GodReflection: Conflict Zone.
As we continue to discover The Way of Jesus and meditate on how it relates to our Twenty-First Century discipleship, we constantly find ourselves in the uncomfortable Conflict Zone. Our church worship time is no exception.
From cover to cover our Bibles overflow with commands and stories concerning worship. We find The Book of Psalms, the Song Book of our Bible, filled with songs of Worship For God’s Praise. However, the Psalms Song Book is no longer our hymnal.
During my lifetime I’ve may have used many different song books in my worship. I have a copy of most of those hymnals. What a rich treasure still in my possession! Yet today our worship time places us once again in the Conflict Zone.
Certainly, since the nineteenth century, many of our hymnals include musical scores and shape notes written to aid a fast-paced worship service. In many of our churches we are led in worship with worship teams and choirs.
In larger congregations of my own church, Hymnal now decorates the backs of our auditorium’s seats, rather than being used to lead us through the rich treasures found in The Book of Psalms.
Our modern seamless worship directed by professionals makes it easy for the focus to shift from Congregational Worship For God’s Praise To Worship For Our Enjoyment.
So we must ask the question, “In our Twenty-First Century worship, should it be Congregational Worship For God’s Praise Or Can It Be Worship For Our Enjoyment?
How about a “both and”? Perhaps we can choose based upon our current situation. Does it have to be an “either or” possibility? Once more we entered the Conflict Zone. Let’s further explore for a moment.
God who created us knows us well. Let’s trust his love for us. Since he loves us completely and dwells with us every nano second, surely, he understands the times when we are so happy for what he has done to save us; that we can’t help but sing from the joy that explodes in our hearts.
When we come across passages of Scripture found in our New Testament like those we can read from Paul to the Ephesian church where he writes, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19).
Or when James, the brother of Jesus, pens his letter to the churches, Is Anyone Happy? Let them sing songs of praise (James 5:13). Doesn’t it sound like our Congregational Worship Can Be Both For God’s Praise AND For Our Enjoyment?
I would love to hear your thoughts. What do you think? Let me hear from you.
Stay tuned.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection: Congregational Worship Is It For God’s Praise Or Is It For Our Enjoyment?
God Reflection 