Recently a friend asked me which issues had stirred the most controversy in Ministry since I became editor some two and a half years ago. This was a question that needed little reflection on my part. By far the two issues that have stirred up the most debate have been the ordination of women and alternative worship styles, or more precisely, music in worship.
Since the Utrecht decision against women's ordination, we have purposely not published any articles dealing explicitly with the question of women's ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Certain articles have cited the issue of women's ordination as an example in their treatment of other critical issues (see for example the article on church unity by Walter Douglas, "Unity in Diversity in Christ" in the August 1997 Ministry).
When it comes to the question of worship styles and music, we have of course been more direct. It is interesting to see how, after our September 1996 issue dealing with music in worship, we received a flood of letters (see Letters, January 1997), most of which were negative toward the more contemporary worship emphasis we presented in that issue. Then again after publishing the single feature article by Ralph Wood last February, "The Fallacy of 'Getting Something Out of Worship' " which advocated a more conservative form of worship and music, we have received another influx of correspondence (see page 3). There is much we could say about the letters and about our differences, but I'd like to look at some underlying matters which present themselves as we assess our positions and differences in the arena of worship.
There must be readers with good memories who have asked, "How could Ministry publish both the more contemporary worship emphasis of September '96 and the traditional worship emphasis of Wood's February article? Is this ecclesiastical schizophrenia or more likely, political expediency bathed in a mushy attempt to embrace contradictory biases?" I hope an answer to that question will present itself below.
As I look at the Church and its worship and especially as I think of the variety of local congregations which make up the Seventh-day Adventist Church---coming literally from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people---I ask myself, Where is the point of contact and constructive togetherness in it all? Due to massive revolutions in technology, communications, and travel, there are new constituencies forming constantly. These people groups (such as the by now proverbial boomers and busters identified in some first world countries) take on very specific identities along with closely defined tastes and convictions when it comes to matters such as worship and worship music. A pervasive post modernist orientation further complicates the matter and confuses the issues of right and wrong, which begin to surface in our discussions of these things. Again, what if anything may we consult in order to find some concerted direction as we search out ways of worshiping and of easing our differences?
As I think about this I see the tremendous need to get back to the absolute basics of Christian worship. In short, in so many congregations and corporate church situations, whether we travel the more traditional or the more contemporary track, the word worship may truly be said to have become an oxymoron. In other words, in these situations the actual worship of God is all but forgotten in the desire to be politically correct within the prevailing climate of our particular congregation (contemporary or traditional). These horizontal concerns dominate our worship theology and planning, until we speak of a "worship experience" almost exclusive of the matter of actually worshiping God. Worship tastes and customs, important as they most certainly are, rather than the worship of God Himself, have become our dominant concerns. The question of who likes what or who will be attracted by what crucial questions outweigh the questions of who God is, what He is like, and how He may receive our sacrifices of praise.
I do hope I would be among the last to abandon the crucial matter of the subjective, experiential or horizontal aspects of worship, allowing them to be lost in some futile cerebral "objective" ideal. But it does seem almost self evident that we have gone a long way in the opposite direction. That is, we have sacrificed the fabulous, objective realities of the personality, characteristics, and definitive persona of God on the altar of our own parochial concerns, whether they be cultural, social, or generational. The kicker is that this tends to be true whether we are more traditional or more contemporary in our worship alignment. Hence our rather heavy disdain for one another's preferences. Hence our prides and prejudices, our quarrels and fights.
The October 6 ('97) cover of Christianity Today is a winner. A young woman looks out from the cover with an incredulous, surprised, even serendipitous look on her face. Her pose seems quite unselfconscious. Above her head is the title of that month's issue of the magazine: "Missing God at Church?" That's a penetrating question and it applies as much to me as it does to traditionalists or those of a more contemporary outlook.
Whether we consider ourselves or one another to be too dead or too alive in worship, I believe the starting point is not who wants what, or even who is more attracted by what. Important as those concerns are, the bedrock question is, who is God and how may we please Him whom we adore and seek to serve. Simply, How do we actually worship Him authentically? To do this is not a simplistic task that takes place with some effortless flourish. It takes thought and study and sweat and prayer and application and a primeval creativity that is inspired by the One whom we purpose to worship.
I am ever moved and disciplined by the colossal meaning behind what seems to me to be the heart of what Jesus said about worship as He spoke to the woman at Jacob's well: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [subjective] and truth [objective], for such the Father seeks to worship him" (John 4:23, RSV).
