Editor’s Note: This article contains three excerpts from Dr. Gary Hallquist’s book Consider This. Initially crafted as weekly devotionals exclusively for members of The Shepherd’s Church Music Ministry, Consider This has recently been published by Shepherds Press to honor the retirement of Dr. Hallquist from his church ministry at The Shepherd’s Church. He will continue to teach at Shepherds Theological Seminary. You may purchase the book here

The Place, Person, and Action of Worship

“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.” (Romans 12:1) All worship consists of three elements—a place, a person, and an action. Before Christ, the place was first the tabernacle then the temple; the person was a priest, a Levite from the lineage of Aaron; and the action was sacrifice. When Christ came, all that changed. Christ became the Temple. As Colossians says, “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). As John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Christ also was the priest. Hebrews calls Him the great High Priest (Heb. 4:14). And of course, we know that Christ was himself the sacrifice, attested to by numerous New Testament passages. So let’s jump one step further. Since Pentecost, the Church is referred to as the dwelling place of God on the earth (Col. 1:18), as well as the individual believer (1 Cor. 6:19). The Church is also referred to as a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:9). Christians don’t need someone else to offer sacrifices on their behalf. We have priestly rights (we can come boldly to the throne of grace, on the merits of Christ), and we have priestly responsibilities—to offer sacrifices. So what is the sacrifice to be offered? We are. Romans 12:1 says we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices. When worship focuses on the place, the person, and the action, it is right worship offered rightly and acceptable to God. In other words, right worship beyond Pentecost is a Spirit-indwelled believer as his/her own priest offering the sacrifice of himself/herself 24/7. Today’s world is largely confused about what worship is. The average Christian thinks it is music and prayer and preaching and communion in a large group setting. Worship does include these things, but simply put, worship is offering to God that which is acceptable to him—which is the totality of your being at all times. All other actions should be built on this action.

When God Doesn’t Want Our Worship

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!” (Malachai 1:10)  Our worship is very important to the Lord. But there are some times when God doesn’t want us to worship. In fact, there are times when our worship is detestable to God. What makes it unacceptable to God is one of two things—the action itself, or our attitude regarding the action. “Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished” (Mal. 1:14a). This was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). They vowed the whole to the Lord and brought only part to the altar. Lest we condemn them and not consider ourselves, remember that we are told to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord (Rom. 12:1). The Greek word translated “bodies” literally means our entire being. How many times do we come into the worship of the Lord half-minded or half-hearted? In those moments, we are offering the blemished and not the whole. The second thing that can make our worship unacceptable is our attitude. “But you say, ‘What a weariness this is.’” (Mal. 1:13a). When our acts of worship are the correct ones, but they are done with a bad attitude, God would rather we didn’t bother with the actions. The other way we violate this principle is when we don’t have the right attitude towards others. “Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:23-24). Right living in relation to God and fellow humans is essential to right worship. Before you open the doors to the worship center this Sunday and enter in, ask yourself if God would be more pleased if they remained closed. Better yet, take the time to make sure your heart and life are clean before the Lord before you put on your Sunday clothes and come to church. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:3-4a).

The Five Stages of Worship

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:3-4) As best as I can tell, people who have gathered together to worship the Lord will be found in one of five stages. The first stage is observation. This is the spectator who sits like an Olympic judge and gives a score to the various elements of the worship service. Music selection: 7.5; Choir special: 8.2; Offertory prayer: 5.5; Sermon: 9.0… you get the idea. The second stage is obligation. These are people whose habit of coming to church has not been given a thought in years. They come because there is a sense of duty. Christians are supposed to go to church. The third stage is admiration. We are getting into good motivation now. This person believes God is worthy of worship. He appreciates excellent music and thoughtful sermons. He admires Christ for all he has done and probably has a desire to know Him better. The fourth is appreciation. This worshiper is thankful for all she has in Christ and wants to join with others in giving thanks to God for her salvation. The fifth stage is adoration. This worshiper has moved beyond the bad reasons and the good reasons and has chosen the best reason to worship. He adores Christ. Christ is his highest joy and deepest pleasure. He cannot imagine anything more unbearable than to be separated from Christ. If you look at these as a hierarchy, ask yourself, “in what stage do I most often find myself?” Excerpt from Consider This by Gary Hallquist (Shepherds Press, 2024). This book will be available for purchase.