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The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice
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.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 16, 2007
67 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Mark Labberton
28 books8 followersMark Labberton is president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Prior to that Labberton served for a number of years as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California. He has also served as chair of John Stott Ministries. Today he continues to contribute to the mission of the global church as a senior fellow of the International Justice Mission. He is the author of Called, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor and The Dangerous Act of Worship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 11, 2015
"He wants us to think about worship not as a service we attend occasionally but as the life-altering recognition that Someone has shown up and changed the rules that our society tells us govern human existence." This quote by John Ortberg from the forward of the book neatly sums up the intention of author and begins to explain the connection of between worship and "the dangerous act" of justice. Mark Labberton, the recently installed President of Fuller Theological Seminary, wrote this book a few years back during his stint as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. What does it say about a society in which worship can be said to be "dangerous?" Sad to say, there is not much doubt that in a good number of churches the idea of linking worship with justice might be dangerous to a church leader's longevity!
November 19, 2015
3 1/2 stars. There are many good things in this book, but there wasn't anything that blew my socks off. I have read several books on mercy and justice during and since seminary. Labberton ties these ideas to those of worship and shows how true worship is the kind that gets past the false gods of comfort and security to reach out and touch the savior in the gutter.
If you are looking for help with your Sunday worship services you won't find much here. Labberton's point is that our corporate Sunday worship is an extension of our TRUE worship,which is described in Micah 6:8--"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
If you are looking for help with your Sunday worship services you won't find much here. Labberton's point is that our corporate Sunday worship is an extension of our TRUE worship,which is described in Micah 6:8--"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
September 16, 2007
A call to connect worship and justice, which is necessary and vital. The book itself was a bit pedantic, though. Good on Mr. Labberton, though, for bringing up the issue.
April 6, 2022
A book for school, but still a helpful and interesting book on the reality of our worship needing to result in and be shaped by our doing justice in this fallen world.
January 17, 2011
A great read to help bridge the language gap between what is going on in Church culture and what many say we want from our practice of religion.
October 20, 2019
Worship is so much more than a song. It's an entire life that encompasses every action, every thought, every word, every inaction we participate in. Whether we realize this or not, we worship something or Someone every moment of every day. For those who follow Jesus Christ, we pray and hope that every action worships God, and yet so often when we think about what that worship means, we only stop to think about the music portion of a Sunday service or the latest album from the newest worship band. And while some might stop to think of worship as action and word, rarely is seeking justice a part of that vision of worship.
In his book The Dangerous Act of Worship, Mark Labberton seeks to paint a vision of the most dangerous act of worship: living out God's call to justice in the world. This means looking to the least of these both next door and across an ocean. How are we as followers of Jesus caring for the orphan, widow, and voiceless out in the world? Have we forgotten this call to justice?
While this basic message is much needed in the American evangelical church today, Labberton spends almost 200 pages to say the same thing over and over: go out and worship through justice. He paints some biblical backdrop for this vision, which is extremely helpful, however when we gets to the nuts and bolts of what this will look like, he tends to wander through metaphor after metaphor that never quite lands and ends up being repetitive.
This is one of those books where if you read the first three chapters and the last one, you would have the gist of the entire work. Again, this perspective shift is helpful, so I'm not totally dismissing Labberton's book. If you are interested in social justice and how that interplay works within the church context, this would be a helpful book for theory and biblical underpinnings. However, if you're looking for a how-to manual or practical look at how this plays out, it would be better to look elsewhere.
In his book The Dangerous Act of Worship, Mark Labberton seeks to paint a vision of the most dangerous act of worship: living out God's call to justice in the world. This means looking to the least of these both next door and across an ocean. How are we as followers of Jesus caring for the orphan, widow, and voiceless out in the world? Have we forgotten this call to justice?
While this basic message is much needed in the American evangelical church today, Labberton spends almost 200 pages to say the same thing over and over: go out and worship through justice. He paints some biblical backdrop for this vision, which is extremely helpful, however when we gets to the nuts and bolts of what this will look like, he tends to wander through metaphor after metaphor that never quite lands and ends up being repetitive.
