Appropriate Worship in Public

One of the characteristics of the Contemporary Christian Music worship movement has been writing songs that express a deep personal intimacy with God. This intimacy is expressed in lyrics that read like love letters to the Creator and Redeemer. This is appropriate for private worship but I question whether this type of song is best for the public worship gathering.

The psalms of the Hebrew Bible are no strangers to expressing desire and longing for God. Psalm 42 “As the deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you, O God” is a beautiful picture of the desire for intimacy with God. David’s direct address of the Divine shows his closeness with God: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.” (Ps 139:17-18) David was intimate with God.

There is something exhilarating about being in the midst of a group of worshipers so caught up in their private communion with God that all else disappears from their consciousness. For them, it must be a lot like that first teenage kiss: the feelings of wonder and joy are overwhelming; you feel like you’re going to melt.

But I propose that the most intimate expressions of our love for God should be reserved for the private “prayer closet” (Matthew 6:5-8) and not be put on public display. It’s like a lovey-dovey married couple. Between a husband and wife there are appropriate expressions of affection behind closed doors that are completely inappropriate in public. I think that principle holds true for public worship as well.

Public worship is just that – public. It is the gathering of the body, the community. The corporate expression of adoration, praise, lament, surrender requires an outlet different from personal intimacy. The actions for corporate worship need to be actions that the group can do together. Therefore I strive to choose singable songs and to get us comfortable with new songs; we do all we can to provide good sight and sound and temperature – so what we do together we can do with a minimum of distraction.

Well, those are my thoughts on the subject. We all have different personalities with varied emotional and expressive capacities. Whatever we do in our gatherings for worship, let us do it to the honor and glory of Christ. (1 Cor. 10:31-33)  AMEN

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

[2] Joel Houston © 2005 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

[3] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/indigenous - accessed September 10, 2014 8:07 a.m. MST

A Troublesome Word

Greetings! It's been a couple of years. Here's a new post; the restart of more frequent writing.

What to do with Worship?

Referring to the importance of choosing right words, American humorist Mark Twain famously wrote, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

There is a word used in today’s Bible-believing, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered congregations, a small word, the use of which causes a great deal of misunderstanding, confusion, and even trouble. Everyone knows what this word means yet no one knows what it means. It’s not a cuss word; It’s not used much on the evening news; It’s not a theological word – although all words used in the church have a theological implication; It’s a word used 114 times in the Scriptures: Old and New Testaments combined.

The word? Worship.

This word worship is a problematic English word. It was chosen by William Tyndale in the 1520’s to translate both the Hebrew and Greek words for “bowing down in obeisance.” When in your modern English Bible you read “he bowed and worshiped,” know that the original language text reads word for word, “he bowed and bowed.” That the first “bow” is the literal physical gesture is obvious. But the second “bow” has to mean something else; and to my thinking the something else is the motivation behind the bowing, namely obeisance, homage, surrender. You’ll find this phrase in these passages: Genesis 24:26, 48; Exodus 4:31, 12:27; Judges 7:15; Nehemiah 8:6; Psalm 95:6; Matthew 2:11.

True worship that is biblical and uncompromising and acceptable to God is not a noun - a thing - but the willing, joyful, humble bowing of the worshiper’s will before God.

The modern hubbub about traditional versus contemporary, guitar versus organ is irrelevant to this discussion. Worship, the verb, is the act of surrendering to God. Style, volume, or tempo has nothing to do with it.

The Rev. Dr. Stuart Briscoe said recently, “Worship Wars is not about worship. Worship Wars is about music. A lot of people think that worship is music. Music is a wonderful gift of God. It is an aid - an aid to worship. Do you know what worship is? Worship is an appropriate response to divine self-revelation.

Did you know God is in the business of revealing Himself? God reveals Himself in creation, and in covenant, and in Christ, and in the community of faith. So there is no lack of opportunities to see Him in self-revelation.

Worship is assimilating all this self-revelation and responding appropriately. And it isn’t something we do at the bewitching hour on a Sunday morning. It is something we do every single hour of every single day.

Worship is spending your waking hours discovering God’s self-revelation in creation, covenant, Christ, and the community of faith and responding appropriately 24/7.”

