Worship as Discipleship

Worship as Discipleship:  The Biblical Pattern for Formative Worship

Introduction:

                Do you remember those times whenever you were a child when you would mess with your sense of depth perception; where you would place your hand (or another object) right in front of your face and focus upon it, causing all other background images to become instantly blurry?  If you don’t remember doing this, hold up your hand about foot from your face and hone in on it.  You will notice that all of the surrounding background will become unclear and, physically, you will learn that we cannot focus on what is distant and what is close simultaneously. 

                The same sort of phenomenon happens with us Christians today.  We have been focused so intently on what is right in front of us for so long that the background of the ancient Way of the faith has gotten fuzzy for us and we can’t quite make it out.  Our focus on the now right in front of us causes the past to become blurry for us. 

                The truth of the matter is that the ancient Church looked drastically different than what the majority of Christianity looks like today (in America at least).  Ancient Christians differed vastly from us in their understanding of worship, discipleship and even what it means to be the Church to begin with.  While volumes can be written about on this topic, I just want to lay out a brief and rough outline focusing on what the ancient Church and its ways looked like.  With that said, it will be helpful for the reader to understand a few key distinctions right off the bat:

                a)  The New Testament only knows of one Church in each city that it addresses.  The only time that the New Testament epistle authors ever bring up the notion of “churches” is if they are talking about a large region which contained several cities and, thus, several churches within those several cities.  The ancient Christians only originally knew of one church in each city. 

                b)  This means that many of us would have to expand our understanding of how a city wide church would function, then.  Each city church was appointed a regional pastor called a “bishop.”  He was essentially the “head pastor” of the whole church over the whole region.  Under his leadership were other leaders called “elders” and “deacons.”  While the bishop ministered to the whole city/region, the elders and deacons were assigned to minister to more specific locations within that city/region.

                c)  The ancient Christians essentially knew of and practiced three different types of corporate worship together: they prayed during certain hours of the day, they had services called the Synaxis services where they continued to worship and pray in ways that paralleled the Temple in Jerusalem, and they held Lord’s Supper services once a week on Sundays where the whole city church gathered to celebrate the sacrament under the  one bishop.  Oftentimes the ancient Christians would hold Synaxis services with the Christians from their neighborhoods under the leadership of their neighborhood elders, even though they originally started with the Bishop of their city.  So, there were often several different Synaxis services across the cities throughout the week.  However, on Sundays, all of the different Christian groups came together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with the regional pastor, the bishop.  Eventually, however, the Synaxis services and the Eucharistic services were blended together into one service and the Lord’s Supper was celebrated within multiple congregations across a city on any given Sunday, just as we see it today in Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox congregations.  Thus, the unifying power of the Lord’s Supper was diminished and the concept of Biblical leadership was scrambled.  The Eucharist no longer served as unifying practice between congregations and, with that, people lost site of the unifying role of the Bishop along with it. 

                With all of this information in perspective, we can now look at how the ancient Christians originally worshipped. 

Worship Patterns in Early Christianity:

Preliminary notes:

a) The early church worshipped according to the traditions of the Old Testament (the Apostles were Israelites after all). The writer of Hebrews (8:5) tells us that the Old Testament temple worship was a “copy and shadow” of heavenly worship and, as we will see shortly, the New Testament Christians still continually participated in worship at the Temple after their conversion to Christ.  The significance of earthly worship being a “copy and a shadow” of the heavenly worship is this: whenever we worship the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses, we are participating in the combining of the heavenly and earthly liturgies.  As it is said elsewhere, God has “raised us with Christ and seated us with Him in heaven” (Eph 2:6) where we are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,” (Heb.12:1).  We will not one day be seated in heaven but, whenever we worship the Lord, we are already seated in heaven.  Also, whenever we worship the Lord, we are joining in with the heavenly chorus of angels and saints and, thus, are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” 

b) Again, there was a 3-fold pattern to the worship in the New Testament: the prayer hours, the Synaxis services (Temple worship pattern), the Eucharistic services (Lord’s Supper services).

c)  Worship was very communal.  Since their worship was very communal, this means that worship was the primary means of discipleship.  People submitted themselves to their Bishops and Elders.  The early Church Fathers taught that the ministers and congregants were interdependent as the members of the Trinity were interdependent.  As the members of the Trinity are all equal, they all functioned in different ways and with differing authority.  The same is true of the structure of the Church.  The ministers and the laity both had significant roles in the worship services and they both needed each other to function effectively. 

