RETHINK WORSHIP - NOSTALGIA VERSUS POPULAR

I am unsure whether I am being realistic. Perhaps you can tell me. Worship and church have been synonymous but what we have been doing with worship deserves examination. First, we have lately presumed music is equated with worship and this has led to silly tags like worship CDs, worship leaders, worship bands, and worship teams, effectively omitting scripture reading, recitations, preaching, prayer, offering, testimonies and silence from a definition for 'worship.' As composers have produced creative and fresh hymns and spiritual songs there have also been attempts to accommodate the range of reactions. Many churches have provided options, that is, dissimilar worship services. Traditional versus contemporary is the pitched tension. Old versus new is a dichotomy that I view as needless and unhappy. Nostalgia versus popular? Baloney.

Who wants this? Pastoral staff members do not want additional preps and toil. Medium sized churches agonize from splintered relationships when trying to imitate the professed success of wealthier and grander churches. Segregation by age breaks the spirit of the Body. An older generation does not need to worship alone. Seniors don't need only music composed before or during their own youth. They must participate and witness the enthusiasm and involvement of younger generations. Children, youth and young adults need to experience worship together with elders to understand the corporate identity of this people that Jesus has redeemed. We should consistently be incorporating new songs into the best songs of previous generations. What is indispensable is a theological filter within each congregation to insure that the theologies do not differ between newer and older material. 

And then there is this peculiarity. When an expectation is provided that people deserve choices of worship styles, they are offended when their selection is altered or removed, so they leave. Of course an individual can worship privately, but that is not to say worship is about the individual. We are not a community of consumers. God also calls his new covenant people to worship together with others as a distinct group of those who share a salvation story. Am I being realistic or sticking my head in the sand?

A DEFENSE FOR LEAVING CHURCH

For the past few days I have been sympathetic with people who act upon their expressed need to leave the church, no longer to attend any church. I qualified that these are people who are leaving to explore their relationship with the LORD away from the organized, institutional church. Factoring into their decision there may be mitigating conditions such as frustration with worship forms, music styles, teaching, congregational size, mission and vision. These are individuals who have been faithful, involved, productive members but who are now hungering for holiness, serenity, more of God, solitude. I have been advocating that pastors and church members who witness such departures be considerate and understanding.

You wouldn't expect such believers to remain would you? Perhaps they have a history of active service and financial support in the church and their departure will be modestly noticed. Would you be upset with them? Would they receive your blessing as they move on? This may have been a tortuous decision for them but the right one. Their own worship will need to find another venue.

One of the motivations presented by those who leave, is their felt inability to worship in the public services at church any longer. But where are they going to go?

A quick online survey of local church advertisements for my area indicates that all congregations that describe themselves as evangelical, present contemporary worship music by a band. One congregation meeting in a school informs seekers that the church provides earplugs to anyone who asks, because their music is loud. Well suppose that a worshipper's soul at present is in need of something different, calmer, and meditative. Among other options are Anglican, one sectarian congregation requiring women to wear long dresses, one Scottish Presbyterian Church that requires women in hats and men in suits & ties, and an orthodox congregation where everyone stands. There are no chairs.

After examining the options, this worshipper decides to worship privately. That becomes fulfilling and meaningful. In time perhaps he meets others like himself and there is agreement to benefit mutually from meeting in one of their homes. They read scripture, talk about it, apply it to life situations about which they become increasingly transparent, and they pray. They grow in their obedience, receptivity to God's Spirit, commitment to one another and easy engagement with non-religious neighbours. They become satisfied that this is also church. The question is then, is Jesus Christ satisfied that this is church? I believe he is satisfied.