Wednesday, August 25, 2004 AD
The sacrament of "praise and worship"
Loving and blundering Lutheran couple Rob and Devona have an interesting site which I'll be blogrolling next time I get round to updating my sidebar. An opportunity for us all to eavesdrop on their discussions ranging from theology to possible names for their imminent baby. I look forward to future posts on whose turn it is to do the washing up and why on earth we have to spend Sunday lunch at your mother's, again :-)
In a recent post, Rob comments on his experiences of modern praise and worship services, from his time in church bands. "The idea's been in my head," he writes, "that these modern worship services - though often well intentioned - often become replacement 'sacraments' to their participants."
I'm sure he's right (indeed, as something of an "ex-charismatic" myself, I can confirm it from personal experience), and it's not only Lutherans who have noticed - and regretted - this tendency. Sydney-based (and predominantly Anglican) evangelical magazine The Briefing has carried a number of articles on this topic in recent years. On the whole, I dislike and disagree with the Sydney approach to worship, with its reduction of church services merely to "gatherings" for mutual edification and encouragement, rather than seeing worship as being primarily God's act as He distributes His grace in and through the Word and Sacraments. Actually, "dislike and disagree" is an understatement: witnessing the Sydney approach to "worship" in a local Anglican church was what finally convinced me I no longer had a home within Anglicanism (as I've described previously).
However, The Briefing has made some good points about the "worship as sacrament" approach of many charismatics and evangelicals today. In his article "Confessions of a teenage praise junkie", Tony Payne writes:
In another article from The Briefing's archives, John Dickson writes on "Worship and the Digeridoo". The use of the digeridoo by Aborigines reflects the pagan approach to worship in which "the worship activities of the faithful create the enviroment in which the divine presence (whether for blessing or curse) is roused". This is the type of "worship" practised by the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, and contrasts with Elijah's behaviour, which Dickson describes as being almost a form of "anti-worship", as Elijah "tries to create an atmosphere which is non-conducive to divine intervention (for example, pouring water over the sacrifice)" and then uses only "a short prayer of dependence" which is based on Yahweh's prior faithfulness, rather than being "an attempt to rouse God to act". As Dickson points out:
In a recent post, Rob comments on his experiences of modern praise and worship services, from his time in church bands. "The idea's been in my head," he writes, "that these modern worship services - though often well intentioned - often become replacement 'sacraments' to their participants."
I'm sure he's right (indeed, as something of an "ex-charismatic" myself, I can confirm it from personal experience), and it's not only Lutherans who have noticed - and regretted - this tendency. Sydney-based (and predominantly Anglican) evangelical magazine The Briefing has carried a number of articles on this topic in recent years. On the whole, I dislike and disagree with the Sydney approach to worship, with its reduction of church services merely to "gatherings" for mutual edification and encouragement, rather than seeing worship as being primarily God's act as He distributes His grace in and through the Word and Sacraments. Actually, "dislike and disagree" is an understatement: witnessing the Sydney approach to "worship" in a local Anglican church was what finally convinced me I no longer had a home within Anglicanism (as I've described previously).
However, The Briefing has made some good points about the "worship as sacrament" approach of many charismatics and evangelicals today. In his article "Confessions of a teenage praise junkie", Tony Payne writes:
For many modern Christians, "praise" is a personal encounter with God, usually strongly emotional in its tone, in which we speak or sing to him and tell him how much we love him, and honour him ... It is usually uttered in the same breath as "worship" - as in the ubiquitous "praise and worship" albums that litter Christian bookstores and car cassette cases. It is an experience of communion with God, where God's presence is especially encountered.In fact, Payne points out, the word "praise" has a more mundane and ordinary meaning, whether in Hebrew or English. "Praise" is what we do when "we see a friend doing something excellent, or notice a fine quality or attribute in his character". We may express our approval and admiration of that friend, both to him personally and to other people. In other words, we "praise" him. As Payne continues:
Praise is not making beautiful music for God. It is not a personal, mystical encounter with God. Nor do we praise God by saying, "We praise you God, thank you Jesus, Hallelujah".The modern charismatic/evangelical approach is summed up in the words to a Keith Green song which Tony Payne quotes in his article: "When I hear the praises start, I see no stain upon you...". As Payne points out, "this salvation-by-praise is a little dodgy theologically", and really what Green should have sung is, "Because there is no stain on you, I want to hear the praises start".
Praise is advertising. It is remembering and declaring who God is and what he has done. It takes place in his hearing, but it is done by telling others. It is boasting about God, speaking well of him, broadcasting his virtues and excellences. It springs from salvation, from what he has done for us. Praise is the testimony of the redeemed.
In another article from The Briefing's archives, John Dickson writes on "Worship and the Digeridoo". The use of the digeridoo by Aborigines reflects the pagan approach to worship in which "the worship activities of the faithful create the enviroment in which the divine presence (whether for blessing or curse) is roused". This is the type of "worship" practised by the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, and contrasts with Elijah's behaviour, which Dickson describes as being almost a form of "anti-worship", as Elijah "tries to create an atmosphere which is non-conducive to divine intervention (for example, pouring water over the sacrifice)" and then uses only "a short prayer of dependence" which is based on Yahweh's prior faithfulness, rather than being "an attempt to rouse God to act". As Dickson points out:
This contrast between Israel’s worship and that of her neighbours can be simply stated in an antithesis: For Israel, worship was the response to God’s action, not the means of rousing it. (emphasis original)Unfortunately, there is a tendency now to revert to an approach to "praise and worship" which is more reminiscent of paganism than of biblical religion. At its most extreme form, this is found in the "Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare" movement, with its promotion of "praise and worship" as a means by which God "binds up" demonic powers in the surrounding neighbourhood. But, more broadly, there is:
...the popular belief that praise and worship singing releases the presence of God in a Christian meeting. A Christian singer told me a few weeks ago that they thought that praise music should be played at the end of Christian meetings because it "kept the presence of God in the building" ... In a multitude of different forms, the view that praise singing brings God’s presence to a meeting, is one of the most solidly believed principles of praise...As Dickson concludes:
Such a view has more in common with paganism than with Christianity. There is nothing in the Bible that would suggest that God is any more present with his people after one hour of heartfelt praise singing than when the meeting began. To think otherwise is dangerously close to what I read about the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18.
The view that our 'praise and worship' rouses God to act in some way is attractive because it gives us a part to play in the divine activity. It makes us feel as though we are able to create the atmosphere which is conducive to God’s blessing - that my singing, praying and praising somehow invites God’s presence. Attractive as it might be to some, I hope it is obvious that this way of thinking cuts right across the gospel of sheer grace.At its heart, the "worship as sacrament" approach is an expression of the theology of glory. One key aspect of the theology of glory is this desire to ascend to God, to have a direct unmediated encounter with Him. In the theology of the cross, by contrast, it is God who descends to us, as He brings His grace to us, hidden under apparently worthless and despicable forms - a baby in a feeding trough; a man dying in agony; water in a font; bread and wine on an altar; a man speaking in a pulpit - and discerned only by faith, rather than by sight or "experience".
