In Part 1, we went back to Genesis 1 and looked at the creation story through a different lens—the cosmos as God’s temple. Unlike pagan temples filled with lifeless idols, the living God placed His own image on humanity, giving every person deep, inherent dignity. If creation is God’s cosmic temple and we are His image-bearers, then worship isn’t limited to just rituals or songs. Worship starts with how we honor His image in one another.
Part 2 carried that thread into the New Testament, where the picture comes into sharp focus. God’s Spirit doesn’t live in buildings made of stone, but in and among His people (Acts 7:48). We, individually and collectively, are His temple (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:5). Worship is no longer about GOING to some specific place for a ritual or event (John 4:21, 23); it’s about BEING His image bearers, how we honor His image in each other, and how we live together as a community where God’s Spirit dwells.
Now, in this third and final post, we bring it all together: our greatest act of worship isn’t just what we do for one hour on Sunday—but how we love one another throughout the week. Worship finds its truest expression in community—in what I like to call “worship as one-anothering.”
A Picture of Heaven…
Growing up in the Evangelical church in the 1980s, I remember how people talked about heaven. It wasn’t necessarily the popular cultural picture of meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates or floating on a cloud in a toga strumming a harp, but there was still a very particular evangelical picture being painted. Heaven, I was told, would be an otherworldly place where we would sing praises to God for all eternity.
In short…heaven would be an eternity-long worship service.
I think I can safely speak on behalf of a whole bunch of pre-teens growing up evangelical in the ’80s:
“That sounds BORING!”
Is an eternity-long worship service all that we get to look forward to when Jesus returns to make all things new? Is that why we gather weekly? Is that the ultimate reason Jesus gave His life—so we could spend eternity singing songs to Him?
Honestly, that might even sound a little narcissistic to some. If that’s what His plan amounts to…no wonder some people are so turned off by this version of Christianity. Who would want to sign up for that?
Now, I want to be careful not to come off as too critical or negative on this issue, and I also want to be wary of completely writing off the role that musical expression (or other artistic displays) can play in our world as Christians (there are clear scriptural references to the role of music). But we MUST ask ourselves: Is that all there is?1
Are our expressions of worship limited to music, tithes, and sermons within a “worship service”? Or could it be that God’s vision for worship is bigger—something that runs deeper and fits better within the full biblical story?
The Commands of Jesus
From the creation account all the way into the New Testament we see that humanity was created to honor God’s image in one another and that His Spirit dwells in us and among us as His followers. Jesus came to launch this major paradigm shift: worship is no longer tied to geography or to buildings or rituals. So what does worship look like in this new reality?
One key is found in John’s Gospel. On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34–35)
Notice what Jesus does not say. He doesn’t say, “By your sermons,” or “By your songs.” He clearly states that the world will recognize His followers by their love.
Love is the apologetic of the church. How we live together in community—how we “one-another”—can be our greatest witness.
Paul’s Correction to the Corinthians
But then we come to Christ’s continuing work in Acts and the Epistles…and the work of the Apostle Paul in particular. Paul had been given a unique stewardship…his primary concern was the establishment and maturity of a complex network of churches that was quickly expanding around the world (2 Cor. 11:28). He was clearly given instructions from Christ on building this new global household (family) of God which now included Gentiles (Ephesians 3:1-10).
Paul saw how the Corinthian church had misunderstood how this family ought to operate. Their gatherings (1 Cor. 11:17–14:40) had turned into a time to show off their gifts and centered around religious displays rather than letting “All things be done for building up” (1 Cor. 14:26). Their gatherings were full of giftedness and outward expressions, but also pride, competition, and division. They had turned worship into a display of status and ability, but they were completely missing the opportunities to “one-another” well.
So, he went out of his way to poetically tell them about a “more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31).
“’If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
This passage was not written simply to be read at modern wedding ceremonies. It was at the very heart of what Paul was trying to establish among the churches of the first century. Paul’s point was clear: without love, even the most spectacular outward acts are empty noise. Without one-anothering in love, it’s just hollow displays wrapped in a package of religious rituals and feel-good zeal.
This was not acceptable…it should not be…not for the church in Corinth, and not for the Church today. And it’s not just Paul saying this once to the Corinthians…this theme runs throughout the New Testament.
Without one-anothering in love, it’s just hollow displays
wrapped in a package of religious rituals and feel-good zeal.
Worship Beyond Rituals – From the New Testament on Into Eternity
In his book, “Prepare Your Church for the Future,” Carl F. George highlights the 59 times we’re exhorted in the New Testament to “one another” well. These commands are not just random niceties; they are at the very heart of how we honor God and live according to His plan.
A few examples:
Love one another. (Multiple times)
Forgive one another.
Bear one another’s burdens.
Encourage one another.
Serve one another.
And the list goes on.
Each one is an act of honoring God by honoring His image in another person. Each is a way of offering worship to Him by caring for the temple He now inhabits—His people. Jesus said if we love him, we’ll keep His commandments…so what better way to show our love for him than obeying His commands to love one another.
This paradigm shift can help us see God-honoring worship through a wider lens. Worship isn’t limited to buildings, rituals, or songs. It is lived out in everyday acts of sacrificial love. These 59 “one-anothers” are practical ways we can “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)
Worship and the Kingdom
This type of “one-anothering” is really at the heart of Christ’s Kingdom. And the picture of eternity isn’t of a never-ending modern worship service, but of a great table – the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” It’s a vision of God’s people gathered in love, sharing life together, putting these radical “one-another” commands into action.
THAT’S the eternity I’m looking forward to! A feast put on by the King of Kings!
But this vision isn’t just about the future. Jesus’ kingdom is already breaking into the here and now. The Spirit dwells in us and among us today. We get to participate in living this out in our day today. We get to practice it now.
It’s not just for the someday-fully-realized-kingdom when Christ returns, but the here-and-now-kingdom He’s already establishing through His people.
Imagine the implications if God’s people fully embraced these 59 “one-anothers” as our spiritual act of worship. What might it look like if the church was known less for its divisions and dissension, and more for loving one another as Christ loved us?
What if our loudest witness wasn’t our arguments or disagreements, but our love?
This was exactly Jesus’ vision in John 13. He gave His followers a new command to “love one another” so the world would recognize them as His. It’s not our music, preaching, doctrine, liturgy, denominational labels, or politics that will make Jesus known. It’s our ability and willingness to honor God by loving one another.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
When we intentionally honor God through one-anothering, it becomes a witness the world cannot ignore.
This is what I mean by “Worship as One-Anothering.”
It began in Genesis, where God created the cosmos as His temple and placed His image on humanity.
It continues in the New Testament, where His Spirit makes His home in and among us.
And it finds its fullest expression today in how we love one another.
May our worship not be confined to songs or sanctuaries but be displayed in lives marked by love. For in loving one another, we honor His image, build His temple, and show the watching world that we belong to Jesus.
Matthew D. Andersen is based in the NYC area and is part of the METRO equipping team, a network of leaders who are establishing churches as families…patterned after Acts.
On a personal note, I’m a musician and singer, and have spent many years leading traditional praise and worship services and have always appreciated how God has used those “sacrifices of praise” to honor and lift up His name. However, my argument in these essays is that musical expressions alone fall far short of the full intent for how we are created to honor God and are not intended to be the primary (or only) methods for worship. Thankfully we serve a God who takes our feeble efforts, redeems them, and uses them for His purposes. My hope would be that we would all be striving for a fully mature understanding of Christ’s plan and His design for honoring him together in community as a family.