Reading through Worship Evangelismby Sally Morganthaler. Great read. I wanted to comment on the chapter- "Yesterday's Gone."
Morganthaler in this chapter discusses how it is a fallacy in this day (book was written in 1999, but I think still correct) to think the intellectual and supernatural experience are antithetical. Right-brain and left-brain, unite.
An observation I've had for some time is people who like to throw stones at the Emergent Church and post-modern movements are likely ignorant of how modern philosophy has tainted the theological bent they have received. You have those who would pass out a tract, utilize an apology like Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and perhaps like an old theology professor of mine from college-dismiss portions of Old Testament because, "after all, that's just bad science (or psychology)."
Overly objective and rational, tendencies to be defensive intellectually, embrace things like theistic evolution and want Sunday School classes which will teach them how to out-fox unbelievers... but deal with reality, and (hopefully) honor the God-given mandate to love the Lord with their mind. More Christians should.
If you passed out tracts years ago- that's not bad- you were being aware of your mission field (Thank-you humanism and anti-supernaturalism of the Enlightenment). Much of your target thought like that. However; yesterday's gone. We don't need to become post-modern; we need to be aware of post-modern culture and mission field (and realize that modernism does not equal orthodoxy either).
On the other end- Morganthaler points out how people come to church now expecting a spiritual encounter. They expect an encounter with God. As a worship leader, I think: "Great!" and "Oh No!" I want people to come anticipating a move of God- and I expect one by the way- but God is free and the epitome of autonomy. I can't make Him show up, as it were. He's God. He's the one steering this boat. But again- he's faithful. I think He wants to "show up." In fact, I think trying to "get Him to show up" is the wrong way of thinking about it. See more in point one below.
Here is what is so good about this: "The one expectation the majority of people shared was for some kind of encounter with God. Beyond the program, the social interaction, the music, and the message, they wanted to touch God...this desire was born out of a need, a need they believed God alone could fill." - Chuck Smith Jr.
So: Morganthaler spells out two challenges.
One: Getting out of the Way.
As worship leaders, we have to lay aside control issues. At Western Reserve, I've been leading toward this the last month. During the worship set after the message, I'm trying to have more flexibility. That is, I've been telling the band to watch me, I'll lead them through transitions and the like. I'm going to lead with what I'm feeling and sensing from the Spirit. This might seem at first like more control, but think about it- it's actually less. I want to open us up to the Spirit's lead, and my role has to be the one in worship to respond to that. Jason does that with overall leadership and speaking; underneath that I do in my role.
"Let's face it. Too often we as pastors and worship leaders get so busy with our technique and so consumed with how much felt-need information we can dispense, we miss the very felt-need that brings most people through our doors: meeting God. In our penchant for performance, the focus of our services shifts from the divine to ourselves. In our unbridled mimicry of television, we kill the interaction that is absolutely vital to any experience with God. In our obsession with control, in our clock-driven servitude to hyper-scheduled formats, we do not give people a chance to take down their barriers and open up to God's presence. And in our ignorance, we do not give God the holy, silent space in which to do the holy, silent work that only God can do."-Morganthaler
God loves His children and is passionate about the lost. He's relational, not distant. If we would get out of the way, honestly seek after Him, get sin out of our lives, executed justice in our city, and as we grow in the Spirit learn to be aware of who He is... want to talk about "encounters with God?" If we did these things, just think of what could happen. God's free but He's not cheap.
Two: Keeping a Biblical Worldview
This includes the concept of theological balance. For example, I believe Scripture is inerrant. Sounds like a modern philosophical concept. (Although it obviously pre-dates that philosophy) That's fine- I'll hold to it. Don't care if it sounds modern, but I'll be aware that it probably won't be a post-modern seeker's first question. For another example, I believe Scripture is inerrant:) Does this mean that for that to be true everything in Old Testament has to work out rationally, or that I have to de-mythologize miracles of Jesus? I don't think so. Uh-oh- appears to be post-modern. Believing something non-scientific or irrational.
So I can embrace objective truth in somewhat illogical fashion, believing that laws of nature may be suspended for God's work?
Yep.
My point:Let's resist the temptation of extremes. Biblical worldview is not bound by either philosophical orientation. Supernatural experience and propositional reality- "removed from the distorted, closed system of the Enlightenment, but also rooted in theological fact." - Morganthaler
If you're aware philosophically of your demographics- you hold to who you are, and function in a manner which corresponds in how they think. We don't have to start believing in more than one road to God. Orthodoxy does not include relativism. However, understand that experience and environment matter very much. People want to be connected, engaged. Things creative, from lighting in a worship set to graphic branding on a flat-screen tv in the hallway to ordering a worship set to engage the person where they are, then the mind, then the heart - all these things matter.
Western Reserve's "3" discipleship process is an example of this- experience, engage, evolve. So, in the worship "service," it's really about an "experience." God's not your product, but He's the one they are there to see. So- help them see Him.
Experience without truth is like making out after a high school dance. Fun, but you can't build anything legit on that. Like Tozer said, "worship rises and falls out of concept of God." Experience grounded in truth. "Corporate worship is the clearinghouse for theology in the church." We have to get it right there. Truth without experience is like an arranged marriage. Accurate on paper, but what's the point?
That's why- as much as I try to be aware of the target, pursue them where they are, and set the table for experience- I do not view God's presence as worship experience's commodity. That's reductionistic, anti-worship, and insulting, but on a pragmatic level the very temptation.
Though He's not the commodity, He is the very thing (One) we are there for. If an encounter with God, firmly grounded in truth doesn't happen, then what's the point? An intimate relationship (and in any relationship, persons "experience" each other) with God rooted in dying to self, surrender to Him, grounded in sold theology from His' Word- that's worship.
Dynamic. Alive. Legit. Relevant. Aware. Effective. As a worship leader, it's the goal.
To sum all this up in a paraphrase: God is looking for worshipers. Those who worship Him must do so in Spirit and in Truth.
