Tag: Text Articles

Posted on

Shallow Worship Materials

A Royal On Pastor Ryan Bell’s blog he has a discussion of the difficulty of preaching on the subject of worship. That discussion made me think about certain worship services that I have attended. I began to think specifically about the transition from theological songs to a lot of the “praise” songs that are sung in many churches today.

I can remember when a church I attended once moved from using Gospel songs for praise to the common praise songs. I can remember the transition from “Power in the Blood” or even “Through it All” to songs were the total lyrical content is in the title. ?Lord you are Holy, Yes You Are Holy, You are so holy to me. Lord you are Holy, Yes you are holy, Holy you are and holy you?ll be.? Then the word ?Holy? is changed to ?Righteous? and the whole song is sung again. Then sung successively through 3 other words and finally closes with ?All-That.? People are not told about the Christian meta-narrative. We are not formed in the knowledge of what God has done for us or for others…

Marva Dawn said ?shallow…worship materials?will not reveal the truth about God. Instead, these shallow materials will shape shallow theology and form us superficially.? Much better songs would help to place us in the ?meta-narrative.? I hasten to add that I am not talking about worship style. Before that move to praise songs some of the songs that were sung were contemporary Gospel songs about God’s work on our behalf and for others. Some spoke of some theological underpinings of the Christian faith. But somehow we joined the larger movement in the Christian world towards trivial songs with very little theological or even pastoral content.

Can the Christian church that is used to singing about the trinity, the power of God on our behalf, the grace of the Cross be changed by singing songs that just Praise God but never talk about why or who the God is we praise? Will the lyrical content change make us more shallow as Dawn has suggested? Does the fact that many churches of many denominational groups are singing these shallow songs mean that we have some difficult days ahead as a Christian church?

What do you Think?

Posted on

Second Advent and Passivity – Sabbath and Eschatology

As noted above, when humanity remembers the Sabbath one is commemorating the creation event. This is a component, but it is more than commemorative, it is also participatory. Every week we participate in the Sabbath. We are seeking to live in God?s intention. First, it seeks to commemorate God?s original intention. To commemorate and participate in God?s original intention, we must first understand what God?s intention was at creation. Reflection on my own ecclesial and ethnic traditions informs me that first of all God?s original intention was to make all of humanity in God?s image. God?s original intention was for humanity to live equally. A reflection on how the Sabbath evolved through the Biblical record confirms this for all individuals in Israel including slave, free, rich, and poor took part in the responsibilities as well as the benefits of the Sabbath. Even the animals were to ?rest? (Exodus 20:10). For the purposes of this paper, I will use equality as a component of God?s original intention. Thus, to commemorate and participate in Sabbath we should be commemorating and participating in God?s original intention which includes equality. Seventh-day Adventists sometimes have emphasized the refraining from work aspect of the 7th day without emphasizing this participation in God?s intention aspect. We participate in equality in the world as we stand up for the vision of the Sabbath in the world.

The Sabbath allows us to live in God?s original intention although partially today. Today we can see the in breaking of the Kingdom. Today by reflection on this symbol we can gain a clearer perception of what God?s intention is and thus what the fullness of God?s kingdom will look like. The Sabbath itself does not allow one to fall into a trap of quietism where one does nothing. The Sabbath pushes us to see the world as God would see it. This first step clarifies our view of the world in light of others.

Because of the participatory aspects of the Sabbath, one cannot ever fall into a trap of just looking on or observing. If one is truly remembering God?s creative acts, or as I have put it remembering God?s intention, one will participate in it which means an active disengagement with all that is not in line with God?s intention.

Posted on

Second Advent and Passivity – Three Symbols

Sabbath

In this section of the paper, I will briefly describe the three symbols that I will use. The first symbol is the Sabbath. This is a symbol that reminds humanity to look back at creation. Thus, the Sabbath is a symbol of the commemoration of divine creation. Because God called what God created ?very good? (Gen 1:31), I will call original creation God?s original intention for humanity. Creation is a work solely of God. Humanity did not participate in it, but humanity participates in its celebration. Contemplating and understanding God?s world as originally given will cause one to contemplate God?s desires of wholeness, equality, perfection, and justice.

Second Advent of Jesus Christ

The Second Advent of Jesus Christ is another symbol that is important to my own theological reflections. Here there is a breaking in of divine into the human realm. I wish to describe this as the institution of God?s ultimate intention in the world. God?s original intention at creation has gone through some change as a result of human failings, but God still has a plan. Humanity had no part in creation that we symbolize in the Sabbath. Humanity also will not have any part in the Second Advent per-se? beside just watching and celebrating. This might give one the impression that there is nothing for humanity to do. However, the Heavenly Temple ministry of Jesus Christ is a symbol where we can see humanities role in the realization of the ultimate intention of God in history. The Heavenly Temple ministry of Jesus Christ is also a historical bridge between the creation symbolized in the Sabbath and the Second Advent. This is God?s current intention for the world.

The Heavenly Temple Ministry

The Heavenly Temple ministry is a time when Jesus is guiding history towards God?s intention.One can see glimpses of this ministry by looking at how Hebrews speaks of Christ as High Priest in the heavenlies (Hebrews 7-9) and the picture of Christ as priest in Revelation (see Revelation 1:9-17). While Jesus Christ is performing this work in heaven that he became qualified for because of his humanity (see Hebrews 2), the Holy Spirit is performing a role on the earth as comforter (John 14:6). So the Holy Spirit performs a work on earth while Jesus Christ is performing a work in heaven. Seventh-day Adventists believe that this work is the same work observed from different angles. Jesus Christ in heaven is performing a work for us while the Holy Spirit on earth is performing a work in us. Both work together to bring history to the climax that will end at the Second Advent of Jesus the Christ. For my purposes, I will not differentiate between the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. In this paper I will only speak of the Holy Spirit?s work in humanity on the earth rather than talk about Jesus Christ?s work in heaven.