These are fascinating times for our church. A recent decision to experiment with how to maximize the space available for people we may invite to worship with us has led to several interesting discussions about worship. It also led one wise gentleman in our church to give Dr. Marva J. Dawn's How Shall We Worship? ((c) 2003, Tyndale House Publishers) to the church office. The intent is that our staff, leadership team, deacons ministry, worship artists, and interested people will read the book and consider its content as we discuss worship in our church.
I must confess that receiving the book threatened to set me on edge. In my line of work, when someone hands you a book or recommends a resource, it is almost always an invitation to join one's way of thinking without having a face-to-face conversation. Getting a book from someone, more often than not, is tantamount to receiving a lecture or slap on the hand. Were it not for how much I trust the person who gave this book, I likely would have handed it back or set it on my shelf to collect dust. However, this is a pressing issue, particularly at present, and the gentleman who donated the book to our discussion is generally wise and focused on the "right" things.
This post and those that follow come from my desire to get thoughts out of my brain - nothing more. I'm an out-loud processor, and as I began reading this short book, I realized my brain had so many thoughts that I wanted to organize them before I formalize my response to the gentleman who gave me the book. Furthermore, I have an opportunity I do not deserve to lead a workshop at Acadia next spring during the Simpson Lectures, at which Dawn is the guest lecturer. Having my thoughts organized before I venture to lead a workshop on Dawn's watch is likely a good idea. (I'm sure it will also help me understand the bias of those people who requested Dawn's expertise.) So, without further ado, here are my thoughts, literally as they pour out of my head.
First, let me say that this is not my first exposure to the illustrious Dr. Marva J. Dawn. Dawn's material greatly influenced Natasha and me when we worked on our respective undergraduate degrees. Her perspective on worship is largely biblical and thought out critically. She is discontent to follow Christian cultural trends, though she does not like to rail against them either. Her faith and personal worship flow through everything she does. It is that, rather than page 189, to which I was immediately directed by handwritten note from the gentleman mentioned above, that makes me trust Dawn's perspective. Page 189 details Dawn's knowledge, which cannot be denied. However, in my books, someone with lots of knowledge about something one has not personally experienced is simply puffed up (1 Cor 8:1). Worship is about Spirit and truth (John 4:23-24), not knowledge or argument. Dawn is an expert on worship, then, because of her high regard for Jesus and her practice of worship in Spirit and in truth.
My impression of Dawn has not changed, though I'm only writing about the introduction in this post. This introduction reflects a positive, nostalgic worship experience that began in Dawn's childhood and lasted into her adult life. Worship brings nostalgia, but it obviously stuck with her. Her high regard for worship experiences, though, seemingly do not cloud her thinking. Though optimistic about what worship may be, Dawn is very honest about what has taken place in churches lately. She seemingly wants to hold the Church accountable to worship in Spirit and in truth.
To do so, Dawn gives us the reader a hint that she will ask more helpful questions about worship than those asked among most worshiping bodies. Her list of questions are quite insightful (xiii-xiv) and should lead to productive dialogue, if anyone at our church besides me reads this book.
Whether she meant it or not, Dawn did not only leave the reader with a list of helpful questions. In describing what worship really is, she mentions both private and public worship (xi). She mentions that the human response to God's grace - or, worship - begins in private lives with acts of personal devotion and also includes our public worship, when we join with other people to respond to God's grace. First, I confess that in my experience, we Christians regularly forget that our "devotions" and "church going" is actually about responding to God's grace, at least in most places in North America. We are so safe and well insulated that we may or may not talk about God's grace in worship evaluation, but we will almost always talk about whether we agreed with the sermon, liked the music, or found someone's offering of a spiritual gift appropriate. If Dawn hopes to keep the Church accountable, she does here. We ought to remember that worship is a response, not something we choose whether or not to join. If we've seen God's grace, we will respond, whether we realize it or not. We will either receive it or reject it and respond accordingly. Furthermore, as we respond to God's grace, the place for our personal preferences is likely in times of personal devotion. Dawn doesn't say it, but I cannot help but think about the battles that happen over worship inside our church doors and wonder why we want our personal preference to reign in public settings. That never happens in any other public gathering. There is no place in which we may go and say, "This is how we do it in our home," or, "This is how I prefer it to be done," and expect the masses to follow. It's mad - and maddening - to assume that any one of us could do that in church. This is easy for me to say because I've been trained not to look at attending church that way, and our gatherings so rarely reflect my preferences that I just don't bother getting vexed about it anymore. I think we would be well served to keep our personal preferences in our personal worship and think with a more open mind when it comes to our public gatherings. Dawn's tree analogy (xv) is perfect for this: let our public gatherings be rooted in the Scriptures, and let the branches (us) in Christ the Vine bear great fruit when we come together!
As helpful as I suspect this book will be, two concerns come to my mind. First, Dawn asks whether our worship is true to the Christian faith (xii), leaving me to wonder if the inverse is possible. If worship is a faith response to God's grace, how can it be untrue to faith? Responding to God's grace is faith. Responding to God's grace in Christ is the Christian faith. Though we may not all respond similarly, I have many doubts that any faith response can be untrue to faith. I wonder where Dawn will go with this line of thinking?
My other concern has to do with Dawn preparing to use Psalm 96 as the foundation for this book (xv). Don't get me wrong: I like the Bible and think it is useful for this discussion. I also think a psalm is likely the most appropriate model for worship that there is. She is smart to go this route, but I hope her exegesis of Psalm 96 will include the whole of Scripture. Worship is a huge issue, talked about in many, many passages. Though reading through the psalm gets me excited for what she will offer, can we really build a theology on one passage alone, when there are so many others to include in the discussion? How well rounded will this be? My hope is that Dawn's page 189 knowledge base has equipped her for adequate exegesis.
I close these reflections by quoting what I found to be the best question in this chapter: "Do these descriptions and understandings [of worship as we define it in the ranks of our own churches] enable churches to be all that they could be for the sake of the world around them?" (xiv).
LE
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