我是一个全新的牧师. 那是我第一次上成人指导课. 在适当的问候之后, 我们坐下来开始上课, 我问, “你知道, 我知道我们的礼拜仪式对你来说可能有点陌生. 在我们进入教义问答之前，你想让我给你解释一下吗?大错特错. 你看到, I found myself referring to the catechism—the summary of our church’s teachings that we had not yet studied—as I explained the worship service. 祈祷和洗礼立刻浮现在我的脑海中. “我们以后再谈这个，”我说. 然后是忏悔和赦免——这是第五个主要部分. “我们也会回到这一点.我们走在敬拜的路上，事情就这样发生了.
Reflecting on that mistake, I realized that worship forms give expression to particular theologies. The worship forms in the hymnal my church uses are deeply rooted in the theology expressed in Luther’s Small Catechism. Worship forms at the Assemblies of God church around the corner are deeply rooted in the theology of that church’s Pentecostal tradition. 教会的敬拜绝不是神学中立的.
在计划崇拜中, 然后, it is important to ask what theological presuppositions are lurking within the worship forms being considered.
I. 神学与实践
敬拜不是“自然而然”发生的.“选择文本和主题. 音乐是确定的. 决定由谁来演唱或表演什么. An order for the various elements is worked out (even among those who “follow the book”—because a commission worked out the order for the elements in that book). These choices reflect a variety of considerations: who is likely to attend (“seekers” or “saved”), 文化环境(正式或非正式), 教会喜爱的音乐形式(歌曲或赞美诗, 大调或小调), 想要的效果(比如说), 复活节的欢乐与耶稣受难日的阴郁截然不同), 等等....... Pastors and worship leaders make these choices with more or less intentionality, 但他们总是做出选择.
神学方面的考虑也起了作用. An Assemblies of God church structures worship in a manner consistent with the Pentecostal roots of its denomination. 圣灵工作的全身表达是可以接受的, 即使预期, 音乐和信息就是为了促进这种表达. 为什么? Because Pentecostals believe that Christians ought to experience the Spirit’s presence in an ecstatic experience, and that this experience will likely (but not necessarily) occur in the public gathering. 大多数路德教会(几乎)在每一次礼拜仪式中都包含信条. 为什么? 因为信经宣扬的是福音, and Lutherans believe that the Holy Spirit works faith through the proclamation of the Gospel.
I am suggesting that every worship form enacts particular understandings of what God desires to accomplish through worship.
它把教义付诸行动. We can analyze worship services in terms of their pragmatics (what they intend to accomplish in/for/with the worshipper), 我们可以从理论的角度来分析语用学. 在路德教会服务, the Gospel is proclaimed through the creed and other elements (doctrine: faith comes through hearing) in order to work faith in the hearer (pragmatics: creating and streng然后ing faith in Jesus Christ). 因为神学和敬拜之间的这种联系，
we can evaluate any worship form by asking, “Does this form embody our theology?”
II. 在敬拜中体现神学
How would a pastor or worship leader go about evaluating a worship service for its theological presuppositions? 为了回答这个问题, I want to return to the Small Catechism and show how it provides a theological framework for those working in Lutheran churches. Readers from other traditions can follow a similar procedure using their own confessions or belief statements. The Small Catechism summarizes from Scripture how our gracious God works in the world to forgive sinners. Jesus redeemed us by his death and resurrection (second article of the creed). 圣灵现在通过律法(十诫)使我们知道自己的罪。, 传递耶稣赢得的宽恕(信经第三条), 张开我们的嘴向天父祷告(主祷文). 圣灵通过洗礼传递宽恕, 钥匙的办公室(特别是赦免), 还有圣坛的圣礼, 是什么使人相信耶稣的牺牲呢.
如果这就是上帝的工作方式, 然后 worship forms should be evaluated for the extent to which they make use of these means of forgiveness. Scripture does not prescribe a specific worship form that Christians must use. 不过, some worship forms will more fully embody the theology expressed in the Small Catechism, 而其他人将不那么充分地体现它. 取, 例如, a service with a large number of elements that emphasize our response to God but few elements that proclaim God’s forgiveness. 在语用学方面(它的作用), the service is more focused on eliciting a response from worshipers than on proclaiming what God has done for them in Christ. As such, it gives short shrift to the doctrine that faith comes by hearing the good news about Jesus. 另一方面, a service that leaves little room for worshipers to respond in prayer and praise shortchanges the doctrine that the Spirit opens the mouths of his people in faithful response to the good news about Jesus.
The same analysis should be conducted on the pattern of services over a longer period of time in a congregation. It may be that a given worship service focuses more on Christians’ response than another, 无论是因为场合、阅读材料还是选择的主题. 然而, if a large majority of services in a given time period show the same pragmatic tendency toward emphasizing our response, 然后 the individual planning worship should examine the services carefully to see whether they are shortchanging the proclamation of the Gospel. A Lutheran congregation in which absolution is never practiced in any form, 例如, needs to consider carefully whether it is doing in worship what its theology says is important.
3. 结论
崇拜是有作用的. 它完成了一些事情. 但它的效果取决于它采取的形式. Those who plan worship must therefore ask whether there is a criterion they can use to evaluate worship forms which, 乍一看, 既没有被圣经禁止也没有被圣经命令. I have argued that a theological analysis of the pragmatics of a given service provides just this criterion. Worship forms that accomplish something different than Scripture says God wants to accomplish in worship should be rejected. 同时, more than one worship form will prove acceptable under this kind of theological analysis.
在敬拜中，我们是自由的，但在敬拜中，什么都没有.
标签:
部门的领导,
崇拜神学