January 15, 2008

Losing by seeking too hard

Michael S. Horton of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church made a statement that I found greatly encouraging:

The paradox of seeker orientation seems to be that while its watchword is evangelism, its effect has quite generally been the opposite. Instead of reaching the lost, we’re losing the reached. Having been taught themselves, our members would be the first to admonish us if our elders decided to exchange catechesis for Christian versions of MTV and Disneyland. If we transformed our Sunday-evening catechetical preaching into entertainment, we would have a mutiny on our hands

Those who have been taught properly from the Word of God, who have experienced the majesty and solemnity of true worship in liturgical or non-liturgical assembly, will revolt when new methods are introduced that lose a sense of the majesty and holiness of God. This transcends the simplistic arguments for "which style (genre) of music we should sing in church" and gets to the heart of worshiping God in spirit and in truth.

"Perhaps some of the confusion in the worship wars would be lessened if careful consideration were given to the subversion of purpose that can take place when the underlying assumptions of various social structures are mixed. When churches begin to look at the congregation as consumers and the programs of the church as products, when worship services begin to resemble a well-staged Broadway show, then maybe, just maybe the church has taken a few steps into the wrong social structure. Is the church defeating herself by fraternizing with the enemy—by being on the wrong battlefield?"
      —Maureen Bradley

If we are seeking to honor God through preaching that is bible-derived and bible-saturated, and through fellowship that is aimed at edification, and through corporate communication of our recognition of God's worth and an understanding of God's character, and through songs that proclaim God's majesty, sovereignty, and holiness...and if all these things are done in a way that is honoring to God because we have done them to the best of our (corporate) abilities—then we will move far beyond the mundane arguments of "contemporary or traditional" and will build congregations that will revolt when the conversation turns to such mundane matters as "contemporary or traditional."

Maureen Bradley has some outstanding thoughts on this subject at Worship Wars: Are We on the Right Battlefield?. May God grant today's evangelical church the desire to return to worshiping Him in spirit and in truth without trying in the process to fill the pews or to entertain. Let's leave God's work to God.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this post, which I found to be very interesting. I also bookmarked the referenced article to read later. Sometimes I get very discouraged with the direction my own church takes. The "consumer" comment caught my attention, because our church recently went to a paid nursery attendant, and the explanation givn me was that if it was a paid position there would be "reliability" and "accountability". I am wondering what about those of us who serve faithfully as Sunday School teachers but would never dream of accepting or asking for money to ensure our services. Oh well, this is just our temporary home, right? Blessings to you and thanks for your thoughtful blog.

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  2. Peggy. I'm glad this post was an encouragement to you. Be strong in the Lord.

    Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might - Ecclesiastes 9:10

    We are called to do what's right, regardless of what is happening around us. God will bless your obedience.

    Keep praying for your church and encouraging them to do what is right. I will try to remember you and your church in prayer.

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