Week 4: Insights from Wright (Essentials Blue, Fall 2008) November 6, 2008

 

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt 

 

From reading a book and some articles by N.T. Wright, along with watching some videos, and listening to him on an audio cd, I have found that there have been numerous ideas that seem to stick with me. They come often seem to pop into my thoughts and my conversation… fueling reflection and pondering. So I thought I’d share two of my favourite ideas (hey I could probably keep going on this for hours – so I need to limit myself!).

1. The Echoes

N.T. Wright begins his book Simply Christian with an account of 4 echoes that are heard by all humanity that point to an idea ‘that there must be more to life than what we’re experiencing on earth’ (1).  He writes about the human hunger for justice (to see things made right), the underlying thirst for some kind of spirituality,  the human need for relationships (even though relationships are what often hurt us the most), and the experience of beauty (which unfortunately always seems to end sooner than we would like). 

As I read these chapters I felt as though my thoughts were being spelt out in front of me. I too have felt strong passion and strong desire in each of these four areas, and I too have felt great disappointment from how I’ve experienced these four areas in our fallen world.

However, through many conversations over the last weeks, I have found that these seem to be universal sentiments. And I have been pleasantly surprised how regular conversations around theses simple everyday topics (justice, spirituality, relationships, beauty) have now become a jumping off point to talk about God – and our hunger for something more. Thank you Wright for helping me bridge the gap that has taken my conversations to greater depths.

2. The Freedom of Structure.

N.T. Wright has also challenged me on the paradoxical statement of the freedom structure (2). My history with the church has typically tended to fall towards structure. But when I came to the Vineyard, I was challenged and inspired by the ‘free’ worship that I encountered. It was wonderful, authentic, spontaneous, and intimate. It was how I longed to worship.

However, I found (and still find) it extremely hard to ‘lose myself in worship.’ And Wright has come to give me some understanding of my feelings. 

Being a musician, I know the value of practicing. It is only when I know my key signatures, my chords, and my scales that I am free to really improvise and lose myself in my music. From years of practice, and years of training I have come to a place where I can ‘mindlessly’ and ‘freely’ express my feelings through my instruments. From the outward perspective it may look as though I am spontaneous and free – but I know that I only got that way because the framework was laid.

N.T. Wright has challenged me to relate this concept to my understanding of prayer and worship. It takes practice, to be free in your prayers. And in fact taking time to embrace the structure of reading and memorizing scripture, and reading and memorizing prayers and hymns from church history can actually equip me with tools so that I can pray more fluidly, more freely, and more authentically. And it works the same with worship. If I spend time practicing disciplines in my spiritual life that continually remind me of God’s sovereignty and my humanity (scripture reading, fasting, eucharist, prayer, etc.) I will find that I can engage in worship more deeply and spontaneously as my perspective has already been shaped by an overwhelming understanding by the love and grace of Christ.

 

Thank you N.T. Wright for you valuable insights. You have touched many of us. 

 

 

(1). N.T. Wright, Simply Christian:Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006), Part One.

(2) Wilt and Wright, Reclaiming Worship. Audio CD. Vineyard Music USA 

Prayer (Essentials Blue, Fall 2008) October 24, 2008

 

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt 

 

Out of all the readings on human identity this week, it was the idea of my public prayer life that rose to the forefront. In particular, my journey of using spontaneous, or written prayers in community. Looking back, I think I’ve experienced three distinct parts to my journey.

 

Part One – Spontaneity

I grew up in a passionate Baptist church, where prayer was typically spontaneous. It was informed and fueled by Scripture, but we were always encouraged to use our own authentic words when we approached God. I loved praying like this. I felt free to express exactly what was on my heart, and I felt inspired as I truly heard the hearts of those around me. I loved praying in small groups, or larger groups, or even with the whole congregation as it felt like there was a sincerity that encompassed us.

