Pastor's Message

Contemporary or Traditional?
 
     There is a lot of discussion today about whether a Church service should be "traditional" or "contemporary". As far as I understand the word "contemporary", everything I do is contemporary, because I am there while doing it. It occurs in the same time that I am experiencing. As we see the word used in Christianity today (or "contemporary" Christianity!) it means something else.
Contemporary services of worship usually have a less structured feeling than traditional services. The need for contemporary services stems from the desire to "attract and include" the younger people. But what is really going on?
     Although one of the complaints about traditional services is that they are the same week after week, that claim can be made of the contemporary service as well. Is it any less repetitive if "praise songs" are sung over and over each week rather than the service music found in traditional worship? Another complaint often heard is that traditional services are not "biblical". Our service at Zion's is structured around the lesson read each week. The hymns are sung because they are related to the lessons. They prayers offered to God are based on the lessons. The sermon is based on the lessons. The liturgy itself is taken, in large measure, for the very words of Scripture. And what about the lessons? From many contemporary services that I have observed, there is one, or at the most two short passages of scripture read, and then a sermon that may or may not be based on them. At Zion's we have three lessons and a psalm each week.
      Perhaps the most striking difference between contemporary and traditional services is the understanding of what worship is. In the contemporary service everything is done to make you "feel better" about yourself. The music is directed at the people and their relationship with God, rather than at God and his relationship to us. An example of this is the often-sung "Our God Is An Awesome God". It may sound good, but starting from the grammatical basis, it renders God as a possession of his people rather than the other way around. The purpose of worship is not to "feel good", it is to bring praise to God for who God is, and not simply for what God has done for us. God is God apart from any action that involves us. As God tells Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding."  (Job 38:4 RSV) Worship is to be directed towards God and not ourselves. It is not a question of contemporary or traditional, but does it bring praise to God or humans?