Book Review: The Great Commission to Worship by Vernon Whaley and David Wheeler

Book Review by Elizabeth Welch 

The Great Commission to Worship

Authors: Vernon Whaley and David Wheeler

            The Great Commission is a commandment associated with Christians going out into the world to bring souls into the kingdom of God. Churches filled with believers are familiar with the worship expectation of God and focus more on this than the mandate of evangelism. Vernon Whaley and David Wheeler believe that evangelism must be “the catalyst that ignites a holistic lifestyle of worship.”^[1] The authors expand on this statement by introducing and reinforcing that the Great Commission comes alive through worship and should not be separate. This new worship model merges the believer’s individual calling and life experiences, producing specific outcomes. The rest of the book explores living a life of Great Commission worship.

            The practice of Great Commission worship forms individual and corporate attitudes toward evangelism, transforms believers, encourages relational ministry, and drives mission. Whaley and Wheeler posit that “God uses this dynamic relationship … to change [believers] from old to new, dead to living, and corruptible to incorruptible.”^[2] Worship and Godly evangelism centers around relationships. Relational activities are about strengthening the “upward relationship” with God and building “horizontal relationships” with humanity.^[3]

            Evangelizing is a part of missional activity. The church should not focus only on temporal ministry while letting worship become shallow and just another scripted, religious activity. Worship is at the heart of God’s eternal expectation; praising him is key. The Great Commission worshipper reproduces the calling of the Great Commission resulting from a Godly, worshipful relationship. The believer steers away from meaningless activity that results in the practice of an unbalanced, faith-versus-works approach to ministry.

            The best example of a Great Commission worshiper I have ever had was a saint named Lenora Munyon. Mrs. Munyon was my grandmother and a life-long soldier (congregational member) and employee of The Salvation Army. She dedicated her life to holy living and had a firm commitment to the Lord for evangelizing the lost and serving the disenfranchised. One of the most memorable moments happened during a Sunday evening worship service when seekers came forward during the appeal.

            A man walked down the middle isle and knelt on the far-left side of the altar. His hands and face were dirty. Layers of crumpled clothing swallowed up the rest of him. His hair was a mixture of tangles and small debris from hard living. Others came and went from the altar, but the man did not move.

            My grandmother with her clean, pressed navy-blue uniform made her way down the aisle. Her five-foot, three-inch frame was smaller than the man. As she knelt by him, she lifted her arm to embrace him from the side. At first, her arm seemed so small reaching across his shoulders. When her arm touched the man’s back, his frame began to shake and collapsed into the embrace as he sobbed. I could not hear what my grandmother was saying to him, but I could see the movement of her head as she fervently spoke in his ear and prayed. When they stood, she hugged the man tightly. As their frames parted, the man turned around and streaks of clean, pink skin showed through the dirt in the vertical lines made by his tears. He smiled and seemed to stand up straighter than before. After the man walked away, my mother helped her out of her tunic (suit jacket) and put it in a paper bag. I had never seen her do this before.

            On the drive home, I asked my grandmother, “Why did mama put your tunic in the paper sack?” She told me the man had lice crawling on his clothes and hair.  “Oh,” I paused to think, “You must have seen it after you prayed and hugged him. “ “No, I saw it before,” she replied. A few minutes passed. “Mamaw,” which is what I called my grandmother, “Why would you touch a man with bugs on him?”  “Beth,” she said, “Jesus wanted to touch him, and so, I did it for him. Don’t ever forget that these are our kind of people.” When the man returned for church the next Sunday morning, I did not recognize him. He was clean-shaven and clearly, God transformed him inside and out. He worshipped in our congregation for a long time.

            Reflecting on the book and this writer’s Salvation Army background, the idea of living out the Great Commission as a meaningful act of worship is not a foreign concept but raises some questions. The concept of worship has changed; the necessity of this teaching is relevant. How can the church balance out the need for discipleship and character-building programming with meaningful, worship experiences and Commission-driven ministries?

            The authors mentioned the idea of a new worship model merged with the Great Commission, discussing the role of younger worship leaders. In chapter six, Whaley and Wheeler state, “Often, they are in the position to shape a congregation’s concept of God, Christian service, evangelism, Christian graces, and discipleship—all through worship.”^[4] Why is this level of responsibility given to those who may not have the longevity and wisdom to lead people in this way? The average church is on the smaller side. Younger people who are pressed into service may not be spiritually mature or shown how to lead but considered acceptable if they show willingness and a modicum of musical skill.

