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Tue, Dec 29th - 9:00PM

WORSHIP; In search of the real thing

What is the significance of familiarity of worship traditions? Well, worship traditions are the combination of all of its rituals, symbols, and metaphors. As I pointed out in my last post, these are not all that different from what we experience in football games and weddings. The major difference is that instead of enabling us to celebrate a human event, they help us celebrate God. The vast majority of our worship traditions began at some point in the past and have simply been passed on to the present generation of worshipers. Informal evangelical worship has its traditions as well. There will be a "mass mingle" prior to the worship leader starting the first praise song; the worship leader's joke for the week; clapping to the beat of the songs; short, catchy worship responses; commercial-like announcements and a speech to guests about not putting money in the offering plate; a moving solo before the sermon/message; etc.

The inherent problem with worship traditions is that the meaning of any ritual, symbol, or metaphor gets lost between generations. We must continually be aware of the need to keep them relevant by updating them regularly. If these traditions are to do do what they were originally intended to do, connect us with God, they must remain profound and significant. Getting rid of outdated worship traditions is the wrong approach to fixing what is broken. It is impossible to eliminate traditions completely since we are always creating new ones. Thus, we must learn to discern which ones to keep and update versus those we ought to stop doing.

In most denominations verbal traditions predominate the worship service. We tend to shy away from the use of visual symbols and rituals involving something other than the spoken or sung word are rare. Communion and baptism are dominated by the spoken word and verbal exchange. Yet most of the people who are unchurched are used to communication of a much different sort. They relate to life through the highly visual medium of television and the tactile areas of recreation, food, and sex. We should not then be surprised that they want to experience God with something other than the left side of their brain! If we dismiss their past as unimportant or even heretical, we do so at the risk of not reaching them at all. The early Christians understood that just as God in all God's divine and infinite mystery became incarnated in human flesh, tangible to us in Jesus Christ, God again becomes tangible to us as we use all of the resources of creation in worshiping Him. Churches must get over their inherited paranoia about utilizing the visual arts. Since we live in the video age we should be using this medium on a fairly regular basis in worship services. Something must be done to break up the logjam of "spectatorism" that afflicts our congregations today. We have been trained to watch and not to do. That is part of the legacy of television availability 24/7.

It is ironic that church boards do not hesitate to use business terminology like "short-term goals," "maximizing effectiveness," or "quality control." They do not worry about establishing savings accounts, building accounts, retirement accounts, or investment accounts. It is because we have welcomed corporate America into our midst with open arms and uncaring minds. Corporate America is our model for fashion, communication, management, strategy, and even architecture for several decades now. But now corporations have become rather cold and harsh towards their employees. They have become so in response to the economic recession that lasted for several years and even now has not lifted from every section of America. In this day what everyone desires and needs is less spiritual high-tech and more spiritual high-touch.

Culture today requires us to place some traditional and overtly spiritual worship back into our programs. Life is moving in the ultra-fast lane and people need something to grab and hang on to. People need to feel connected to others when they lack this feeling in the workplace. While establishing these connections with people, the church must also begin to teach the relevance of our American religious lexicon. People must be informed so that they will not remain ignorant of church traditions and rituals. How can we accomplish this feat? For the majority of Americans there is no returning to traditionalism. What went on in the 1950s can't be recreated and effective today. It means repackaging the product. It is what recording companies have been doing for decades with Christmas music. It means taking the basic content and delivering it in a different way. Musically this means Madonna singing "Silent Night" and listening to Josh Grobin sing Christmas carols; it helps us connect the past with the present. Repackaging occurs when Scripture is acted out in a drama. It occurs when children put a Psalm in their own language and read it to the congregation. Repackaging occurs when the Lord's Table is shared in small, intimate groups spread out through the sanctuary. It means taking a fresh look at the familiar and presenting it in a new way. Remember that worship that witnesses takes the new and makes it true, and takes the old and makes it new.

Of course, we can not become so culturally relevant that we become hostages to our culture and we no longer have anything to say to the culture on behalf of God. We must lose sight of what the Apostle Paul declared to us in his letters. That we are to be culturally relevant so that we can cause even one unbeliever to repent and accept Christ as Lord and Savior. He said to speak to people in terms that they can understand and relate to. Worship that dares to witness also dares to be a bridge, to acknowledge the unbelievers' culture by using their best stuff, not the trash. It will incorporate some of their music, their turn of phrase, and their distinctive pattern of celebration, and do it excellently. Worship that witnesses is also a bridge to a relationship with God through Christ Jesus. Therefore, we are called by Christ to transcend the culture with the whole Truth of Scripture and the Gospel, not just with a few sound bites and glitzy music.

Finally, I would say that relevance takes a backseat to authentic encounters with God during the worship service. We must always genuinely celebrate God's awesome and anointed presence, proclaiming Christ, responding to His love, and being genuine in our responses. Unconditional love must be palpable to visitors, demonstrated vulnerability and authenticity must be visible in order for visitors to make a connection and want more.

