Naomi's Notes - 10/30/05
"Are you stayin' for preachin'?" This phrase was commonly used by Baptists in the mid-20th century. Occasionally, I still hear it used in churches, including our own.
Since the Reformation, and especially since the revivalist "Sunday School Era," preaching and evangelism have been the primary focus of worship among Baptists and other evangelicals. [Prior to that, for many hundreds of years, worship centered around the Eucharist (Lord's Supper, communion).]
In preaching-driven worship, proclamation of "The Word" (Kerygma) was seen as the way to hear God speak. Everything else (music, prayers, offering, testimonies, …) was just a warm-up for the sermon, and the invitation hymn was the follow-up for the often evangelistic message. [For those who are paying attention, there is a lot of evidence that this thinking still lingers among many church-goers.]
In recent decades music has become the primary means of worship for many churches. It's still seen as a preliminary or warm-up to the sermon, but music is considered to be an equally, if not more important way to connect with God during corporate worship. The question for music-driven worship then becomes one of style; hence the unfortunate "worship wars" prevalent in many congregations.
Don Hustad, noted musician/professor/author and former organist for many Billy Graham crusades, states that "preaching is a central activity in evangelical worship, but not the only significant experience. Evangelism, Bible knowledge and counseling are best understood as byproducts of worship, not its central focus. …While crusades and contemporary 'seeker services' may include moments of worship, [their] primary purpose is evangelism. Calling a seeker service 'worship' is an anomaly. Seekers don't worship. Finders worship." (Western Recorder, 1994)
Robert Webber, prolific author/lecturer and modern-day "worship guru" adds: "So where does that leave us with music-driven worship? God's presence is made known in music, to be sure. But the reduction of God's presence in music alone is not biblical nor is it historically correct. Since music is not the sum and substance of worship, we need to repent of our reductionism and set about to restore fullness to the presence of God in our midst. …The future of the church is endangered by this worship reductionism." (Worship Leader, "Reducing God to Music," 1998)
Everything we do during our services should point to God. If someone were to "take a slice" of our services, not just our preaching and music-making, but also our welcoming, praying, offering, scripture reading, testimonies, communion…even our aesthetics and "attitude of worship," would they find God?
It's true that actual worship is an individual matter of the heart, but the design of our worship services has the goal of providing many different pathways for people to connect with God. (More about various elements of worship in upcoming column.)
See you in worship this Sunday -
Naomi