Worship shapes our spirituality
"...our spirituality is usually shaped more
by the experience of communal worship than it is by preaching and
teaching....the way we think about God and relate to God is influenced
enormously by our experience of God in communal worship..Songs are
especially formative. We are far more likely to find ourselves humming
something we sang in church when we go home than we are to find ourselves
meditating on a phrase in the sermon..(not one of yours, of
course)..
jt: I would disagree with the
above statement Lance - Is it yours? Actually spirituality shapes
worship rather than vice-versa because true worship depends upon a correct heart attitude and we
do not enter God's presence just any old way - We must properly prepare
ourselves to worship.. And
God does not accept all of it. He spoke through the prophet Amos and
told the Israel of that day that their feasts and worship times literally
made him want to vomit ... He also spoke through the prophet Isaiah about
a crowd who were pretty pleased with themselves and these descended into sheol
rejoicing.
Christian philosopher and scientist Michael
Polanyi spoke of knowledge that we simply absorb by a kind of 'osmosis'
without even realizing that we have done so. This is what he refers to as
'tacit knowledge' Most Christians simply imbibe a theology through
the way that they worship.
jt: This is not the way
anyone is to learn let alone Christians. This is how the animals perform
(by instinct). Humans must be taught, we have been given a mind so
that we can think and God will reveal Himself to whomsoever He will. The
only ones who imbibe should be drunks.
.theology springs from right worship but
theology also, in turn, guides and ensures right worship.There is a
circular relationship between the two as healthy worship and theology
support each other....how theology can guide the kind of worship that in
turn shapes people spirituality.
jt: Just like your little
trinitarian dance, round and round and round we go...