I have been doing a little research on a ¨non-movement¨ movement called the Emergent Church and I after talking to my friend and fellow questioner, Kallie, here is the begining of my exposition on the topic of worship within the postmodern culture.
First, the point of worship is not to connect with God. The point of worship is adoration, worship. This being said, I do believe that a common effect of worship is a feeling of connection with the God of the universe. But this is a secondary matter. The motivation and goal of worship is to bring praise to a worthy being. Romans 12:1, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. (NASB) I am a firm believer it is only with a right view of the Gospel that we can offer worship to God. It is in view of those mercies that God has extended to us through His son, that we have the ability and the privilege of bringing our lives to Him in worship.
I was thinking about the churches I know. Trinity, with hymns and light guitar to spice things up. Conerstone, with upbeat, conteporary, make-you-wanna-clap-your-hands music. The Calvary SLO, with heart gripping songs and surfer atmosphere. And then there is Crusade at Poly, which offers almost like a concert of great music, dimmed lights, and powerful songs. Here is my question: which one is right? My answer: which one is focused on giving adoration to God? Whether a church sings hymns or rock songs, does not matter. What matters is the intent. This sounds like old news, but now let us apply this to the postmodern mindset that seems to appeal to my generation so much.
IF candles are lit and the lights dimmed and the music is slowed down to a mediatation pace, cool. But if the purpose of this, as I believe much of the postmoderns would admit, is to connect to God, ummmm... nope. That is not worship. That is man centered worship. That is taking an action that is supposed to focus on the Glory of God, and making it a self centered experience. Do you feel the presence of God when you worship? If yes, cool. If no, that is okay. Worship is not about you you finding an outlet to experience God. That outlet is already provided through the Holy Spirit. Now, I will admit that in those times when I am allowing the Holy Spirit to move in my heart, I desire to worship. the more we know about God, the more we have to worship.
There is a danger in the postmodern mindset. While the postmodern mind would say that we cannot know anything completly (correct me if I am wrong), the Bible says that we know enough about God to have a relationship with Him. That relationship leads to adoration (as any beautiful things deserves some adoration, how much more the God of the creation). And as stated earlier, adoration is worship.
There is an emotional element to relationships, but there should also be some element of rationality. You can be infactuated with a celebrity (like me and Colin Firth) BUT you cannot have a relationship without knowing the person. We cannot view God as this completely emotional experience. He is more than that. Yes, there is a flood of emotions that come when you realize the Gospel is for your life, but you must know the Gospel first.
So how does the postmodern culture fit into the church? The same way the modern church fit into the church. It may be a perspective of the Truth, a way of experiencing the Truth, but it is nt the Truth itself. Just because we think from a postmodern perspective, does not mean that the Gospel is any different than the Bible says it is. The Bible is the Word of God, telling the world about His relationship with His people. THAT doesn´t change. If an artist paints an abstract mural in adoration of God, amen. If a punk song brings God glory, amen. If candles are lit at a service as a action to reflect the beauty of God, amen. But if we are ¨setting the mood¨ so we can reach some connection with God, we are missing the message of the Gospel. He is here, and He is worthy to be praised. Amen
First, the point of worship is not to connect with God. The point of worship is adoration, worship. This being said, I do believe that a common effect of worship is a feeling of connection with the God of the universe. But this is a secondary matter. The motivation and goal of worship is to bring praise to a worthy being. Romans 12:1, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. (NASB) I am a firm believer it is only with a right view of the Gospel that we can offer worship to God. It is in view of those mercies that God has extended to us through His son, that we have the ability and the privilege of bringing our lives to Him in worship.
I was thinking about the churches I know. Trinity, with hymns and light guitar to spice things up. Conerstone, with upbeat, conteporary, make-you-wanna-clap-your-hands music. The Calvary SLO, with heart gripping songs and surfer atmosphere. And then there is Crusade at Poly, which offers almost like a concert of great music, dimmed lights, and powerful songs. Here is my question: which one is right? My answer: which one is focused on giving adoration to God? Whether a church sings hymns or rock songs, does not matter. What matters is the intent. This sounds like old news, but now let us apply this to the postmodern mindset that seems to appeal to my generation so much.
IF candles are lit and the lights dimmed and the music is slowed down to a mediatation pace, cool. But if the purpose of this, as I believe much of the postmoderns would admit, is to connect to God, ummmm... nope. That is not worship. That is man centered worship. That is taking an action that is supposed to focus on the Glory of God, and making it a self centered experience. Do you feel the presence of God when you worship? If yes, cool. If no, that is okay. Worship is not about you you finding an outlet to experience God. That outlet is already provided through the Holy Spirit. Now, I will admit that in those times when I am allowing the Holy Spirit to move in my heart, I desire to worship. the more we know about God, the more we have to worship.
There is a danger in the postmodern mindset. While the postmodern mind would say that we cannot know anything completly (correct me if I am wrong), the Bible says that we know enough about God to have a relationship with Him. That relationship leads to adoration (as any beautiful things deserves some adoration, how much more the God of the creation). And as stated earlier, adoration is worship.
There is an emotional element to relationships, but there should also be some element of rationality. You can be infactuated with a celebrity (like me and Colin Firth) BUT you cannot have a relationship without knowing the person. We cannot view God as this completely emotional experience. He is more than that. Yes, there is a flood of emotions that come when you realize the Gospel is for your life, but you must know the Gospel first.
So how does the postmodern culture fit into the church? The same way the modern church fit into the church. It may be a perspective of the Truth, a way of experiencing the Truth, but it is nt the Truth itself. Just because we think from a postmodern perspective, does not mean that the Gospel is any different than the Bible says it is. The Bible is the Word of God, telling the world about His relationship with His people. THAT doesn´t change. If an artist paints an abstract mural in adoration of God, amen. If a punk song brings God glory, amen. If candles are lit at a service as a action to reflect the beauty of God, amen. But if we are ¨setting the mood¨ so we can reach some connection with God, we are missing the message of the Gospel. He is here, and He is worthy to be praised. Amen
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