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In
our continuing series looking at the four
ALOVE essentials Matt Leeder, lead singer
of ALOVE’s partner band Electralyte,
examines a world of worship and our place
in it.
It’s a fact. If you want someone to
read what you’ve written, start by saying
some overblown and completely outlandish statement.
Here goes… ‘The ALOVE essentials
are worship, discipleship, mission and social
action... but the greatest of these is worship!’
Why would I say such a blatantly controversial
statement? The answer is a simple one: because
it’s true! Everything we do as The Salvation
Army must spring from a lifestyle of worship.
Without trying to sound like a college lecturer,
it is probably a good idea to look at what
worship is. There are loads of definitions
around – each one illuminates a different
.shtmlect, but the following by William Temple
is really helpful:
'To worship
is to quicken the conscience by
the holiness of God, to feed the
mind with the truth of God, to
purge the imagination by the beauty
of God, to open the heart to the
love of God, to devote the will
to the purpose of God.'
When we see glimpses
of God's holiness in worship it draws us closer
to Him and a deeper understanding of his design
for our lives. It is only through relationship
with Him that we are discipled and developed.
In the same way, our mission is to tell other
people about a love that transcends all -
but we can only know God’s higher love
when we ourselves have experienced it in worship.
Think about it: the very reason ALOVE is campaigning
against Human Trafficking is that we don't
want to see Gods creation abused and perverted
anymore. It is worship that drives us to be
socially active.
Just to make it crystal clear - Worship does
not just mean singing. Singing our worship
to God is a prominent part of Salvation Army
culture but it is by no means the only way.
As Christians, worshipping the triune (meaning
‘three in one’) God is our defining
feature. It is the one activity that should
saturate into every part of our being and
it is the only activity that we currently
do on earth that we will continue to do in
heaven. It is the thing we were created to
do.
Now, 12 months on from the launch of ALOVE,
where has this worship journey taken us? What
does worship look like in The Salvation Army
for a new generation? We posed this question
(along with a few others) to ALOVE leaders
from around the UK and Republic of Ireland
and we were pleased with what we heard. What
does true worship look like for us? It looks
genuine. It has integrity. It is real. These
words echo time and time again through every
answer we received.
We Neo-Salvationists are not a people who
will allow ourselves to be spoon-fed religious
drivel. We are not a generation who will accept
do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do worship leadership.
Nor will we follow the lemmings that repeatedly
jump off the cliff into another argument of
which style is ‘closest to God’.
Today, when our friends and we come together
to worship it looks different. One person
we interviewed said: “I am beginning
to think that the days of endless singing,
love them though I did, may not be enough
any more.” Singing is still an important
part of our worship experience, but it is
not the only way. Today we are part of a movement,
which has opened its eyes to new possibilities:
so if we can worship God through eating a
jelly baby in a prayer response, then we should
do it! The heart behind the expression is
all God sees and is all that matters.
Indigenous corporate worship is one phrase
we can give to the new expressions of worship
that we see sprouting up across the country.
Worshippers who are motivated to push upwards
to g.shtml Gods hand whilst keeping a reality
check on the needs and suffering of the world
around them. It is in this way that worship
becomes the birthplace of discipleship, mission
and social action.
As our Christian gatherings and lifestyles
become more indigenous to local cultures it
is increasingly clear that God still has His
hand upon The Salvation Army. The fact is
God has always had His hand upon The Salvation
Army, but in the past it has proved more difficult
to hold onto sand and dust than flesh and
bone. Ezekiel 37 in slow motion – that’s
what we’re going through and the way
we worship is a fundamental indicator to this
metamorphosis.
Who knows where The Salvation Army is headed,
but our calling is to be an Army marching
on its knees: praying to God and worshipping
Him. This isn’t just a catchy tag line
but the sharp reality of calling upon our
lives.
