C. S. Lewis on Worship
June 15, 2010 4 Comments
One of the reasons I love C. S. Lewis’ writing is that he is so brilliant, yet so down to earth in his thinking. In Chapter 1 of Letters to Malcom, Chiefly on Prayer he talks about corporate worship, a subject he barely feels qualified to write about (!). He makes these observations about innovation in worship (and remember that is writing about the Church of England about a half-century ago):
“Novelty, simply as such, can have only an entertainment value. And they don’t go to church to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it. Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best–if you like, it “works” best–when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.” (pg. 4)
Questions: What do you think about innovation and change in worship today? Do we have too much, or too little? Is it sometimes distracting, or do we need more?
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I think Lewis hit the nail on the head here. So many churches seem to be more interested in making their services new and hip and (may the devil take the word) “relevant” that they seem to have little interest in teaching truth and the gospel. As Lewis once wrote, “Whatever is not eternal is eternally out of date.” The gospel, if indeed that is what is being preached, has timeless power and appeal and does not need to be adorned by the trends and fashions of the age. I think that a sermon that knocked you flat and picked you up in the same blow and a hymn with lyrics so worshipful that they inclined every heart in obedience to the Spirit would be a service in which all the cultural trappings would not even be noticed. I think that the best service would be the one in which all the elements of it did not interfere with the believer’s communion with God.
Travis, thanks for reading. I appreciate your insights, and like Lewis’ “eternal” quote. Worship always has to take on some kind of cultural form (art, music, preaching style, dress, architecture, etc.), and therefore will always be changing. But in American worship it does seem we are pretty enamored with being hip and relevant, sometimes at the expense of depth. I have appreciated my church because I think they strike a good balance. I know from a worship leading perspective it is sometimes pretty hard to keep a good balance. That’s why we need to pray for preachers and worship leaders.
I poked around your website and really enjoyed your posts about meeting Walter Hooper. That sounds like a real treat! What is your favorite Lewis book?
My favorite Lewis book? I can only name my favorites: In theology/philosophy, Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Abolition of Man, and God in the Dock; in literary criticism, That Discarded Image; in fiction, either Perelandra or That Hideous Strength.
oops, that should have been, The Discarded Image