The worship is going on right now. Since I’m down in the tech room and can’t really participate, it has me thinking.
And if you think about it, it actually raises a question: Here we are at a conference on leadership, and we are worshiping. Why? Why do Christians worship at all?
If Christianity were simply an ethical system, if it were only about following Jesus, there would be no reason to worship. If Christianity was only about what we do, there would be no reason to worship.
The fact that we don’t just obey Jesus, but worship Jesus, is a reflection of the fact that Christianity is more than an ethical system. It is not just about what we do. It is first and foremost about what God has done for us in Christ (1 Cor 15:3ff — the gospel, not what we do, is “of first importance”).
Jesus is an example for us. But he is more than an example — he is also a sacrifice for our sins and, through his perfect obedience, our righteousness before God.
That’s why we worship — because Christianity is not just an ethical system, but much more. It is about a person, and it is founded on Him and what he has done.
That’s why you get this admirable and diverse conjunction in Christianity — and exemplified here at a conference on leadership — between service and doing good for others (that is, the practical and ethical dimension) and the dimension of worship that celebrates not what we do but what God has done for us.
If you take away the doctrinal foundation — what God has done — you take away worship, and you actually kill the heart of Christian practice and the Christian ethic. Worship is both the ultimate goal of the Christian life, and the fuel for the practical dimension. That’s why, at the conference today, there is not only solid teaching on how to be more effective in serving others through leadership, but also worship.