Category Image Modern Worship


Some friends of mine have effectively left the Episcopal Church in lieu of a modern very evangelical church nearby. When I visited their website , I was almost speechless when viewing the worship venues. I couldn't decide if this was a flyer for dining options at a Hyatt hotel, or if it really was for a Church.

My biggest issue, of course, is some of their doctrine, which is contrary to both Scripture and Tradition, but that is not unusual amongst most non-denominational churches. However, I always struggle with the modern worship bit. I hear the arguments about the need for cultural relevance, the fact that most worship is old and lacking in meaning to most people today.

One of the problems, of course, is that we've confused evangelism with worship. It is quite true, I suspect, that if you want people to hear the initial message, that holding your meeting at Starbucks, or with a video extravaganza is probably the way to go. However, ongoing worship is a different issue. It is interesting to note that in Jesus' time, Jews were in the habit of performing their worship pretty much the same way they had for the previous 3000 years. They hadn't modernized to become culturally relevant.

Christian worship, of course, was merely an evolution of Jewish worship, retaining much of the same structure, with the addition of a weekly (or more frequent) "Passover" celebration. The early Church, too, declined to be culturally relevant. They could have held services at the Coliseum, in between gladatorial events, but they didn't. So, I find the arguments for "modern" worship less than compelling. The most commonly cited reason for providing a different style of worship is that traditional worship isn't interesting, it doesn't do anything for the people. Of course, the point of worship has never been, and never will be, for the entertainment of the people involved. Worship is supposed to be about God, about us learning about God, heaven, and our life as Christians. Traditional worship is structured to do just that. Modern worship is largely not.

Posted: Tuesday - May 11, 2004 at 01:02 PM          

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