By Robin G. Jordan
The substitution of liturgy for discipleship is not a problem confined to Anglican churches. It affects so-called non-liturgical churches as well as Lutheran and other liturgical churches. While non-liturgical churches may not use any set forms other than songs, their worship gatherings follow a basic pattern that is repeated every week. Rare is the church whose weekly worship gatherings do not have a recurring format. A typical format in "contemporary" churches is a worship set followed by a sermon. The origin of this pattern is traceable to the camp meetings and revivals of the nineteenth century.
The problem may be more acute in Anglican churches for three reasons. Among these reasons is that the view of liturgy found in a number of Anglican churches has been shaped by that of the late Medieval Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages the priest’s offering of the bread and wine at the altar in the Mass would become so strongly associated in Medieval Catholic minds with Christ’s offering of himself on the cross that the celebration of the Mass came to be viewed as being of such paramount importance in the life of the Church that it superseded all other forms of devotion to God. It came to be seen as being the surest way of influencing God and winning his favor.
Whether or not we want to admit it, there is a strong element of magical thinking behind this belief, an element of magical thinking that is attributable to the pagan context of early Christianity and its tenuous grasp on the teaching of the apostles. A growing body of church tradition, which was viewed as supplementing apostolic teaching, eventually would supplant it.
This body of church tradition served as the primary vehicle for the transmission of this magical thinking which also has roots in the human condition. Magical thinking is the way that small children think. Their way of thinking provides the fertile soil in which such beliefs flourish and grow. It does not disappear as we grow older. It is overlaid by other ways of thinking.
The drift away from apostolic teaching began in apostolic times and is the focus of a number of Paul’s writings. It would be also the focus of the early Patristic writers.
The humanistic view that the closer a belief or practice is to apostolic times, the closer it is apostolic teaching, while appealing, has no basis. What we do find is a church that was divided in its opinions on a number of key issues even in apostolic times.
The English Reformers took the position that the New Testament was the most reliable account of apostolic teaching. They maintained that the early Patristic writers in their account of apostolic teaching were only reliable in so far as where and the degree to which they agreed with the New Testament account of apostolic teaching. Their position is the position of historic Anglicanism.
The New Testament account of apostolic teaching, while acknowledging the importance of the observance of the Lord’s Supper as a commemoration of Christ’s offering of himself on the cross and a proclamation of its saving power for all believers, does not take such an inflated view of the priest’s offering of the bread and wine at the altar. It also does not support the magical thinking that would become associated with the celebration of the Mass.
These beliefs are not even a subtheme in the apostolic writings. The dominant theme in these writings is discipleship—not only turning away from sin to Christ but also following him as Lord.
Through the Catholic Revival of the nineteenth century the late Medieval view of the celebration of the Mass was reintroduced in a number of Anglican churches. It influences the way their congregations view the liturgy. Attendance at Mass and the support of a priest to say Mass are given the highest priorities. Prayer, fasting, acts of mercy, and that sort of thing are viewed as secondary to Mass attendance. The Catholic Revival would also reintroduce the non-communicating Mass.
Even in churches that have no priest of their own and which must share a priest with one or more other churches, this view is carried over to how their congregations regard the service of Morning Prayer. This service, while it is different from the Mass, is still thought of at some level as something that is done to earn merit with God and from which the members of the congregation by their presence benefit. This is most evident in the way that the congregations enact the liturgy.
A second reason why the problem of substituting liturgy for discipleship is more acute in Anglican churches is the way some Anglicans have reacted to the Prayer Book revision of the last century and to other changes in the Church of England, the Episcopal Church, and other provinces of the Anglican Communion. These Anglicans chose to break with what was at the time their province in order to protect what they valued most.
Among the things that they valued most was a particular form of worship and the Prayer Book and the hymnal associated with this form of worship. It would become the primary focus of the churches that they formed. This is evident from their websites on the internet. They typically advertise themselves as “traditional Anglican churches” that use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and its hymnal companion, The Hymnal (1940).
For these congregations their common devotion to these two worship resources is an important bond that unites them. Their use of the 1928 Prayer Book and The Hymnal (1940) is an act of solidarity with what they hold dear.
Unfortunately these congregations, in making the preservation of a particular form of worship their focus, displaced what should be the focus of every church—the primary task that Christ gave his Church on earth--the spreading of the gospel and the making and forming of disciples.
Their intentions may have been well-meaning. They desired to worship God with a biblically orthodox and genuinely catholic liturgy and to preserve what they believed was an authentically Anglican way of following Christ. But the result was a shift in focus away from discipleship. They are now paying a very high price for what they did. Most of these churches are stagnant and dying.
This is not to say that the 1928 Prayer Book and The Hymnal (1940), when they are interpreted in accordance with Scripture and used in a thoughtful manner, are not useful resources for forming disciples. As with any service book and hymnal the danger is when they are allowed to become an end in themselves rather than used as means to an end.
A third reason why the problem of substituting liturgy for discipleship is more acute in Anglican churches is their size. Most Anglican churches are relatively small. One of the characteristics of small churches is that the weekly worship gathering is the principal time for evangelism, fellowship, formation, ministry, and worship. It is often the only time that the church meets. If a church function is suggested for a different time and day, a typical reaction from the members of a small church is that they are unable to take time from their busy lives to attend such a function. Sunday morning is the time that they have allocated to God and the church.
In small Anglican churches the liturgy is the primary focus of Sunday morning. While a few churches may have an adult Sunday school class, they are the exception, not the rule.
The challenge for church leaders who want to restore discipleship to its rightful place in the life of a local church is how they can leverage the liturgy to achieve this purpose.
