the running reverend

 1As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. 2Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. 3Try your best to let God’s Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. 4All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God’s people. 5We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 6There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

    7Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us. 8As the Scriptures say,

   ”When he went up

   to the highest place,

   he led away many prisoners

   and gave gifts to people.”

    9When it says, “he went up,” it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. 10This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so that he would fill the whole universe.

    11Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, 12so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. 13This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. [a] 14We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. 15Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head 16of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.

~The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4.1-16

I’ve been mulling over this passage from Ephesians in preparation for Sunday’s “Community Unity Service.” While I appreciate the spirit and intention of this service (and others like it), oftentimes I wonder what such services truly accomplish in terms of unity. For example:

• The congregation remains divided along denominational and local church lines. While the congregation on this evening is composed of people from the various Congregations, usually the Congregations cluster together in a given section of the church. 
• Music stylings often lead to distance rather than an appreciation of diversity. If hymns are sung, there is usually a contingent of decent size that will sing with gusto. If gospel songs (which many mistakenly refer to as hymns) are sung, there is typically a large group that will sing as if they are part of a heavenly host tasked with announcing the arrival of Christ the King. And, if contemporary worship tunes are sung, the silence is deafening.
• The worship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit gets supplanted by the plethora of “specials” that make a particular congregation appear especially talented/resourceful/creative. It is not unusual for there to be somewhere between six and ten “specials.” While the term special would probably be a more accurate descripter for Scripture readings, prayers, and other aspects of the service which are sparse and tend to get lost amid the songs, dramas, and other special aspects of the service; the term does convey what so often people do consider to be the special, meaningful, and most important parts of the service: entertainment. I’ve yet to hear anyone comment on the truth that was expressed in and through the reading of a particular biblical text. Similarly, I’ve never heard anyone comment on how a particular prayer or congregational song expressed the truest aspects of their heart’s yearnings. Instead, I’ve heard, “Wow. That choir number was awesome.” Or, “That drama was great. We might have to come check out your church.” With all of the specials, so many times these services take on the feel of a bad America’s Got Talent episode in which you have one church trying to outdo another for the coveted prize of a few more parishioners.
• The liturgy of such gatherings tends towards being “the work of the few” rather than “the work of the people.” This observation is related to the aforementioned observation regarding “specials.” With an increasing number of specials things such as responsive readings, congregational songs, etc. end up being removed to create more space and time for special performances. An unfortunate consequences is that worship, in these services, becomes something that someone else (a performer who is showcasing his or her talent) performs on my behalf. Worship becomes something that is done for me and something that I consume, rather than something that involves the giving of myself to God. Worship becomes passive, rather than active.
• Success is guaged in terms of attendance, emotional highs, and dollars in the offering plate rather than in terms of meaningful, life-changing connection with God and others. At the ministerium meeting following these community service three things are regularly talked about: 1) How much money was received in the offering; 2) How well the service was attended; and, 3) Which specials were the most enjoyable. 

The Apostle Paul, however, provides me with hope. He provides a vision of the church in which the disunity and dysfunction that so often characterizes the church and her attempts at unity doesn’t have to have the final word. What follows, therefore, are a few thoughts regarding the course to true unity that Paul charts for his readers.

First, we must understand that our worship is at all times and in all ways a response to God and God’s action(s) toward us. Paul’s plea to the church at Ephesus begins, in v. 1, with the reminder that their calling to live in a way that is worthy of God’s people is a first and foremost a response to God’s decision to make us God’s own. Arguments of predestination and free-will aside, it is sufficient to say that God’s condescension to our level in the person of Jesus is a vivid depiction and declaration of God’s decision to love humanity long before humanity considered turning to God in loving worship.

Second, unity begins with fixing our attention upon God in loving worship and ends in an outpouring of love toward one another. Our worship is a loving response to a God who chose to love us when we were unlovable. As such, our worship of God should lead us to mirror God’s heart for the world by decisively choosing to love others even when they do not appear lovable; hence, Paul’s assertion that we must be completely humble, gentle, patient, and willing to bear with one another in love. Unity begins with our eyes fixed upon God and a commonly held understanding of our own unworthiness. Yet, it also includes the costly work of patiently loving one another even when the other’s point of view is different than our own; even as they say and do things that cause our blood to boil; etc. 

Third, unity requires that we recognize that although we undertake varying expressions of worship, we share one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. These are the things that unite us to God the Father and to one another. The other, many, and diverse things that we so often argue over are in many instances are our unique expressions of our love for God. What matters more: transubstantiation, consubstation, or that fact that in and through the Eucharist we announce God’s incredible love for us as expressed in Christ whose body was broken and blood was shed for us? Likewise, what is of greater importance, that “He Touched Me,” “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed” or that God is “Mighty to Save”? Each song expresses the same reality. Why can’t we in unity sing each song with gusto, boldly announcing God’s heart for God’s people.

Fourth, unity necessitates appreciating the unique and diverse gifts that Christ has given to his body, while at the same time employing those diverse and varied gifts for a common, unified purpose.

The question now is: So what? How does this discussion of unity and diversity intersect with our worship? And, an even more pointed question: How might this impact the upcoming unity service?

Here are just a few thoughts on the subject:

• Begin with a reminder of God’s love for humanity and that our worship (whatever particular forms it may take) is first and foremost a response to the love that God has first shown us.
• Include a corporate confession. Protestants, especially Evangelicals, are really freaked out by corporate prayers of confession and pronouncements of pardon/absolution. However, these confessions remind us that we are common ground; that none of us are any more deserving than anyone else.
• Encourage a mash-up of the Congregations. Maybe even going so far as to instruct people at the beginning of the service to change seats and sit next to someone who they don’t regularly worship with.
• Allow for, and intentionally include, varied and diverse expressions of worship. Include readings and prayers that are rooted in historical Christianity, and make use of contemporary readings and prayers. Incorporate a variety of songs, expressing a similar truth and encourage people to worship God through their sing of the lyrics rather than idolizing a particular song or genre. (You might possibly consider sing the same song using two or three different arrangements.)

What do you think? How might we bring multiple congregations from different denominations together to worship God in such a way that we are a unified community that respects and allows for unique and diverse expressions of praise and adoration?