American Experience

In most American churches today, attendance has a different purpose from forty years ago. People are not there to extend their horizons, or to cultivate a spiritual and heavenly mindset. They are not there to be challenged by the Word of the living God or to ponder the nature and attributes of God. They are not there to see the depth and magnitude of their sins and the astounding and abundant mercy of God in Christ Jesus towards them. They are not there to be called to consecrated living day by day in the fear and love of the Lord. Rather, they are there to satisfy some kind of spiritual or moral curiosity, need, searching desiring, spiritual yearning or guilt. They are there to be affirmed, to be accepted, to feel and know their self-worth and to recognize that they are God’s children. This does not say that no good comes from their attendance. This just shows what is missing in their expectations.

This is not to say there is no intent to deepen appreciation and expression of Christian faith and life. It is to suggest that what is actually said and done, what is aimed at, called for, and expected of most people present is actually a minimum. It seems to be the case that worship, music, teaching, and discipline are deliberately and unashamedly dumbed-down. It is believed that all people can absorb is that which will bring benefit quickly and painlessly.

The changing of words and the changing of their use can inadvertently change the scope and meaning of our faith. A “relationship,” in contemporary usage, seems to be any kind of being together, coming together, or working together of two or more people or units of people that is based on voluntary association. That is, one party in this arrangement can break it at will, and then the relationship is no more. Relationship is used in reference to things that are voluntary, temporary and of low importance if broken.

This is quite different from the traditional expression of two people being in relation to each other. The traditional expression is inter-dependent and requires lasting commitment from both parties. We may note that the work “relation” is a better word to use for the union between Christ and his Church, between God the Father and a believer, and between a wife and husband in holy matrimony. The word “relation” has a long and sacred history of use relating to permanent unions and associations.

Adding “ship” to the end of a word changes the meaning. It then denotes the state of condition of being what is expressed by the original noun. It does not mean the concrete reality of being related – the real, lasting connection between persons. When we seek a relationship with God, instead of being in relation to God, we are asking for the state or condition without the reality of true commitment.

Modern use of the word “community,” since the 1960s, presupposes the idea that “individuals” come together in a voluntary way to form an association on terms that all who come accept or negotiate. First there are “individuals,” and then there are “relationships,” and then there is a “community,” created by the acts of “individuals”. Thus many churches consider themselves a “community of individuals.” What is missing from this formula is a singular attribute of likeness and/or leadership.

The biblical picture of the local ecclesia of God is of the body which has many members, as different as foot from hand and stomach from heart, but with one Head, and all united in a common purpose, guided by that Head. The local church should be a fellowship and communion as opposed to just a “community.” The meeting of Christians is not to create a “Christian community,” but to experience by the grace of God what they already are through, by, in, and with Christ, their Head, the household of God, the communion of the faithful.

If there is a God; if this one God is the Creator, Redeemer and Judge of the world; and if this God is the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, then it surely follows that any nation or tribe or person who does not seek to know and serve this Deity is not only foolish but also endangering their life and soul. The vocation of the Church is to believe and trust, to worship and adore, to obey and serve, the Father, through the Son and with the Holy Ghost. And knowing the Lord our God, the Church is to share her knowledge with the world in evangelization and service, guided by her Lord and indwelt by his Spirit. To begin to know God now in corporate worship is to prepare to know and serve him in heaven in the corporate Liturgy of the angels and saints.

In his call to human beings, God never looked for only a minimum understanding, appreciation and commitment. His call was, “Be holy as I am holy,” and “Be perfect as I am perfect.” He looked for and expected an ever increasing potential to hear, receive, understand and obey his word, so that his people could and would love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. In his Epistles, St. Paul does not exhort all to seek the lowest common denominator in the churches. He wrote to the elders of the churches in ways that they would be able to understand, and he expected them to read out and to explain his Epistle to the membership. For the genuine believer, the way into the Bible gets more difficult, and yet more satisfying, the farther one enters. Understanding is related to deepening communion with God and obedience of his will, and cannot proceed without the illumination of the Holy Ghost.

The content of the traditional Book of Common Prayer is primarily portions of, and citations from, sacred Scripture. It presents a reformed, catholic Liturgy prepared initially for a whole nation, that of England. It was to be used by monarch and peasant, sailor and soldier, judge and student, mother and father, each of whom would grow into it through usage and good intention. It was accessible to all and could be appreciated by all and by each at his own level of maturity, discernment, and commitment. As used in the USA, the Book of Common Prayer has had the same role and function, being there for all kinds and types of people to use at their individual level of maturity and experience.

In their expositions of the traditional Anglican worship, many Anglicans from Richard Hooker to C. S. Lewis have made the point that worshippers are able to give themselves wholly to their high calling when they are using week by week the same, near-perfect expressions for praise and petition. They know always what is coming next and so are not disturbed or shaken in their concentration upon God though the act of worship. Further, it has always been the position of Anglican writers that the Anglican Way does not despise free and ex tempore forms of worship, including those of the modern charismatic movement, but that it considers informal prayer meetings and Bible study groups are a more appropriate setting for them. Set forms in the best style of English are particularly suited to permanent and universal themes, whereas free prayer is more suited to occasional and individual themes and needs. And being of set form, liturgy can unite across space and through time.

Divine service is not the place for experiment or for leaders to share their latest liturgical fads and fancies. It is the meeting with Almighty God, who calls us into his presence as his covenant people in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. To gain fully from this encounter we need the most excellent form or words available to us.

For more details, read “Worship without Dumbing-down” by The Rev. Dr. Peter Toon, M.A., D.Phil.

(Preservation Press of the Prayer Book Society of the USA 2005