Back to the Basics

A few years ago I had a serious conflict with my own faith after having read a particular book that turned everything I thought I believed to be true upside down. It was not so much that my own faith was not strong enough to withstand such a challenge. Instead it turned out to be that the faith I thought to be my own actually belonged to all those who had taught me as a child. More than anything, I believed whatever I did believe not because I had learned to embrace it but because the faith was never my own; it belonged to everyone else. To simply be told that “this is what you are supposed to believe” either because the Church said so, or because you might go to hell if you don’t is just not good enough. It never was, and it never will be.

Because I found myself somewhat lost and perceived my doubts as a genuine spiritual crisis, I decided that I had to go back to the basics and start over. To help facilitate this new journey, I decided to attend worship at a Jewish temple in Little Rock. It turned out to be a Reformed congregation, but I don’t think this mattered much. What mattered most was that, at least in my own mind, I was exploring the faith that Jesus called His own. It also mattered that the worship experience was interesting because it was new, but it was also difficult to keep up because most of the service was in Hebrew. Thankfully, however, there was enough English scattered here and there that I was able to at least stay with the flow. The worship was pure and honest even if it was almost entirely read from a prayer book. The entire congregation was involved.

I’ve not attended worship at the temple since so I cannot say that this is how it is each Sabbath, but the salvation story of the Exodus is told from the time of Abraham all the way to Moses. It made me think of Ezekiel and the return to basics that seemed to be the theme of his proclamation to the Jews in Babylon, that the exile was the nation’s punishment for turning its back on YHWH; therefore it was time to remember the story, tell it over and again, and then teach it. Even in the midst of exile, the people of Judah were reminded that they were a people set apart for one clear purpose: to glorify YHWH to the nations. Instead, what had gotten them into hot water with the Lord was their willingness to be assimilated into the foreign cultures which surrounded them. Their distinction as a people had been lost and, ultimately, so had their freedom.

A couple of weeks ago as I was packing some books in preparation for my move, I came across a book that had been given to me some time ago entitled Old Testament Theology in Outline by Walther Zimmerli. It is a back-to-basics approach to study of the Hebrew texts which, of course, have to come before we can fully comprehend or even appreciate the New Testament. In fact, it is my considered opinion that the New Testament has virtually no context apart from the Hebrew texts.

I suppose what has gotten me back on this religious back-to-basics kick is the feeling that, more and more, we as a church are more in the business of marketing and advertising than in worship and ministry. I have a hard time putting into words exactly what I feel about modern religion in America, but I find the media advertising to be border-line distasteful simply because folks already know there are churches and they already know where most of them are located. I don’t think this is the intent, but advertising religion or a particular denomination on TV is almost like a deodorant commercial in that the marketing folks are attempting to manipulate viewers into trying their product.

I realize that “manipulate” may be too strong a word for the actual intent, but is there worship or ministry in spending millions of dollars for media advertising? And if our advertising actually gets them into the door, what will we show them once they arrive? My heart tells me that a seeker should come into a door of any church, regardless of denomination, and find pure and honest worship, not feeble attempts at entertainment or the grasping of straws in a vain effort to provide “something for everyone” … everyone, that is, except the Lord God Himself.

This is to say that I have found at some churches I have visited an attempt by the church itself to focus its attention in manner and matter of worship on the congregation and their particular likes and dislikes. I wonder how much attention is actually given to whether or not a particular gathering is pleasing to the Holy Father? Is it “good enough” that there are many persons in attendance even if their focus is not on the Lord? Is it “good enough” that we would suggest that the Lord does not care where we attend church just as long as we simply “show up”? What, exactly, is “good enough” for the Holy God and Father of the Faith? What, exactly, is “good enough” for the God of the Exodus? What, exactly, is “good enough” for the God of the New Covenant who offers Eternal Life to all who would come to drink of the Living Water of Christ?

For that matter, what, exactly, constitutes good and proper “worship”? What, exactly, is required of us that our time in church would be “good enough” for the Holy God and Father of our Faith? What, exactly, constitutes proper worship of the God of the Exodus? What, exactly, is pleasing in the sight of the God and Father of the New Covenant? What, exactly, is a means of worship by which we would dare to approach the Altar from whence flows the Living Water of the Christ?

Of course the true worship of the Lord God must not be restricted to our corporate time together. To glorify the Lord is to speak to His true essence, to live our faith and practice our religion in such a way that His will is evident to non-believers. To glorify is relatively simple to explore and to define. What is true and proper worship, however, might be a little trickier but find it, identify it, and embrace it we must. But we must also do it in such a way that our entire focus is on Him alone and what we choose to bring to Him.

I think maybe the essence of true and genuine worship revolves around this relatively simple concept: what do WE bring to the Table of the Lord? I think there must also be a certain level of expectation as well. In other words, do we come to worship with the full expectation that we will encounter the Holy Spirit, to be renewed and refreshed as well as equipped by the Lord to carry out His perfect will according to those gifts which have been divinely imparted to us as individuals? I think maybe this is the essence of Pentecost and is thus the essence of the Holy God and Father of the New Covenant.

We as believers are indeed a people set apart from the rest of our contemporary culture, but we cannot face this culture alone lest we become party to the prevailing culture. This, too, is the essence of Pentecost. It is who we are, or at least it is who we claim to be. Whether it is good and true depends entirely upon whether or not we are willing; “able” rests securely in the mighty hand of the Holy God of the Exodus, the Holy God of the New Covenant, the Holy God and Father of our deliverance.

Peace be with you.