 

Part Two – Written

Later on in life, during my college years, I took a position as a pastoral intern at a very reserved / traditional church. I learnt many wonderful things during this time, but I really felt almost a sense of culture shock in regards to the prayer of this new church. This particular community valued written prayer. It could be personal (something that someone had written earlier that day), or it could be ancient prayer (read from a prayer book), but almost every prayer that I heard in that 4 months of my life was read off of a paper! 

There were beautiful words said, and meaningful prayers prayed, but I just felt lost. I didn’t know how to be authentic in this new context. I didn’t know how to read the authenticity of others in this new context. 

On one particular occasion, I remember going to a prayer for healing service for a woman who was dying of cancer in the community. A somewhat large group gathered, and for nearly two hours we sat in near silence, with a few read prayers here and there. Looking around I know that this was still very powerful gathering to this particular community, but inside my spirit was screaming to have all the pent up words flow out of everyone. I wanted to hear their sincere grief, their sincere frustration, and their sincere pleadings to God to heal this woman. It hardly felt like a healing service to me at all!

 

Part Three – Listening

After this period, I joined the Vineyard, and a new dimension of prayer opened up. I was introduced to prophetic, and listening prayer. Not only was prayer about putting my words and thoughts before God, prayer was a channel where God could (and would) speak back to me using pictures, words, songs, etc. It was a wonderful new discovery, and I’ve heard wonderful things from God. But, honestly I still feel a little lost in it all. It’s not comfortable yet, it’s not fluid, it still feels kind of awkward, and I don’t quite feel good at it yet.

 

Part Four…. ???

Taking time to reflect on my journey with prayer has opened my eyes to see why I have a tendency to feel awkward / and uncomfortable about praying with community. I have come from three different ‘cultures,’ with three different expectations and understandings of prayer. And although there are many valuable things to be learned from each setting, I am still having a hard time allowing those three experiences bleed into one another. Right now, I tend to jump from one to the next, and I feel quite disjointed!

It was actually N.T. Wright’s comment on the Bible that really struck me the most. It was his line that spoke of the Bible of “The story so far.”(2) In the same way, this is my prayer journey so far. I am not trapped in any of those first parts! In fact I am on a journey where I must make a fourth part. And this fourth part should take what I’ve learned and experienced and blend them in a way that is still authentic and sincere, but also calls on the prayers used throughout the history of the church, and still takes time to listen to God. 

I now understand why I have been frustrated with my ability to prayer in public, and I am now challenged to move beyond my frustrations and step into a new experience in prayer. I’m pretty nervous… but here it goes!

 

 

(2) N.T. Wright, Simply Christian:Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006),  174.

Precision and Perception (Essentials Blue Fall 2008) October 17, 2008

 

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt 

 

So, I read Dan Wilt’s section on The Nature of God this week,(1) and I was reminded of a course I took last year on technology.

Digital and Analog

Coming from our current technological culture, we tend to assume that going ‘digital’ is the better choice. And yes, we have experienced great advances in our recording abilities. However, to assume that we are getting greater precision would be false.

For example, let’s think about a clock. An analog clock, a circle model like the ones we learned to read in elementary school, shows us time. However, if you picture a model where the second hand is always in continual motion, it is nearly impossible to ever read the clock exactly. For even if we can gather that it is 2:34pm and 30 odd seconds, the second hand never rests long enough for us to get an actual reading. It is in continual motion.

Now if we think about a digital clock, it is easy to see what the time is. 2:34pm, cut and dry. 

However, it is easy to recognize that we don’t have all the information. When we converted to digital, we actually had to cut out part of the information. We had to choose to ’round off’ at some point. And with that we loose precision. Because even though it may be 2:34 and 58 seconds (much nearer to 2:35), our perception of time still reads 2:34.

So although ‘digital’ maybe quicker, and more ‘advanced,’ when it comes right down to it, it is LESS percise than Analog. And at times, it can lead us to false perceptions of reality.

Now — Back to theology..

I was very intrigued how Dan Wilt connected the concepts of digital and analog to theology. One of the accomplishments of ‘going digital’ is to create sounds / images/ etc. that seem near to perfect. The downside, is that we have grown to dislike the messiness, the errors, and the glitches in life.

