The Drama of Easter Worship!

Easter is the high point of the Great Drama of Scripture.  Let’s consider the worldview implications of this yearly celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

We can keep the importance of Christ’s resurrection in perspective when we are careful to remember that the fullness of the Gospel can be told in the three categories that explain the Christian Worldview:  Creation, Fall and Redemption.

The Great Drama begins at Creation as God unfolds His creative work and places man in the highest place – as stewards, keepers, caretakers – as representatives of God Himself in the dominion of the earth.  We stand in His place as rulers of all that He made, responsible to Him for its development and use.  God’s goodness exudes from His creative work, and He underscores that by declaring, “It is good.  It is very good.”

Yet, as the ultimate drama, conflict and sin enter the story when Adam rebels against God in disbelief and pride.  The Fall of Adam tears into the deepest depths and throws God’s good Creation into disarray.  Man’s relationship with God is severed, his relationship with himself and others is broken, and his stewardship in Creation is marked by difficulty and toil.  God stands now in judgment against the humanity He created.  The damage must be undone, His Creation must be restored.

And so, as the Great Drama unfolds, we understand God’s ongoing efforts at restoration.  Even as He holds man responsible for his sin God works to redeem him.  Ultimately this redemption arrives in the person of Jesus Christ – God become Man.  In Christ the power of divinity is matched with the responsibility of humanity to repair the damage of sin.  It is only His uniqueness as the God-Man that redemption can come.

And Redemption has come!  It is in Easter that we celebrate the demonstration of God’s love for us and for His Creation.  Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on the cross, His conquering of sin, death and the devil, and His resurrection are the beginnings of the restoration God has in store for us as His children, and through us into the lives of others and His entire Creation.

Let us truly celebrate the fullness of the Gospel during this season of the year!

Does Worship Production Really Produce Worship?

The need to be relevant may be at the heart of more difficulties than the modern church realizes.  In our day of highly produced Worship Programs, one wonders whether these events really produce worship, or whether it is relevant in spite of the pursuit of revalence.

Being relevant is important.  We want to speak to people in terms of their real lives, their real struggles and the real world in which we live.  If you visit the main site of the Worldview Church at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview (www.colsoncenter.org), you can do a search with the word “relevant” and find many articles dealing with the topic.

The pursuit of relevance, however, by many post-modern churches is a cause for concern.  Although many herald their ministries as following the example of Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 17), close examination of their message and methods falls short of Paul’s actual ministry there.

Paul used idioms and references of the culture of Athens as a basis for the presentation of Truth:  that there is a God that exists and is Creator and Lord of all things; that this God takes no form, yet mankind seeks for Him; that this God will hold mankind accountable and desires their repentance; and, finally, that Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, is proof of God’s intervention in this world and will judge its inhabitants.

Many modern claimants to this method pursue relevance and cultural connection, but fall short of Paul’s unapologetic declaration of Truth.  These churches, and those that lead them, seem to skirt the real issues of Truth and link their success at being “relevant” to positive press reports and large attendance.  There is an excellent article at Touchstone Magazine by Russell Moore which articulates some of these thoughts in depth titled, “Retaking Mars Hill:  Paul didn’t build bridges to popular culture.”  I would encourage you to read it.

I place this pursuit of relevance in the arena of “entertainment” for this reason:  It seems to me at the heart of the desire for relevance is simply that many simply want to be popular.

There is something not-quite-right with the image which portrays the average “contemporary” church worship experience.  Without much imagination I can see the image in my mind because I’ve seen it so many times in magazines, in advertisements, and in videos of such churches.  There are no windows.  The lighting focuses all attention on the stage, and the sound system is state of the art.  It’s a large auditorium seating several thousand.  The seats are set up in some kind of semi-circle.  The stage is crowded with variously dressed people – some shabbily, others somewhat nice.  Some people are raising their hands, others have their eyes closed.  Some guy with a guitar stands in the center in some worship-relevant pose.  The audience, as well, is in various postures of “worship.”

