord. In verses 1-3, Israel declares His glory to the nations, but in verse 8, the families of the earth are invited to enter the covenant with God.

When the nations forsake idolatry and worship in the way God intends, they will be introduced to a holy God (verse 9). This holiness is not just something God possesses; worshipers are invited to partake or share in His holiness. This is echoed in the New Testament when God calls His people to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:7).

In Psalm 96:7-9, as the people of the earth come to God, the goal of missions (salvation of the nations) is fulfilled, and the evidence is a reformation of worship. People forsake their idols and, instead, engage in the holy worship God has prescribed in His Word. God’s call to salvation is a call to the right kind of worship. True worship is both the stimulus of missions and the end goal of missions.

Harmony Leading to Judgment and Joy

We don’t usually think of judgment as a reason for joy, but that is exactly what we find in the final verses of Psalm 96. Sure, God’s judgment is ultimately a good thing, but is it really something to be joyful about? The psalmist gets more specific about the message to be proclaimed among the nations: the peoples need to hear the Lord reigns and He is coming to judge (verse 10). The psalmist calls for all of creation to erupt into joy (verses 11-12). He explains the reason for this joy as: “He is coming to judge the earth” (verse 13).

Why would judgment bring joy? Remember, God’s judgment is not only for the unrighteous but for the righteous, too. We find hope and anticipation in Psalm 96, because when God reigns and judges, the earth will experience equity, righteousness, faithfulness, and truth. All things will be new. God’s judgment and our joy are the inevitable results when worship and missions become harmonious. When He rules and reigns, our endeavors to win the lost will cease, and our worship will continue forever.

No question should exist in your life, family, and church regarding the priority of missions and worship. They are two sides of the same coin. Worship without missions is not true worship; missions without worship is not true missions. Consider the words from John’s Revelation where worship and missions are tuned in perfect harmony as redeemed people from all nations (missions) sing unto the Lamb on His throne (worship). As was the case in the final verses of Psalm 96, this joyous song of praise to the enthroned Christ is in the context of the seven seal judgments:

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen (Revelation 5:9-10; 7:9-12).

 

About the Writer: Daniel Webster lives in Gallatin, Tennessee, with his wife Kimberly and their three children. He has served Free Will Baptist churches as a lead and associate pastor since 2003. Currently, he is director of enrollment and adjunct instructor of Theology and Music at Welch College. Read more from Daniel: AThingWorthDoing.com.