When we approach theology and our spiritual journey this way we are in grave danger!

To expect that we should be perfect in our spiritual walks, and to expect that we can find a concept of God that we like, and can fully understand is to trick ourselves into valuing ‘digital theology.’ And in the process, we allow ourselves to slip into a false perception of God and reality.

Our lives are analog. Things are messy. Things take time. We will fall into failure, and we will have doubts about God and His nature. But to cut out these moments of life, or to cut out the these moments from the history of the church, would be to miss a huge piece of who God is.

Personally…

I am encouraged to live my spiritual walk in more of an ‘analog’ style. To slow things down. To value the journey, not the outcome. To see every opportunity as a chance to learn more about the nature of God.

An analog life is a continual life. One that doesn’t wish to jump to the next comfortable and ‘easy to process’ moment in the future. I have a hard time with this. But I do know that I don’t want to miss out on insight that God can reveal to me. So, as I’ve said before… I’ll keep journeying. One moment at a time. 

(1) Dan Wilt, Essentials in Worship Theology (New Brunswick, Canada: Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University, 2008), 9.

New lingo…(Essentials Blue Fall 08) October 10, 2008

 

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt 

 

So I’ve been challenged by some new terminology. A new term that adds deep meaning to a concept / title that has somewhat been worn out, or misunderstood over the years.

 

Worship Artisan

 

A term suggested by Dan Wilt that is meant to bring new understanding to the idea of a ‘worship leader.’ * Unlike the term “leader” (which simply means a person who leads a group of people), the term ‘artisan’ brings new nuances. An artisan is a person who is trained in their skill. An artisan is a person who has been apprenticed, who has learned from the skills of generations past, and who can place themselves in a long line of history. An artisan is someone who understands the pursuit of excellence, and who continually works to become better at their trade. 

 

When you bring this concept in connection with worship, a whole new understanding can be derived. For a worship artisan is someone who is skilled in worship. They have (and are in the process of) taking time to learn about worship: learning about the God we worship, learning from the past communities who have worshipped (the church through ages). They have (and are in the process) of practicing worship in all areas of life. 

 

I love this concept. In fact it greatly reminds me of the teaching of Stanley Hauwerwas, as it shifts the focus off of behaviour (action) to that of character formation. 

 

For to be a worship leader, is to be a person who behaves and takes the action of a leader.

 

But to be a worship artisan is to be a person who is being formed into a better worshipper. 

 

This is a HUGE transition of thought. It shifts the focus off of what we do, and onto who we are becoming. It shifts us from thinking about something that occurs at a particular point in time (ie. Sunday morning), to thinking about  a continual journey that permeates all we do. And it shifts us from thinking about an action that can be accomplished, to thinking about a skill that can continually be developed.

 

To be a worship artisan takes time. To be a worship artisan takes dedication. And to be a worship artisan takes vulnerability. It requires that for an individual to study, to learn, to converse with others, to practice, and to fail. 

 

And when you think about it that way, the term ‘worship artisan’ may not be all that popular to the masses. Why? Because it’s hard. It’s not for the lazy. It’s not for someone who is looking for quick success, or quick results. It is not short term, it is a commitment.

 

But I know that the new lingo is something that I’ll readily adopt. It is a term that begs for definition, and that begs for conversation. And conversation about the formation of character, the formation of a worshipper, is something that I can’t shy away from.

 

I do see my role as worship artisan as a life long journey. I am called to be formed more and more in the likeness of my Maker. More and more into the likeness of my Saviour. Therefore I am called to go deeper and further in my understanding and practice of worship. It is a journey that I happy to continue in.

 

 

* Dan Wilt, The Rise of the Worship Artisan, available at http://www.danwilt.com/the-rise-of-the-worship-artisan-2/, accessed Oct. 10, 2008.

 

Stanley Hauwerwas, http://www.bigbrother.net/%7Emugwump/Hauerwas/