Monday
Aug252003
Moving beyond the worship service
Monday, August 25, 2003 at 1:57PM
This article has been on my mind for a few weeks now.
For centuries, the worship service has been the primary gathering of the Christian church ñ from Catholic mass, to Reformation protestant worship services, to the traditional 1950s-style worship service, to the seeker-sensitive productions of the last two decades, to the more trendy gatherings we see today in emergent churches. I find it remarkable that the worship service has survived the two largest worldview shifts to impact the Western churchóthe protestant Reformation, and the present transition to postmodernism and the emergent church. Our epistemologies have changed, our ecclesiology has changed, our spirituality has changed, our approach to scripture and spiritual authority has changed, but the worship service remains fundamentally the same. We have revamped almost every aspect of how we do church, but not the central gathering, which has remained essentially unchallenged since Constantine...
Reader Comments (5)
Since I have recommitted my life to Christ 2 years ago, I have visited a number of different type churches. What I have discovered is that the churches that boldly teach from God's Word and make that their number one focus are the ones that are making a real difference. Seems to me there are many churches that are trying too much to be entertaining. God's Word will never pass away. The Church should always point to the Word and encourage people to make it their number one priority. Its the way to know God. Get into His Word and allow Him to speak to our hearts. That's where real transformation takes place. By God's grace I speak from experience. You know what else I've noticed? A lot of churches don't want to discuss the root cause of all life's problems -SIN
George, I agree with you, but I'm wondering how this relates to the article?
Yea, maybe it doesn't relate much, it just made me think about how so many people are trying so hard to re-invent how we do church. I don't understand that. Its always been the Word that has transformed lives why not just stick with that.
"It's always been the Word that has transformed lives why not just stick with that." In order to stick to listening to God's voice, we've got to strip away all that might get in the way - our worldviews, assumptions, parts of our culture that are unhelpful. None of us hear the Word in a vacuum. As well, the Bible has always dealt with context rather than abstract truth. I don't think it's a bad thing to question our own assumptions and ways of doing things if it will help us hear from God better.
I have been challenged recently by the thought that worship, or "central gathering" as the article calls it, could be so much more than most churches currently allow it to be. By the time you strip away all the extraneous stuff we fill the hour with, how much is left for real worship. We rarely really seem to connect with God through music or His Word, at least from my angle. For a while this summer we ran Saturday Night Life - a stripped down version of our Sunday Morning service. No offering, hymns or choir. Just 20 min of worship, 10 minutes of drama, and 30 minutes of application-driven Bible teaching. God showed up in a remarkable way. Unfortunately, our leadership didn't think it important enough to even show up. They missed out! Makes me wish we could rent a theatre and try it on a Sunday morning for a few months. Brian