Audio for the following may be found here. You may also listen to podcast episodes here.
INTENTIONALITY IN WORSHIP
Intentionality is surely required for worship to be pleasing to the Lord. Without intentionality, churches risk human motivation, selfish desires, and false teachings through worship practices. Nevertheless, for an intentional approach to occur, an intentional method must be employed. Even in a free tradition, a useful method is liturgy. Whether utilizing a historic liturgy or a liturgy adapted for contextual reasons, liturgy is the link between intentionality and planning. Despite humanity’s vast imperfections, God’s standards are matchless in demanding perfection. Christians, therefore, should strive for excellence in all worship practices; what is lacking is filled by the power of the Holy Spirit and the mediation of Jesus Christ. On a biblical, Spirit-led, and historic basis, liturgy provides an avenue for local churches to rightly declare the full counsel of God in an intentional manner.
Humanity
Is Not Perfect, but God Is
A
common defense to inaccuracies in worship is the notion of humanity’s
imperfection. Certainly, no perfect human has ever existed except Jesus; yet,
humanity’s imperfection is made both positionally and actually perfect in
Christ. A local church’s excuses regarding theological and doxological
inaccuracies then are moot points, for although humanity is not perfect, God
is. Imperfection is not an acceptable excuse to neglect excellence. Liturgy is
beneficial in that the tool provides excellence by utilizing tested and tried
methods and resources for God’s people to rightly worship. One who worships God
in a prepared manner is less likely to digress from the righteous standards of
which the Lord is worthy.
Paul
says, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know
what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what
is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the
saints according to the will of God” (Rom 8:26-27). The Apostle is not
suggesting that anything God’s people offer is acceptable but that despite
humanity’s required best efforts, imperfection is inevitable so God the Spirit
intervenes and helps the church with a presentable offering to the Lord.
Unfortunately,
spontaneity seems to (wrongly) have a corner on the Holy Spirit; yet, the Holy
Spirit works through planning and organization as well. The Holy Spirit has
certainly been involved in the work of liturgy. Through the church’s centuries
of efforts, tools and resources have been developed under the leadership of the
Holy Spirit so that God’s people may rightly worship him without concern of
theological inaccuracies and even heresies. In my experience, humanity’s
imperfection often becomes an excuse to be flippant in the approach to worship
or to at least dismiss the responsibility of excellence. God demands
excellence; any imperfections in his people’s attempts at excellence is
mediated by the Holy Spirit into an acceptable offering. Christian worship
should be intentional in all facets; liturgy is intentional and is, thus, a
tool for God’s people (even those in free traditions) to worship properly. If
daily occurrences such as legal matters, public ceremonies, and academic
pursuits reveal more concern from believers than the worship of God by way of
preparation and intentionality, there could be an indication of idolatry. Liturgy
allows for an intentional method to ensure right doxology.
While semantics seem
miniscule to many, every word and every action in worship matters and
inherently possesses the role of teaching the people of God. Therefore,
everything must be intentional and purposeful. Nonetheless, humanity is
imperfect so perfect worship does not exist except that it is employed in the
power of the Holy Spirit, which implies great care and work in crafting worship
dialogues rather than flippantly employing an unplanned service of worship
replete with theological and doxological inaccuracies. God’s people hold a
great responsibility in intentionally worshiping the creator. Anything missed
then is transformed by the Holy Spirit. To dismiss the responsibility of
intentionality, however, is to dismiss God’s requirements for worshiping him in
spirit and truth (John 4:24).
Humanity is certainly imperfect; yet, God is perfect and receives a perfect sacrifice from his people in the power of the Holy Spirit. Liturgy has been tested and tried by the church for centuries and has been guided by the Holy Spirit so that the people of God today may rightly craft an intentional dialogue between the body and the creator.
Intentionality
Requires a Plan
It
is not intended here to criticize spontaneity in worship, for surely, the Holy
Spirit works through spontaneous moments; yet, planning is a necessity for the
structure God demands. Perhaps, spontaneity should be employed within the
bounds of pre-planning. If the Lord sovereignly instructs leaders and his
people to deviate from a plan, obedience is necessary; yet, God’s work is not
absent from planning. In fact, planning is necessary for intentionality.
Liturgy helps guide the planning process so that the full counsel of God is
rightly declared. Additionally, planning affords God people to be proactive
rather than reactive and certainly does not detract from a free expression of
worship but enhances it. For the church to experience the benefit of
intentionality in liturgy, the guide for planning through its use should be
considered and utilized.
Even
in planning, the Holy Spirit leads. Paul instructs believers to be orderly in
their worship practices (1 Cor 14:26-40). The importance of organization,
therefore, should not be diminished. A false but common notion is that too much
structure disallows the Holy Spirit’s leadership in worship. What should be
considered, however, is not only how the Spirit leads in spontaneity but how he
leads in planning. Historic liturgy is not the result of Spiritless structure
but rather centuries of trial, testing, and prayer, i.e. historic liturgies
have been led and proven by the leadership of the Holy Spirit. To fully
experience liturgy’s benefit of intentionality, even free churches should
understand the importance of planning. Planning does not dismiss the leadership
of the Holy Spirit but rather connects to it.
