Behold the Pattern!

Some thoughts on Hebrews 8 with a little help from Hebrews 9

In 1991, Goebel Music wrote Behold the Pattern to combat what he saw to be liberal thinking in the church. He targeted folks like Max Lucado and Rick Atchley for departing from the biblical pattern for New Testament worship and ecclesiastical polity as well as ecumenism.

The basis of his critique, and the major assumption of the book, is that there is a pattern within the New Testament that one must follow in order to be considered a true Christian. There are several texts used to back this idea up, but one of the major ones is found right here in Hebrews 8.

I’ll provide the quotes from both McKnight’s translation, per usual, and the NRSV (you’ll see why).

…who venerate in a model and shadow of the heavenly realities just as it was revealed to Mōüsēs, about to complete the tent, for See! it says, You will make all things consistent with the type that has been exhibited to you on the mountain. Hebrews 8:5

They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one, just as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tent. For, God said, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” Hebrews 8:5

From here, the point is usually made that God has always had a pattern. In this article, we will examine the context of Hebrews 8 to see if a strict pattern of worship is the optimal way, and only way, to approach God.

The First Covenant Was Not Faultless

In the verses following our original passage, the Hebrews writer says,

But now he has attained a much better public work, as much as he is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was Covenant-Coded on better pledges. For if that first covenant were infallible, there would not have been a place for pursuing a second. Hebrews 8:6–7, McKnight

The word infallible jumps off the page to me. It’s interesting that McKnight’s translation uses the word inerrant to refer to the death of Jesus in Hebrews 9:14. The fallible work of the Old Covenant and the inerrant work of Christ in the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. It’s really fascinating!

But I’m getting distracted.

Jesus’s “much better public work” or “more excellent ministry” is related to the better pledges or promises made to Jesus in his new priestly order (Hebrews 6:13). This new covenant is clearly not like the covenant made with the ancestors, or as McKnight has it, it is… “not consistent with…” the Old Covenant.

Instead of a law written on tablets of stone, this law is written on the hearts of the members of the covenant community.

Continuing these thoughts, the Hebrews writer says,

Therefore, the first (on the one hand) was having right rules for veneration and for the kosmic devoted place. Hebrews 9:1

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. Hebrews 9:1, NRSV

These patterns, right rules, or regulations for worship were connected to the existence of an earthly sanctuary—the tabernacle.

The Hebrews writer(s) finds fault with this system when they later write, “But (on the other hand) Christos appearing as Senior Priest for the good things that happened through the greater and more complete tent, not handmade (that is, not of this creation)…”

So, there was a pattern for worship because there was an earthly tabernacle in which precise worship was to take place, but this worship could never perfect the worshipers. It wasn’t faultless.

The New Covenant, on the other hand, requires a different kind of worship.

Worship in the New Covenant

The Hebrews writer does have a few things to say about worship in the New Covenant, and it doesn’t have anything to do with church buildings, Sundays, tents, pews, or any patterns of worship.

Here are a few verses from Hebrews 13:

Through him, therefore, let us always carry up a praise-sacrifice to God—that is, the fruit of lips openly agreeing with his name. Don’t forget doing good and a common life, for in such sacrifices God is well-pleased. Hebrews 13:15–16

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:15–16, NRSV

Continual praise, thankfulness, confessing God’s name, doing good, and fellowship (sharing what we have or living a common life, see Acts 2). This is the worship and sacrifice God requires of us. All of these things should happen naturally among Christians, of course, and they are not confined by the laws and regulations the first covenant had.

Whereas the first covenant had an earthly tabernacle that required an ordered worship service with sacrifices that God apparently never even really wanted (Hebrews 10:8), then the second sanctuary is… you and me. We are the temple, the house of God. God dwells within us, and we dwell within the Divine.

Here are two other verses for you to consider:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Romans 12:1

If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:26–27

When we approach worship this way, the only pattern we see is the life Jesus lived.

This verse is one generally cited when talking about a pattern of worship, but when we read it with these other passages in mind, which do talk about worship in the New Covenant, then its true meaning is apparent:

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21