Is Seeker-Worship an Oxymoron?

Let's take a bit of a break from my journey to ponder some thoughts about worship...

In the seeker focused church where I serve, most of our short worship section each week is, seeker-focused, presentational, celebrative or declarative. Fast, loud and energetic...

The theory is that seekers can't authentically worship, so what we do has to include enough presentational elements to be entertaining as well as participative. It also needs to be short so that we allow enough time for the main event, teaching/preaching. I understand the theory but find it somewhat simplistic. It seems to ignore some very pertinent questions that underly our spiritual journey, and what worship really is.

• Do we ever stop being seekers?
• Can a person "in process" be a worshipper?
• Are there multiple "layers" of connection to Christ that can be expressed in corporate settings through worship?
• What is our definition of worship?
• Can the expression of adoration toward God precede our full internalization of God's connection to us?
• Is worship an emotional or intellectual exercise?
• Are worship forms emergent from congregation culture, or do they form it?
• Which of the above is more valid, emergent or formative?

All these questions seem to have at their root a quest for demarcation. When are we in fully "IN Christ", and when are we still outsiders?

In reflecting on my journey, as I have begun to do in this blog recently, I see massive sweeping changes (both in understanding and practice) in my connection with God. Was I incapable of worship back then? I don't think so.

I like Paul's analogy to seeing "as through a glass, darkly" as it applies to Christian growth, and understanding. That metaphor allows for some advancement, some increase of awareness, but never an "arriving" until we're face to face with God. In the truest sense we're all seekers.

This allows us all, no matter where we are in the process, to have real expressions of submission, thanksgiving and adoration to a God we're all only beginning to see and know. We're moving toward Him in an imperfect way, as imperfect people, but seeking a connection to Him in ways that are honest and authentic.

I think we lose integrity when we adopt a form of/for worship that is alien to us. If worship is defined as "the actions of a creature acknowledging and venerating His creator" then how can one believer critique or even evaluate the worship expression of another? All we can do, to be true corporate worshippers at any stage, is align ourselves with communities whose worship reflects the outpouring of OUR hearts.

This where I'm going to have to break some eggs to make this omelet. Worship in my upbringing, particularly in the denomination of my origin, has been subject to evaluation and critique based on it's FORM not on it's function. Some forms have been approved and others have faced various levels of disapproval. This has caused great hurt and alienation between people who would normally agree on many facets of their faith. This "form vs. authenticity" struggle has ended up causing many of my peers to be ostracized or disinherited by their communities of faith. The disunity has led to broken relationships and fractured many churches and denominations. Many of my peers have left churches altogether because they couldn't participate with integrity in a setting, and style, that were alien to them.

Let me use myself as an example... Nothing in my life or experience leads me to express my worship today in a monastic, classical or high-church form. It's as alien to me as a latin sermon, or a greek new testament. I would be disingenuous, a pretender, if I were to be an active participant in such a service. I visit them occasionally as I might visit a museum or graveside, to experience a connection with a past that, although it was fresh and vital at one point in time, has died and is no longer with us. I relate to that style as I do to an artifact that has been superseded by newer, more functional ideas and methods. Classical and high-church are not reflective of my heart or journey, but bring me in touch with another time and place. I can visit and learn but I must leave and resume my own life and identity.

Likewise the spontaneous, "run what you brung" style church service is alien to me because one of my personal "core-values" is excellence. I try to give excellence to my clients in all the work I do, and to my friends in how I relate to them in community. A "spontaneous-style" in worship seems too unplanned and haphazard to reflect the reverence I feel, and the idea of bringing the best I have to God. Excellence reflects MY true heart in worship.

The scriptures are not so much a policy book as they are a narrative of people seeking God. God desires to write just such a narrative into each of our lives. He uses knowledge, and experience, revelation and redirection, gentle nudges and hard shoves, to give us an ever growing picture of grace, and forgiveness. By doing this we come to know Him better. Our worship "in spirit and in truth" should be worship that is from our hearts and genuine. The form that genuine and engaging worship takes varies based on a multitude of geographical, cultural, generational and socioeconomic factors. For example: Worship among Augustinian monks in upstate New York will vary greatly in form to worship in a small West-Texas Baptist church.

Only rarely does a worship song or hymn achieve cross-cultural acceptance. We used a song this past weekend at church that broke some new ground for us. It was a merging of old and new..

We did a very simple version of Chris Tomlin's adaptation of Amazing Grace. Check it out at the itunes link I've included here...


What made this song so moving is that it contained elements of extreme familiarity and elements of simple freshness. In today's musical vernacular, we have grow accustomed to some variation of a verse chorus structure. Often the verse contains or builds the tension, both musically and conceptually, and then the chorus comes along to provide the release and response to that tension. It feels to me like it's an "If->Then" type relationship. Amazing Grace for all it's richness and familiarity has no chorus, just narrative verses. What Chris did is add a response to the narrative... Something that brings the story into the immediate. It's inspired, simple and extremely memorable.

"My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy reigns,
Unending love, Amazing grace."

Using "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" this past weekend has added a more intimate and vertical element to our seeker focused worship. I hope it's a trend that will continue...

How would you answer the questions I posed above? What does authenticity in worship mean to you? Have new worship styles been a bone of contention or a source of joy in your experience? What was your most memorable worship moment (good or bad)?