Adapted from Chapter 3 of Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna. Prior posts follow:
Introduction to Pagan Christianity
Traditions Passed Off as "Christian"
The Church Building is Pagan? - Part 1
The Church Building is Pagan? - Part 2
The Church Service is Pagan? - Part 1
After a full survey of the liturgical history of the church, you come to the obvious conclusion that all Protestant traditions share the same unbiblical features in their order of worship: They are officiated and directed by a clergyman, they make the sermon central, and the people are passive and not permitted to minister. The Reformers accomplished a great deal in changing theology, but in terms of actual practice, they made only minor adjustments that did little to bring worship back to the New Testament model. Their main contribution was in changing the central focus. The Bible replaced the Eucharist and the pastor replaced the priest. The result: God’s people have never broken free from the liturgical constraints they inherited and are still unsuccessful in allowing Jesus Christ to be the center and head of their gatherings.
There is still a person
directing God’s people, rendering them as silent spectators. The centrality of the author of the book was
never restored. Hence, the Reformers
dramatically failed to put their finger on the nerve of the original problem: a
clergy-led worship service attended by a passive laity. It is clear that the Protestant order of
worship did not originate with the Lord Jesus, the apostles, or the New
Testament Scriptures. This does not mean
its misguided, just that its not biblical.
The fact is that we do many
things in our culture that have pagan roots.
Consider our accepted calendar.
The days of our week and the months of our year are named after pagan
gods. Using the accepted calendar does
not make us pagans. But, take a look at
how those things that we’ve inherited affect what is important to us. For example, the Protestant order of worship
does not lead to the spiritual growth God intended by repressing mutual
participation and the growth of Christian community. It puts a choke hold on the functioning of
the body of Christ by silencing its members.
There is absolutely no room for anyone to give a word of exhortation,
share an insight, start or introduce a song, or spontaneously lead a
prayer. You are forced to be a muted,
staid pewholder! You are prevented from
being enriched by the other members of the body as well as being able to enrich
them yourself. These things are
considered “out of order.” You are
therefore limited to the knowledge, gifting and experience of one (maybe a
couple) member of the body. Where is the
freedom of the Lord Jesus to speak through his body at will? He too is rendered a passive spectator. The church service is one huge tongue
(pastor) and many little ears (the congregation).
Here’s a description of the
kind of Christian meeting envisioned by the New Testament:
About thirty people gather in
a home and greet one another. Some step
into the center of the living room and start singing a capella. Quickly, the entire church is singing in
unison, arms around one another. Someone
else begins singing another song and all join in. Between songs, prayers are uttered by
different people. Some of the songs have
been written by members themselves.
Several songs are sung. After
singing, rejoicing, and spontaneously praying and exhorting one another, people
begin sharing what the Lord had showed them during the week. One by one, people share their experience of
their Lord. They exalt the Lord and
edify the brothers and sisters in creative ways as the Lord leads them. Exhortations, teaching, encouragements,
poems, songs and testimonies all follow one right after the other. The common theme of a revelation of Jesus
Christ is shared. None of it is
rehearsed, prescribed or planned. The
meeting is one in which it is evident to everyone that someone was indeed
leading it. But the leader was not
visible. It is the Lord Jesus
Christ! His headship is being manifest
among His people. The church is reminded
again that He is alive…alive enough to direct His church.
Shall we opt for man’s
tradition when it clearly runs contrary to God’s thought for His church? Shall we continue to undermine the
functioning headship of Christ for the sake of our sacrosanct liturgy? Perhaps the only way to thaw out God’s frozen
people is to make a dramatic break with the Sunday morning ritual. May we not be found guilty of our Lord’s
bone-rattling words: “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you
may keep your tradition.” (Mark 7:9, Colossians 2:8, among others).
So, what about Paul
admonishing believers to do things in an orderly way in I Corinthians 14? When God’s people are properly equipped to
function under the headship of Jesus Christ, meetings do not become tumultuous
free-for-alls. They are marked by the
direction of Jesus Christ through every-member functioning in harmony and
order.
The issue we are talking
about is not “Is Jesus talked about and given honor in the service?” Typically, He is. The issue we are addressing is, “Is Jesus
Christ the functional head of the gathering?”
There is a significant difference between making Jesus the invisible
guest of honor and allowing Him to be the practical leader of the
gathering.
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