Now, in many ways, it is misleading to paint a picture of contemporary being something new. Worship has always been evolving and changing, across culture, across generations. I daresay when Isaac Watt’s hymns became popular it was probably seen as a radical shift from singing the psalms acapella.
So by contemporary I mean much more than just music, but rather the overall structure of the worship service: namely, the move away from structured liturgy. Now, all worship services have a liturgy. That is to say, that all churches follow an agreed upon principle for how the worship should be conducted. Whether or not this includes responsive readings at set times and corporate prayers is besides the point, every church has a liturgy that they follow.
So of course, I must narrow my definition. When I say liturgy, I mean what is commonly understood as the more “traditional” approach to worship: the use of call to worship, votums, reading of psalms, corporate prayers and of course, the Lord’s Prayer.
I understand the arguments in favor of contemporary worship. Throughout the history of the church the body of Christ has found ways to redeem the current music for the greater glory of God. Even the tune for “A Mighty Fortress” is reputedly taken from a tavern drinking song. The music is appropriated for worship because it resonates with the people more easily, thus allowing them to “connect” with God during the act of worship.
It is also popular to move in the direction of a contemporary worship service because it is seen as an evangelical method of bringing in the un-churched or those who have been burned by the church in the past. If the worship service doesn’t resemble church the way people either remember it or have assumed it to be, then they will feel more comfortable and more likely to come again.
Then of course there is the appeal of removing formal liturgies, like a call to worship or the Lord’s Prayer. Stuffy traditions are not popular in a culture that values progressive ideas and always wants the latest, greatest thing. When a nation’s cultural identity is found in a revolution (rebellion from the British perspective) it is only natural that we should, generation after generation, desire to throw off the oppressive shackles of tradition and make it our own.
The desire to create a comfortable environment free of supposed obstacles is admirable. There is much I appreciate about contemporary worship but there are a few components of contemporary worship that I fear are doing a great disservice to future generations of Christians.
“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ And he said to them, ‘When you pray say…’” (Luke 11.1-2A)
Thus begins the introduction to the Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s account of the life and death of Jesus the Messiah. Several things to draw out of this passage: the disciples saw Jesus praying and desired to develop the same type of intimacy they had seen Jesus, John and John’s disciples have with God. The disciples understood that intimacy with God is born out of a healthy prayer life and so they asked to be instructed how to pray.
The result? The Lord’s Prayer. Surely the greatest prayer ever bestowed upon the church. Amazingly, I know that there are contemporary services around the country that do not teach the Lord’s Prayer and do not, if ever, pray it during the worship service.
One of the most common arguments against saying the Lord’s Prayer (or other such liturgical elements) Sunday after Sunday is that it is repetitious to the point of not requiring thought. But therein lies the beauty of repetition! When we are encouraged to make a statement of faith or say the same prayer, Sunday after Sunday, there comes a time when we it seeps into the very fabric of who we are. That it may be stated or prayed without thought is the problem of the individual engaged in the act and not the problem of the church.
I find that I spend a lot of my day time hours in hospital rooms and nursing homes. In the process I have discovered the amazing power of repetition. I can be visiting with an elderly person who does not know what decade it is, where they are or even who I am but when I say, “Let’s pray the Lord’s Prayer together” the words come forth without thought. In a moment, we are praying together the rich words that our Lord imparted to his disciples. Words that generation after generation of saints before us have said in good times and in bad. It is a powerful moment for me, and I trust it is a powerful moment for others as well. To see confusion turned into clarity by the power of prayer is something beautiful. I have also watched an elderly person in a bad state break down into tears as I spoke the old, formal, words of institution over the bread and wine and utter the words, “I love God.”
These moments that are so meaningful for them, would have been meaningless, had it not been for years of repetition in church, Sunday after Sunday. What will pastors have to offer to parishioners 50 years from now when they are visiting them in a nursing home and their memories are fading? The lyrics to a song by Matt Redman or something infinitely richer, like the words of Scripture?
We are faced with a generation who want intimacy with God. They want to “connect” with their Lord through worship. They are looking for someone to teach them to have that same intimate relationship with God the Father that God the Son had. Let’s not deprive them of that but instead let’s teach them to pray, and reinforce that lesson by praying together the Lord’s Prayer on a regular basis.
No comments:
Post a Comment