With the dawning of a new year, let’s commit ourselves to be God’s people who pursue God in response to His self-revelation.

Stopping to Think Anew

I’m using this blog over the next several posts to share from Mark Buchanan’s thoughts on Sabbath in his “The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath.” This volume is not about holding congregational worship on Saturday, but about establishing a “Sabbath” principle that feeds a cycle of restoration of the believing soul.

Just as God “stopped” to rest after His six days of creation work, we too must “stop,” “be still,” “cease” from our labor, not to escape it but to express thanks to God for it – and in the process be replenished.

Not only should our labors cease, but we must stop old thinking to begin thinking anew. Built on Romans 12:2, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Buchanan states, “Transformation is the fruit of a changed outlook”- changed thinking producing changed living. “God is more interested in changing our thinking than in changing our circumstances.” (p.33) In the same way that a man and woman commit themselves (betrothal) to each other in marriage, the change in Sabbath thinking commits our whole self to this time whether it’s convenient or not. 

Buchanan has us consider Adam, the first male human. God saw that Adam was lonely. Adam had no one that corresponded to him - no mate. But before God created Eve, the first human female, He tasked Adam with naming all the animals of creation. Why? God wanted to drive home the point to Adam that His provision of a mate would be custom crafted to his need. In the same way, Sabbath time is God’s unique provision for the believer’s intimacy with his/her Creator.

Sabbath time is different from all other time on the clock or day on the calendar. “There is no day in creation that can banish our aloneness, even while meeting us in it, like this day. But first we change our minds.” (p.35)

Sabbath is not leisure. “Leisure is Sabbath bereft of the sacred.” (p.35) Leisure is escape. It is vacation - literally “to vacate.” You remember that vacation so intense you needed a vacation from your vacation; you were drained, exhausted, empty? Sabbath elates and fills. (p.36)

Sabbath is bound in time; “time as gift, as opportunity, as season.” (p.36)

“This [Sabbath time] is a gift from God: to experience the sacred amidst the commonplace – to taste heaven in our daily bread, a new heaven and new earth in a mouthful of wine, joy in the ache of our muscles of the sweat of our brows.” (p.37)

Sabbath Liturgy: Taking Thoughts Captive

Consider your ways. “Wise people ask, ‘Does the path I’m walking lead to a place I want to go? If I keep heading this way, will I like where I arrive?’” (p.40)

“Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5) Begin with David’s prayer, “Search, me O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me” (see Psalm 139:23-24). Invite the Spirit to search you and reveal one habitual thought, one attitude of your heart, that is misleading you. It may be shame, a sense that you must keep hiding, keep avoiding the light. It may be pride, or a temptation to judge others, or an insecurity that drives you into envy and rivalry. It may be just the sense of insignificance – that no one sees you, not even God. Whatever it is, ask God to change your mind. End with the rest of David’s prayer, “And lead me in the way everlasting.” (p.41)

The Rest of God

I discovered a jewel among the $1.99 books at Savers here in Phoenix, AZ. It was a spanking new hardcover copy of "The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath" written in 2006 by Canadian pastor/author Mark Buchanan. If you're not familiar with Buchanan, he is the author of several volumes written in the style and with a similar theological/spiritual insight as Eugene Peterson. I enjoy Buchanan's writing very much and I highly recommend this book.

Because of my passion for all things worship, this book caught my eye as I perused the store's bookshelf. I was curious to see how he would treat the subject of Sabbath – a word biblically connected to worship. Would he try to convince Christians to worship on Friday/Saturday, the Sabbath of the Old Testament? I quickly and happily discovered he was going in a different direction. Buchanan would devote these pages to inspiring his readers to set apart a day and develop an attitude, a perspective, an orientation - "a Sabbath heart, not just a Sabbath day. A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval. It is attentive to the presence of God and others …. It is still and knows God even when mountains fall into the sea." (p.4)

"The Rest of God" calls us to heed Jesus' invitation: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Through fourteen chapters, Buchanan delivers insightful exposition and suggests soul-scouring application of the many Scripture passages addressing God's rest.
 