1)  Prayer Hours:

a)  The early Church prayed 3 times per day (corporately or privately), 9am, 12pm, 3pm during the “prayer hours.”  We will look at a few Patristic sources on this topic soon.  For the time being, however, read the following verses and pay attention to the details found therein.  During what times did they pray?  What happened during these times?

-Acts 2:15: The Holy-Spirit poured out upon the Apostles during the 3^rd hour of daily prayer (9am).  They weren't randomly gathered together but were praying during the 3rd hour of prayer because that is what the people of God did habitually.   

-Acts 3:1:  Peter and John went to the temple during the “time of prayer,” the 9^th hour (3pm).

-Acts 10:3: Cornelius had a vision during the 9^th hour of prayer (3pm).

-Acts 10:9:  Peter had a vision during noonday prayer time.

-Notice this as well in Daniel 6:10, 13: Daniel prayed 3 times per day, at set times of the day.

b) The early Church Fathers also wrote about the prayer hours:

Cyprian of Carthage (200-258 AD), from: Treatise 4 On Prayer, Ch.34-35:

“And in discharging the duties of prayer, we find that the three children with Daniel, being strong in faith and victorious in captivity, observed the third, sixth, and ninth hour, as it were, for a sacrament of the Trinity, which in the last times had to be manifested.”

Hippolytus of Rome (170-235), from: The Apostolic Tradition, ch. 41:

⁴If there is a day when there is no instruction, let each one at home take a holy book and
read enough of it to gain an advantage from it.

⁵If you are at home, pray at the third hour and praise God. If you are elsewhere at that
time, pray in your heart to God. ⁶For in this hour Christ was seen nailed to the wood. And
thus in the Old Testament the Law instructed that the shewbread be offered at the third
hour as a symbol of the Body and Blood of Christ. And the sacrifice of the lamb
was a symbol of the perfect Lamb. For Christ is the Shepherd, and he is also the bread
which descended from heaven.

⁷Pray also at the sixth hour. Because when Christ was attached to the wood of the cross,
the daylight ceased and became darkness. Thus you should pray a powerful prayer at this
hour, imitating the cry of him who prayed and all creation was made dark for the
unbelieving Jews.

⁸Pray also at the ninth hour a great prayer with great praise, imitating the souls of the
righteous who do not lie, who glorify God who remembered his saints and sent his Word
to them to enlighten them. ⁹For in that hour Christ was pierced in his side, pouring out
water and blood, and the rest of the time of the day, he gave light until evening. This way
he made the dawn of another day at the beginning of his sleep, fulfilling the type of his
resurrection.

2) The Synaxis Services:

a) Premise: These were services which were derived from the Temple services.  ”Synaxis” is the Greek word for “gathering together.”  The Synaxis services were primarily prayer services where the Christians gathered and worshipped according to the Old Testament Temple pattern.  While the Christians modified the Jewish Temple format slightly (by eventually adding New Testament readings to their services), the original framework was still maintained.  This makes sense because, originally, the early Christians continued to worship at the Temple as we will read about shortly.  However, after persecution broke out and the Christians could no longer worship at the Temple, they continued to worship with the modified Temple liturgy in different locations across a region.

-Again:  Hebrews 8:5: Old Testament temple worship was a “copy and shadow” of heavenly worship.  Many Christians today claim that the way of worship that we find in the Old Testament has been done away with because of what Christ has done.  However, one must beg the question: "Why would Jesus want to do away with His people worshipping in a way which copied and shadowed heavenly worship?"  It is clear enough that He did not want this to happen and that His people did, indeed, continue to worship according to that ancient pattern. 

-We can see a rough outline for these Synaxis services in Nehemiah 8:1-8.

-Luke 24:53: After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples worshipped “continuously” in the temple courts.  If Jesus came to do away with Temple worship, why did the Apostles  and early Christians continuously continue to pray there?

-Acts 2:46: Again, the early Christians met in the temple courts every day.

-Acts 3:1:  Peter and John went to the temple during the “time of prayer,” the 9^th hour (3pm).

-Acts 5:42: And, again, they continued to meet in the temple courts “day after day.”