This is one of those books where if you read the first three chapters and the last one, you would have the gist of the entire work. Again, this perspective shift is helpful, so I'm not totally dismissing Labberton's book. If you are interested in social justice and how that interplay works within the church context, this would be a helpful book for theory and biblical underpinnings. However, if you're looking for a how-to manual or practical look at how this plays out, it would be better to look elsewhere.
January 28, 2020
There is much about this book that is really great. Mark does a good job of being clarity about the gospel of deliverance from sin, while also pushing towards doing justice in the world. I actually agree with most in this book, however there are several factors that result in it just being average in my opinion.
First, it simply is a dated book now. It was first written in 2007, and much has changed in 13 years. I would say that the American church has done more than awaken to justice, the danger now is that increasingly the church is focused on justice without the gospel.
Second, the first half of the book felt like a drudgery of repetition about how poor a job the American church does in fulfilling Gods cal to justice in the world. Over and over the same arguments were made, so that I couldn’t wait to finish. The second half of the book was much more varied, but still there is not only a lot of overlap, but also all of the arguments didn’t fit together for me.
Third, although the argument that true worship results in action in the world, I do believe Mark takes thinks too far in making justice, as he teaches it, to be the telos of worship. That is, there was very little mention of advancement of the gospel as the result of worship. It was only justice haws works, and this is wrong.
Which leads to my forth and finally thought, and what bothered me most, that his description of justice did not include those that have never heard the name of Jesus. Never once did this get mentioned, and that is a great in justice. For, the greatest injustice is that the American church has not used our resources to complete the great commission. Jesus did not simply teach us to go and do justice, he taught us to go and make disciples. Advancement of the gospel is clearly paramount,m to social justice, though never mutually exclusive. I highly recommend Jossy Chacko’s book Madness as a superiors example of what doing biblical justice looks like.
First, it simply is a dated book now. It was first written in 2007, and much has changed in 13 years. I would say that the American church has done more than awaken to justice, the danger now is that increasingly the church is focused on justice without the gospel.
Second, the first half of the book felt like a drudgery of repetition about how poor a job the American church does in fulfilling Gods cal to justice in the world. Over and over the same arguments were made, so that I couldn’t wait to finish. The second half of the book was much more varied, but still there is not only a lot of overlap, but also all of the arguments didn’t fit together for me.
Third, although the argument that true worship results in action in the world, I do believe Mark takes thinks too far in making justice, as he teaches it, to be the telos of worship. That is, there was very little mention of advancement of the gospel as the result of worship. It was only justice haws works, and this is wrong.
Which leads to my forth and finally thought, and what bothered me most, that his description of justice did not include those that have never heard the name of Jesus. Never once did this get mentioned, and that is a great in justice. For, the greatest injustice is that the American church has not used our resources to complete the great commission. Jesus did not simply teach us to go and do justice, he taught us to go and make disciples. Advancement of the gospel is clearly paramount,m to social justice, though never mutually exclusive. I highly recommend Jossy Chacko’s book Madness as a superiors example of what doing biblical justice looks like.
October 9, 2019
In this book Mark Labberton makes simple what others make complex. It is our call to justice which was the work of Christ on earth that we are to imitate. Worship calls out loud to devote our lives sacrificially to those who need us. The author reminds us that our life is not our own, for our own, but is purposeful and intentional. The Dangerous Act of Worship--to worship wholeheartedly is a challenge to us all. I think this book though initially written some time ago is a lifetime reference tool encouraging us to become true worshipper's in Spirit and Truth. Not just hearers of the Word but doers. And though some points are reiterated numerously, the book is invoking, meaningful, and life altering. I believe it will produce the change needed today and for future generations.
February 25, 2021
Vague. Repetitive. A longwinded ramble. Every chapter is basically the same and the points he makes never seem to come in for a landing.
The book is a critique of American Christianity that pulls all its punches. It gets old hearing Labberton say things like "We care more about our middle-class comfort than living out the gospel," statements that only betray his own guilty feelings. He hardly offers any constructive words besides the vaguest of platitudes.
The book is a critique of American Christianity that pulls all its punches. It gets old hearing Labberton say things like "We care more about our middle-class comfort than living out the gospel," statements that only betray his own guilty feelings. He hardly offers any constructive words besides the vaguest of platitudes.
August 29, 2019
Insightful
I would read again. Some good insights. Open look at worship and how it should change our perspective to justice...
