In contrast to the Spectator, the Worshipper is under the influence of the Holy Spirit and is therefore spirit-motivated to know how to behave and how to express worship to the Spirit-God. These are some of the characteristics of the worshipper:
- Comes to church with their worship (Psalm 100)
- Recognises the presence of the Lord (Matt 2:11; Mark 5:6,7; Joshua 5:13,14)
- Instinctive humility and reverence
- Ready to share God’s blessing; has a testimony
- Has been worshipping in the week
- Responds to God’s call to serve
When a true worshipper (one who is led by the Holy Spirit) “enter into His gates with thanksgiving”, they need only one thing – an opportunity to worship. By worship I mean things that the individual can do; such as sharing their testimony or a word of encouragement, from Scripture. Is there facility for them to “bring their gift to the altar”? (Matthew 5:23, 24) – I realise that not all churches are laid out with space at either end of each row but, where it possible, leadership should make room for worshippers to practice things that are Biblical; the ‘truth’ element of worship. Worshippers can come, row-by-row with their offering to the front. They offer themselves as a ‘living sacrifice’ (a re-commitment), and they exercise their faithfulness with God’s funds.
How can the worshipper “make their request known”? – A worshipper may have a burden they want to leave with the Lord, or to ask fellow worshippers to lift them up in prayer. Make room for prayer requests and acknowledgement of answered prayers. Do not quench the Spirit: There’s a tendency for some leaders to vet a person’s testimony ahead of the service, in an effort to control the narrative and, perhaps, to avoid any embarrassing moments. This should be resisted at all costs because, who has the right to determine which worshipper’s testimony is to be put to the whole church? Leaders are trying to do the Spirit’s work and that defeats the objective and is a direct contradiction of the Biblical injunction. Instead, worshippers should be taught how to relay their testimonies in a concise and impactful way and a Spirit-led facilitator will know how and when to intervene – some people love the spotlight and don’t know when to stop – the chance to testify is so rare that they feel they must relate several incidents.