Major themes include: thinking anew, paying attention, seeing God's bigness, redeeming the time, letting go, stopping legalism, practicing God's presence, wasting time on purpose, becoming whole, hungering and thirsting, listening, and practicing heaven.

Each chapter ends in what the author calls a "Sabbath Liturgy," a practical exercise to apply the truths just explored.
 
In order to "still" ourselves to know God, one must "stop" what one is doing. And that doing for most of us during most of our day is working at a job. That job might be working for an employer across town, it might be for yourself from your home, or it might be as the primary caregiver for a newborn or the dying. In whatever situation, our outlook on work colors our idea of rest. "To embrace the rest of God we need a right view of work."
 
In chapter one, Buchanan explains that when our work is seen as a gift from God we can offer it to Him as an act of worship. "…simple tasks – preparing sermons, cooking soup, cutting grass, growing corn – when done [in a spirit of thanksgiving and faith] are holy. It is all the Lord's work [a calling from Him]. Virtually any job, no matter how grueling or tedious – any job that is not criminal or sinful – can be a gift from God, through God, and to God. The work of our hands, the alchemy of our devotion, becomes the worship of our hearts." (pg. 24-25)
 
When our work is performed in honor of Him, our rest from it is not a diversion or an escape but the opportunity "to rest in Him in the midst of our threats and our burdens" (pg.17). Rest then, is not medication to mask our pain, but time and effort devoted to recapturing the wholeness God intends for His creation through an intimate relationship with the Creator.

Sabbath Liturgy – Work: "The next time you're tempted to complain about your work, praise God for it instead. The next time you open your mouth to gossip about people you work with or smear those you work for, stop yourself and turn in the other direction: pray for them, thank God for them, find the good in them. The next time you want to quit, pour that into worship." (pg. 27) Wow, that's a sobering challenge; harder than it looks, but worth every ounce of effort.
 
My intention for this Searching For Sanctuary blog over the upcoming postings is to interact with you about each chapter of this insightful and captivating book. Together we'll begin a journey to find God's rest and rejuvenation of our souls.
 
I invite you to get hold of your own copy of "The Rest of God." It would be wonderful for a group of us scattered around the nation (maybe the world) to discuss these great themes of biblical spiritual transformation. You can purchase it through Amazon.com or search the shelves at your local Goodwill, Savers, or used or new bookstore. Check with your local public library to see if they have it in circulation. (I checked with the Phoenix (AZ) Public Library - they have two copies.)

Until next time….

Worship Is The Purpose of the Church

In established congregations, most of the struggles about worship revolve around musical style, use of technology in the sanctuary, and how the singers and preacher dress on Sunday, superficial issues that are only skin-deep. Few churches wrangle about meaty matters like the divine/human nature of Christ, the supremacy of God, the social impact of the gospel on society, or the sacredness of Communion and baptism. Too much of the banter revolves around cherished traditions and personal preferences – surface stuff. What escapes so many is the true purpose of the Church.

Consider this: the purpose of the Church is worship, everything else that the Church does are the tasks that result from her worship.

The idea for this blog is based on the fantastic paper authored by Dr. Chris Alford, pastor of Epiclesis – An Ancient Future Faith Community (www.epiclesis.org), in Sacramento, California. You can access a free pdf copy by clicking here.

Let's consider the significant difference between the meaning of the word purpose and the word task. In my thinking, purpose has to do with the reason for existence. It's a big picture, primary importance word. It answers the "why" of "Why does the Church exist?" God created all of creation to worship Him – that is to bow before Him in utter and complete submission to find their greatest delight in Him and Him alone. Chris Alford: "Worship is our created purpose, it is our present vocation, and it will continue for all time." [p.3]

A task is an important but less big word. It answers the "what" of "What is the Church supposed to be doing?" The Church has been given many tasks to accomplish: make disciples…baptize… love one another. But tasks follow purpose. "The idea of the church having less to do with purpose and more to do with tasks is akin to a bride ignoring her groom because she is too focused upon writing wedding invitations…."[Chris Alford, p.4]

We gravitate toward tasks because they are identifiable and tangible.

