“The Word on Worship: Under the Influence”
Acts 10: 23-48
Whatever happened to the day when the Sunday worship services could be planned in a matter of minutes. Bulletins were ordered a year at a time with the worship order already printed on the inside cover; the only thing which changed from week to week were the hymns, Scripture reading, and sermon title. Why is planning for worship now such an intense, involved process? Part of the answer is that worship is a passionate expression of the heart and soul. And in a world of great diversity those expressions differ greatly. We are unlike each other in many ways, yet we come together for common worship. How do we, as worship planners, know whose expressions to use or provide? It’s a big question – and Scripture teaches us that THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE DYNAMICS TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN PLANNING WORSHIP. If we begin with these we can, I believe, greatly increase our understanding of and unity in worship.
The first dynamic of planning worship is that WE ARE CULTURALLY INFLUENCED. We often hear that someone was charged with DUI - driving under the influence. We should all be charged with not DUI but LUI – living under the influence – not of alcohol, but of culture... The clothes we wear (or refuse to wear), the jewelry we buy, the words we use, the jobs we hold, the schedules we keep are all influenced by our culture. While the Bible tells us we should be pace setters for culture, more often than not we are reflectors; we live under the influence.
Think about Luke’s account in Acts 10. The first-century Jewish Christians found it difficult to accept Gentile believers because of cultural differences which they found ungodly and offensive. So God used Peter - a strongly entrenched Jewish Christian - and Cornelius - a strongly entrenched Gentile Christian - to teach His truth. Cornelius was firm in his commitment to Christ but comfortable in his culture. God used Peter, the most Jewish of disciples, to open the door for the Gentiles to come into the church without adopting the Jewish culture and customs. The issue, by the way is addressed again in Acts 15. As a result of that conflict the early church came to recognize that cultural differences, which are not moral or theological differences, need not separate Christians. There is no one divinely appointed culture. Sound pretty foreign and removed from us? Think about the struggles many of you experienced or heard about when the battle was over worshipping in English or Dutch. Remember the heated exchanges about what was the true language of heaven? In every town where there’s a First Reformed Church, it’s likely that 2nd Reformed Church began because old First church wouldn’t go to English worship services. The debate over what language to use in worship literally, at times, split the church.
Here’s the point: WE ARE ALL PRODUCTS OF A PARTICULAR CULTURE. Many different cultures, and backgrounds, are represented here today. And Hope Church is located within a particular culture. And around us are fewer people with a church background. So God is worshipped in a variety of ways. Yet that’s not new; missionaries have known it for a long time. If we would ask the McAuleys (Africa), Jansens (Japan), Chad VandenBosch, and Goff-Rudys (Honduras) about their worship where they serve overseas, we’d hear about four different styles of worship – because they are located in four different cultures. And we have no problem with that. Yet when we come to worship in our home town, we suddenly assume one size fits all – that there is one style, one form, which is right for worship. Yet is not South Haven diverse? Are not our ages diverse? Are not our backgrounds diverse?
Let me point to music as an illustration. How many of you would list Classical as your favorite style of religious music? Country-Western? Gospel Music? Jazz? Praise music? Traditional hymns? Contemporary? Rock? So what do we do with this diversity in worship? As I think about it – there was controversy even when all we sang was traditional hymns. People couldn’t agree on which ones to sing most often! Let’s never forget that the issue is not, “Did that music stir my soul?” The issue is “Did that music stir God’s soul?”
So here’s the first worship planning principle: SINCE WORSHIP IS OF THE PEOPLE, IT MUST REFLECT THEIR DIVERSITY. The Jewish Christians worshipped differently than the Gentile Christians. The word “liturgy” – which is the order and elements of worship – historically meant a work of the people. Worship, then, should be an appropriate expression of the particular community which is gathered together. For us that means diversity and variety in music, in form, in order. It means more than one style of worship. It means understanding that the person seated next to me may like the very music, form, or order I’m upset about. It means recognizing that worship is first and foremost corporate – of the body, not the individual and therefore may not always be 100% comfortable for me. And that’s OK - because worship is for God, not for me. We must not go so far as to be sure that every week every person’s expression is honored and included so that we wind up with a hodgepodge of events with no order or purpose. Rather, we work, week to week and service to service at maintaining balance.
In his book A Western Jesus Pastor Mike Minter states, “The younger generation must learn why the older generation loves traditions, steeples, pews and hymnbooks. The older generation must be willing to see the younger generation as liking change….Trying to prove that drums are of the devil or that hymns are boring become senseless arguments often birthed out of pride and a refusal to hear the other side... The truth often lies in the middle.”
So how do we test this principle to know if we’ve succeeded? TEST #1 is to ask DID THE WORSHIP INSPIRE AN AWE OF GOD’S PRESENCE OR ONLY A WARMTH OF GOOD WILL? If we experience awe, we have truly worshipped, no matter the form or order.
The second dynamic to be considered when planning worship is that WE ARE CONSUMER ORIENTED. This is the age of the shopping mall, of e-commerce, of choices, of having others provide precisely what we feel we need. The heartbeat of American culture is buying, selling, and trading. Companies and individuals spend enormous amounts of money to appeal to our likes. WE ARE OBJECTS OF MARKETING. From politicians to products, from media to educational institutions, we’ve grown accustomed to things being designed precisely for us. We are bombarded all week by marketers – so much so that very subtly we end up in church on Sundays more ready for God to give to us than we are to give to God. Therefore we expect worship to be tailored to our liking so we can have a good experience. We come expecting the same slick, polished package and presentation used by the marketers all week.
