“With all our modern worship, we sometimes don’t have some of the head-starts that we need as we enter into worship. For example, when you walk in to an ancient cathedral, the first thing you do is look upward, and you feel small. A practical grandeur was built into the architecture. But there isn’t that kind of immediate impact felt when I’m standing in front of a group of folks in the middle of a building that looks like a converted warehouse.” – Matt Redman
So how does one get the head-start?
I love this thought. But note what it does not say, too – there’s nothing wrong with converted warehouses any more than there’s something “double-good” about cathedrals. Consider underground churches, for example – there’s no grandeur there.
Gotta run, but I’m looking forward to returning to the question…
Greetings Kevin,
I love Matt Redman, his music always leads me to the throne. But, also unsaid in this quote is the fact that Europe today is full of ancient cathedrals that are void of any semblance to God centered Christianity.
As to where is are the “head starts” of today. I believe the grandeur and beauty of nature drive us to realize the awesome wonder of the holy God.
I agree. There’s a very fine line between inspiring a God-centered awe in church members and simply glorifying the church itself in such architecture. As with many of today’s theological errors, we have overshot the mark–in reaction to one evil, we’ve gone to the other extreme (thinking that such architecture or atmosphere is inherently wrong).
So, how does one get a head-start? Run to Scripture (generally a good rule of thumb). James 1:22-25 says,
Essentially, we are all self-deluded to some degree. By ourselves, first of all, and in sin, and in our perceptions…lots of ways. But the Word of God strips that away from us (thus beginning the process of sanctification). And we begin to worship when we’re struck by our sinfulness and insignificance–not necessarily when the song starts. The Bible is the “head-start” we need to put God in perspective (first), thereby enabling us to put ourselves in perspective. This passage from James shows that: Scripture is like a mirror, showing us exactly what we look like. We don’t look that great on our own, so we run from that…and run to Christ’s righteousness for us. As in Hebrews 4:12,
God’s got it all in infinite perspective, and we get a piece of that when we read His Word. I am continually awed by it and ashamed by my inadequacy. Then I have my head-start for worship. As I wrote a couple years ago,
Ancient things can be good. Better, sometimes. We should not throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.
Amen in praise of good things from days gone by…
“Chronological snobbery” is a term coined by Owen Barfield, a friend of C.S. Lewis. The Owen Barfield website defines it as follows:
Well I suppose I should let Mr. Redman off the hook here. Neither of us were condemning modern architecture in this post. In the article I read he was advocating worship as a lifestyle, not a group of songs. Here are the preceding quotes from Matt:
Matt’s suggestion to the initial question I posed…
quotes from Stand Firm, Vol. 10, No. 3 March 2005
I like intentional calls to worship.
Sometimes getting the kids dressed, in the car and in their classes adds to the distracting tension of the world that takes focus off Him. Other times, things run smooth and I’m in a cruise control mode – not focusing on Him, or anything else, just going through the motions.
An intentional call says, “Hey! Wake up! Why are you here? Why are you singing or playing drums? Is it just music or an offering of yourself to the Lord for His glory?”
I think Jeff is right in the sense that the church itself can become worshipped, but I also think that is just as much true concerning the music we sing at church itself, or the culture of church, or the man giving the message. There is no problem with inspiring one to worship God through ornate means. The problem that exists is that we seem to want to worship anything other than God far too often. I personally love architecture and anything else that forces me to visualize God in a way I would not have otherwise. Yet, I do still think that the money spent on such ornate design could be put to better use by feeding the hungry and missionary support.