The Yoke and Corporate Worship

If there were to be a single paper to really sum up my seminary career, a thesis if you will, it would have probably been an expanded edition of my paper entitled "A Philosophy of Liturgy and Spiritual Formation." This paper sought to answer the question, "What, if any, is the role of liturgy in the spiritual formation of a believer?" In the midst of the paper, I stumbled onto what my professor called an "ethic for corporate worship." In other words, what are the behaviors and characteristics that should shape the maturing Christian worshiper?

Yet does the Great Invitation in Matthew 11, wherein Christ invites us into the yoke of apprenticeship, affect how we think about the role of corporate worship in spiritual formation? For some reason, I think that it might. I will think about it.

"Worshipful"

That song is so "worshipful." What does that even mean? Can an act of worship be "worshipful" or is "worshipful" an emotional state? I really have no idea.

If we want to be careful in our teaching about worship to say that all of our life can be viewed as worship to God, then can any one bit be more "worshipful" than another? It seems that the degrees of "worshipfulness" would be a matter of the heart of the one doing the worshipping - an attitude. The "worshipfulness" of a song should probably not depend on its tempo, melody, or its ability to whip people into an emotional frenzy.

Perhaps we should judge songs on theological content and the connection between the message of the song and its orchestration. Perhaps when planning for corporate worship we should choose songs that help people better understand who God is and the benefits of knowing Christ rather than trying to get them into a certain emotional state. I do not deny that we are emotional beings and that God has given us emotions to help us express ourselves. However, it seems that we should want for the emotional expressions in corporate worship to be a person's response to the truth about God. I am not sure that we should use emotion to teach truth. Rather, I believe that truth perhaps should be primary.

The Space In Between

I have discovered that some Christians do not know what to do with even the shortest bits of silence in a corporate worship service. Some Christians wonder what will happen when someone coughs or a child cries or someone unwraps a candy in the midst of a "time of silence." Others feel uncomfortable when there are seconds of silence between songs while the musicians turn the pages of their music or get ready to count off for a new song. What about those who feel uncomfortable with a lack of silence in corporate worship?

In a recent article in EFCA Today called "Wind in Our Sails: The Holy Spirit in Corproate Worship" pastor Kevin Navarro wrote, "...some people teach that you must sing a set of worship choruses with no dead space or awkward transitions, so that people can 'get into the presence of God' more easily than with a start/stop approach. This is simply too formulaic." Amen! I believe that God can speak to us in an extended music set without any pauses, but I also believe that God also speaks to His people in quiet places and in quiet ways. Just read the account of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:9-18.

We should not be afraid of silence in our corporate worship gatherings. Whether the silence is merely pragmatic or programmed to facilitate a profound encounter with the Almighty, we should embrace silence and practice it together. Perhaps such times of silence would enable us together to hear that "still small voice" of God.

The Evolution of Christian Worship

I have been reading James F. White's A Brief History of Christian Worship in an attempt to understand better the development of Christian liturgy. White's chapter on the Early Christian Centuries ends with this statement: "Many of the reforms in worship in the last twenty-five years draw deeply from the wells of this period" (73). Could this statement be true?

Many of the liturgical forms and prayers used in Christian worship, especially thse pertaining to the Lord's Supper, were birthed and normalized during these first five hundred years of Christianity. Of course there were some cultural variations, but it seems that there was some degree of standardization with regard to the Eucharist.

Also, during this time period, preaching transformed from a mere reading of certain texts or musings on a certain text to an art form. The Christian preacher learned rhetoric, and biblical exegesis helped inform the preacher on the meaning of the text. According to White, during this time, "The pulpit developed into an important liturgical center and has remained that ever since" (69).

The role of visual art in Christian worship also developed during this time. The movement of the Christian worship gathering from homes to larger spaces and the cultural influence of the imperial court prompted such development. "The churches were learning a new visual vocabulary, one image at a time. By the end of the patristic period many images had become familiar for visual expression in worship" (73).

The current trends in Christian worship seem to point to a balance between ancient and current forms. Evangelical churches are often known for the centrality of the sermon in their corporate worship services. Many evangelical churches that have often had freer styles of worship have adopted more structured liturgies. Many churches are also exploring the role of the arts in Christian worship. Perhaps White is correct in saying that we are reaching back over 1500 years to recover early Christian forms of worship.

John Mayer and Christian Worship

Not long ago, I would have thrown a fit if someone wanted to perform a John Mayer song during a corporate worship service. I must admit that I probably would not think to every include a John Mayer song in corporate worship, but it happened this Sunday at the church where I serve. In order to help set the tone for our new series, God and Government: A Conversation on Faith and Politics, we used John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change" to highlight the apathy and hopelessness that many people feel when they have an prompting to change the status quo. Some people clapped when the song was finished, and some clapped at the end of the guitar solo during the instrumental section of the song.

Was it a concert or was it Christian worship? What is the place of art that neither comes from a Christian worldview nor speaks of Christian things? I think that the answer lies in our understanding of common grace.

The Arts in Worship

Some of my biggest questions lately have involved how we employ the arts in Christian worship. How do the arts contribute to spiritual formation? Should we only use the high arts in corporate worship? Does common grace theology imply that art composed outside of a Christian worldview or without any overt Christian theme can be used meaningfully as Christians gather to worship their Creator?

In the midst of my quest for answers, I continue to encourage the use of various art forms in corporate worship. Recently, I was involved in creating a film to present a Scripture for a Sunday service. My thought behind the short film was that pictures of the thematic content (the city) could help to reinforce the message and apply it to our present context. You can view the video called Seek the Welfare of the City.