So what principle do we follow to address this consumer orientation? Principle #2 this morning is WORSHIP MUST BE SENSITIVE TO THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE FROM WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF WHO GOD IS. We must always be aware of the worshipper’s need, but also always promote who God is and what He says. Paul enforces this principle in I Corinthians 14 where he dealt with speaking in tongues during worship. He stated that while there is nothing wrong with tongue speaking, if someone does it spontaneously in public worship and there is no one to translate, it is wrong. The people must be able to understand the speaker to understand about God. Think of some of the great reformation hymns. The great and wonderful words were put to tunes that had previously been sung in the local taverns with different words. The tune was a point of contact; the words portrayed who God is.
We need not shy away from or rebel at this consumer mindset; but we do need to be careful. At best it reminds us there is a point of contact with each worshipper so we can touch where they are; at worst we let the needs dictate our worship. At best we will have a high quality, prayerful, sensitive service; at worst we’ll have a slick, hi-tech production as an end in itself. The test to check how well we’ve done is this: DID THE WORSHIP HUMBLE THE SOUL OR MERELY ACCOMMODATE SOCIAL NORMS? If we were humbled because of God’s contact with us, we have worshipped – regardless of our needs.
The third dynamic for our worship planning is that WE ARE VISUALLY FOCUSED. Our main focus has moved from words to images, from speaking to watching. We cannot overestimate the impact of television and electronic media. Not only does media communicate values – good and bad – but it changes the very way we see things. OUR WAY OF RECEIVING AND PERCEIVING STIMULI HAS CHANGED. And that has a profound impact upon worship. Consider these three facts, which have resulted from our visual age. First, we have a SHORTENED ATTENTION SPAN. Because we are accustomed to ads every 8-10 minutes, we have leaned to focus for short periods of time. I once told Barb, when she was complaining about all the ads on TV, that maybe in worship we need to break every 10 minutes for ads – and then we could run slick ‘ad’ type announcements of church events. Then we could do away with a time of announcements and we’d be sure to have attention at the beginning of every 10 minutes! More seriously, the attention span issue means we must pay attention to the order and pacing of worship.
Second, our visual orientation means we have RAISED EXPECTATIONS FOR PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY. We have gone from being inspired by the little country choir of 7 people to needing the precision and clarity of “American Idol” or “Glad” or “Acapella”, from being moved by the warbly but sincere voice of Aunt Mildred to needing the purity of Sandi Patti’s vocals, from ordinary barely educated preachers who sometimes stumbled on words to demanding polished, primed, scripted preachers who look good on TV. So there’s an expectation that we will only give our best performance and quality in worship.
Third, our visual age is SIGHT STIMULATED. What grabs the eye grabs the mind and the attention. So we must promote sight: use candles, colors, banners, drama, movement – use symbols like communion and baptism and laying on of hands. But the danger is that people become watchers and not participants.
So here’s Principle #3: WORSHIP MUST ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE, NOT JUST SPECTATE. Our worship must involve the whole body, not just the mind. Why is it we’re thrilled when the children sing and use motions, but feel we need to be stiff as boards when we sing? Read the Psalms and Revelation – check the references to body movement in worship. Look for the raising of hands, bowing, kneeling, dancing; watch for the trumpets, harps, timbrels, lyres, strings, pipes, and even “loud, crashing” cymbals! Note that Ps. 100 says “Shout joyfully!” As an expression, worship should flow out of every part of our being.
So the test we apply is: DID THE WORSHIP INVITE PARTICIPATION OR PASSIVITY? Were there opportunities or challenges to respond? Only when we can say “Yes” have we truly worshipped.
We live under the influence of our culture. Since corporate worship is an act of the whole community and not of an individual, I can never say “My culture, my desires will rule our worship.” Our worship must be an expression of the entire community gathered here week to week. That’s why we do prayerful, detailed planning for our worship services. That’s why our worship has a convergence of the old – the traditional & historical – and the new. That’s why we each need to keep in mind that, as research has shown, the larger the congregation, the more diverse the spiritual journeys present any given Sunday. Therefore the larger the church the more difficult it is to plan a worship experience that is genuine and meaningful for everyone. No one service will cover all the needs and touch points. That’s why you may leave a service having felt comfortable with one part and not another. That’s why we need to remember that every church is uniquely put together by God so we must be who we are – we can never be some other church. That’s why our focus must always be on Jesus Christ.
A business training exercise shows how people from different cultures look at the same task in different ways. A leader draws an imaginary line on the floor, and puts one person on each side. The purpose is to get one person to convince the other, without force, to cross the line. U. S. players almost never convince one another, but their Japanese counterparts simply say, “If you will cross the line, so will I.” They exchange places and they both win. I’m convinced that if each of us would be willing to cross a few lines in our attitude towards worship, we would rediscover that we’re all on the same side and experience a deeper unity.
In fact, it’s Scriptural. (Phil. 2:3-5) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 4) “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body…One Spirit…One hope…One Lord…One faith…One baptism…One God…One Father of all…Who is over all—and through all—and in all.”
So I leave you this morning with the goal towards which we who plan worship will strive in planning every service: We will strive to PLAN WORSHIP EXPERIENCES WHICH ENABLE PEOPLE TO ENGAGE GOD BY FOCUSING ON JESUS THROUGH A VARIETY OF EXPRESSIONS AND FORMS WHICH ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HOPE CHURCH COMMUNITY. That is the best we can promise. To that end we ask for your consistent prayers, that every time we gather for worship we will say “I was glad I went to the House of the Lord,” and God will say “I’m glad they came to my house.” To Him be the glory and the praise, now and forever. Amen.