When I see these pictures, I wonder. I wonder what would happen if we placed a popular non-Christian artist on the same stage? I wonder if performers on the concert stage often use the same mannerisms as those in a contemporary church (or is it vice versa)?  I wonder if the lighting or sound production would be any different in a modern concert compared to one of these church settings?  I wonder if the response of the audience would be much different towards the secular music star and the Christian music star, in that the audience shows various postures of worship in both settings?  I wonder if we watched a YouTube video of a contemporary church performance with the sound off, if we could really tell the difference between that and the average rock concert with the sound turned off?

I wonder if this is really what Paul intended when he preached on Mars Hill – and became the poster boy for all things “culturally relevant”?

This focus on performance is accentuated by the volume level of modern church settings.  I work regularly with many people in the planning and leading of corporate worship services.  One of the underlying frustrations of those leading is their feeling of being disconnected with those they are leading.  This is often caused by the need for performers to have their sound levels high enough to hear themselves and perform well, thus eliminating (or at least diminishing) their ability to hear the rest of the “community.”  If a performer uses ear bud monitors, then they are completely cut off — which is a theological quagmire, and sets the leader in solid footing as a performer completely separated from those they are supposedly leading.

That this undermines the “communal” sense of corporate worship is significant.  The modern needs of performer require that volumes on stage be loud enough for the musician to both hear their own performance, as well as those of the other musicians (or by using ear buds).  Once that monitor level is set, the house speakers must be loud enough to provide a blanket of sound throughout the auditorium (whether it is a sanctuary or a gym) so that the “mix” approaches the quality of what the audience regularly hears in other forms of entertainment (concerts, radio, movies).

Once all of those volumes levels are set, it is often the case that the congregation can no longer be heard over the sound of the monitors and main speakers.  In this sense, a communal sense is lost for we are no longer having a common experience of worship.  If you pay attention, you will note that this causes some in a congregation to simply stop participating.  Not only can they not hear those around them, but they can barely hear themselves.  They stop singing and become spectators.

This, in part, is why the modern worship band often appears more as entertainers than worship leaders. The community of worshipers may not be actually having a communal experience, but play the part of an audience at a show.

We must rethink these things.  The initial impetus for relevance has spiraled downward into a church culture that experiences little of real corporate worship, but excellent examples of how to entertain the masses that come to see them perform.

 

(Original Post on July 31, 2013 at the Worldview Church: http://www.colsoncenter.org/worshiparts/articles/20136-does-worship-production-really-produce-worship)

A New Year Perspective

When asked about the “greatest commandment,” Jesus encapsulated in His response a broad perspective on life and relationships.  Reflecting upon his answer at this time of year can help us as we move forward in every area of ministry.  His answer gives us perspective.

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31)

First, we must know God.  This is the essential element of understanding life and all of our relationships.  There is only one God, and we know Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He is the Creator of all things, both seen and unseen, and we are part of His creation.  Our very life is dependent upon Him, as well as our salvation.  He is God, and we are not, though we often attempt to displace Him in His proper role.

Secondly, we must know others.  In knowing them, we must love them.  In loving them, we come to know them more fully.  All of their idiosyncrasies, their foibles, their habits – both good and bad!  As we take a look at others, we really see how needy they are, in every facet of life.  We can see in their need the reality of their dependence upon God.  Such is the human condition.

Thirdly, we must know ourselves.  Our love for others is inherently connected to our knowledge and love for self.  Too often we view ourselves separate from the others around us.  However, we must overcome this delusion and realize we are the same as they.  We need God’s supply and sufficiency each and every day.

So, really, there are only two sides here, rather than three.  God is on the one side as Creator, Sustainer, and Provider.  We and all the “others” are on the other side as needy and dependent upon God’s care and provision for us.

Keeping this in mind as we serve people in 2017 will help us keep the proper perspective.  As we serve those around us, we serve them out of our own dependence upon the God whom they need as well.  We are no better than they in this regard, whether they are believers or unbelievers, young or old.  As we depend upon Christ for our life and our sustenance, we can be a light for others who search in this darkness.  May we be faithful in showing forth His light throughout this New Year!

