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Often people complain about the order of the
worship service, the type of music being used, the length of the
sermon, or who makes the announcements. Sometimes the complaint is
about environmental surroundings of the worship place. For instance,
the decision to use chairs instead of more expensive pews, the
arrangement of a stained-glass window, a cross hanging out of its
usual place is more often than not a topic of "concerned"
conversation and perhaps even a "matter for prayer."
It may be that the real source of these complaints is not so much
that God is not being honored as much as that a personal tradition
is being trampled on (sending an individual into a tailspin). Some
believe that traditional forms of worship are closer to the heart of
God and must be incorporated into the congregational worship or
otherwise God may be blasphemed. Hence, the apparent issue is that
one’s earlier traditional worship experience has been disrupted,
resulting in a person’s unhappiness.
However, the real issue is that worship should not be focused on or
about the individual: worship is a response to the God of Creation
and a deepening relationship with Him. We join with others of "like
precious faith" to lift our hearts to the Eternal God to thank Him
for His Grace and the work He has done on the cross relative to our
personal salvation. The indwelling of His Holy Spirit allows us to
submit our spirits to His and to continue to grow in the grace and
the knowledge of His presence and work through our lives. Lifting
our voices in prayer, joyful noises, supplication, thankfulness,
obedience, and acknowledgement of His Strength is our response to
His Grace. That response goes forth irrespective of the type of
chair we sit in, the type of windows we gaze out of, the type of
lighting in the room or who carries the communion cup and bread.
When we are distracted by insignificant, petty complaints regarding
our worship service, we are in danger of replacing the acceptance of
God’s Grace with dependence on following rules and regulations. When
we hold fast to traditions of using hymnals instead of viewing a
screen in front, insisting the preacher stand behind a pulpit
instead of walking unrestrained on the stage, or having the choir
wear velvet robes rather than street clothing, we exchange the Truth
of God's unconditional love for the lie that our salvation depends
on the way we worship and the power of the traditions we hold.
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Insisting on our personal traditions as the only
proper way to worship God and then forcing others to adhere to our
personal preferences actually replaces what Jesus did on the cross
with the importance of our own actions. When that substitution
occurs, it is the same as reverting to believing we are saved by
works. That puts the individual in danger of driving away the power
of the Holy Spirit since He only testifies to the works of Jesus,
not to the strength of human traditions.
We must be careful in our assemblies of worship to avoid worshipping
traditions. When that happens, it changes worship into works. When
we begin to worship our own works, we experience the loss of the
Spirit of worship, and the loss of power in our worship.
In the final analysis we need at least to consider that our current
tradition is not necessarily something of longtime practice. It may
simply be the newest thing we have morphed into only months ago. It
may simply be a newer mode of worship, replacing older traditional
modes of worship, in the pursuit of gaining the attention of
outsiders because we want to look more like the culture most are
comfortable to be part of. Arguing over what constitutes
“traditional” versus “modern” modes of worship unfortunately turns
our heads and hearts away from the worship of Christ and His Gospel
in order to protect what we personally believe worship should be.
[By
Jim Killebrew, Lincoln]
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