The rule of prayer/worship is the rule of faith. That's what Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi means. And in today's postmodern world of no absolute truth we need to understand this as the people of God continue to be deceived and led astray.
Many like to believe, and I am seeing this all over, especially, and unfortunately, in our Lutheran Churches that there is this belief that it doesn't matter how we worship as long as we talk about Jesus. The service, it is thought, can be entertaining or serious, liturgical or pop-influenced, Lutheran or some other denomination and all be the same. I recently experienced this and it got me tho thinking.
We see this, for example, in our Lutheran Schools and churches when the services are turned into an entertainment time. The issue becomes the Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. For the Pastor is portraying that to keep the children and adults interested in the church, in Christ and His Word, it has to be entertaining.
So our daily offices like Matins, or Morning Prayer or the Divine Service are not used. When pastors dress in a business attire instead of his liturgical garb he is saying something about the service. When entertaining songs that talk about you and not Christ are used instead of music that points us to Christ, the people are being taught something. When the chancel area is defamed into a place of games, instead of reverent and Holy Space the congregation the Lex Orandi influences the Lex Credendi. When women are encouraged to participate in the leading of portions of the service their faith is being effected. When the message becomes a motivation speech of practical how tos rather than a Law and Gospel message the people have learned something.
Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi is also effected by our sin. If I say I
don't need to go to church to receive God's gifts of forgiveness, my
rule of prayer/worship is destroying my rule of faith as I am led away
from Christ and his gifts of forgiveness found in the Word and
Sacrament. If I believe that repentance and forgiveness should not be
taught in the church because it will be offensive to someone and will
upset them because how dare you call me to repent and even suggest that
there is something I must be forgiven of, then again my rule of faith is
effected in that person's faith is now in themselves and not in Christ
and his gifts.
Should we be worked up about this? You bet. As I struggled as to how to address this issue, I had been reading Rev. Klemet Preus's book, The Fire and The Staff that I realized what the issue is. The rule of worship if we must make the services entertaining is that we think we have to entertain the children (and adults) to keep them interested. It has to be fun and silly and certainly not serious to be exciting. It needs to be dumbed down or they will leave it. And faith will be effected because of it.
Rev. Preus says it clearly, "The way we worship affects the way we believe. Or to put it another way, practice teaches doctrine." (pg. 132) And so what did I pull out of this chapel service? The service is all about me. For when the service must be stripped of its parts, dumbed down, and made to be fun it says, "let's not take God seriously, let's not take my sin seriously, and let's certainly ignore the consequences of my sin. Why not just give them some good practical guidance for living since they all believe in Jesus, right?"
One of the increasing fads in Lutheran Churches is why not start children's church (a place where the children can go so that they don't have to go to worship with the adults). The arguments are diverse for creating this, for example the children can't handle the liturgy, or the adults are distracted and a variety of other reasons. Well the Lex Orandi that they are taught is that this is how we worship. And so guess what happens to the their Lex Credendi? When it comes time for them to move up to the "regular" church service, they are turned off. Or if Fathers do not go to the Divine Service then their Lex Orandi is telling the children that at best the service is for women and children and so the child's Lex Credendi is effected because they then they too will stop going, and their rule of faith, turns them into a faithless generation.
The way we worship is important, and the more I watch and learn, the more crucial this battle becomes because our children are falling away from the church at alarming rates. A stat in the latest Lutheran Witness, The Missouri Synod's official magazine, stated that more than half of all children in the LCMS who are baptized are not completing catechesis! Let alone who will continue in the church after college. (Which another statistic has been given that half of all who complete catechesis are no longer attending a Lutheran church after college.)
That should be an alarming statistic to us! And I can't help but accredit at least part of this to a lack of a proper Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. Does it take a while to teach our youth the importance of the Divine Service and what is going on in the Liturgy? You bet, because we adults and even your pastor is still learning the value of it. I am continuously learning how to have a better Lex Orandi, so that my Lex Credendi may be strengthened.
Lutheran School chapel services, Sunday morning services and Children's church doesn't seem like that big of deal? But as you examine what this way of worship is teaching and not teaching, you begin to see the correlation of how the rule of faith is effected. And it is literally damning. For it can certainly lead people to fall away. If we make our focus of the services about us rather than Christ we have removed salvation from Christ's work. If we do not focus and think about the importance of these two, the statistics of faithful church going people will continue to decline, let alone being able to confess the faith to those who have fallen from the faith or have never received the good news. And while yes, your pastor must be faithful in his calling, it begins with parents, for the parents are the ones who interact with their children on daily basis. So whether you are a parent or a youth who is asking why do we do what we do. Ask questions, understand, and value this ancient liturgy that has been use for some 1,400 years.
The Way you worship is important for by it your faith is either strengthened or weakened. The last thing we need is to be encouraged to worship in a way that focuses on ourselves. We don't come to worship to be entertained or to feel comfortable and not be offended. The Gospel is offensive. For by it alone are we saved and this is offensive to our psyche which wants to go it alone. What do we need? We need a Lex Orandi that points us back to Christ and his gifts of forgiveness.
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