I had to scratch my head after reading this one:
Why are you part of a church community? Why are you a member of a church? Why do you go to the public gatherings of the church on Sunday morning? Broadly speaking there can be two reasons: You go for the good of yourself, or you go for the good of others. There is a world of difference between the two.
When I go to church for the good of me, I am free to be shy and introverted, free to keep to myself and free to be consistent with who and what I naturally am. I can hide in a corner or bury myself in a book. I can hope that others will come to me and pay attention to me. I can come for the service, sing some songs, hear a sermon, and slip out seconds after the final amen. I can do whatever is good and comfortable for me. I can hate that stand and greet time because of how it makes me feel, because of how it forces me shake hands with people who have colds, because of how it prompts me to judge others as less sincere than myself.
When I go to church for the good of others, I have no right to be shy and introverted, and no right to keep to myself. I have to die to myself and so much of who and what I naturally am. I can’t hide in a corner or bury myself in a book, but I need to seek out others and pay attention to them. I can come for the service, sing some songs, hear a sermon, and enjoy it all. But when I hear that final amen, I am right back to seeking out others and looking for ways to serve them.
I used to think — silly me — that the point of going to church was not for me or for my fellow members but to obey the first commandment: know and acknowledge God to be the only true God and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly. Maybe Mr. Challies simply took that reason for granted and was interested more in “body life.”
Still, one of the reasons for the worship wars and the silliness that God’s people have had to endure for the last 35 years (though in many instances they wanted it and got it good and hard) is that Christians seemed to forget that worship was chiefly an instance of entering God’s presence and honoring and praising him as creator and redeemer — you know, assembling with all the saints (living and dead) and angels at Mt. Zion. If you go with that understanding, you may actually come across as one of God’s frozen chosen since you may be thinking more about how to please God (and worried about offending him) than about whether the pastor and church members were friendly.
I mean, for all of that theocentric rhetoric of the New Calvinists, their hugs, sighs, and embraces send a different signal.
Old Life 
I’ll take Wolterstorff over Challies any time:
Characteristically we Reformed people think of going to church as going to sermon. And we think of the sermon as marching orders. In what we do Monday through Saturday, we say, lies the proof and worth of Sunday. For us, the fundamental question to put to the liturgy is always: What did we get out of it?
But in biblical perspective there is clearly a second fundamental reason to assemble for the performance of the liturgy. It is right and proper—in the words of the old Latin Mass, dignum et justum—for us to acknowledge God’s majesty and goodness’s right and proper to sing praises to God for his works of creation and redemption, and for our status as new creatures in Jesus Christ. It’s right and proper to confess our sins. It’s right and proper to continue celebrating the supper of our Lord in memorial of him until he comes again. I know of course that it’s also right and proper to care for the poor of society, to work for peace, to build bridges, to create paintings. It must be said to the Reformed person—emphatically, because he’s so much inclined to forget it—that it is also inherently right and proper to perform the liturgy. This too is obedience. There’s profound truth in speaking of what takes place in our assemblies as a worship service. Worship, let’s not forget it, is part of our rightful service to God. Not only is liturgy for building us up unto obedience. Liturgy is for acknowledging God, in a tone of chastened celebration.
I said that one question to ask of the liturgy is: What did we get out of it? In light of what I’ve just said it’s clear there’s another, namely, How did we do? How did we do in our attempt to acknowledge God with praise and confession, with thanksgiving and intercession? Did we do it at all adequately?
1979 conference on “Liturgy in Reformed Worship” at Calvin College entitled, “Choir & Organ: Their Place In Reformed Liturgy.”
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Whatever happened to “showing up is 90% of it”?
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Now maybe the most important thing is that Topher, pastor of worship music, and authentic community living shows up — looking and feeling awesome and on fire. And that the video feed is working.
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I remember when my childhood Lutheran church started doing the greeting thing. I didn’t like it and it seemed to come out of nowhere. We can greet and chit chat AFTER the service when people are rushing downstairs to get donuts and coffee.
At my present RPCNA “home” (wife won’t commit to joining, or even going, without a praise band) there is no early or mid-service greeting time; there is only proper worship.
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zrim, ding a ling
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1979 conference on “Liturgy in Reformed Worship” at Calvin College entitled, “Choir & Organ: Their Place In Reformed Liturgy.”