Moreover,
planning is proactive rather than reactive. The word of God is relevant to the
people of God no matter the season of life. Thus, declaring God’s full counsel
and not deviating from its message will always help the church. Certainly, it
is acceptable to modify worship plans as they relate to current events in the
body of Christ; yet, nothing should ever distract from the message God has
already given through Scripture. Liturgy is designed to declare the story of
God without deviation. If current events distract from the word of God, it
would be correct to consider such events as a form of idolatry. Liturgy,
however, is proactive in declaring the full counsel of God rather the reactive
by trying to adapt God’s message to current events. Since God’s word is always
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Tim
3:16), relevance is not an issue; God’s people should conform their lives
around Scripture rather than feebly attempting to conform Scripture around
their lives, i.e. the church is subject to God’s word, not God’s word subject
to the church. Liturgy affords the church a method for proactivity.
Contrary
to what might seem, planning does not detract from a free expression of worship
but enhances it. Both free and liturgical traditions have much to learn from
each other. Liturgical traditions would benefit from the fluidity that exists
in many free churches while free traditions would benefit from the purposeful
declaration of God’s story through planning. There surely must exist a
middle-ground between fluidity and rigidity that embraces the Holy Spirit’s
leadership and the necessary structure liturgy brings to Christian worship.
Right worship is employed in spirit and truth; yet, right worship also includes
structure. It would be advantageous for free traditions to continue with a
fluid approach to worship but to do so within the bounds of Spirit-led planning
through liturgy. Liturgy is not designed without consideration of local
churches or current events. To the contrary, liturgy is designed to be modified
and adapted as necessary while still declaring the ever-relevant and
life-changing story of God through Scripture.
Since
intentionality is a benefit of liturgy, to experience such a benefit, church
leaders should seriously consider their responsibility to plan. Intentionality
requires a plan; liturgy is the most tried and true method for worship planning
that ensures right theology and right doxology. Orderly worship should not be
diminished but should be the parameters around which the Holy Spirit works and
speaks to his people. Liturgy subsists as a tool and a guide for such Holy
Spirit-led functions to occur.
Liturgy
Is the Plan Linked to Intentionality
Since
intentionality is telling of one’s (or a local church’s) view on worship and
since planning is necessary to achieve the highest standards possible in
Christian worship, liturgy is the link between the two. Liturgy, whether a
historic liturgy or a localized and customized liturgy for a specific context,
offers the local church a way to declare God’s story free of inaccuracies,
misinterpretations, and mis-happenings, i.e. mistakes. Therefore, to properly
plan and to properly experience the benefit of intentionality, liturgy should
be embraced rather than dismissed. On a threefold basis, liturgy is right and
useful for declaring the fullness of God. Liturgy contains a biblical basis, a Spirit-led
basis, and a tested basis. Local churches would find it advantageous then to
utilize some form of liturgy.
First,
liturgy contains a biblical basis. Regarding historic Christian liturgies,[1] one common goal is to take
believers on a journey through the entirety of Scripture. The RCL, for example
(as mentioned already), takes a local church through the Bible during a
three-year course of time. Liturgy should be understood as derived from
Scripture. Liturgical churches, therefore, are not unbiblical in their approach
to Scripture but rather exercise worship practices that are, in fact, replete
with Scripture.[2]
Since worship should be biblically-based, God’s people may experience the
benefit of intentionality by employing liturgy, which is, by its nature,
biblically-based.
Second,
liturgy contains a Spirit-led basis. As already referenced, the leadership of
the Holy Spirit is not limited to spontaneity but instead includes all facets
of leadership. Moreover, I contend that the Holy Spirit’s leadership most often
comes through planning. For centuries, the same Holy Spirit that guides
Christians today guided the church and her leaders in crafting worship
dialogues that declare the full counsel of God. Thus, liturgy has been led by
the Holy Spirit for centuries and continues to be relevant to God’s people
today, i.e. the Holy Spirit still uses liturgy and guides local churches in
crafting worship dialogues that declare the full counsel of God.
Lastly,
liturgy contains a tested basis. Said another way, the church has utilized liturgy
for centuries and has, therefore, been able to sift through any glaring (or
even seemingly miniscule) errors so that the result now is a Spirit-led and
church-tested product that is free of human errors. The historic parts of liturgy
that persist today have been used by the church for centuries and have come
from much prayer and scrutiny from God-honoring giants of the faith who desired
precision and clarity in worship. Liturgy then is built upon a basis that has
been tested.
Liturgy rests solidly upon a biblical basis, a Spirit-led basis, and a tested basis. The timeless church of God, of which Christians today are a part, has employed liturgy for centuries and in a way that is not irrelevant but rather transcends time and always has a connection to the people of God. While methods have been adapted, the message and timeless truths still resound. Even free traditions would benefit to utilize historic liturgy so that the full counsel of God is declared in a mystic connection with God’s people throughout the ages.
Intentionality:
A Benefit and a Mandate for the People of God
Of the benefits liturgy provides to even free traditions, perhaps, the most significant is that of intentionality. The word, intentionality, has already been mentioned copiously. Right doxology requires intentionality; liturgy is the vehicle for such an intentional approach to occur. Lest God’s people resort to their inevitable imperfection as a feeble excuse to flippantly approach God in worship, liturgy should be understood as a Spirit-led tool with a biblical and historical basis. How a local church plans their worship gatherings is telling of their view of God and his supremacy. Liturgy is useful to free traditions in that it intentionally provides a way for God’s people to accurately declare the full counsel of God. Local free churches, therefore, would benefit from employing some form of liturgy to ensure right doxology in their context.
[1] Such references liturgies found in the RCL (and those
like it) and the BCP.
[2] Various local churches hold disparate approaches to
interpretation; yet, those that employ a liturgy often experience a far greater
supply of Scripture itself than free traditions that often do not approach
Scripture in the same manner.
