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Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence

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Evangelical / reformed worship can easily be reduced to a few songs, some prayers and the sermon; the sermon being the main focus of the Church gathering. While not neglecting the importance and value of good preaching John Jefferson Davis exhorts the church to rediscover the value and importance of `worship'. For Davis, worship has to be an intentional activity - worship does not just happen but is a learned behavior. To be done successfully, it must be done knowledgeably, intentionally and skillfully. Note the words knowledgeably, intentionally and skillfully. This book is about a thoughtful and intentional approach to what worship is and how that looks in today's evangelical church. The goal, the result of this is not a greater `experience' but the `real' presence of God in our services. Acknowledging that God is there - he is with us and in us and that the church has gathered knowing that the living God is there to meet with us and we are there to glorify Him and to enjoy being in his presence.

Developing a real theology of worship is vital for pastors and Davis' book is really a must read. I was surprised at how good this book is and what a valuable resource it will be to church leaders. This is not just about a good theology of worship but this book should excite you to worship.

Highly recommended.

If you are a pastor who is worn out from dealing with people who left the church because "there is no toilet paper in the ladies' room and it is all your fault," READ THIS BOOK. If you are a church member who is weary of attending worship services that could pass for rock concerts, or alternatively, meetings of the local PTA, READ THIS BOOK.

When I learned that Dr. Davis had written another book, I got it right away. I had read and profited from his many other books, and since I travel frequently, I planned to read it on my next long flight. Instead, I devoured it in a few hours after I opened it and read the first chapter. It is his best book, the most passionately written, and given the subject matter, the most important. I hope it is widely read and taught.

Here is the thesis in a sentence: Much of what passes for Christian life and worship today is cut off from its historic Christian roots and does not sufficiently recognize and support the connection of the worshipper with the living God.

As a leader of worship and as a worshipper, I am hungry for an experience with the reality of the Triune God. Unfortunately, I have all too often presided over or participated in worship services that could be considered Biblically orthodox, but left me sensing that there should be more to worship.

In this book, Dr. Davis takes the reader on a biblical and historical study of the nature of the presence of the living Christ with his church and in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Through the use of creative cyberspace analogies and thoughtful illustrations, the reader is stretched to understand how the omnipresent Triune God may manifest himself in rich and personal ways as the worshipper connects with him in worship.

Fellow pastors and worshippers: get out your Bible and read it as you use Worship and the Reality of God as a study guide. You won't be disappointed, and you might just discover anew what one man learned when he wandered into an early worship service: "God is really among you!" (I Cor 14:25).

WORSHIP AND THE REALITY OF GOD : AN EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY OF REAL PRESENCE

By: John Jefferson Davis

Article written by: rm Kocak (for full preview visit my blog at [...])

"As its central concern this book argues that American evangelical churches need to recover a sense of the holiness and majesty of God, and of the real, personal presence of the risen Christ in the midst of his people in the power of the Spirit as the central realities of biblical worship."

- Worship and the Reality of God, pg. 33.

John Jefferson Davis has written a gift to modern American evangelicals in Worship and the Reality of God. Davis prophetically calls pastors and church leaders to consider the realities that are shaping the worship experience in most churches. Davis goes to great length in the book to explain the extent that modern and post-modern ontologies (views of reality) have covertly saturated our lives. As a result, we as Evangelicals now have an inadequate understanding of the nature of the church (ecclesiology) as well as a theology of worship (doxology).

After a chapter of introduction Davis structures his book around four themes:

God, The Church and the Self, Why God has been lost and where we can look to find him.

Reality in Worship, The Real Presence of God on Sunday Morning

The Eucharist, Meeting the Risen Christ at the Table

From Ontology to Doxology, From theory to practice in worship renewal.

Davis uses a lot of very technical and heavy words in this book (ex- ontology, ecclesiology, epistemology, aseity, theanthropic, ect.); however, as a teacher he goes to great lengths to explain and define the meanings of these words. When you are finished reading this book you are not only left challenged, but more theologically educated. The last chapter "From Ontology to Doxology" is written to pastors, elders, deacons, bishops, and church leaders in a way so that they may practically implement some of the theological concepts that were plotted out in the first four chapters of the book.

The Big Idea

"Your "God" is too "light"; your vision of the church is too low; your view of your self is too high, and consequently, your worship is too shallow."

- Worship and the Reality of God, pg. 38.

Davis spends two chapters working specifically on the ontology of God, the Church and the Self and on the reality of Worship. Two theories of reality that impact Christian worship are scientific naturalism (modernity) and postmodern virtuality (postmodernity). Davis goes into depth of what these often loaded terms mean and gives every day examples of how they work to shape the American view of reality. What I appreciate about Davis is that he always offers vision for his critiques. Davis describes the ontology of the church as, "High, Heavy and Theantrophic" and of the self as, "Trinitarian, Ecclesial and Doxological."

Seed Idea #1

"Just as the risen Lord was present to the disciples at Emmaus, so it is today that "he is present 'in the midst' at every Eucharist as the true celebrant; present, according to this point of view, rather 'at' than 'on' the Holy Table, personally feeding his own with the sacred gifts, and imparting his own great gift, the forgiveness of sins and communion with God through him."

