Some time ago I took a long auto mobile trip alone. Knowing that such journeys call for hours in which the only thing to do is listen to whatever radio programming might happen to come in and out of range, I decided to expand my listening options and take along an assortment of musical CDs featuring some of the romantic classics of times gone by.
As I traveled north through New York State, I began listening to my selections and soon realized something: Many love songs from 50 or more years ago at least those I had with me consistently tended to center much more upon the object of love, that is, the particular person one is "in love" with, rather than upon the actual experience of love and its accompanying feelings; which tends to be the focus of contemporary love lyrics.
There was, for example, "The Man I Love," "When I Fall in Love," and "Because of You." Then there were a number of songs whose titles simply consisted of the beloved's name, like "Michelle," "Ramona," and the old classic, "O Danny Boy."
But what do romantic lyrics have to do with Christian worship?
The shift from person-centered to experience-centered lyrics that one observes in romantic music and relation ships has its parallels, it seems to me, when it comes to our relationship with God and how we worship Him. In other words, our public worship these days tends to center more upon the good feelings we experience, or wish to experience in worship, than upon the One we worship.
I am not saying that experiencing ecstasy as we encounter God's love for us is somehow wrong or something about which we must second-guess ourselves the moment we have a positive, emotional feeling as we worship. After all, is there anything greater than experiencing the reality of being loved beyond measure by God, and feeling the responding tide of love flowing back from ourselves to Him? Knowing and experiencing these things is clearly crucial to Christian worship.
The problem comes when critical masses of Christians take on a consumer attitude toward worship. That is, when questions such as, "What's in it for me?" become dominant in "the search for a more meaningful worship experience." Or when someone thinks, "I could get better if I went over there" or "Am I getting all I should from my worship experience?" Or more crassly: "Have I cut the best deal I could by coming to this church?"
When such considerations become dominant, pastors feel pressure to concentrate their focus more upon the congregation's complaints about worship and less upon the Lord being worshiped. Under these circumstances, it's easy to come to the place where our priority is to accommodate the whims of our dissatisfied "customers" than to offer upward a worship pleasing to the God we gather to adore.
Though pastors cannot and must not, of course, ignore congregational concerns, when such questions and attitudes become dominant, then we tend to become susceptible to attitudes and approaches to worship that are so "horizontal" in their emphasis that they may well be hurtful to all of us in the long run.
In thinking about all this, I am convinced that the set of six questions outlining the landscape of William Loveless's cover article, "Public Worship: What's Happening?" (see next page) are very healthy ones for us to consider.
For example, Dr. Loveless's first question, "Did I meet God during worship time?" is definitely more productive and far-reaching than some of the other questions that regulate or dominate our thinking as we attempt to design dynamic worship within our congregations. Even important, frequently asked questions such as, "Will this music or that order of service communicate effectively with our young people?" important as they are, are in serious need of being balanced against more "vertical" questions such as, "When our young people worship with this congregation, do they know that they may in fact encounter God here?"
A tough question to ask and to answer? Of course! But one that at its heart suggests an array of implications and worthwhile issues.
So, when it comes to Christian worship touching, evocative, and poignant as it may be and should be what matters most is the One for whom and to whom it is all presented. It is our call to Him and above all His call to us that must in fact be heard when Christians worship; or why in fact are we worshiping at all? And in the end, what quality of meaning will it all have? While we usually use the word worship as a noun, at its core it is a word of action, a verb, if ever there was one.
