Praise the Lord. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.
Psalms 149:1 NIV
I love the various worship traditions, even ones that are not regularly in my life. I like the contemporary worship band, and I love the pipe organ hymn. I love African drums too, and medieval chanting.
But I don't think our ideas are big enough. We conceive of "church" in a model of how it has always been because that is how we have only known it. Yes, there is power in the old forms and traditions, and there is a lot of safety - it is not by accident the building is called a "sanctuary". But Safety can also become constraints, and I am hearing many who feel those constraints are stifling the Spirit's full expression. Me too.
What makes worship 'holy'?
My thinking is that the forms of worship and 'doing church' are not what is sacred, the methods are not sanctified. It is the heart of the people which make a thing/action/attitude holy. It is when we apply God's love to something that it becomes holy.
We have Truth only by the tail; God is WAY Bigger than we have any idea about. A Bible writer said it, "Now we only see through a mirror darkly." I interpret that as, "What we think we see of reality, God, etc, is cloudy at best, and backwards! The reality is WAY cooler!"
For 2000 years the church has used a 'model' they inherited from Jewish synagogues of Jesus' day. That model was adopted by the Jews when the temple was destroyed and they were taken into exile - but they kept it when they returned. Go back to Nehemiah, back to David, back to Moses, back to Abraham. They all had valid ways of 'doing church' (or their equivalents). We might say that community religious practice has 'evolved' and I would have to say that the church is still evolving. Some might say they are all valid alternatives. I agree, and let's make some more alternatives. All good!!
The grape vine (or roses, etc.) only bears fruit on new growth, but the new growth certainly needs the wood for its life.
I think it is fine, in fact a good idea, to re-contextualize the traditions. Keep the meaning and update the delivery! The prophet said, "it is NOT about circumcision of the flesh, but of the heart! Not about burnt offerings, but of of honest soulful praise!"
Jesus preached to shepherds and farmers using sheep, vineyards and fig trees as metaphors. I am CONVINCED that today Jesus would use metaphors of video games and corporate ROI - how many Americans have even seen a fig tree? Would Jesus say we should "walk the extra mile?" or "forgive 7 times 7?" I think he might say, "your sin is as far away as a billion billion light-years, obliterated by atom-splitting explosions and buried in a worm-hole of God's forgetfulness."
Jesus is US today and we are tasked with delivering the message of God's love to Today. I am not saying we need to change everything just for the sake of something new, but DEFINITELY we have to create something new - sing (dance, paint, launch, sew, plumb, cook, program) that new song.
We need to look for new expressions of God's love each day, finding an elegant faith in the beauty of the past and the joy of the future.
©2009 David Loofbourrow All Rights Reserved
