What Now? 8

Romans 14:16-18

A sore spot in many churches today is the implementation of modern styles with the use of current music and unique ways of preaching – like video clips, pictures, discussions and hands-on activities. Contemporary music and worshiping without sitting in pews is foreign and unacceptable to many traditional believers. Usually the solution is to separate – have a traditional service AND a contemporary service – but that seems to go against what we read in Acts 2 of having everything in common.

In his letter to the emerging church in Rome Paul offers some guidance. What does he urge in verse 16? What is our faith NOT about? What IS our faith about?

We have seen that the early church brought a change to the way things were. The changes started with Jesus, who went against tradition and tried to show what was at the heart of faith. Like the old religion we too can get lost in our traditions. We can fall back into the same tired old ways of going about our faith. But we need to keep ourselves out of the stagnation of the old ways of doing things.

I am not promoting that every tradition needs to be jettisoned from the church. Rather we must approach our faith – old traditions and new behaviors – with a spirit and heart that is focused on serving God. Instead of allowing our faith to fall asleep we need to let the Holy Spirit breathe new life into us so we can actively live out God’s love and reach the lost.

Being welcoming to the new believer can be considered unclean by many. Changing our ways to accommodate those unfamiliar with church can be unacceptable. But we cannot allow what is done with good intention to be considered evil. Faith is about more than ritual and tradition.

If contemporary music is used in worship, not to entertain but to reach a person at their level of experience and comfort, then there can be nothing wrong with that. If the worship service deviates from traditional methods to present God’s word in a new and dynamic way that new believers can identify with, then there can be nothing wrong with that. Our faith needs to be about sharing righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What is something new you can bring to your faith life?