The Fuel is Worship

In the last posting, I argued that the motor for all church activity and life must be mission. I had a number of good comments that argued convincingly that worship is the motor of the church. Worship drives and is central to all that we are and what we do. Upon reflection, that really is true. Mission that is not driven by worship is simply a crusade, campaign, project or program. General Motors has a mission, Microsoft has a mission. the LA Lakers have a mission. Some missions are measured in terms of profit and loss. Some are measured by winning seasons. Some are measured by marketplace share. And too often the church "competes" in the world in just the same manner, with skillful marketing and up-to-date strategies. And we can end up looking like just one more Starbucks. Dr. John Piper in the Jan/Feb 2006 journal "Missions Frontiers" writes an article entitled "Minimizing the Bible? Seeker-Driven Pastors and Radical Contextualization in Mission" raises the question of what gets sacrificed in the church to do missions? What fuels and drives missions?
The answer must be WORSHIP. Worshiping God must be the driver for all we do, because, in the end, it is what believers will be doing eternally: not preaching (I'm out of a job when Jesus comes), teaching, evangelizing, serving or enduring. We are built to worship the one true God. The high octane fuel of worship fuels to motor of mission that propels the church into significance in the world.
Now I hope this does not sound like a soft-shuffle to ease critics. Rather, it is an admission that missions remains outwardly visible and measurable, but must be fuels by the vision and values of worship. As we worship, so we serve. As we worship, so we love. As we worship, so we see.