Word in Worship

My liturgical church friends will think this post is strange, but having spent the past twenty years or so inside the free-church, low-church, evangelical world I do not think it is so strange or off the wall.

If proper worship consists of Word and Sacrament, how can we do a better job as evangelicals in our worship in the Word? After all most evangelical churches spend a lot of time in the preaching of Scriptural truths or at least offering messages that are hopefully based on those truths.

My experience has led me to believe that the average Sunday morning service at an evangelical church lasts between 75 and 90 minutes. Some go longer, some go shorter depending on the church, the occasion, the preacher and other variables in the service.

Of that time, my experience both as a pastor and as an observer has been that the preaching of the message often takes up approximately 20-45 minutes. The longer the service generally is, the longer the message generally is as well. Thus somewhere between one-third and one-half of the service is the message.

But many liturgical critics of such evangelical service have noted that evangelicals are Scripture starved in their services. In other words the only Scripture read is that which pertains to the message. This is in contrast with more liturgical churches which offer readings in at least two and often three lessons.

When I mention this to some evangelicals there is an immediate defensiveness and quizzical looks flow across their countenance. They are rightly known as the people of the book, they preach Scripture, their authority is Scripture alone. How dare anyone suggest that they are not using or committed to using Scripture in their services!

Yet too often this is just the case. So how might the situation be improved? First, churches should begin a practice of using the readings from an appropriate lectionary. This will often bring up charges of moving into Rome or some such accusation. I would only point out that the lectionary does not belong to Rome. Anglicans, Lutherans, some Presbyterians and even some non-affiliated Emerging churches use the lectionary to their great profit. Such use of the lectionary has the advantage of bringing in readings from the Old Testament, New Testament letters and often a third reading from the Gospels.

Second, I would encourage the reading of the ancient creeds during the service. No, these are not Scripture per se, but they are an excellent summary of God’s Word to us. Part of worship is the re-telling of God’s mighty acts in history to draw people to Himself, His work of redemption in saving sinful people from the consequences of sin. This story is best re-capped in the ancient Creeds.

Reading them in worship would only add to the sense that each passage that is read is a part of the larger story of God’s redeeming work in this world. The Nicene Creed is more detailed than the Apostles’ Creed, yet both cover the same detail. To read the Athanasian Creed would take significantly more time, but is certainly useful to be read from time to remind ourselves of the content of our faith in Christ. There are other creeds found in Scripture or in various church documents which could also be used effectively. (The proposed revision of the EFCA Statement of Faith would be one such document.)

Third, I would propose the music be picked less with an eye to its popularity on Christian radio or sales figures from the Christian Booksellers Association, but more towards a sung Scripture. This would make me old-fashioned and open up a charge of being latter day Puritan, but I can handle that. For starters not every old song is based on Scripture just as not every new song is either. But there are sufficient of both old and new that teach the words of Scripture to the congregation in song that it can’t but help add to the worship.

When thinking about this issue it is best to remember that God says it is His word that is living and active that cuts between soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). It is His word that is God-breathed and useful for instruction, reproof, correction and training in righteousness so we may be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is His word that does not return empty but accomplishes what He wishes it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). Adding more Scripture to our worship services only plants more seed for God to work and grow our faith. And that is what we want is it not?