More on Worship
I’ve been preaching recently in a number of congregations encouraging them to consider starting new congregations of various kinds. The text I’ve used is Exodus 3, Moses at the burning bush. One of the noteworthy aspects of this verse is the “sign” given to Moses that it is God who has called him and sent him (the missional identity of the text). That sign is that Moses and the children of Israel will worship God on the mountain where the bush is not consumed. The sign of Moses sending is worship. I know this isn’t prescriptive or “the” sign of every endeavor, but it is a curious sign. No lightening bolts, no miraculous moments….unless you consider a worshiping community a miracle. In this day and age I think it is.
In the conversation about contemporary or emergent worship etc, we need to move far beyond techniques as has been noted. Worship is shaped not by what we can buy (people and equipment) but by the gifts God has bestowed on us (people and ?). The word I choose to use when talking about worship is “AFFECTIVE”. Often the conversation about worship is “effective”. “What works?” is our major concern. “How do we get the most bang for our buck?” is a constant measurement. This efficiency conversation is completely a modern construct. It is far from what is emerging in the communities where God is at work.
AFFECTIVE worship seeks to move people without manipulating them. In this sense it can be three traditional hymns, jazz, gospel, liturgy of the highest order, a combination of anything, or silence with the Word read. What moves people in our communities to honor God with their lips and hearts and hands? Worship is AFFECTIVE not effective in my way of thinking. What will produce worshipers?
I could go on, but then I’d have my first chapter written for my book. Any takers?
Comment by EvangelismCoach on 4 August 2008:
I think that AFFECTIVE is a great way of stating “experiencing the sacred presence of God.”
Is worship to move people, or is it to create an atmosphere where people are open to being aware of God’s presence and the movement of God’s spirit?
My way of reading your comment is to think of still creating a worship exprience that produces a spiritual moment. It still puts the burden on the worship leaders / liturgist.
Or perhaps, I’m speaking of the other side of your coin — where both come into play. We help set the stage for people to be aware of God’s presence among them.
Just thinking, maybe not entirely clear however.
Chris W
EvangelismCoach.org
Comment by Tyler on 5 August 2008:
Thought provoking…thanks Craig.
Comment by Carol Howard Merritt on 6 August 2008:
Good post. I agree whole-heartedly that worship should not be centered around what we can buy. Although, I did wince a bit when you said that we can buy people. What do mean? Are you saying that we cannot solely rely on a central leader who will create worship? I know that churches do try to do this…
Are you writing a book?
Comment by Tom Robinson on 7 August 2008:
Good post – sounds like we are working on the same thing. I am doing a D.Min project on incorporating emerging church elements into a traditonal, mainline church, with the hope of seeing that church transformed by the experience. In the book “Emerging Churches,” Ryan Bolger and Eddie Gibbs point out nine patterns of emerging churches, and to do all nine would a bit unwieldy. So I picked out two – participating as producers (i.e., participatory worship, putting together a worship design team) and merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities (using words of the saints in worship to help open up the experience).
But I really liked your take on opening up worship with more reflective moments which in turn open us up to God’s Spirit. It could be that this is the way to produce and touch the ancient story of the church – by creating moments for people to ‘be still and know that I am God.’ Like the other folks, I would like to hear more about how you do this -
Comment by David Williams on 8 August 2008:
Worship does need to engage those who have gathered, and give them a strong sense of their participation in the Kingdom. That’s inherently a subjective experience, even if it is collectively constructed.
But if worship moves people and gives them a sense of God’s presence…then isn’t it…effective? If a gathered community collectively determines that a particular form in worship is consistently more spiritually engaging and intentionally chooses to pursue that form, is that…manipulative?
Comment by Mike Little on 23 August 2008:
Good post. I think the act of worshiping as a community should be “affective” and the planning or facilitation of that service should strive to be “effective” in facilitating that among it’s congregants.
An important part of being “affective” is to exegete culture as diligently as we exegete scripture. We can’t make assumptions about what worship style or elements will help them to experience God together as a community.
Thanks for the great post. I did a little post on worship service or service as worship over at http://www.redemptivetobacco.net.
Peace.
BTW…I’m Presbymergybaptiwhoknowswhat.
Just love Christ and want others to love him too.