Holiday thoughts

I trust that everyone had a good Christmas, and that the spirit of the Holidays is still alive in you. I haven't blogged much lately, as there were other priorities to tend to during this season.

 

This year in particular, because Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, there was a vigorous debate about the role that Christmas plays within our society. Many Christians are feeling threatened by the prevailing influences that are turning our celebration into a purely secular one. Some churches, almost resigning to this reality, even cancelled their Sunday morning services. (Side note: Much to even my surprise, our attendance on Christmas morning exceeded our average and my own pessimistic expectations).

 

Talking about holidays, I came across an interesting article from the Washington Post and reproduced at a blog called BadGals-Radio.com. The article concerns the meaning of Kwanzaa within the African American community, and deals with the conflict that it poses to Christians who see it conflicting with Christmas. My interest in this article is because of their quote from one of the most well-known Church of God figures outside of our movement, Cheryl Sanders. While I encourage you to read the entire article, here is the excerpt pertaining to Sander's comments:

Ministers and churchgoers described Kwanzaa as having moved beyond the politics of its roots, which date to a time when some American blacks saw Christmas and Christianity as having a decidedly white, European pedigree. Today, Kwanzaa, with its rituals and explicit focus on values, seems nothing if not spiritual.

“To me, the only thing that makes spirituality comprehensible is the ethical values it affirms,” said the Rev. Cheryl Sanders, senior pastor at Third Street Church of God in the District and a professor of African American spirituality at Howard University’s Divinity School. She leads her church in marking Kwanzaa by lighting candles, inviting the choir and congregants to dress in Afrocentric garb and discussing from the altar the holiday’s principles: unity, self-determination, shared responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Those principles resonate today, Sanders says, after the baby boom era of abandoning traditional ideals. “Kwanzaa is an example of a way to recover the intergenerational dialogue around values,” she said.

These examples further illustrate that we all face many challenges as we strive to proclaim and practice a meaningful faith in an increasingly irreligious culture.

Worship as holiness

To follow-up on some of my recent postings concerning worship I want to reconsider our theology and practice of worship, especially as it relates to us in the Church of God. 
 
First, let me say that I affirm the importance of worship. Without question, our worship of God is paramount. My issue, however, is not whether worship is important; but whether our current understanding and practice of worship is an accurate reflection of biblical theology. 
 
I sincerely believe, speaking from a Church of God / holiness perspective, that we have lost the intent of worship and have settled for the popularized notions that have overtaken the majority of Christianity.
 
Despite idyllic statements and convictions to the contrary, when most people in our churches are talking about worship they are referring to the ritual of worship that has become part of most of Christianity, or about the experience of worship that is more reflective of the pentecostal/charismatic movements. Sure, almost everyone would agree that there is more to worship than these descriptions, but in practice these are what it usually boils down to.
 
Historically, the Church of God has not understood worship in either of these ways. From our holiness background worship was primarily understood as living the holy life. It is a matter of practice and of lifestyle, reflecting the inner presence and work of the Holy Spirit. This was understood to be the biblical teaching as reflected in key scriptures such as Romans 12:1 or John 4:21-23. This theological perspective explains why early Church of God gatherings (i.e. church services, campmeetings, etc.) emphasized God's presence and working in the lives of the saints, and were not "God-centered" in the sense promoted in current worship theology (although the pioneers would have argued that they were in fact "God-centered" because they expressed God's work in and through their lives). A study of early Church of God songs certainly reflects this perspective.
 
Over time, our movement became less isolated and interacted more with other Christians. Merle Strege, in I Saw the Church, describes how the evolution of our hymnal is a good example of how we began to enter the mainstream of Christianity. Besides our core songs of testimony we took on a wider range of hymnological genre, including traditional hymns of worship and adoration to God. The current contemporary praise and worship movement has propelled us even further along this path. We like what we see in other churches (perhaps sometimes out of covetousness), and are eager to implement this worship emphasis in our churches.
 
Am I suggesting that other forms or perspectives of worship are wrong or invalid? No. In fact, one could argue that our past isolation and resistance to learn from other groups has been a great weakness. We should and can learn from other groups who follow Christ. And, I personally love some of the new worship music, and find it to be an excellent vehicle for expressing my love and adoration to God.
 
But, I come back to our holiness perspective on worship. I believe that we have substituted worship tradition and experience for worship that should be expressed through our lives, 24/7.
 