I would think it pretty obvious that the CRC went the way of the above rather than the way of Wolterstoff’s remarks. That’s too bad.
Matter of fact I am surprised that W would have got invited to such an affair, but the CRC was obviously much more conservative in those days.
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Thanks, this ratifies and confirms an earlier decision to not read Mr. Challies. This extends to many in that stream as well.
5 purposes in worship: (1) confession of sin & assurance of pardon, (2) render thanks for the great benefits received from His hands, (3) to set forth His most worthy praise, (4) to hear His most Holy Word, and (5) to pray and ask for things needful for body and soul.
Thankfully, I learned theology from Reformed theologians and, just as thankfully, I learned divine worship from the Church of England.
1662 Book of Common Prayer, Order for the Service of Morning Prayer
“DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us, in sundry places, to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy. And although we ought, at all times, humbly to acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice, unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me…”
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I guess it’s because my 5 and 7 year old daughters were Anna and Elsa for Halloween that I still like warm hugs. Still a good post in my book tho, thanks.
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Come on Darryl… You of all people should know that church is ‘all about me’!
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Lewis, I don’t attend a New Calvinist church.
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No one is suggesting we don’t connect and serve others, but this is a classic Neo-Calvinist spotlight with their humanistic focus wrapped in “reformed” window dressing.
Pretty typical from that sector. No wonder the Federal Vision is allowed to run rough shot. For the New Calvinist there are 3, no make that 4 sacraments.
1. Community groups and programs designed for being the gospel
2. The Praise Band
3. Baptism
4. The Lord’s Supper
The “community” focus of living and being the Gospel has much in common with the new Pope actually. “Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words.” This is just as often a sentiment of the New Calvinist (as well as evangelicals) as it is any Roman Catholic.
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Amen, E. Burns – Community groups, praise bands, (and I’ll add) testimonies, “spirit-filled” chorus singing… In the 1920’s, J. Gresham Machen diagnosed not only the intellectual and theological drift of his day but of that which would continue to develop over the next 90 years. He wrote,
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The identifying mark of much of today’s evangelical church is the subjective/experiential elevated above the objective/declarative of the Word. And it is this modern means of grace which is deemed spiritually authentic. Speak of doctrine or objective biblical truth and eyes begin roll in boredom. Share your experience of a God-moment and heaven has come to earth.
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EB, they also don’t much care for the categories of old school and new school, which is the ethos of the non-denominational crowd and the theological version of that race relations canard “I’m color blind.” Must be nice to be so above it all.
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No greeting anyone during the service, please.
After the service if I can have 1, maybe 2 decent conversations with someone each week I ‘m happy. Over the course of the year hopefully I get to have a conversation with everyone.
It’s not the Country Club.
At a megachurch you’ll hardly know anyone regardless of what you do.
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EB, and number 3 and 4 receive a lot less attention and effort than number 1 and 2.
Jack, not surprised that Machen basically predicted that the men of a local (to me) Redeemrish PCA church would go on annual retreats to a Trappist monastery for silent contemplation.
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Z, there’s color blind and then there’s color clueless.
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Why’s he gotta pick on the quiet guy,yo? Interesting, no mention of the ‘natural’ disposition of the resident gossip, the chronic complainer, or the bin-Ladin esque conversation highjacker. I will take a book and a corner any day, twice on Sunday.
If we better understood what we were doing every Lord’s day (responding to His gracious call to worship, and having Him accept our pathetic attempts as if they were Christ’s) I imagine we would kill two birds with the same stone; worshiping in gratitude and unity without the need for the command to stand up and greet your pew-mates.
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I would recommend the book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”. By Susan Cain. (No I’m not suggesting a monastery/monk where we take vows of silence)
Whether they admit it or not I think a lot of the folks who go along this train of thought see themselves as having the “vision of the anointed” , kind of the churches version of social worker or office of public works director. They sit around and fret over the “hole in other peoples holiness.” I’m sure we all appreciate these do gooders, but I wish they would mind their own business.
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Brian, ding. It’s an extrovert’s world (and church) unless introverts vote. See what I did there?
EB, but as a primer Adam McHugh’s “Introverts in the Church.”
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While it is true that as members of the body of Christ we should look to serve each other, there is a danger inherent in such a “service culture.”