7 comments:
An interesting essay.,. to equate a traditional sacramental worship of God with magical thinking seems to denigrate that form of worship. I personally experience Grace not magic.,. to mention discipleship without defining discipleship does not provide clarity. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer provides as the old saying goes: Everything necessary for salvation in the form of a liturgical day by day/life event sacramental calendar. If one reads the daily office lectionary and prays the offices regularly and attends church faithfully to receive the sacraments and to fellowship etc.,. One (may) become grounded in the Word which is Christ. Now what does one do with one's faith and witness in our post-Christian culture as a form of discipleship? Soup kitchen? witness at work? door to door evangelism ala Jehovah's Witness? home bible study ala "Crazy Rich Asians"? or prison ministry? attend a Pro Life rally (or perhaps an "Abortion is a blessing rally" if one is an Episcopalian feminist). Certainly one might walk as Jesus walked and respond as Christ would in the encounters that we meet each day. Being a disciple in the public sphere is often like wearing a Trump hat in public. One day you may be blessed.,. the next hit on the head by a bat.
"Now what does one do with one's faith and witness in our post-Christian culture as a form of discipleship?" Perhaps one should first looks to the Scriptures, to the words of our Lord and his apostles, for guidance. What does he say? What do the apostles say? Then ask yourself, "Are the people who come to my church living their lives in accordance with his teaching? The apostles' teaching?" "Are they loving their neighbors as themselves? "Are they returning good for evil?" "Are they doing unto others what they would have done to them?" "Are they turning the other cheek, going the extra mile?" "Are they loving each other as Christ loved them?" Or do they leave your church no different from when they came--no different from their neighbor who does not attend church and spends his Sunday morning on the golf course. A true disciple is one who follows the teaching and example of his Teacher and Master. As he grows in faith and love, he grows in likeness to the one he calls Lord. What did our Lord say? "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Appreciate the response. You write that folks should live according to the Apostle's Teaching.
Fair enough. What is a specific application in our culture today? You meet a person on the street who asks you for a meal and you invite them into Wendy's for lunch. Then they change their tune, deny being hungry and ask for five dollars? What would the Apostles say about that? Jesus says to give all that you have to the poor and to follow Him. I have not done that although the government is taking 50% of what I earn for the same purpose.
I have taught my youth group not to take drugs by word and example and yet one gives in to temptation overdoses and dies. Have I failed in my practice of discipleship?
Those are specific examples. I would be very cautious about judging whether folks are changed or not as a result of attending Sunday service. The Holy Trinity works on many levels to effect long term spiritual transformation.,. a refiner's fire. My ways are not your ways saith the Lord. I thank God for that.
In Matthew 7:16-20 Jesus warns those who flocked to hear him to be beware of false prophets: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
His words do not apply solely to false prophets, they apply to all of us. We should expect to see some evidence that God is working in the members of our congregations “both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” The Prayer Book upholds this truth not only in the Invitation to Confession and the Second and First Exhortations but also in the rubrics requiring the barring of notorious sinners and quarreling neighbors from the Table. While we do not know what God may have in store for such people, it is clear from their behavior that they are not in a fit state to receive the sacrament.
Faith, repentance, and amity and goodwill toward others are so closely tied to each other to be inseparable. If would-be communicant are lacking in one, we can safely assume that they are lacking in the other two. Barring them from the Table is not a punishment. It is an act of love.
The apostle Paul urged the church at Corinth to expel the man who married his father’s wife. He urged this action for the man’s own sake that he might repent. The man did repent and was readmitted to the church.
In less extreme cases in which a member of the congregation acts in unloving ways toward other members of the congregation, gossips about them, holds grudges against them, and so forth, it is incumbent upon the pastor of the church to warn the congregation against such conduct. Our Lord did not teach that we should refrain entirely from making judgments about others but should be mindful that we too have shortcomings and failings and are also liable to judgment. When calling upon others to repent of their misdoings, we should give heed to ourselves and repent of our own. When we draw conclusion about others, we should temper our judgments with mercy.
If we see someone endangering his soul, we should take steps to save him from himself. This is what the apostle James urges us to do in his general epistle. We should not delude ourselves that God may be working at some deep level within that person and do nothing. We may be the very person that God has chosen to call him back from the abyss. On the day of reckoning when all will be required to give an account of their life to God, a much greater accounting will be required from those who were the pastor of a flock.
An AME Zion minister with 30 years in social work once told me: "No matter how hard we try. People are going to do what they are going to do. You can tell them what is right, you can attempt to make them do what is right, you can attempt to stop them from doing what is wrong, but in the end a person is going to do what a person is going to do. Only God can make a difference in the hearts of sinful folk." Thanks for the interaction. JWW3+
To which I would add, "And use you to accomplish his purposes." I base this conclusion not only on Scripture but also upon the experiences of people whom I know whom God has turned around. God put people in their lives that led them to him or nudged them in his direction as well as worked in their hearts. I speak from 3 years short of 30 years in social work and from my personal knowledge of recovery ministry since I retired as a social worker 17 years ago. While the change of heart and subsequent change of life of these people must ultimately be credited to God, God did use other people in their lives as the instruments through which he brought about these changes. They provided godly counsel and guidance as well as encouragement and support. They shared their testimony, which in some cases included how they themselves had struggled with addiction. They offered hope. They were there for them when others turned away. We should not underestimate how much God can and will use us to accomplish his purposes and in ways that we do not expect and which may surprise us. As you yourself said, "God's ways are not our ways."
As for the interaction, you are welcome. I find these discussions provide opportunities to clarify points and further explain what I wrote. They also inspire new articles.
Robin G. Jordan, thanks for this enlightening commentary.
Post a Comment