I would read again. Some good insights. Open look at worship and how it should change our perspective to justice...
Read
May 13, 2020Thesis: Worship of God should lead to live that seek justice in the world. Good, though justice is often defined in particular ways that will not sit well with some.
June 1, 2025
amazingly up to date
March 19, 2017
This book rocked my world. It didn't necessarily cover any "new" ideas for me, but it really challenged me to put my money where my mouth is. The first few chapters were the strongest, which I think is usually true with this sort of writing. However, every time I sat down to read this, even some of the parts that were less strong, I was overwhelmed with a since of conviction and impressed by Labberton's way of challenging this generation to take Jesus' words seriously.
November 1, 2012
I am pretty sure that I heard of this book while attending the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship Symposium two or three years ago. It sounded like just the kind of book I ought to read, both for personal reasons connected to the missional work of our church and for professional reasons as we work to connect students' heart for service as a spiritual discipline with a mind towards justice.
I'm thankful to paperbackswap.com for getting the book into my hands.
I'm not really sure why, but it took me an awful long time to get all the way through the book. Certainly not because it was uninteresting or not applicable. On the contrary, it may have more to do with the fact that the content was entirely thought provoking and I needed to let each segment settle in for a time before tackling the next. (Or perhaps it is because, as my goodreads account will attest, I am in the middle of reading seventeen books at once! I've decided not to begin a new book until I've finished two on the "currently reading" list...we'll see how that goes.)
As a whole, I really appreciated what Labberton had to say. I think that what had the strongest impact on me was a chapter on Sabbath and its relationship to the pursuit of justice. His thesis: we need a day to stop our work in order to acknowledge the fact that it is God, and God alone, who accomplishes the work of justice; we are simply his vessels, or agents, but we cannot succeed on our own power.
Now that I'm done with the book, I'm not sure what to do next with my copy. I'd love for my pastor to read it, or even the entire worship planning team at church. I can think of folks in campus ministries who'd appreciate it, or former students of mine who are now worship apprentices. Maybe my boss and our team of students would benefit from reading it. Or maybe I'd like to just start over again from the beginning and let it soak in again.
I'm thankful to paperbackswap.com for getting the book into my hands.
I'm not really sure why, but it took me an awful long time to get all the way through the book. Certainly not because it was uninteresting or not applicable. On the contrary, it may have more to do with the fact that the content was entirely thought provoking and I needed to let each segment settle in for a time before tackling the next. (Or perhaps it is because, as my goodreads account will attest, I am in the middle of reading seventeen books at once! I've decided not to begin a new book until I've finished two on the "currently reading" list...we'll see how that goes.)
As a whole, I really appreciated what Labberton had to say. I think that what had the strongest impact on me was a chapter on Sabbath and its relationship to the pursuit of justice. His thesis: we need a day to stop our work in order to acknowledge the fact that it is God, and God alone, who accomplishes the work of justice; we are simply his vessels, or agents, but we cannot succeed on our own power.
Now that I'm done with the book, I'm not sure what to do next with my copy. I'd love for my pastor to read it, or even the entire worship planning team at church. I can think of folks in campus ministries who'd appreciate it, or former students of mine who are now worship apprentices. Maybe my boss and our team of students would benefit from reading it. Or maybe I'd like to just start over again from the beginning and let it soak in again.
April 19, 2012
Still one of the best books I read on the topic of worship. Mark Labberton tackles what was (and is?) perhaps the most defining issue of the modern Church age, which is a disconnect between worship action, experience and true transformation. He defines a true act of worship, and certainly opens up the parameters of that definition, as a dangerous and risky endeavor, and above all connects the act of worship with the pursuit of justice. If we are honest, too often in the safety of our Church walls we enter in to worship within the safety of our experience. But if we were to really heed the words of the songs that we sing and the liturgy that we read, and if we were to heed the prompting and the guiding voice that meditation opens us towards, the sheer level of devotion that we are proclaiming should leave us with a true sense of urgency in our personal faith.
