Called to worship, sent to witness: A missional perspective on the Reformed theology in South Africa today

Abstract

This article wishes to engage the Reformed church in this era in order for it to ultimately re-evaluate its way of worship and how its way of worship can influence its witness. It argues that ever since its inception, the church’s calling was to worship God and be the witness of God’s grace to the world. As the world is changing, the church is also responding in its own way towards those changes. The preliminary assertion of this article is that the church has become a self-serving community, where its gathering to worship is no longer mainly about God but rather about what the congregation or people wish to achieve with it and/or benefit from such a gathering. The primary calling of being sent to witness to the world about the incredible grace and love of God appears to be forgotten by the Christians. The article highlights some of my personal observations regarding worship practices that I have noted as undertaken by the Reformed church, which I believe silence the ordained prophetic voice of the church towards its calling and sending. The article engages the themes of Reformation, transformation and change agent from a perspective of the ‘missional’ understanding of the church. The article engages the notion that the church is called to be a witnessing community to the world.

Keywords

• Reformation
• Transformation
• Change Agent
• Church
• Worship
• Witness
• Mission
• Missio Dei