THE MESSAGE OF WORSHIP
By John Risbridger
IVP. 293 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 1 783 592 968
To read this book is a humbling experience for a church musician.
When you appreciate the depth of work and personal engagement that John Risbridger has poured into each of the 293 pages of his book, it makes you realise that we’re not even scratching the surface of this subject that has divided churches and denominations over the centuries.
The book is divided into three sections, each focussing on how the three members of the Trinity drive and inform biblical worship.
Response to divine disclosure
Risbridger starts by saying that ‘The invitation to worship God is the highest privilege of human beings, a privilege squandered by human rebellion but gloriously restored to us through the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ’. Risbridger’s aim is to ‘allow Scripture to speak, in the hope that the question ‘what kind of worship do we like?’ is gradually replaced by the better question ‘what kind of worship is it that God seeks?’ Risbridger takes a passage of Scripture in each chapter to help us understand more deeply the nature and breadth of worship. As the Word of God both constructs and drives his argument, he defines worship as a response to God’s revelation of himself in the Word, ‘empowered by the Holy Spirit, which finds expression in every aspect of human life and experience’. It was encouraging to see the biblical conviction stated over and over again that the Word and the Spirit work in absolute perfect tandem to drive the truths about God into hard hearts and heads to produce whole-life transformation.
Emotional engagement
At the same time Risbridger encourages not just transformation, but a deep emotional engagement with a personal Saviour: ‘Without such an expectation our churches are little more than religious clubs; with it they become supernatural communities of grace.’ It is a timely warning to those who sit with loose complacency to the Word of God when the Spirit brings it to our hearts.
Re-evaluation resource
The book is a strong reference point for us to engage with issues like the role of the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts and music in the Christian gathering – and it encourages deep study of the various Bible texts (helped by the study guide at the back). A church musician would do well to take the book and use it for personal study, to remind him/her-self of the Word and Spirit-centred ministry we’re involved in, whilst also rediscovering the importance of elements we can often miss in our songs, for example lament and proclamation.
The pastor would benefit from this book as a challenge to re-evaluate his thinking on the corporate nature of the Christian gathering, whilst sharpening him up on some aspects like the Lord’s Supper and the place and nature of prophecy.
