Ruth Leigh reviews On Worship: A short guide to understanding, participating in, and leading corporate worship by H.B. Charles Jnr.
In the introduction to his book, On Worship, the author is pleasingly honest. He says, ‘I thought it would be a book I could write quickly and then move on to other projects. I overestimated myself and underestimated the subject. Worship is not about worship. It is about God.’
As a writer myself, I get this. Because where do you start on a book about worship? The author is as well qualified as a person can be to produce a book on such a multi-layered, complex and often challenging subject. His father was the church pastor, his mother the minister of music. As a church kid, he pretty much lived in the place and was soaked in worship in all its forms from birth. So if he’s saying that for much of his life he didn’t really know why Christians worshipped (and he is), then this is a book that we all need to be reading.
The book follows on from Charles’ previous two, On Preaching and On Pastoring, and is designed to be more of a compass than a road map. We start right at the beginning, in Genesis 4, where the author references Cain and Abel’s sacrifices to the Lord as the first act of recorded worship. The reason for it is also made very clear. Charles says, ‘…it was definitely not about what Cain and Abel got out of it. It was about whether God was pleased with their offerings.’ Chapter 2 focuses on the first commandment and how easy it is for us to worship the wrong things, setting up our own golden calf.
The book is divided into three sections. The first, ‘Understanding Worship’, digs deep into the whole purpose of what true godly worship looks like. The second, ‘Participating in Worship’, explains exactly what it is that believers must do to engage in Christian worship. The final section is entitled ‘Leading Worship’ and is geared towards those who do just that, but which is extremely helpful for members of the congregation as well.
The author illuminates the ultimate truth which underpins worship: that it must be transformative and radical. ‘If that term [Hallelujah] is the highest praise,’ he says, ‘then unsaved, sinful and wicked people can offer the highest praise by merely saying the correct password. You cannot give God the highest praise unless those who worship His greatness walk in His greatness.’
For someone who has not been blessed with a good singing voice, I was mightily encouraged by the revelation that music in and of itself is not worship. It is an accompaniment to it. This reminded me of the story behind Matt Redman’s song, ‘The Heart of Worship’. We forget that worship is not about perfect voices and faultless playing at our peril. A song in itself is not what God has required. Offering all that we have and are to him is what he asks for. That’s true worship. Through his chapters, Charles works through the concepts of stewardship, spiritual gifts, the true meaning of being Spirit-filled, thankfulness and generosity, to discipleship and evangelising and living within a church family. The church is the outworking of God’s eternal purpose and there are no excuses. Can’t find exactly the right church for you? Too bad! Struggling with the way they do things or don’t like the preacher’s voice? Then you must remember, ‘We need God’s people to stir us up to love God and serve others.'
There is no such thing as an unchurched Christian.
This book challenges the reader in a gentle, scriptural and entirely comprehensive way. Worship should permeate every part of the Christian walk, even the bits we keep hidden away. Perhaps especially those. A good book should call you out, surprise you, challenge you, and this one certainly has. My thinking on stewardship, generosity and worship have been changed, subtly. Underpinned by Scripture, wise, thoughtful and authentic, this is a book for all those who worship our Lord Jesus and who want to please him more. I’ll finish with one of the quotes which touched me most...
‘Worship must be the heart of the church because Christ is the head of the church.’
H.B. CHARLES, JR. is the pastor and teacher at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. He is responsible for preaching, teaching, vision casting and leadership development. Prior to coming to Shiloh, he led the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church of Los Angeles for almost 18 years. He is an author and speaks at churches, conferences and conventions around the country.
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