I sincerely hope some of what I have posted makes sense with some of you who choose to read it. The church in general is in huge trouble today. Declining membership, declining new members, apathy, and lack of support afflict just about every Christian denomination. There are more pastors quitting the ministry than ever before and it is harder to find qualified people to fill the vacancies simply because there are fewer and fewer people who understand what the Christian life is really all about. If people do not believe that they commit sin, then they feel no need to repent of sin, and therefore feel no need to accept Christ to be redeemed from their sin. The logic can't be argued against. That is all for tonight beloved, I pray that you have blessed final days of 2015. See you next year!

~Eric

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Thu, Dec 24th - 2:05PM

WORSHIP; In search of the real thing

Needing to Rethink Cultural Relevance

"We've asked the unchurched to go through a painful cultural circumcision in order to become a Christian." ~John Smith, Australian church leader.

Historically, religion has been the culture-bearer for society and that does continue in many societies today but not in Western European and North American societies. In the United States

this trend toward religion becoming less of a culture-bearer began some sixty years ago. Today Americans can no longer assume that all or even most people that they meet comprehend what goes on

within a normal Sunday morning worship service, or what the worship leader does or says. Fewer people today have any understanding of the terms we use during our worship service.. They are ignorant

of "redemption" or "righteousness" and in general do not have knowledge of biblical characters and events. What Christians are faced with today are people who essentially are biblical illiterates.

So, what must we do? We are forced to direct people, who visit us on Sundays, from the familiar and move them lovingly to the unfamiliar. To not make this effort is to shoot ourselves in the foot.

The reality today is that most people born prior to 1963 have had some sort of experience with traditional forms of worship. That means everyone born after 1963 have less and less experience with any

forms of religious worship. Their vernacular does not match up with the Christian vernacular, they sit in church and are confused about what is going on and being said. We must therefore lovingly offer

to these people ways of connecting what they know to what we are saying and doing. Easy, eh?

What surveys reveal is that about 65 percent of those who would choose to attend a church prefer one that provides a mix of traditional and contemporary music (written and composed within the last

ten to twenty years). What is surprising is that the magnet that draws these people into a church are the traditional gospel tunes. There is widespread ignorance about the Christian faith across America and Europe.

At Christmas time the public seems to long to hear "Joy to the World", "Hark, the herald angels sing", and other carols being played on the radio, at the malls, etc. Christmas carols, just like "God Bless America" on

July 4th, "Amazing Grace" at funerals, and "The Wedding Song" at weddings, are all part of the larger American religious vocabulary and are expected.

What has been happening to cause people to begin seeking spiritual succor? They are reacting to the ongoing changes to society, to fear of losing control of their lives, to worry about the future in general. Today

we are faced with the reality of growing terrorism on a global scale. It can happen almost anywhere at any time. That sort of uncertainty causes people to be worried, to suffer from anxiety. Surprisingly, in recent years

it is being discovered that communion and anointing for healing are becoming the most popular events among the unchurched people who are actually visiting churches. It would appear that in an age where most trends

have a shelf life of six to twelve months perpetuity can be quite attractive. What Christians, and others, must not forget is that tradition is one of the primary ways people invest meaning, sense, and order in their lives. Webster's

dictionary defines tradition as "the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs." Tradition keeps us from having to endlessly create new "tracks" under everything that we do. But tradition is not mindless habit, as

many non-Christians have claimed over the years. It is rooted in intentionality and an awareness of what is important in life.

We can't limit ourselves to believing that tradition is only vital to religion. Consider football rituals, the acts of tradition, that define the game. A football game is one long string of raucous but extremely reliable ceremonies.

Independent of the teams or stadium, there are some things fans can always depend upon, to expect. There is the national anthem, stadium chants, touchdown dances, cheerleader acrobatics to the half-time extravaganza, from the

consumption of hot dogs and other concession stand foods, to the pre-game tailgating parties out in the parking areas. All of it becomes traditional to attending a football game. We can see this present in weddings, sporting events,

family reunions, company picnics, and in church. At Christmas time we therefore can witness advent traditions, Christmas Eve traditions, cantatas, caroling, and plenty of others that occur during Christmas day.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May each of you have an intimate experience with Christ by the end of Christmas Day! Enjoy family, food, and fellowship. May the peace and grace of Christ be

yours today, and in the days to come!

~Eric

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About Me

Name: E J Rajaniemi
ChristiansUnite ID: eric57
Member Since: 2011-04-07
Location: Bedford, Virginia, United States
Denomination: Brethren, Church of
About Me: Serving Christ, serving others. Seeking to create disciples of Christ wherever possible. Conducting men's prayer meetings, sitting on church steering committee, and loving my family.

Dec. 2015