- Worship and the Reality of God, pgs. 145-146.

The chapter on the Eucharist is phenomenal for the liturgical novice and expert alike. Davis takes the reader through the Reformation conflicts, the Eucharistic liturgy of the early church, the four-fold action of historical worship, and traces how the "real presence" in worship has become a "real absence" in the majority of American evangelical churches. The footnotes alone in this section make my heart happy with names like: Gregory Dix, Simon Chan, Brilioth, J.J. Von Allmen, John Robinson, White, Calvin, Luther, ect.

Seed Idea #2

"The Bible, the sacraments and the liturgy are the software; the church building, furnishings and musical instruments are the hardware; the mind of the triune God is the heavenly server that archives all the software and the history of its action."

- Worship and the Reality of God, pg. 110.

Davis is a theologian, ethicist, and worshiper. He has written numerous articles and a book (The Frontiers of Science & Faith) on the relationship between science and faith. Davis draws on this background in explaining some of the abstract concepts of reality and the real presence of God in worship. Davis uses the examples of the World of Warcraft, Google search algorithms, the Matrix, holograms, and cyberspace in his numerous examples. The inner nerd in me smiled many times.

Overall, Worship and the Reality of God remains a must read for ALL Evangelical students, pastors, teachers, and worshipers. It is a challenging, prophetic, balanced, educational, and timely word for the American church.

Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping CommunityThe Idea of the Holy

John Jefferson Davis has given the evangelical church a breath of biblical/theological fresh air in his recent book, Worship and the Reality of God! When I heard the author speak at a conference last year and he informed the audience of the impending release of this book, I was anxious with anticipation, and have not been disappointed since receiving and reading the book. Davis is no newcomer to the field of theological literature -- he is a seasoned academic, long-time educator, and has contributed books and articles to a broad field of disciplines, including systematic theology, eschatology, ethics, abortion, economics, and the interplay between science and faith. This book, is far-and-away his greatest contribution so far; and is a must-read for any person who wants to worship God in spirit and truth.

The book is comprehensive in its scope -- it is not an ivory-tower treatment of an abstract concept. Rather, it is motivated by the author's love of God, and the desire to worship Him biblically, completely, and properly. This work was prompted by a sabbatical leave in which Davis visited many churches of every stripe and variety with the intent of observing their worship style and content. His conclusion is that the present evangelical church has missed the mark often in what it calls worship, frequently replacing its own ego for the true object of worhsip, namely, the Lord God Himself. He addresses every ingredient of worship from music to order to prayers to ambiance to technology. He is no prude, not easily dismissing things with which he may disagree. Instead, he seeks to allow for the creative movement of the Holy Spirit in every phase of the worship experience, but with a keen eye to what God really deserves in that experience.

Davis surveys the history of the church, vis-a-vis its worship practices and brings that to bear on his assesment of the changes that have taken place over the centuries. His critique is biblically and historically informed, always fair, and with the goal of finding the proper balance between the extremes. His call to the church is to practice worship as the most important thing we can do, where we meet the trinitarian God, where we offer to Him our very best, and experience His presence in an active, significant, real way. After reading this book, one should be energized, enthused, and passionate about what worship should be -- its message is motivating, encouraging, challenging, and needed given what is being presented as "worship" in the American church landscape.

The resources of the book are worth the price of its purchase -- there is an extensive annotated bibliograpy and helful notes throughout. Dr. Davis is acquainted with the progress of technology and the cultural expressions of our time and he creatively uses them to help us think about our understanding of God and our worship of Him. His corrective to what he assesses to be sub-biblical worship is stated in the following: "At the heart of the application I suggest that some form of an ancient-modern blended worship style be implemented to embody the new paradigm of the real, dynamic, peronal presence of God in Christian worship." He calls for energy, creativity, and passion in our worship, being cognizant of our need to make it trinitarian by not neglecting any Person of the Trinity. Further, he presses the need for more frequent observance of the Lord's Supper and a newer appreciation for liturgical forms.

As one who has grieved over the "worship wars" and the shifts of emphasis that have taken place in the church's worship life, I find this book to be a wonderful resource. Even if you disagree with the conclusions of Professor Davis, your understanding will be enhanced by his careful and reasoned approach to this most important topic.

I read this book twice during the production stage and can honestly say it has changed how I view and experience Sunday morning worship. Davis is passionate about a very fresh approach to how we understand what worship really is, and in effect argues for a paradigm shift in how we view what we are doing Sunday morning. He argues that the central reality of worship in the New Testament and early Christianity -- that the risen Christ is really present when his people meet to worship -- has been largely forgotten in the modern evangelical church. His approach is not just tinkering at the edges but is going back to first principles. Davis argues rather convincingly that recovering the power of early Christian worship is essential if the church is to have the spiritual power to impact the culture and to see real changed lives in Christian discipleship. Davis points out that in the early Christian church there was a vivid sense that the risen Christ was really present in the midst of the worshiping community through his Spirit and through the Word and the Lord's Supper/Eucharist. He argues that this same spiritual power can be re-experienced in the church today. Because of the resurrection and Pentecost our whole view of Christian reality has changed, and we need to bring Sunday morning in line with it. I think this would be a helpful book for seminary and college professors training those who will be leading worship in our churches; and helpful for pastors, worship leaders, and serious laypeople to get a fresh and creative vision about what we are really doing on Sunday morning - that we are really meeting with the risen Christ. He ends with a chapter giving practical suggestions taking his insights from theory to practice in designing Sunday worship. This not a lightweight book, but it is worth reading. 206 footnoted pages plus bibliography.

