Posted by
Virginia Daddy on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 4:24:11 PM
God wants us to worship him. I would expect most believers to accept this as truth. I would also expect most believers to have some sort of disagreement on how we are to worship him. Are we to worship him in reverence and awe? Are to shout exclamations of joy and happiness? Are we to be sober and rational? What of emotion-filled moments of wonder?
One word answers them all, emphatically: Yes! We are to worship him in everything we do, in every emotion, and in every time we study or pray, we are to praise and celebrate him. The manner is not important, but the action is. We must worship him, and this is one thing we should all remember and put aside differences in style.
However, unfortunately far too many Christians cannot do this, and set up division among churches and Christ's family. The style of worship is not a primary issue, I think. It is that we worship him and him alone and seek to get closer to him.
My current church is actually on the progressive side of this issue, as many traditional Christians wish to stick with tradtional forms of worship: old hymns, group readings of scripture, creeds, declarations, etc. The Doxology is a great example of this tradition. There is nothing wrong with this idea, if it brings you closer to God. But those who reject modern worship songs and cannot imagine a service without responsive readings miss the idea of worship.
Worship is celebrating God, not a ritual. Ritual can celebrate God, but it is not necessarry for celebration. Ritual can be tiresome and habitual, thereby diverting our attention from God to what it is we "always do". What we "always do" is a robotic response, and distracts us from God's presence. I do not wish to say that ritual cannot bring us closer to God, for it most certainly can, but it is neither necessary nor always beneficial.
Why do I bring this up? My church, McLean Bible Church, just brought in a new pastor, a former associate dean at Moody, who preached this past Sunday. His sermon was very good, on a topic dear to my heart: "Has Love Lost Its Meaning?" But his style was very, very different from what I have seen at MBC-- much more "traditional". It was refreshing to actually have a responsive reading outside of Christmas or Easter.
That said, it got me thinking about how so many people will refuse to go to a church because they don't like the style. We've all seen it before, somehow. I really think this is a shame, as what we should be looking at is the heart of the church to God. While I do think there is room to decide on a church based on style, it is outside our roles as followers of Christ to refuse another part of the same body because they do not like the style it follows. When we do this, we create division, and when we do this, those outside of Christ see the ridiculous attitudes that follow. They see the pride and the pettiness, and it turns them off because it is no different from what they see in the world.
Are we to look past differences in worship style? Yes, but we are not to look past differences in key doctrines. I add this only to be sure that it is understood that I speak of Christ centered churches and those who adhere to what the Bible truly espouses. No matter the worship style, if a church leaves this area and delves into heresy, it should be avoided at all costs. But if one church only chooses not to dance, and another is all about rock and roll driven worship songs, and what is taught is exactly the same, there is no excuse for excluding one over the other.
I am thankful most Christians see this, unfortunately, there are others who still don't.