A New Place, A New Approach
Some theologians have called it, “worship wars,” others, the second stage of the “reformation.” Together, they’re referring to the phenomenon that in many ways is ripping apart the American church right at its seems. What is at issue? Deciding what is the best way to worship? In his article entitled “What Makes ‘Worship’ Worship?” in the Magazine Sovereign Grace, Bob Kauflin says, in America, it is estimated that there is at least one church split per week over issues of worship and worship style. All of this seems to indicate that People are VERY PASSIONATE about the way they want to worship. There is a lot at stake! And everybody has their own strongly-held opinion/conviction about what is right.
Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well one day who engaged Jesus in the “worship wars” debate. As a Samaritan, the core issue for her was, how we become connected and acceptable to God. She felt polarized and ostracized by the spiritual gridlock she grew up with. She reminded Jesus of what was painfully obvious to everyone...over two centuries of “worship wars” between the Samaritans and the Jews. “our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:20). Both groups read and affirmed Deuteronomy 12:5, “you are to seek the place the lord your god will choose from among all the tribes to put his name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go,”
The Samaritans believed, that place, referred to Mt. Gerizim near Sychar, where the children of Israel were called to gather to bless the people. Jews, on the other hand, belied “that place” referred to Jerusalem. They followed the words of Solomon who said God had spoken saying, “but now I have chosen Jerusalem for my name to be there” (2 Chron. 6:6). The Samaritans did not recognize any scriptures outside of the Pentateuch (first five books of the law) rejecting all the prophets, history books and the Psalms. The Jewish Midrash (commentary) on Psalm 91 (dwelling in the shelter of the Almighty) says, “He who prays in Jerusalem is as one who prays before the throne of glory; for there is the gate of heaven and the open door to the hearing of prayer.” I.e. – if you want any hope of connection, better get on over to Jerusalem.
Here’s the bottom line: each group had it PLACE, each group had its CUSTOM, each group had its STYLE, and each group had its CONVICTION. That was their story and they’re sticking to it! “I have always been a Presbyterian and this is the way we do it!” Whenever we approach worship categorically instead of relationally, this is what happens. Sacred space, form and style over shadow content, substance and spirit.
True worship of God transcends the human constraints of time, location, form and style. “a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in jerusalem” (John 4:21).
We also live under the shadow of an institutionally oriented perspective on worship. If I were to grab a latte on the way to church and he or she asked me, what are you going to do today, and I said, I’m going to “worship,” they would undoubtedly think, I wonder where they are going to church? As though worship were a location. True worship is not a place, but an intimate, mysterious, humbling and hope-filling encounter with the living God.
Problem is, sometimes worship can become what it is not supposed to be. The Samaritans struggled in this area as well as the Jews. The Samaritans engaged in “syncretism,” which meant they added and blended into their worship of Yahweh, 7 other local gods and a variety of pagan practices and rituals. Suddenly God had to share the stage with a bunch of “would-be” phantom gods that never showed up when their names were called. But God will not tolerate sharing his glory with another. “do not worship any other god, for the lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous god” (Exodus 34:14).
Jesus pointed out these errors to the Samaritan woman, not as a condemnation, but as a proclamation of what God had revealed to be the truth. “you Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the jews” (John 4:22). Any worship that does not ultimately track with God’s plan in history will lead us into darkness, confusion and ignorance. That’s why Jesus sought to shift the focus in worship away from “form and function” (this mountain or that) and place it squarely back onto the Father in his perfect character and will.
“the time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23,24). I believe that “spirit and truth” is a reference to the character and will of God. When my life comes into alignment with God’s heart, I begin to take on his character. When my life is ordered by his revealed truth, and I obey or live out his intended pattern, I take on his will (truth). What I believe Jesus is saying is that true worship cannot be realized through any particular location, custom, format or style. It can only be experienced through accessing God’s character and will.
Locations change. Central church isn’t worshipping where we used to. The old Army chapel is gone, and in the decades to come, there will undoubtedly again be somewhere new. Space, buildings and land are not sacred…only the people who fill them!
Customs change. The way we dress has become more casual, and the structures we are adopting for doing ministry business of the church are not the customary fare of the past.
Format changes. Over time, even the arrangement and approach we use in worship can change. Elements can be rearranged, shifted or adapted to new expressions of timeless truths. Worship doesn’t have to be a “cookie-cutter” experience of last weeks program (three hymns, two prayers, one anthem, and one “seventh-inning-stretch” offering before the message.
Style Changes. Style refers to the manner and modes of expression that come in a variety of types and approaches. The modes of expression we use in worship are music styles, language, drama and the arts, sound and light, media and metaphor. Even architectural & Décor style changes.
I believe that while all of these outward garments that worship gets dressed in have their place in speaking to a diverse world of people who have a variety of interests and tastes, none of them represent what the Father is ultimately after. And if that is true…there is no justifiable reason for worship wars! Because it’s not about “tradition vs. contemporary.” It’s not about old vs. new or large vs. small, or loud vs. quiet, long vs. short. It’s about spirit and truth. It’s about chasing after and acquiring the character of God and doing his will in living by his truth.
At Central, instead of throwing an older garment away, we’ve chosen to add to our wardrobe some new expressions. We are a “both-and” church that wants to embrace the dynamic combination of becoming an ANCIENT-FUTURE church, that simultaneously, as Leonard Sweet like to say, using the metaphor of a child who is swinging, “leans back to the past while kicking forward to the future.”
I want to challenge us to get outside our box and experience approaching God in a style or mode of worship that maybe you haven’t done before. I want to challenge us to resist vesting value in only one form, structure or style of worship and music, because they are only mediums through which our heart expressions of love can pass.
I want us to live in such a way that worship is not a one hour service at church, but a 24-7 lifestyle as we take an incredible plunge into the heart of God, seeking his character and will for our lives.