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 ...
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 ...
2 comments:
Good thought provoking article. The postmodern people are experts in uncovering the common or unholy. They fully understand what the lack of holiness is. What they need to see is true holiness. The kind you are speaking of; a lifestyle of worship of giving ourselves unendingly and with great compassion and grace and mercy to help everyone (not just those we think deserve help).
I believe the next step and only way to develop this lifestyle of worship is through mentoring. What that might look like is the topic I am dealing with in developing the Spiritual Life Coach concept.
Keep asking great questions. You will find what you seek.
good stuff, something that we've talked a lot about as we prayed about and accepted our call to ministry here in our current role
oddly enough, our traditional Sunday morning worship service is struggling, dying actually -- the commitment to Sunday morning corporate worship is decreasing
we have done a lot of service with the desire to put an emphasis there in the overall ministry strategy--relationally living out the love of Christ. in the serving, we've extended invitations as we've had opporunity and favor to our worship service -- but no takers
we are currently trying to launch a new Sunday night service with the hope that this is where the life of corporate worship will begin to grow and thrive again in our small church
meanwhile, we continue the Sunday morning model...
...but i hope to see a point in time when corporate worship on Sunday morning is not a worship service, but service worship -- where the Body gathers for prayer and 'marching orders' for meeting the needs of families, neighbors, and others. perhaps in the activity of service in the mornings, the expression of worship will be more full in the evenings and find greater participation
i'm not proposing that this is a new idea. for example, in the recommended service planning guides from the WCG for last year's Advent theme i saw the suggestion to meet only for prayer and then to go out to share the good news and acts of kindness in your community. i wonder how many of the ChoG congregations abandoned the routine and implemented that idea. honestly, we didn't -- we were already in the midst of wars defining worship
but i think return to the "spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1) is in the fresh wind that is beginning to blow into our churches
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