 

The Incarnation and the Worshiping Community (Part 2 of 2)

Last week we looked at the Incarnation from the perspective of the theological significance of the doctrine for our corporate worship.  We explored the reality of “God with us” and how vital this doctrine is for understanding the full contour of the Christian Worldview and the intertwining elements of creation, fall and redemption

As an example, we looked at the great Christmas hymn of Isaac Watts, “Joy to the World.”  In this hymn, we found that Watts showed the fullness of creation, fall and redemption as he celebrated the redemptive joy of Christ’s victory that we celebrate in this season of Christmas.

The eternal truths of the Incarnation are effective in transforming individual lives as men, women and children respond to Christ in faith.  Yet, we do not want to slip into the error of many Christians and assume that personal salvation is the primary purpose for the presence of Christ on earth as “God with us.”  We must be careful to see how the redemptive plan of God begins with humanity, and then flows throughout all of creation as a result of His continued presence on earth.

It is this aspect of Incarnation in particular that we explore in this article.  The rippling effects of sin corrupted and twisted all of man’s relationships.  First, his relationship with God is broken and severed.  Following that, his relationship with self was damaged, as well as his relationship with others, and finally the rest of the created order.  As redeemed individuals, it becomes our task to come alongside the work of Christ in redemption and be “little” redeemers in every part of our world in each of these four relationships.  We become the incarnate presence of Christ in the world.

Paul’s writings indicate many ways in which the body of Christ—the Church, as a fully functioning organism with Christ as its head (Colossians 1:18)—is the very presence of Christ on earth.  He expects the body to grow into a “mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).  As the body grows and works together with the gifts that each member supplies, the presence of Christ in the Church is pushing back the effects of sin (Ephesians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 12:4-27).  We see in Peter’s words, quoted above, that this is the reality of God’s grace among us.

Let me summarize directly, so we do not overlook the importance of this point:  Christ is still incarnate today, in the Church, the body of Christ.  God is “with us” through the presence of the Holy Spirit that indwells every believer (Ephesians 1:13-14), and as a result the Incarnation is a reality today as represented in the body of Christ – the Church.  As Christian communities, we are meant to step into this world and work to redeem all that we touch.

With this in mind, we come to find the significance of the Incarnation for today.  Not only did the presence of Christ on earth ultimately solve the problem of our sin through his death, burial and resurrection, but also His redeeming work continues through those very people that have been redeemed through His work on the cross.  In many ways, the statement is true:  “We are His hands.  We are His feet.”

The practical side of this is that the relationships that were broken—due to sin (with God, self, others, and the created order)—are open to our influence for redemptive purposes.  We celebrate the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas, and we remember the fullness of His life which redeems us, then we ourselves become a part of His redemptive work.

We may find that we have opportunity to lead an unbeliever into faith.  We may remind or restore a believer to an active relationship with Christ.  We may encourage or exhort a fellow Christian in some area of life or doctrine.  In these things we are participating in redeeming the broken relationship mankind has with God.

Some of us are trained or gifted to help those who individually struggle with one’s inner self.  The brokenness of the emotional life has many sources—from difficult childhoods to severe experiences in later life. But even in these, Christ has come to restore and heal.  Those who can lead people in these areas are participating in the redeeming work of Christ.

In another way, some Christians have a heart and ability to help in the restoration of broken relationships.  Broken marriages, rebellious children, severed friendships, and other examples of relational difficulties affect each of us directly, or in close proximity.  Christ has even come to push back this brokenness.  You, who are part of this process, whether as professionals or simply as friends, have entered into Christ’s redeeming work as well.

Those who fix broken things are a vital part of Christ’s incarnate work today.  Whether you seek to care for the environment, enhance the processes of manufacturing, farm the land, refine the systems of government or business, or repair the vehicles that transport us by land, sea or air, each and every one are part of the redemptive work of Christ!

We really are Christ’s presence on earth. The One Who became incarnate in the flesh as Jesus Christ, continues to be active through the Church, the body of Christ.  This truth is the effective nature of the Incarnation that we can celebrate at Christmas,  each and every day!  We celebrate in our corporate worship gatherings, as well as when we move out from our enclaves into the world in which we live.

(Original Post on December 12, 2013 at the Worldview Church: http://www.breakpoint.org/worshiparts/articles/18930-the-incarnation-and-the-worshiping-community-part-2)