We have just completed three days of incredible teaching by Rev. Tan Tiong Ann. His immense knowledge and intelligence, forged from a lifetime of Calvinistic studies, made itself apparent during the short time he was with us. In all honesty, it was a bit much for my feeble mind to bear. However, one idea stuck with me: Is our worship regressing? Aw man, another reflection on worship. Bear with me please.
Rev. Tan spoke at length about the style of worship practiced in the old Catholic church, which was a largely participation-free Mass, involving highly practiced rituals and a deep liturgy, drawn from their theological framework, and the theology of the many Doctors of the Church that came before. Only the qualified among the clergy were allowed to conduct this Mass, and the laypeople were forbidden to participate in this ritual. To observe this ritual alone was devotion and worship. I hope you have seen the similarities this style of worship shares with some of our modern worship services. Think with me to a modern contemporary worship service. To highlight the similarities better, I shall draw on your understanding of a megachurch service. I am not drawing fire to our Charismatic and Pentecostal brothers and sisters. Our service too shares the same similarities, only to different degrees.
The megachurch service often involves a highly practiced worship set. The service team on stage is a professional outfit, and barriers to enter this service team are high, both in skills and spirituality. Besides the song set, often a highlight for many churchgoers, there is a highly charged message, carefully chosen, crafted and presented with a passion that burns brighter than a million suns, in order to deliver the strongest spiritual and emotional ‘punch’ possible. For the average churchgoer, participation is to sing and dance along, and agree with the preacher with a resounding ‘AMEN!’ They participate from the sidelines. ‘Feeling it’ from the professionally presented service is worship.
As much as we may try to deny it, our church is also probably like that, perhaps lacking professionalism and emotional effect, but still similar in execution. That is why we still say things like: “That was a horrible worship, the sound was terrible.” Or things like: “That speaker was so invigorating! Such splendid worship.” I’m not done with the medieval Catholics though. Another issue that plagued the church at that time was a lack of Bible study. The layperson was not held accountable for his or her study of God’s word. It was an act reserved for the clergy, and eminent theologians were respected much like the scientists of today, being bearers of a profound knowledge, and keepers of the secrets to the universe.
Rev. Tan highlighted that because of this problem, the laity was left to interpret the Mass on their own. This was where much of Christian mysticism came from. Ideas like ‘carrying a cross with you can ward off demons and curses’ or ‘holy communion is necessary to invoke God’s presence’ and other superstitions come from this lack of theological understanding. Theological training has increased manifold in the post-Reformation era, but the same problems persist in different forms.
We find it hard to worship God and ‘enter into God’s presence’ when the music is bad or the sermon is too difficult for us. We don’t understand why we have prayer, or responsive reading, we simply participate. These elements are what make ‘worship’. As much as we should critique the theology in the sermons we hear, it is easier to just ‘take it all in’. After all, the pastor went to theological college! He can be trusted. Some pastors speak so well that we are taken in anyway, whether it is really good theology, or simply pop psychology mixed into a motivational speech disguised as a sermon. We interpret our service based on our feelings, and other liturgies become invalid because they are not ‘anointed’, or are too ‘traditional’.
Our worship has regressed. Do we really understand why we worship? Are we simply going to repeat the mistakes of the previous generation of believers? There is a need to involve the congregation more in the worship service. In order to worship as a corporate body, we need to take the responsibility of keeping the Law in our hearts seriously. Every believer should know why he or she worships God in a specific way. We all can participate in the service, and understanding the elements of each section of our liturgy, as well as the spirit of why we sing, or why we worship God with the preaching of His Word, will allow us to truly participate, not only in action, but in Spirit and in Truth.
Matthew Saw
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