“As we worship, so we live”

Recently I was having lunch with an Anglican priest of a local parish with whom I’m developing a good friendship. Over an excellent brick oven pizza he mentioned a Latin phrase that captured a central element of spiritual formation we had been discussing (It was this that spurred my earlier post about Latin phrases). I’m sure this phrase is not new to many of our readers, but it was new to me.

Lex Orandi, Lext Credendi” which translated literally means “the law of prayer, the law of belief”. Loosely rendered it means “as we worship, so we live“. It is a common expression in several Christian traditions to signify the importance of worship for the shaping of identity. Anglicans particularly see the Book of Common Prayer as a form or order or discipline that through its structures shape Christian identity over time when accompanied with the compliant heart.

The point that has been recognized by the Church for a very long time in all its permutations is that humans need external structure to assist in forming them into the image of Messiah. We are not simply spirits that need divine knowledge. We are not simply minds that must be enlightened. Our bodies don’t necessarily follow our minds. As a person we are both body and spirit.

The structures of my worship, prayer, Bible study, giving and even a prayer book of theologically rich said prayers and the observance of the Christian calendar and many other kinds of external forms over time in combination with a heart inclined toward God shape me into the image of Christ.

This is a significant correction to much of low-church evangelical ministry, which has long believed that the message and the method for communicating that message are two different things. I remember being taught this in very thing in my youth ministry classes. However, this perspective functions with a false dualism. Our methods are inextricably linked to our message whether we acknowledge or not. We need to be theologically reflective about the structures illustrated and taught so that they foster the shaping of people into the image of Messiah.