12 May 08 Experiential Worship

A few thoughts from Bob Rognlien (Experiential Worship:  Encountering God with Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength):

All Christians have a view of corporate worship that is shaped by personality, experience, and historical emphases.  Our presuppositions about the way worship “should be” are largely the results of how we have experienced God in the past.  The beauty of this is that God works uniquely in the life of every person on the planet -we each have our own story with God!  And in the broader sense, each worship tradition has its own story, its own function in the history of Christianity.  However, the tragedy of these presuppositions is that they lead us to institutionalize and systematize that particular aspect of the worship experience.  We determine that this is the way worship is “supposed to be,” and we ignore or reject other approaches.  Even if this is not openly expressed, we all have our quiet bias and subtle pride that not only devalues other traditions but also keeps us from experiencing the full power of holistic biblical worship.