Ask most people within Church of God congregations what comes to mind when they think of "worship" and the response is the "Worship Service" on Sunday mornings. Yes, this can be and usually is a form of our worship to God, and is especially significant as a corporate expression. But, unfortunately, this has become a narrow, popular view not reflecting the full biblical teaching .
 
The fact that the Church of God is not immune from the "worship wars" prevalent in contemporary Christendom, is an indication that we have lost our emphasis and settled for more limited worship perspectives. Again, we know better, but our practice rarely reflects it.
 
In practical terms, what does all this mean? It speaks to the need for sound theological teaching concerning worship. I am disappointed to see that even recent attempts within the Church of God have simply been regurgitations of current evangelical theology that do not fully embrace our holiness perspective. Yes, let's encourage meaningful expressions of corporate worship and private devotion, but more importantly let's promote the full meaning of worship which is demonstrated through all aspects of our lives, including our mission in the world. What the world needs to see is not better worship in church services, but better worship expressed in the lives of Christ's followers.
 
Questions for us to ask, might include: What language do we use to describe worship? What hidden messages do we send when we call our church service a "worship service"? Should we be designating "worship leaders" or "Ministers of Worship" based simply on their role in the Sunday service? How should we describe worship as holiness for people in our churches? How might our church gatherings and activities be different if we taught and believed a more comprehensive worship? How do we teach holiness to our postmodern generations?
 
We move towards a correct approach to worship in our churches once we are free to use holiness terminology to describe worship and we are freed from the skewed belief that the Sunday morning service is the center of our worship.
 
Our world needs to see followers of Christ who understand and practice a holistic worship of God. As a holiness movement, the Church of God has the opportunity to be a voice for this biblical perspective.
 
Or do we have trouble today even articulating what holiness is? That's another topic for another day ...

Worship in the Church of God - history

Within the last week I have written a couple of posts ("Advent, worship, creeds and the Church of God", and "Rick Warren's Creed") that were prompted by my observations concerning Advent and a lectionary-driven church calendar. In many church traditions worship has played a teaching role, retelling the gospel story through worship liturgy, supplemented by preaching. Certainly worship is not the only way this is being done. Creeds have been used for the same purpose, as has Sunday School curriculum. Even Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life has filled that role in an Evangelical church climate that seems to be lacking in its ability to provide a comprehensive framework for its constituents.

 

I want to go back to the whole issue of worship. In a future post I want to present a fresh perspective of worship that is more in keeping with Scripture and our theological perspective. But, first let's examine worship in the Church of God from a historical perspective.

 

Anderson School of Theology Professor Emeritus and Archivist, Douglas E. Welch, in an article in the Church of God Historian (Vol. 4 No. 3) notes that there is virtually no discussion on the philosophy and theology of worship among our pioneers. They "did not talk about worship, they simple did it" (emphasis mine). References to worship in early writings suggested that it was

generally impromtu, unstructured, and charismatic. This involved the spontaneous singing of hymns and spiritual songs, the giving of exhortations and testimonies from the participants, and extemporaneous sermons - often more than one and usually lengthy. ("Jottings", page 6)

In the subsequent years our movement has struggled to find its way concerning worship. While generally rejecting formalism, we gradually adopted worship practices of other Christian groups around us. Since we rarely approached worship with intentionality, the result has been a wide diversity of worship theology, philosophy, and practices across our churches.

 

It is interesting to note (cf. Communion, Nov-Dec 2005, Vol. 6 No. 3) that a "Society for Church of God Worship" is being formed to discuss and strengthen worship across our movement. Obviously, years of wandering around the worship wilderness is leaving many looking for more. And, the worship "wars" of recent years have left many feeling battered. While I applaud the opportunities for dialogue on this topic, I am increasingly becoming concerned that we may be missing the true point of worship. More on that in a few days.

Involved in Toledo

Back in October I posted a few messages that considered the extent to which we should get involved in social issues in our communities (Churches on Mission, To what extent should we get involved?, Another example, and Born-again restaurant). One of the examples cited concerned Church of God pastor Mansour Bey organizing a protest against a neo-Nazi demonstration in Toledo, Ohio.

 

You may be interested to know that neo-Nazis are planning to be back in Toledo this Saturday. Pastor Bey is once again involved, this time to help organize a prayer vigil. LINK to blog story.