As a Church, the call of this book is to move us as a community of believers towards a worship that opens our eyes to our neighbors rather than closing them to entertain our personal experience. Words that call us to give our "whole" life to God should resonate with unsettling questions about what our faith life should look like on the other side. Any experience of worship that does not leave us unsettled falls short. There is a massive degree of challenge presented here, and it is not a safe challenge in any respect. But it also leaves us with a place to begin, a place to open our eyes and take notice of the words we sing and the challenge we receive in the mist of our personal experience. And then to begin to ask ourselves how it can apply. It's when we are willing to ask those questions that our world has the potential of blowing wide open.
As a Church, the call of this book is to move us as a community of believers towards a worship that opens our eyes to our neighbors rather than closing them to entertain our personal experience. Words that call us to give our "whole" life to God should resonate with unsettling questions about what our faith life should look like on the other side. Any experience of worship that does not leave us unsettled falls short. There is a massive degree of challenge presented here, and it is not a safe challenge in any respect. But it also leaves us with a place to begin, a place to open our eyes and take notice of the words we sing and the challenge we receive in the mist of our personal experience. And then to begin to ask ourselves how it can apply. It's when we are willing to ask those questions that our world has the potential of blowing wide open.
March 5, 2016
"1. The Kingdom of God is not a utopian vision, a dream with no hope of reality, but the assured and coming reign of Christ that will establish a new heaven and a new earth.
2. God is the one who ushers in the kingdom of righteousness and justice through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.
3. The church is God's primary witness to this coming kingdom but is not responsible for accomplishing it.
4. The church's worship of God should show up in love and justice for the sake of the poor, the needy, the oppressed, and the forgotten."
Very important subject. I commend the author for addressing it, and certainly it is something that the Western evangelical church largely struggles with. Argues that we need to "wake up" and begin to think about how being a worshipper of God require us to pursue justice in the world. Point well taken, however, the book seemed to me to have relatively little unique ideas to contribute to this conversation. Additionally, the book seemed to be exceptionally wordy & repetitive, and could probably be reduced by 50% or more with little compromise. Unfortunately the book also did not seem to be very well organized, but rather a mash of ideas related to the pursuit of justice. Perhaps it would be better if the book were organized in sections according to the above four points from the epilogue, and then distilled to the essence of the respective ideas.
The one disclaimer I'd state is that I listened to the audible version of this book, so there's probably a lot there that affected my "reading" of this book.
2. God is the one who ushers in the kingdom of righteousness and justice through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.
3. The church is God's primary witness to this coming kingdom but is not responsible for accomplishing it.
4. The church's worship of God should show up in love and justice for the sake of the poor, the needy, the oppressed, and the forgotten."
Very important subject. I commend the author for addressing it, and certainly it is something that the Western evangelical church largely struggles with. Argues that we need to "wake up" and begin to think about how being a worshipper of God require us to pursue justice in the world. Point well taken, however, the book seemed to me to have relatively little unique ideas to contribute to this conversation. Additionally, the book seemed to be exceptionally wordy & repetitive, and could probably be reduced by 50% or more with little compromise. Unfortunately the book also did not seem to be very well organized, but rather a mash of ideas related to the pursuit of justice. Perhaps it would be better if the book were organized in sections according to the above four points from the epilogue, and then distilled to the essence of the respective ideas.
The one disclaimer I'd state is that I listened to the audible version of this book, so there's probably a lot there that affected my "reading" of this book.
September 28, 2012
Worship is the beautiful act of placing yourself on the altar because you've encountered a beautiful, captivating King that draws you to forsake all else for His sake. But do we actually follow through on that in our lives? Many of us are really good at the act of worship in our comfortable musical worship expressions, but if we are not being changed in every aspect of our lives and in our responses to the beggars at our door, we are not truly worshiping.
"I hate all your show and pretense--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living." (Amos 5:21-24, NLT)
Mark Labberton speaks out in a very Old Testament prophetic manner, calling the American Church to a deeper realization of worship, to live fully awake to the poor, orphaned, widowed, alien and marginalized neighbors around us. Wake up, O new nation of Israel. Your King is beckoning you further into the richness of Himself, into His heart for the weak and broken...
"I hate all your show and pretense--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living." (Amos 5:21-24, NLT)
Mark Labberton speaks out in a very Old Testament prophetic manner, calling the American Church to a deeper realization of worship, to live fully awake to the poor, orphaned, widowed, alien and marginalized neighbors around us. Wake up, O new nation of Israel. Your King is beckoning you further into the richness of Himself, into His heart for the weak and broken...
