The Call of Formality: A Return to Ancient Paths

Some say formality in worship strangles, and to a certain extent they’re right. Formality can grab you and end up killing you. But more frequently it will grab you and shake you and pull you into a deeper understanding of worship.

Many minds object to formality because it implies lifelessness to them. They hear “formal”, and the word invokes images of suits and ties on stifling summer days, sitting in uncomfortable pews, listening to some wishy-washy teaching from a pastor that spends more time cleaning his glasses than studying. The word reminds others of Catholicity and the various “horrors” that surround it. The modern mind can’t take formal worship to mean a good thing.

But that is the problem – the modern mind. Modernity by definition defies the past, rejecting traditions and forging its own path to the future. It thinks that anything planned is not really “from the heart.” It looks at spontaneous worship as the way to go. It sees a problem – often rightly – with dusty churches and uncommitted pew-warmers and leaves to form a new liturgy.

The problem they see is real enough. But their answer, coming up with their own twist, is misguided.

An Ancient Problem
Two thousand years ago, the Corinthian church fell into the same error. Listen to Paul condemning them in chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians: “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation…” Each person came to the meeting with his own contribution, an unstructured hodge-podge of testimonies, prophecies, and interpretations that probably conflicted with each other.

They swung too far away from formality, and became at best an organized anarchy. Their error was in disregarding the old ways: the tradition of the Old Testament church.

“Let all things be done decently and in order,” Paul advises them. The word “order” in fact refers to strict regimentation. It refers to a military-like precision, each thing happening at a specific time and place. The same word is used earlier in the book of Luke: “And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the *order* of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.” (Emphasis mine.) This referring to Zacharias and his temple duties.

Paul had been a teacher in the Judaic synagogues years before, and he had seen what could happen when tradition and formality were allowed to stifle the congregation. He had seen the Pharisees – had *been* one – and knew that they had distorted the order that God had commanded them to use. Sinners do such things.

But Paul also knew that the principle was correct. The Pharisees had gone too far with the principle, but the Corinthians had gone too far the other way. Somewhere in the middle was perfection, and Paul wanted them to get ever closer to it.

He gave them specific examples of their errors, too. Besides the way they preached, he told them to wear head coverings during the meeting so that the world could see they were serious about their religion. He told them to treat communion reverently, and not as a free-for-all with mad rushes to see who could get the most wine. He told them to get along. To not allow women teach in the church. To make sure that all of the service is edifying.

I think Paul knew that establishing a formal liturgy would wake the congregation up, and make them pay attention to history – carrying on its traditions and learning from its mistakes.

I also think that it would do the same to many churches today. It would pull us outside of our contemporary mindset, away from trends and toward a respect for church history. Too many of us think that the church slumbered the whole time from AD 70 to Billy Graham, or Martin Luther, or whoever we look to as our theological benefactor. It’s time to get beyond them, to change our mindset from Modern to Ancient, and revel in the formality of the age-old church.

What About Children?
Another objection many raise is that there is no place for the family in a formal liturgy. Again, they’re right to an extent. There is no place for infants or children in many church services. But I would submit that any liturgy that excludes children is poorly done – and it’s not only formal liturgies that exclude. I’ve seen as many or more wild, bored, or sleeping children in informal churches as in formal.

I think that in spite of this objection, a formal liturgy encourages children to join in. I have four brothers in the toddlerhood stage – and they love church, because they know precisely what comes next. Each week, they look for the parts they remember: the doxology, the corporate confession, the Lord’s Prayer after the sermon, the Song of Simeon, and so forth.

One of my brother’s favorites is when our elder asks, “This bread which we break, is it not of the communion of the body of Christ?” The congregation responds, “Yes, it is,” and none say it louder and more joyfully than the children.

The very reason they can do this is because they know what to expect, because through repetition they memorize all of it. It is because we have the liturgy carefully laid out, that they can look forward to the songs and prayers they know will be there.

Of course, some have brought up the accusation that this is “vain repetition”, that it is wrong because the children have no idea what they are saying. I agree, they do not understand all of it. My two-year-old brother may be able to sound out the Nicene Creed, or at least the vowel sounds of it, but he certainly doesn’t understand all of it.

But, I ask, how many adults fully understand the Nicene Creed? Sure, we can say it better and look intelligent while doing it, but when you say that the Spirit proceedeth from the Father and the Son, do you really know what you are saying?

When the children start singing the Creed they don’t understand all of it. But through repetition, as they grow older their understanding of it grows also, as all the bits and pieces fall together.

Another important point about including children in the liturgy is that each part should be there for a reason, to tell a specific story through its progression. The parents are told how it works, and then instructed to tell their children again and again how it works: God calls us, we see our sin and confess it, God forgives us, we praise Him, He instructs us, we respond, He gives us communion, we eat and drink, He charges and blesses us, and we sing His praises. Again, through repetition, the child continues to learn the importance of everything he does during the service.

Conclusion
We have all seen the problems with the church as an institution today. We have all seen the need for reform. Remember, however, that a reform needs to draw from a concept ancient enough to work. Let’s be careful that we seek the right goal in our reforming.

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).