What's at stake in our worship? Everything. Worship is the dangerous act of waking up to God and God's purposes in the world. But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward--it should turn us outward as well. In this prophetic wake-up call for the contemporary church, pastor Mark Labberton reconnects Christian worship with biblical justice. From beginning to end, worship must pursue justice and seek righteousness, translating into transformed lives that care for the poor and the oppressed. Labberton shows how to move beyond the comfort of safe worship to authentic worship that is awake to the needs of the world.
What's at stake in our worship? Everything. Worship is the dangerous act of waking up to God and God's purposes in the world. But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward--it should turn us outward as well. In this prophetic wake-up call for the contemporary church, pastor Mark Labberton reconnects Christian worship with biblical justice. From beginning to end, worship must pursue justice and seek righteousness, translating into transformed lives that care for the poor and the oppressed. Labberton shows how to move beyond the comfort of safe worship to authentic worship that is awake to the needs of the world.
Foreword by John Ortberg
Acknowledgments
1. What's at Stake in Worship?
2. The Real Battle Over Worship
3. False Dangers
4. Real Dangers
5. Waking Up to Where We Live
6. Doing Justice Starts with Rest
7. When Worship Talks to Power
8. Dwelling in Exodus or in Exile?
9. An Imagination for Justice
10. Living Awake
Epilogue
Study Guide
Notes
Mark Labberton teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and directs the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute of Preaching, which encourages the convergence of worship, preaching and justice (micahgroups.org). Previously Labberton served as senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California. A senior fellow of the International Justice Mission, he is also the author of The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor.
John Ortberg is teaching pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and author of many books, including God Is Closer Than You Think.
"The Dangerous Act of Worship is a significant work because of the
relative lack of writing in the area of worship and justice. . . .
It is written at a popular level, targeting pastors and congregants
as evidenced by the copious personal examples throughout the book.
Given Labberton's posture, the foundation work and conclusions are
excellent."
*Robert Pendergraft, Artistic Theologian, 2 (2013)*
"[A] timely and much appreciated attempt to recall for privileged
North American Christians the intimate connection between worship
and issues of justice."
*The Presbyterian Outlook, October 6, 2008*
"Labberton's book is bracing reading that deserves thoughtful
meditation and discussion among pastors, lay leaders, and those who
occupy the pews--especially in places where those pews have become
all too comfortable."
*The Clergy Journal, November/December 2007*
"The Dangerous Act of Worship is a timely reminder of the need for
Christians to wake up to the needs of those who are suffering in
our world."
*K. R. M. for Liturgy, Hymnody, Pulpit Quarterly Review,
Christmastide 2007*
"I see the book as a wake-up call to get out of our comfortable
pews and do something for the downtrodden. The book is enhanced
with intriguing personal anecdotes, illustrations, and lots of
scriptural references encouraging justice for all."
*Church Libraries Journal, Summer 2007*
The Dangerous Act of Worship is for any church leader or minister
who wants to make a difference in the world; chapters outline
differences between false and real dangers, consider the church's
role in social issues, and come from a working pastor's
experience."
*James A. Cox, California Bookwatch, April 2007*
"The Dangerous Act of Worship is a candid look at our priorities. .
. . Labberton questions what an encounter with God truly looks
like. . . . [I]t's not safe or controlled or dependent on having
the best tech booth . . . or the most people in the pews. It is
about waking up as God's people and engaging our world with love
and revealing God's redemption."
*Worship Leader, May 2007*
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