June 14, 2013
A fine series of reflections tying worship to justice which offers a real challenge to the sleepy American evangelical church with their (my) domesticated God (his very appropriate language). "The dangerous act of worshiping God in Jesus Christ necessarily draws us into the heart of God and sends us out to embody it, especially toward the poor, the forgotten, the oppressed." (14) Very good in both critique of our self-obsessed churches and of remedy, in a new worship that recreates reality. At times it is a little abstract and repetitious, but just when I asked him in the margins for a liturgy, he provided one, of sorts on the next pages. His examples and specifics come more strongly at the end - a challenging and thoughtful book.
December 4, 2007
Mark Labberton has found a way both to transcend the "worship wars" and to focus the attention of the Church upon our mission. The heart of the book reminds us that our address is not rooted in class, status or place but in Christ. In Christ we are connected with the church universal in worship. We gather to renew the center in Christ and go forth to serve Christ as we work on both a personal and structural level participating with God as he works to establish his kingdom.
This book will shake up the church and if prayed it will change the world.
This book will shake up the church and if prayed it will change the world.
May 14, 2008
Mark Labberton nails the content in a book perfectly described by the title. With eloquent language, perceptive insight, deep meditation, and a light touch, Mark superbly outlines the state of the dormant Christian church today and outlines a goal to strive for which looks more like the life of Christ. An excellent read for anyone curious what Christians should look like, as opposed to what we do look like.
March 30, 2013
The concept of this book was excellent. At times I found myself speed reading through the book because in my opinion he had already made his point and I was ready to move on. I was challenged to think about power and how worship is an act of submitting to the ultimate power of God. Even sabbath is an act of laying down our power to do something and fix the injustice and to trust God that he is making all things new.
June 15, 2013
Mark Labberton is the new President of Fuller Theological Seminary, which is why I read this. It's a good basic, evangelical look at the ways social justice and worship can and should intersect. Good reminder that God is concerned about more than what happens in the sanctuary. At the same time it reminds us that what happens in the sanctuary has social implications. There is a study guide that goes with the book.
April 2, 2014
--Thought-provoking and interesting. Although I have qualms with a variety of things he says, his employment of various motifs, and some unnecessarily ambiguous explanations, I very much agree with his thesis: worship and social justice must be connected. This is a needed prophetic wake-up call to the evangelical church which is largely apathetic or resistant to matters of social justice. Also, he writes well and interestingly.
June 22, 2015
Mr. Labberton issues a call to the American Church to "Wake up" it's worship. He makes some good points about the need for purposeful worship as a pattern for purposeful living.
I appreciated his observation that "our culture claims the promise but avoids the pain" and that we are "sent out for the sake of another kingdom, in the name and power of someone else, for the sake of the powerless and the forgotten."
Good call to live lives that have divine purpose and meaning.
I appreciated his observation that "our culture claims the promise but avoids the pain" and that we are "sent out for the sake of another kingdom, in the name and power of someone else, for the sake of the powerless and the forgotten."
Good call to live lives that have divine purpose and meaning.
August 4, 2016
I believe in the essential message of this book (the importance of pursuing social justice). I just don't think it's presented on a strong biblical/gospel foundation, and I don't think it's very well written. I stand by the former, but I could be wrong on the latter since I don't often read non-academic books.
December 14, 2007
This is by the pastor of my church in Berkeley. A great guy and a good writer. His message is that worship must include justice in order to reflect what worship is in the bible and what God's call for the church is. A great read.
May 19, 2011
Mark challenges the church to connect its worship to God's heart for justice. A good word to those of us who sometimes look at worship in terms of creating a compelling sensory experience rather than connecting to God's heart.
Read
March 28, 2016Challenging, but not guilting--a good balance. The first half is especially thoughtful. The second half loses quite a bit of steam and becomes a bit repetitive. Still worthwhile, particularly for suburban evangelicals.
July 3, 2010
This book offers a fabulous treatment of two issues that are often segregated in Christian life - worship and justice - and makes a great case for the intimate connection between the two.
December 27, 2011
pretty sure worship leaders need to read this...and anyone who hungers for more...and realizes we are really in very much control in our services...
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