Sacrament and Liturgy

A good friend of mine, who graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote a wonderful post on his blog regarding worship. As of late (late being the last year or so) I have come to the conclusion that many Protestant Churches (at least most that I have visited) have removed themselves from true worship. Worship services have turned into more entertainment oriented self-help seminars rather than genuine reflection and focus on Almighty God. Singing and praise bands have replaced regular sacramental and liturgical practices.

Church services no longer provide a time or place for members to confess their sins. Rather, members are forced to merely turn inward and reflect on how better they can feel about themselves through swift 15 or 20 minute ‘pep talk sermons.’

In this post, my friend declares, “If the bare reading of the Word (the Church's primary narratives and documents) and the taking of the bread and cup (the sign and reality of Christ’s very presence) are not present then I have doubts as to whether it can be properly called “worship.” In other words, we may do many things as we are joined together in gathering, but not all of them are worship. We might conduct a class, or we might participate in a sing-along, but are these worship? If these two events can be called worship at all, then at least they are incomplete.”

In fact, the whole post is a wonderful assessment of contemporary worship services and how, perhaps, they have removed themselves from worshipping God through the Lord’s instituted means. I highly recommend this post if you are at all interested in the issue of Church worship.

You can read the whole article here: Sacrament and Liturgy