            Furthermore, the older generations are stepping back from leading worship and doing the administrative and logistical support, not so much participating in the formal spiritual formation congregations. Meaningful opportunities are for the young people and multigenerational worship is becoming rare. Oral tradition has been abandoned in most congregations, and children in many churches do not experience the main worship service or take part in a multigenerational worship environment. Why is multigenerational worship not addressed and where is the focus on the demonstration of spiritual disciplines necessary for holy living?

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               ^[1] Vernon M. Whaley and David Wheeler, The Great Commission to Worship: Biblical Principles for Worship-Based Evangelism (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2011), ch. 1, accessed August 31, 2019, https://app.wordsearchbible.com/reader.

^[2] Ibid., ch. 6.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid.

What does the old song say? "Can we find a friend so faithful? Take it to the Lord in prayer."  

Make a list of your friends and not by romanticizing the relationships on social media sites. Looking at that number is not completely representative of quality relationships. Interacting with thumbs ups or expressing various emojis to a post does not equate to the definition of closeness.  

Interestingly enough, a woman recently unfriended over hundreds of people on Facebook. Weeks and weeks went by without any messages of inquiry or renewal of friend requests. After several months, a few dribbled in. Most never even noticed that their friend was missing, disconnected, or withdrawn from the conversation. The motivating reason was really an attempt to simplify life. The person was left to wonder about all of these acquaintances she had amassed over time. Questions came to mind, like: "Who are they to me really?" and "Who am I to them?" 

The idea of friendship has mutated, and the prevailing notion of fake association is rampant. In fact, fake associations extend not just on the personal, social media sites. They are prevalent at work and in common social settings. People clamor to be known through someone else because of something else to achieve everything else. Elsewhere, someone thinks they have important relationships, when they don't, and when a crisis comes the support is nonexistent. These fair-weather acquaintances may

express sadness, remorse, commiseration, and yet, there really is no personal involvement. After these types of reassuring conversations, follow-up only happens if they run into the person again, figuratively or literally.  

The worst is when this occurs in the Christian setting. I mean, don't we all expect that the world will be shallow and unfeeling? Fellow believers should behave better. We expect someone to defend us or champion our cause - rally to our side holding a sign of support. Where are all of these Christian connections when they are needed? Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." 

Brothers. The first word that jumps out at me. I have three wildly crazy brothers who love me so very much. They are all unique, funny, talented men. If I need them, they are present and accounted for. Send up a bat signal and they would come running with every skill and resource available. They are dependable and predictable; I find that comforting and precious.

In contrast, ruin. This word means the physical destruction or disintegration of something. In another form, it describes the aftermath; what is left over from a climactic event. Over a year, everything I knew about myself - accomplishments, friendships, title, position, authority, leadership, and I could go on and on, was called into question because of an unfathomable situation.  

The woman that had to let go of all of these acquaintances, you know the ones that click a like or chime in every once in a while, was me. I realized that all of these people, most of whom are good people, had no idea Bill and I were standing knee deep in the middle of ruin. The rubble was all around us. There was no defense or shelter from the rock throwers and we were battered and bruised. Our lives and livelihood attacked and the very people who were supposed to take care of us, didn't. The rules that applied to every situation did not apply. The policies in place to protect were not afforded. The world would have looked at us and judged us as ruined and surrounded by ruin.

The God of all things is near and will bring justice where there seems to be none. He will bring comfort in the midst of scoffing. He will bring truth into the turmoil of lies and misrepresentation. Where there are opportunists taking advantage for personal gain, He will bring opportunity for personal gain.

I don't understand so many things about my life today or my future. What I do know is that He will not sit on the sidelines or trickle down a few we'll-meaning blessings to make me feel better. He will move heaven and earth for me. He sent His Son to die for me and He raised Him from the dead to live for me. Not only did He stand in the midst of ruin with us, He positioned Himself to hold back the rocks so we would not be crushed.  He is faithful.

In time, a city of fulfillment will once again stand and be built upon what the world deems as ruin. Exercised friendships will be made strong through mutual engagement. What is real will be revealed. Praise God!