Worship

I wrote a review of a book that outlines six different methods or styles of Worship.

Here it is:

John Piper argues for the value and importance of worship by declaring worship is the ultimate goal of the church, over and above missions. He reasons, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” This puts in perspective how vital worship is to the Christian individually and corporately with the body of Christ. A believer shares the news of Jesus Christ not to win arguments or convince unbelievers of its truth, but to make worshipers out of people. The goal of a holy life is so others will see the truth and beauty of God and be worshipers of Him. In Exploring the Worship Spectrum there are six views explaining, defending, and critiquing the theological and historical basis for different styles of worship.

The temptation with this author was to latch onto Harold Best and his arguments because his thinking was sound and the denomination affiliation of Christian and Missionary Alliance is the same. However the experience of traditional worship is unfulfilling and lacks a perception of spontaneity that assumes interaction with the Holy Spirit. With that said, it would logically seem the charismatic worship stream would be most fulfilling with the third wave of the Holy Spirit as the one that is most relatable; however, even though there is a focus on directly worshiping God with Charismatic worship as well as a restoration of the Holy Spirit to church services , there is too much spontaneity in charismatic worship services. The lack of structure , and experientially speaking, the tendency for churches to be full of granola Christians, causes a stereotypical irrelevance of the church in ministering to the needs of the community at large.

The view of Blended Worship is most appreciated and engagement in this worship style connects most for this author. After spending a few formative years at the Moody Bible Institute, it was heard over and over to be a balanced Christian. Perhaps this is why blended worship, combining elements of traditional worship as well as contemporary worship , is so appealing. Webber is hitting on a major point as he states what is lacking in traditional worship-the experience of God during a service, while the contemporary worship service misses substance.

As Webber dissects blended worship to expose the three aspects of content, structure and style there is attractiveness to this; a balance that seems lacking in other worship styles. Of course as Exploring the Worship Spectrum it could not be helped but notice there is an element of all the styles intermingling, but this Blended Worship seems the most intentional. It is grudgingly to critique Harold Best as he argues against Blended Worship as it tempts congregations into a “McDonald’s” mindset. Perhaps this is not such a bad thing to want to know what the service will “taste like” simply because of the power behind worship. One is able to trust God to do the unexpected. The traditions become a source of stability while the contemporary allows for spontaneity. Worship is not a show , it is participatory; the worshipper is able to engage more deeply because they are not forced to stand warily by critiquing the content, structure or style, it is familiar to them.

There is a frustration with Don Williams critique of Blended Worship, not that Blended Worship is above being critiqued, but his argument is so tragically flawed. He argues against Blended Worship because he does not like the structure (which has come to be associated with Charismatic worship) and implies structure is not biblical because he does not see it evidenced in the New Testament. Much of this was because there were no church services at each corner in all the cities; most of the early church worship was done in homes or small groups out of doors. The strategy was for Paul to go to synagogues and evangelize the Jewish congregation before looking for small homes or groups of Christians. There is a structure to how the early church ministered and worshiped in the New Testament but unfortunately many people fail to realize this. Secondly, his conclusion that the lack of structure that he assumes is lacking in the New Testament but argued for in Blended Worship puts the worshiper under the law is preposterous. Even in ancient times those who were actually under the law were still able to worship God (check out the book of Psalms). It is irresponsible to accuse a worshiper as law based simply because they find a modicum of structure appealing in their worship service. God’s grace is bigger than this. Thirdly, having even a moderate amount of structure can be done in obedience to Scripture. (1 Corinthians 14:40) God’s grace flows to those who choose to obey Him, especially when they mess up. (Romans 5 & 6)

In today’s culture there are enough people who desire a church that can connect them with their traditional roots as well as a generation unfamiliar with those structures. Blended worship can provide a place where the past is honored but not idolized as well as providing a place for a fresh experience with contemporary artistic forms to be utilized in expressing praise and adoration to the God who has seen more worship styles and forms than any of us.