From the Inside Out: Worship that Transforms
Our North American culture places a high value on the
pragmatic. “Principle and theory are fine,” it is said, “but does it work? Is it
practical? Do people like it and will they buy it?”
The 1992 film Sister
Act voiced this idea of pragmatism in the church humorously and pointedly. Actress
Whoopi Goldberg played Delores, a night club singer taking refuge from a mobster
hit man out to kill her. She was disguised as a nun (dubbed Sister Mary Clarence)
in a convent. The convent church building was crumbling from disrepair and few parishioners
attended the lifeless services. The once vibrant ministry had become irrelevant
to its surrounding community.
Delores used her music skills to turn the convent’s bedraggled
and anemic choir into a first-rate, energetic, heart-pounding gospel ensemble.
This, she said, was the remedy to the church’s certain demise. But the Mother
Superior (played by Maggie Smith) was skeptical …
Mother Superior: [use] Boogie-woogie on the piano? What were
you thinking?
Delores: I was thinkin' more like Vegas, y'know, get some
butts in the seats.
Mother Superior: And what next?
Popcorn? Curtain calls? This is not a theater or a casino.
Delores: Yeah,
but that's the problem. See, people like going to theaters, and they like going
to casinos, but they don't like coming to church. Why? Because it's a drag. But
we could change all that, see? We could pack this joint.
Pragmatic, market-driven, product-centered, give ‘em what
they want.
It is no wander that so many Christian congregations in the
US have been in an uproar for the past couple of decades about the look, feel,
and sound of their gatherings for worship. They have been driven by pragmatism -
and this alone is not healthy.
There has been a mass migration away from the “smells and
bells” of so-called “traditional worship” to so-called “contemporary worship.”
The migration has been away from the architecture of neo-Gothic sanctuaries to performing
arts centers; from ancient liturgies to multi-media production; from hymns to
choruses, choirs to worship bands, congregation-friendly to presentation-focused
song.
But the issue of whether congregational worship feels “dead”
or “alive” is not a matter of the music being “up-tempo and positive” or that
there are cup holders on the backs of the pews, if there are pews at all.
The vibrancy of any worship service starts with the spiritual
vitality of each worshiper present and engaged and their desire to mature in Christ.
Gordon T. Smith writes in his outstanding
new book about Christian maturity,
The so-called worship war missed the
point entirely; it was characterized as a battle between old and new, ancient
and contemporary. The real issue is whether our worship … nurtures genuine
adult maturity in Christ. Let me stress something here: I am not protesting the
involvement of youth in leading worship - not for a moment. It is rather that
every dimension of congregational life - including teaching, governance and
mission - calls for wisdom and maturity… Nowhere is this more crucial than in
the most formative dimension of congregational life of worship….[1]
As we pursue maturity in Christ by pursuing Christ, our
experience of Him in public gatherings for worship will be flavored with an
intensity, a spiritual passion that is palpable. The “what” of what we do in
our gatherings for worship becomes second or third priority to the “why” of why
we have gathered together and the “so what” result of our communion with God
and His people.
The refrain of Joel Houston’s song From the Inside Out gives voice to our desire for complete
transformation in Christ starting at the very inner core of our being; from
heart to hands.
In my heart, in my
soul
Lord, I give You
control
Consume me from the
inside out, Lord
Let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the
inside out[2]
Having stated all the above, we get back to Sister Mary
Clarence’s insistence that the style of worship needs to be hip, hot, and
happenin’. What style of worship is best, biblical, and blessed of God?
Please notice that at this point I am talking about style
and not content. They are separate issues. The content of worship must
invariably be the good news of the kingdom of God in Christ through the power
of the Spirit; That sinners receive redemption by God’s grace alone through
faith alone in Christ alone. In a very tight nutshell, that is the content of
worship.
But there is no biblical command or prescription regarding style
for worship. I can only think of one word that best describes a style appropriate
for all congregations: indigenous. Here’s what the oxford Online Dictionary says:
Indigenous – originating or
occurring naturally in a particular place; native[3]
Native – the things
that we do in the way that is characteristic of us. The softness or loudness of
music, the type of songs and instruments, the melodies and harmonies and
rhythms, the architecture and decorations and more must be “native” to that
congregation. That is, all that we do and bring before the Lord must be marked
by that which originates from who we are.
In the Phillips
translations of 1 Corinthians 14:26 the apostle Paul writes of this principle
unto the building up of the body: “Well then, my brothers, whenever you meet
let everyone be ready to contribute a psalm, a piece of teaching, a spiritual
truth, or a ‘tongue’ with an interpreter. Everything should be done to make
your church strong in the faith.”
For me the bottom line of what is right and best for the
church in worship is that through indigenous acts and elements we bring, the
body of Christ is made stronger, moving us ever closer to the image of Christ.
[1] Smith, Gordon T., Called to be Saints: An Invitation to
Christian Maturity, IVP Academic, page 187
[3] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/indigenous
- accessed September 10, 2014 8:07 a.m. MST