That danger is, I believe, a shift in orientation from the sinner in need of the gospel to the mature Christian who is not there to receive, but rather condescends to give from his or her spiritual bounty.
I believe that the worship service is primarily about our receiving God’s grace through his ordained means and responding in praise. Being a member of a church is not primarily about what you can do to serve the church, but about how the church can serve you, and me — because we need it.
Coming to church with a profound sense of our own need for the gospel does not preclude one from serving others in the body of Christ — rather, it is the foundation from which we can best serve and be served because it is based on the reality that we are all sinners.
Coming to church with a profound sense of our own ability to serve others, however, brings with it the danger (IMHO) of false friendship, a sense of superiority, the not-so-restful business of extraneous programs (b/c everyone needs to serve!), and small groups (an Anabaptist invention).
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E.Burns: I don’t think Challies’ church has a praise band. The “R”B type may have obvious issues, but a praise band isn’t usually one of them. Just like confessional Lutheran, R&P, they take great pride in NOT being like the Missional, CoWo churches (Neo-Reformed or otherwise)
Usually the music preference is just a piano.
On “passing the peace,” I always thought it was some awful VII innovation non-Roman churches felt the need to emulate. All my Latin Rite Catholic friends make fun of it, none of the liturgies in our Lutheran Service Book have it. I wouldn’t leave a church over it, but I wouldn’t call it a necessary part of the service. Like a commenter on Challies site said, it seems like a lazy way to say, “Look, we value fellowship and friendliness.” And a great way to pass viruses.
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MadMan, worthy points. Leave it to American eeeevangelicals (and those influenced by them) to shape ecclesiology by bootstrap democratic virtues.
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Mad Hungarian: “Coming to church with a profound sense of our own ability to serve others, however, brings with it the danger (IMHO) of false friendship, a sense of superiority, the not-so-restful business of extraneous programs (b/c everyone needs to serve!), and small groups (an Anabaptist invention).””
Amen! This is unfortunately a driver in the PCA.
Katy, I did not say Challies had a praise band. I stated the praise band is often a part of the Neo-Calvinist ethos.
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Noted. I’m sensitive to over generalizations.
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“Christians seemed to forget that worship was chiefly an instance of entering God’s presence and honoring and praising him as creator and redeemer”
“instance” ? … or forget He says all of one’s life will reveal the state of one’s true worship (or not) Rom 12:1;Heb 12:28
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Shane (a.)nderson is an all-of-life-is-worship guy. Imagine that.
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Hi Zrim! thanks for not being mean today (so far) for no reason! Now that’s worship!
John 4:23-24 ;Phil 3:3
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If Katy’s still around – What have you heard the justification is for Luther completely omitting the 2nd Commandment from his Catechism and splitting the 10th into two?
Anyone else can chime in, too.
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(Sh)a(ne), being un-mean a fruit of the Spirit (for others), not worship (for God). All of life isn’t worship.
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As one new to the PCA, I’m now experiencing the emphasis on small groups almost as another means of grace. To my church’s credit, we celebrate weekly communion, baptize our infants, and emphasize the preached word. We also don’t pass the peace. But the small group thing is not something I encountered growing up in Dutch Reformed circles. I don’t get it, but I just add it to the list of things I don’t get about the PCA culture.
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mboss, think about starting one of these then. Or don’t, whatever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMyTMTmJU6E
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Erik: No greeting anyone during the service, please.
After the service if I can have 1, maybe 2 decent conversations with someone each week I ‘m happy. Over the course of the year hopefully I get to have a conversation with everyone.
Sounds good. The deepest forms of non-Christian meditation get me through services without getting annoyed, and still concentrating on the service, at people cracking open candies or giggling and talking the whole service.
A few months ago a dude beside me pulled out a full baggie of candy and crunched away loudly, in his own heaven, until I had to get up and move to the other side of the room.
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“(Sh)a(ne), being un-mean a fruit of the Spirit (for others), not worship (for God). All of life isn’t worship.”
Zrim,
thinking yielding to the Spirit’s work in any form is worship isn’t it, in fact, it’s the only worship, since those who are in the flesh cannot please God because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. Therefore I urge you brethren, -i.e. any fleshly-mean blog commenters here @ old life!- by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship; you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another. Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh, for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires; if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
peace and love
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