-Acts 13:2:  The word for “worshipping” here means more than just “worship.”  The Greek word here is “leitourgounton,” which is the word that we get “liturgy” from.  It should be read as, “while they were performing acts of liturgy (or, liturgical acts) and fasting…”  They were worshipping through the form which they had adopted from the Jewish Temple liturgy.

b) Here is the order to the Synaxis service ascribed by the ancient Patristic sources (see “The Shape of the Litrugy” by Dom Gregory Dix):

a)  Opening greeting by the minister and the reply of the Church (“The Lord be with you…and also with you” or “Peace be with you…and with your spirit”).

b)  Old Testament reading (was chanted).

c)   Psalm singing

d)  New Testament letter reading (was chanted) and Gospel reading (was chanted).  Another Psalm may have been sung in between the letter and Gospel readings.

e)  Sermon.

f)  Dismissal of the non-Christians.  Non-Christians were not allowed to participate in the priestly intercessory prayer.

g)  Intercessory prayer by the congregation.  In the oldest worship services (like the Roman one), the minister or the deacon would mention a subject for prayer, then the people would pray for it on their knees on their own.  Then, the deacon would instruct everyone to rise and the minister would wrap up their prayers with his own prayer for each subject.  They repeated the cycle through each prayer subject.  Here is an example from the ancient Roman liturgy:

 

Minister: “Let us pray, my dearly beloved, for the holy Church of God, that our Lord and God would be pleased to keep her in peace, unity and safety throughout the world, subjecting unto her principalities and powers, and grant us to live out the days of a peaceful and quiet life in glorifying God the Father Almighty.” 

Deacon: “Let us bow the knee.” (All kneel and pray in silence for a while).

Deacon: “Arise.”

Minister: “Almighty everlasting God, Who has revealed Your glory unto all nations in Christ, preserve the work of Your mercy; that Your Church which is spread throughout all the world may continue with a firm faith in the confession Your holy Name.” 

 

h)  The minister blesses and dismisses the Church. 

 

3)  The Eucharistic (Lord’s Supper) services:

 

a) Premise:  While Christians gathered for the Synaxis services all across a region and at different places, all of the Christians from all of the different congregations gathered into one place on Sundays for the Eucharist services to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  In other words, while there were many different groups that held their own Synaxis services across a region (after Christians could no longer worship at the Temple), all of these congregations gathered into one place on Sundays for the Lord’s Supper.  While the Synaxis services were structured off of the Temple services, the Eucharistic service was given by the Lord Jesus Himself (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). 

 

It is difficult for us to understand Scripturally that the New Testament Christians gathered into one place for the Eucharist because most of our translations of the passages at hand are interpreted falsely.  So, we will address the few verses which are translated incorrectly below. 

 

b) Since we don’t readily recognize the fact that the ancient Christians of the New Testament gathered into one place for the Eucharist because of our faulty translations, it is helpful first to look to an account of how the ancient Christians worshipped from an early source.  Justin Martyr (100-165 AD), whenever he was on trial, talked about how the Church met in one place for the Eucharist: 

“and on the day called Sunday, there is a gathering in the same place of all those living in cities or country areas.”   Whenever Justin was pressed further he replied that he knew of only one place in Rome where the Christians gathered and that was the house owned by a man named Martinus by the Timiotinian Baths. 

Now, look to see the correlation between Justin's account and the New Testament accounts:

-Acts 2:46: the Christians met and celebrated the Lord’s Supper “in the house” (κατ' οἶκον).

Note: They did not break bread (celebrate the Lord’s Supper) “in their homes” as most translations read, but “in the house.”  κατ' οἶκον is in the singular.  This syncs up with Justin Martyr’s account of the Eucharistic gathering in Rome.  Again, Christians worshipped daily in the temple courts and surrounding synagogues (the Synaxis services) but they came together once a week for the Lord’s Supper at one “house” in the city.

 

-Acts 5:42: they met in the “house” (κατ' οἶκον). 

Note: again, they did not meet “from house to house” but in “the house.”  κατ' οἶκον is singular here as well.  And, again, there was one “house” where all the Christians within a region gathered for the Lord’s Supper on Sundays.

 

c) Now that we have seen that the Christians in the early Church gathered into one house to break bread, we can see that Paul even gives us the names of some of the people who opened up their homes to the Churches in their regions:

-Romans 16:5-16: Paul mentions the Eucharistic household church owned by Priscilla and Aquila and some of the prominent individuals and families found therein.

-1 Cor. 16:19: Paul mentions the household of Priscilla and Aquila again.

-Col. 4:15: Paul mentions the Church that gathers for the Eucharist in the household of Nympha.

-Philemon 2: Paul mentions the Church that gathers for the Eucharist in the home of Philemon. 