This book addresses a fundamental deficiency in today's church- recognition of who God is and what He wants. The immaturity of evangelicalism needs this alarm and correction, while those who already are in the fold need confirmation and motivation to press on. Unfortunately, the substance of the book is well-reasoned, and rationality is all too foreign in today's Christianity.

When we do away with ritual, we end up with anemic worship, if worship at all, according to Professor Davis. How is much of today's evangelical worship different from a contemporary Christian music concert? In order for worship to have substance, we need a return to liturgy, a theme expressed years ago by Robert Weber in his book Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail. As a pastor, I've chosen the middle ground between "high church" and "low church" with blended worship--a mix of the formal and informal, because, as Davis puts it, we are ministering to the whole body of Christ and not a "niche" group. I've seen "specialty" churches that indeed focus on one demographic, and I have tried instead to cover all the bases with a general/collective approach...and so I found much in this excellent book to say "Amen" to. The message of this book is much needed today. I spoke briefly with Professor Davis at GCTS who admitted this is a "tough sell" in many of today's churches, but I think more and more pastors are discovering the richness of ritual, culminating in substantive worship focused on God's glory; after all, He is our audience.

When I first saw this book in Gordon Conwell Seminary Book Store, my heart rejoiced! I was captured by the boldness of its title. "Evangelical theology of REAL PRESENCE???" came to my mind.

After reading it, I am greatly thankful to God who has stir the heart of the writer to express his thought with conviction! Churches claim to be 'evangelical' needs to rethink their theological conviction on this issue of God's presence in Weekly Sunday Worship. I come from a reformed tradition in South East Asia that seems to not highlighting this critical issue. Most, if not all, protestant churches in Indonesia who claim to be Calvinist, in fact Zwinglian in practice of the Eucharist. The chapter on the Eucharist is really amazing! The writer summarizes the complexity of theological debate on Eucharist/Holy Communion with great care and it is sufficient.

Another thing that I really appreciate is the writer's theological depth in discussing about the holiness and weightiness of God. When I observe how christians come to Sunday worship, it seems to me most of us do not really prepare to encounter the HOLY God in our behavior. It is even more obvious when we pay attention how christians do not really impact the culture around them. Therefore, this is a much needed book on worship that cares about how to worship God in His terms and conditions.

I highly recommend this book for all christians who love God and who cares to worship HIM accordingly.

Thinking about ontology can help local churches to be and to act like the Church. As the world becomes more pluralistic, people are faced with a panoply of ways to view reality. And the various religions and new age spiritualities out there are probably less concerning than the individualism, materialism, and consumerism subtly produced by simply living in 21st century America. Many people have recognized the sour fruits of our culture in our churches and raised the cry that Christians often seem no more than christianish. Evangelicals have responded by calling for a renewed focus on Truth. Davis agrees, and adds that we need to concern ourselves not simply with sound doctrine, but even more profoundly with the basic ways we view ourselves and our world. What is real? What is a human person? What is the church? Davis offers a compelling, lucid, and creative exploration of these questions that is intended to inculcate a burning focus on the presence of God amidst his people as the center of our worship gatherings and our lives.

"During a long cross-country trip on the interstate, far from a major urban center, I may scan the FM dial for a good station and find myself in a place where two different stations, two different signals, are coming in at once. This can be a picture of my Christian life, where I would like to think that the signal of trinitarian theism is the one (and only one) to which I am tuned, but in fact, the signals of modernity and postmodernity are fighting to be heard on my spiritual receiver. Alas, even in our 'Bible-believing' churches, heaven is only dimly seen, and hell and the day of judgment are rarely mentioned. Or to suggest another image, picture a teenager at the back of the church on Sunday morning, supposedly listening to the sermon, but daydreaming about the car he would like to own and also surreptitiously listening to his favorite tunes on an iPod: the world of trinitarian theism is being drowned out by the images and sounds of the natural and the virtual" (Worship and the Reality of God, 25).

Davis helps us to recognize where the signals coming from our culture contradict the Biblical view of reality, and to respond appropriately. His book is filled with such visually rich metaphors as this one, capable of training the imagination for worship.

Davis isn't writing new truth, but he certainly is presenting the old truth in a fresh and incisive way. Ultimately, his purpose is to get us to believe what the Bible says about reality. And he provides powerful tools for helping us to believe and teach that Spirit is more eternally and significantly real than matter, and that God is personally, dynamically present when we gather to worship. The book is worthy of your time.