 

Please pray for them as they work to bring peace and understanding in their community.

Rick Warren's Creed

Friday evening my wife and I had the pleasure to attend the Central California Association's Pastors' and Spouses' Christmas Dinner. Put a group of pastors together in the same room (even during a social gathering) and before long the conversation turns to "shop talk".

 

Among other things, we had an interesting discussion that fit in well to my last blog post ("Advent, worship, creeds, and the Church of God"). We spent time trying to analyze why Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life (and the accompanying "40 Days of Purpose", etc.)  have become so popular in many of our churches.

 

Our preliminary conclusion was that the Purpose Driven Life provides a simple framework for people to understand and live their faith. Warren's five purposes are not new, novel or even a complete doctrinal statement, but they provide a coherent way for people to make sense of being a follower of Jesus.

 

I have to admit that I'm not a big "Purpose Driven Life" fan or Rick Warren follower. But, I acknowledge that much of his apparent success at Saddleback and now around the world is in his exceptional gift to state the message of Jesus in a straightforward, simple, and comprehensive manner. The book and programs are certainly meeting a need among today's Christians who have had trouble bringing their fragmented faith together. In many ways, Warren's purposes have become a new creed for many people.

 

I'm not convinced, however, that the popularity of PDL will be sustainable. Once we have been "purposed" ad nauseum we will be looking for something more. Ultimately, it should lead us back to the quest for an on-going and organic church life and worship that leads to a fuller faith and discipleship.

 

More on this in coming days.

 

Advent, worship, creeds and the Church of God

There hasn't been much time for blogging in recent weeks, but in coming days I want to share some reflections that I have been having concerning "worship" in the Church of God.

 

This past Sunday marked the beginning of Advent. My suspicion is that few Church of God congregations noted this start to the church calendar, apart from the lighting of an advent candle or using some materials to begin promotion of the Christ's Birthday Observance offering.

 

Not that this should be surprising. The heritage and theology of the Church of God does not reflect a "high church" orientation to worship, with its lectionary and more elaborate rituals. If anything, we have resisted these forms of church, perceiving them as far removed from the simplicity of New Testament church life and more a product of Babylon.

 

I'm not convinced that adopting more formal worship and the lectionary are necessarily the best things for us to do, but I am concerned that in our rejection of these practices we have left a vacuum in helping our people understand and experience the story of Jesus and the Gospel. Let me explain.

 

As a pastor I am increasingly concerned that our churches are generally doing a poor job of providing our people with a comprehensive framework of faith. Sure we claim to be delivering sound biblical preaching, and we provide our members with Sunday School classes, bible studies and various resources. But, what is missing is an over-arching strategy that draws these components together into a coherent whole. Our congregations are exposed to the fine details of the Bible and doctrine, but typically these elements are fragmented and rarely brought together so that people see the "big picture" of Scripture.

 

Historically, the Christian church developed a number of effective tools to keep this larger view of the Gospel story before people. The church calendar and the lectionary is an excellent example. Every year, the congregation journeyed through the story and teachings of Jesus following a set pattern of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Passion, Easter, and Pentecost. Christians very quickly fell into this rhythm, and were very much aware of the message of Scripture even before wide-spread literacy or Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Everything that took place in the church building centered on this dramatic retelling of the story, including various worship rituals and even the stained-glass windows.

 

The Protestant Reformation was quick to point out the emptiness of some of these traditions. Sure, many Roman Catholics were simply going through the motions and were being misled by a church that had increasingly separated itself from the authority of Scripture. While some reformers continued to embrace many of these traditions, the recitation of creeds increasingly were seen as the best way to ensure that the congregants were getting the big picture. There was a movement away from engaging people with the story of Scripture, and towards a more rational understanding of its teachings.

 

The Church of God has resisted the formality of both rituals and creeds. But, in doing so, I believe that we have failed to find effective ways to bring a more wholistic understanding of our faith to our people.

 

Again, I don't believe that we should just blindly adopt these former practices of the Christian church, as is becoming the trend in some segments of today's church. But, we must begin by addressing the issue, and then honestly searching for appropriate ways to tell the story of Jesus in an on-going manner, with cultural relevance, and bringing a simple and coherent whole to the understanding and application of the Gospel.

 

I'd love to hear your comments on this, and to hear how you may be dealing with this in your congregation.