I think I think a lot.
I lead worship all the time; seems like I'm always using music as a tool to help people connect with Jesus. So I'm thinking about worship in light of several conversations I've had lately about Calvinism and Arminianism, centered around how it seems like the Free Will crowd (Arminians) don't really pay much attention to how upset the Predestiantion crowd (Calvin) seem to be over the Free Will crowd's seeming lack of interest in the Sovereignty of God (They are very interested by the way) and how that seems to make the Calvin crowd even more upset. Complicated? Like I said, I think a lot. And it's not my point so I don't want you to hang out there very long. Here's my deal. I think it's "both and", meaning I think people who insist on God only predestining people to know him or folks who go the other way and say it's all free will both miss the point. It's both. Try looking at both sides of a quarter at the same time. Pretty much can't and see each side clearly, right?
But I digress. I was talking about worship. I think. Or quantum mechanics.
Anyway, God describes Himself in different places in the Bible as Sovereign Lord and King of kings. He is Ruler and Judge and Creator. Mighty and Powerful. From everlasting to everlasting. The first and the last. The one at whose throne every knee will bow. And that's just a few of them off the top of my head. But you get the idea. He is wholly different from us, which is what Holiness means. Righteous. Just. Jealous. Victorious. Warrior. A strong tower.
That sounds pretty harsh. Like a King should be. Immense and powerful. Kings are standoffish. Common people don't get to meet the King. At least not normally. Those who do must enter with reverence and awe and often had a specific way to show respect as they came into the Throne room. Maybe kneeling or bowing or something. You were definitely reverent and on your best behavior in your best clothes. If you didn't the King might just kill you for it.
I think a lot of people see God like this. Unapproachable. So not like us. So burning bush and fire and brimstone.
But then God describes Himself as a Father. Intimate and kind. Compassionate. Slow to anger and abounding in love. Rich in mercy. Prince of Peace. Loving. Full of Grace. Forgiving. Gentle. He sings and dances for joy over you and I. His thoughts about just one person outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. He is all about reconciliation - He is in the business of fixing relationships. Jesus got right down into the dirt of life with his friends. So not like a King. Yet so like a Father. Where it's safe to be yourself, faults and all. To be honest about how you feel and what you think - like you can with family.
I think a lot of people see God like this. Wholly approachable. Like us because Jesus lived on earth like us. So perfect yet so accepting and approachable for the rest of us who are completely not.
So which is it?
Both and.
Which raises my question for worship. How do you lead people to meet and spend time with Jesus and do it in a way that includes all of who God describes Himself to be? The Incredibly Holy and Perfect King of kings and Lord of lords who is truly beyond our comprehension but who is also a loving, intimate Savior who tells us to come as we are boldly before the Throne of Grace.
I think your perspective on the first confusing bit influences how you answer this confusing bit. Calvinists seem to love the Old Testament flair for Holiness and Judgment while Arminians seem to be all about Grace and Love. And both seem to think the other side is missing out because they lack what they have. And they're both right. Both are missing out and it comes out in how we do worship. We end up lopsided in how we represent Jesus and that impedes our understanding of God and that messes with how we connect with Jesus.
So what is worship about? I think it's not just an experience of something. If all we have is an experience that feels spiritual we don't have much. I felt spiritual once just from being up for too many hours in a row. I love a quote by James Torrence and just cannot get away from it - "More important than your experience of Christ is the Christ of your experience." So what happens if we include both sides, as it were, of God; both sides of the quarter? Few bridge the dichotomy. But if we don't we risk misrepresenting Jesus by not revealing in worship as many facets of Him as we possibly can.
Both and.
That's why I'm curious what you think because maybe I just think too much.
But I doubt it.
Out of the ashes...
10 years ago
3 comments:
I didn't know you had a blog, Jeremy. I'm going to add yours to my list of blogs I check every day!
To answer one of the questions you poised: How do you lead people to meet and spend time with Jesus and do it in a way that includes all of who God describes Himself to be?
Ummmm, that's a huge question. And my initial reaction to that question is thank the Lord for the Body of Christ. We need each other! We need people to come together for corporate worship who have experienced God in different ways and know well a different aspect of His character from their life experiences. Who God is to me is much different from who God is to you, and that is one of the points of coming together corporately for worship, I believe. And, in fact, I think it is an impossible feat to even aspire to (the above question) without the Body's representation of Him in a corporate setting. He reveals Himself through the Body; He speaks through the Body; confirms His word in the Body. That, and we need to simply ask Him to show us those parts of Himself that we do not know or understand.
I agree that worship is not simply experiencing a feeling of spirituality or emotion or any other sort of warm fuzzies. Worship is not a simple concept and includes not only corporate worship but down to offering our bodies as living sacrifices...I think that's why we need more than just music to worship God. It's too complex to limit the venue through which it is expressed.
I don't know. Those are just some thoughts that came out of the keyboard.
Thanks Em! It is a huge question and that's why I like it. I'm forced to stretch my understanding if the question is too big for me. So I appreciate your comments.
While I agree with what you said, I think we have a major challenge intrinsic to your train of thought. The church at large no longer has a diversity of believers. Sure, there is some, but within one church, how much real spiritual diversity is there? Not much. It's the whole 'people of a feather flock together' thing. If it's hard because I'm different, I'm not going to stay and allow my differences to become an asset. Instead people have the understandable tendency to look for a place full of people like them. Which of course is how we got all these denominations.
So my question back to you, then, is how do you go about gathering a diversity of believers into one body where it can actually function fully with all the different God given gifts in place? (Once again, asking the easy questions...)
I'm glad you mentioned denominations because that's actually what I was thinking of when i was writing about the Body but thought it would open a whole different can o' worms, hence your question back to me!
Another huge question. I honestly have not attended enough churches to know if this is possible in one church, you know? I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know if it's possible. You being from the big city :) may have seen this in churches you have been to.
I think you would have to generate and foster a culture where diversity is valued, honored, and cultivated. And not only diversity of race, cultures, and backgrounds, but a respect for the motivational and five-fold gifts would be required. It would take a leadership team who understood and valued spiritual gifts and motivations and the role of the five-fold ministry in the Body. Leaders who understand these things are not threatened by conflict and differences of opinion, but, in fact, thrive on the creativity it yields and the iron-sharpens-iron environment it creates (when dealt with well!). The leadership team who understood these concepts could project a vision that values diversity and attract all kinds of different people. Or, maybe it would just attract a certain kind of people like young people, and then you'd have your own little denomination and fail in your initial goal. I don't know.
Post a Comment