I cannot enjoy corporate worship as presented (note the "presented") by the stereotypical Protestant (low) church. In fact, I believe it would not be an understatement to say my spirit even rebels against said corporate worship. My soul desires raw, unpracticed, unscheduled, unrehearsed, and unaffected worship and praise of my Lord and Savior. I want a childlike worship of Christ, not a mature worship that is praised for its skilled performers and talented musicians. This includes those who would stand up at the altar and insist all attendees rise and lift their hands towards the Lord. Does not the Lord desire for us to be real before Him?
The Lord is neither pleased with a deceitful heart, no false humility. He created me to be as I am, a glorious creation as I am, and I cannot deny Him the praise He is due (and that which I long desperately to give) from an honest and true heart. To deny Him the praise which is unique to myself and only that which I can give is to blatantly disregard my God and flout my sinful nature, my prideful nature. Any praise and worship that is motivated only by pride, the careful examination of the actions of my peers, and the desire to impress is nothing short of utter rudeness and complete disobedience.
There is something to be said for the embarrassment of one's pride and the complete dismissal of pretentiousness as one's heart is brought before the Throne.
May I never be content with drinking milk like a child or speaking like one, but may the heart of a child and a childlike faith never be far from me.
2 comments:
I would never dream of downplaying the importance of “raw, unpracticed, unscheduled, unrehearsed, and unaffected worship”. But, I think there is alot to be said for the corporate worship of today. I think it is very close if not identical to the biblical example. And it is definitely possible to be real during such worship.
While there are undoubtedly some passages which present Christianity as a “me and Jesus” kind of religion where it all about a one on one relationship (Gal 2:20 comes to mind) the Church itself is actually portrayed as the body of Christ (Eph 5:23). And we are “baptized into Christ” (Gal 3:27) and become members of that body. So, we are all connected to one another. It is not about my relationship with God as much as it is about our relationship with God.
“…to us has been sent the message of this salvation” (Acts 13:26)
“…Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)
“...he has borne our griefs…carried our sorrows...was bruised for our iniquities…we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5)
The Church in the New Testament saw worship as a communal activity:
“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
Now, I’ll admit it has been quite some time since I have witnessed worship in a “low church” protestant Church but I do remember visits to Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. And in all of them the pattern of worship was very similar to the Catholic Mass even if the theology behind it was different - some opening prayers, some readings from scripture, a sermon, more prayers, communion, more prayers, etc.
And this is pretty much the way Christian worship was conducted in the early church. In 150 A.D. (only 50 or so years after the death of the last apostle) Justin Martyr wrote an account of Christian worship to the Emperor and the Roman Senate.
“On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.” (1st Apology)
And it can be argued that this pattern itself is based on scripture, particularly the heavenly worship that John saw in the book of Revelation. But I am probably really rambling now so I will stop here.
James
James,
Your rambling is always appreciated. I wouldn't hesitate to agree with all that you've said, my soul was just a bit weary from a concert-like production that was touted as a worship service.
There is much to be said for corporate worship, for the community coming together in worship of our Creator. Thanks for pointing this out!
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