Here's Chris again, "The tendency to focus on task apart from purpose is understandable and natural. Our task is a challenge, but it may also strike us as manageable: With even a little vision we can see the patch of ground before us and pull up our sleeves and get to work. This is an enterprise we can understand, a project we can accomplish. We will clear the ground, tear out the brambles, remove the rocks, and till the soil. We will sow seeds and cultivate the growing plants and pray for a great harvest. We will sing about our work while we are working and we will work knowing that God is indeed pleased with this kind of work." [p. 18]

But, the task is not the purpose. God has called out a people from Genesis to Revelation to serve as witnesses to God's magnificence, power, holiness, mercy and grace. Worship is the reason for the Church's existence. Evangelism and discipleship flow from the encounter with the God of our salvation.

I believe from the bottom of my heart that if congregations focused on their God-given purpose, worship - and worship is seen as face-down surrender before the God of the Bible - then the controversies over non-issues will not be an issue.

Blog #012 - Does God choose us, or do we choose God?

Does God choose us, or do we choose God?

With the abundance of time afforded me this fall, I (Peter) have been doing more reading in theology than I have over the past thirty years. The majority of my reading has been of blogs featuring renowned pastor-theologians.

Much of what I've read has been clear explanations of biblical texts with insight into their connectedness to form an integrated system of biblical thought – also called "systematic theology." Some of my reading has been of authors who have forced biblical texts into their predetermined outlines to try to make sense of difficult passages and hard to connect verses.

My motivation for reading theology has been to find an answer to this posting's title. The formative theologians of the Protestant Reformation (Luther, et al) reclaimed the teachings of the Bible stating that salvation is received by faith alone, according to God's grace alone, through the death and resurrection of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

The second generation of Reformation theologians gave more precise definition to the movement. The two most prominent theologians were John Calvin and Jacob Arminius. Arminius was born seven years before Calvin's death in 1564. Two familiar theological systems are their namesakes, Calvinism and Arminianism, which hold many common ideas and are at polar opposites on others.

My seminary studies were of the Calvinistic stripe. Over the years I have benefitted greatly from the writings of well-known Calvinistic theologians - among them Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, J.I. Packer, and John Piper. Great stuff is available from today's Calvinist thinkers at www.thegospelcoalition.org.

In my recent reading I've been exploring the thought and writing of the evangelical Arminian theologian and church historian Roger E. Olson (formerly of Bethel University and Seminary and currently at Baylor University). Check out his refreshing blog at www.rogereolson.com. He writes a new posting almost daily. His Bible interpretation is conservative, his reasoning is clear, and his tone is irenic. Be sure to read the responses too. Dr. Olson has some highly articulate followers.

What I have concluded from my seminary education and current reading is that, in a nutshell, Calvinism promotes the idea that God chooses which sinners will become believers and Arminianism the idea that the sinner is capable of choosing God.

I'm no professional theologian, but it seems to me that the Bible's answer to "Does God choose us, or do we choose God?" is "Yes!" Both parts of that statement are true. Ephesians 1 is clear that believers are the elect, predestined, ordained by God before the beginning of time. The Bible also teaches that not-yet-believers are called upon to "repent" (Acts 2), meaning they are given a choice and the ability to decide which choice.

There are some questions that need to go unanswered. For nearly two hundred years a debate raged about the unanswered question of the nature of light: Is light a particle or is it an electromagnetic wave? The particle theory of Isaac Newton persisted for most of those two centuries, finally to be overturned in the late 19^th Century. Except for a select few, the theories of the nature of light are immaterial to everyday life; it's a mystery to us. The use of light, though, is accessible and useful, illuminating our Christmas trees and helping us find those tasty leftovers in the fridge.

The world needs theologians debating our knowledge of God in the same way it needs physicists debating the nature of light. We need the Calvinist and Arminian theologians to stimulate each other to clear thinking and biblical integrity regarding the apparent contradictions, opposing views, and mysteries of God.
As much as theological systems want to give definitive answers to hard theological questions, there are some questions that need to go unanswered.

If you are a worship planner, a worship leader, a worship committee member, be sure to leave room in your corporate gatherings for some unanswered, and unanswerable, questions about God and faith. Leave a little room for the mysteries contained in the infinite God of the Bible.