More on young adults rejecting the church growth approach to worship and craving liturgy. I don’t mean to harp on this topic, so tomorrow I’ll post something that questions this new traditionalism in worship, which is not always accompanied by traditionalism in theology.
From Trevor Warren, Ministry Matters™ | Liturgy and the emerging church:
Today’s church has lost something important, whether we recognize it or not. For centuries it has helped create disciples of Christ and has bound together Christian communities in faith, hope and love. Arguably, it’s part of the church’s DNA and is an important tool for a Christian’s spiritual walk. Yes, I’m talking about liturgy or, in more specific terms, that ordered worship service with those boring creeds, fancy robes, traditional decor, confusing symbols, formal prayers and simple music/hymnody.
I know what some of you are thinking because I’ve heard it before.
You either 1) think liturgy is representative of the church as an oppressive, institutional entity (i.e. you think it makes you high church or worse: Catholic), 2) think it distracts you from properly worshipping God (i.e. you think some people are too stupid to understand the message behind the liturgy), or 3) think it doesn’t allow the Spirit to freely move during worship (i.e. you think you can’t put your hands in the air).
If you’d asked me about five years ago, I would completely agree with you on most of those points. But as I’ve grown in my knowledge of God and what it means to be a Christian, I’ve come to understand liturgy in a different way than I had before. I realized that this concept I regarded as boring and as a hindrance to worship is actually, at its core, something beautiful and formative in our lives as Christians. What’s more, I saw something with the potential to be revolutionary in today’s church, something that could possibly pull the church from its slow decline as an influential force in the world.
One problem with today’s church is that we’ve succumbed to the culture of the world in order to become relevant. We’ve sacrificed our creeds and hymns for loud rock bands, flashing lights, loud speakers, etc. turning worship into more of a show rather than a place where we become engaged with God. The model that we currently have simply isn’t sustainable. Only liturgy can sufficiently engage and allow us during worship to be changed by God’s presence.
Now if you keep reading, you will see that the writer doesn’t quite get liturgical worship, as he describes with appreciation a rather circus-like performance. But still, this craving for liturgy is very telling.
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