4) The Communal Nature of Worship as Discipleship:

a) Premise: Worship was the primary means of discipleship in the New Testament and early Church.  In other words, discipleship was liturgical.  People were primarily discipled by the ministers (the Bishops and Elders) through their participation in the Synaxis and Eucharistic services.  If discipleship is primarily about teaching others how to seek God in all things and be conformed to His image, then these liturgical services were the chief arenas where disciples were forged by their leaders.  Discipleship was not simply mutual spiritual mentorship, nor was it a matter of leaders simply teaching their disciples intellectual information about the faith.  Rather, ministers taught the people how to do the faith by teaching them how to participate in the liturgical services.  The services themselves were formative, and it was the people’s chief duty to submit themselves to the authority of the ministers by participating in these liturgies.  Listen to the words of this ancient Church Father, Ignatius of Antioch (30-117 AD), who was the disciple of John the Apostle and was rumored to be the child that Jesus held in His arms:

“See that you all follow the Bishop, as Christ does the Father, and the elders as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as a command of God.  Let no one do anything connected with the Church without the Bishop.  Let that be considered a true Eucharist which is under the leadership of the Bishop, or one to whom he has entrusted it.  Wherever the Bishop appears, there let the multitude of the people be; just as wherever Christ Jesus is, there is the catholic Church.”

It was a common notion that, as the members of the Trinity related to one another, so too the different offices within the Church were meant to relate to one another.  The members of Trinity are all equal in their personhood but they each function in different ways and relate to one another in different ways.  The same is true of the Church.  While the laity, deacons, elders and bishops are all equal in regards to their personhood, they each have different roles to play and they each related to all the rest in differing ways.  Listen to what Ignatius has to say in his letter to the Magnesians in this regard:

“As the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united with Him, He was neither simply by Himself or simply with the apostles; so you shouldn’t do anything without the bishop (regional pastor) and elders.  And do not attempt to suppose anything to be right for yourselves apart from them.  But at the general meeting (Lord’s Supper service) let there be one prayer, one supplication, one mind and one hope in love and joy undefiled.  There is one Jesus Christ and there is nothing more excellent than Him.  Be zealous to come together, all of you, as to one temple, even God; as to one altar, even to one Jesus Christ…Study, therefore, to be established in the doctrines of the Lord and the apostles, that so all things, whatsoever you do, may prosper both in the flesh and spirit; in faith and love; in the Son, and in the Father, and in the Spirit; in the beginning and in the end; with your most admirable bishop (regional pastor), and the well-compacted spiritual crown of your presbytery, and the deacons who are according to God. Be subject to the bishop (regional pastor), and to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, according to the flesh, and the apostles to Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit; that so there may be a union both fleshly and spiritual.”  

As we see in the teaching of Ignatius, while everyone in the Church is to submit themselves to all the others, we are especially obligated to submit ourselves to the Bishop as Jesus does to the Father, and to the Elders as if they were the Apostles.  So, within the notion of mutual submission we understand that we are to especially submit ourselves to our guides and pastors in the faith.  If this is not discipleship, I don’t know what it is.  Notice also that Ignatius is talking about this submission during the times whenever the Christians assemble liturgically. 

Some Concluding Remarks:

To sum things up:

a)  There was only one Church in each city under the leadership of one bishop.  The elders and deacons served in the various faith communities within the city-wide church.

b)  Christians prayed during the prayer hours of the day (9am, 12pm & 3pm) both corporately and on their own.  This tradition continued well into the early centuries of the Church and even continues in some denominations today (Catholicism, Anglicanism and Eastern Orthodox).

c)  There were two different types of worship services: the Synaxis services and the Eucharistic services.  The Synaxis services were based upon the Temple’s liturgy and were celebrated in different locations across the cities.  The Eucharistic services were held only on Sundays and there was only one Eucharistic service held in each city.  For this service, every Christian from a city/region would come together to celebrate the sacrament under the leadership of the Bishop in the home of a local Christian individual or family. 

d)  Worship services were the primary means of discipleship.  The services were structured in such a way that they were transformative for all who were in attendance.  The relationship that the ministers held with the congregants during these times of worship were seen as nothing other than that of a relationship of discipleship.  People were discipled by their ministers by submitting themselves to them through the liturgies. 

Additional Resources:

“Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?” by Rolland Allen

“The Shape of the Liturgy” by Dom Gregory Dix

“The Eucharistic Communion and the World” by John Zizoulas

“Eucharist, Bishop, Church” by John Zizioulas