Deeper shade of grey | lost themes 7

Lost themes of mission… worship

I must have got to that sad stage in my blogging life where I do repeats, or it could do something with my age! But this modern day parable does the trick for me every time I read it.

“One day after dinner, while finishing dessert, a father sent his boy out to cut the lawn. Smiling broadly, the son said, “No, Father, I just want to stay here experiencing your presence, expressing my love for you, my dear Father.” The father frowned and said, more firmly this time, “Actually, Son, I would rather you go out and cut the lawn.” But the boy acted as if he didn’t even hear his father, and he replied, “Dad! Guess what? I just wrote a song expressing my love for you!” The son began to sing, his eyes closed in sincerity and intense emotion, and the father left the table to go watch TV. The boy didn’t notice, but kept singing, with tears streaming down his face.

At that point the father wanted the boy to experience obedience (which may entail heat, sweat, thirst, sunburn, strained muscles, hunger, endurance, and fatigue) even more than the warmth of his presence.”
(A is for Abductive Sweet, McClaren)

When did we accept worship that is solely about what we sing, even songs that implore us to seek the faded music leads us down that lane that is emotive singing. If “worship is the ‘raison d’etre’ and primary objective of the Christ Community” how is it possible that we have lost that sense of worship that reflects “the moment-by-moment acknowledgement of obedient and loving service” the worship that God values.

Bosch points out that “Celebration divorced from caring and pursuit of justice is welcomed by the demonic and rejected by God. I cannot delight in your sacred ceremonies! Spare me the sound of your song! But let justice roll on like a river” (Amos 5.24). A gift brought to God is welcomed only if the giver is first in shalom with others (Matt. 5.24).”

Interesting that “celebration is acceptable to God only when the Christian community is involved in demonstrating and proclaiming His reign with signs of shalom”So when the music fades and we simply come, when all is stripped away what is left? “the avant-garde of the new creation?”; the “experience of shalom we are called to manifest and promote?”; an explicit representation of the Kingdom, His reign? Or the next lovely sequence of chords.

As long as that is all that is left worship remains a lost theme of mission.

Writer: Capt. Gordon Cotterill lives in London, England, is married to Kate and has two daughters Bethan and Eryn. He has been a Salvation Army officer for ten years and ‘cut his teeth’ in ministry with his wife as the corps officers at Poplar in the East End of London. The lessons he learned there in his day-to-day ministry, amid the chaos of the inner city, continue to shape his understanding and passion for biblical and grace-centred mission. His latest appointment as Spiritual Programme Director at the William Booth College, London now offers him the opportunity for the fusion and exploration of ‘mission’ and ’spiritual formation’ while trying to inspire a new generation of Salvation Army officers as to their role in God’s plan for His creation. Gordon keeps a blog where he mulls over themes of mostly, mission and spiritual formation.

Tags: lost theme of mission, worship

1 Comment to Deeper shade of grey | lost themes 7

1. The two themes of worship and mission must be held side by side. Emphasis of one to the detriment of the other is always a recipe for disaster. As I heard in a sermon recently, John Piper says, “Worship of the worth of God without walking in the will of God is self-deception.”
Jeremiah on January 22nd, 2009

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