In Gospel Worship, Burroughs outlined the process of the Lord's table. As he went along, some things really struck me in ways I have never seen them before. He mentioned that the communion was originally done seated around a table (341-342), that nearness (communion) is important (341), that it was originally taken as a community (345), and that Jesus had the disciples sing afterwards (348). He wrote: "Now it may be that this, at first, seems strange to many, yet we observe this: but keep to the institution in the Sacrament" (348). I wonder how much of what we do communion is keeping to the institution of Christ, and how much has changed by tradition (grape juice, no table, no meal, etc). This got me thinking.
We live in a generation that is fleeing from legalism. I could not count the times I have heard pastors confess their past legalism, and I have to do the same thing! It seems like our whole generation is recognizing the forms and systems that have replaced a genuine pursuit of God in the Church, and running away from them as fast as possible. But I want to ask: What are we running to?
Doc has pointed out in class that some people in our generation may be forsaking the legalism of old and running to embrace a new "hip" legalism; we abandon hymns but enslave ourselves to "worship experiences." This is a definite problem, but I think problems exists on the other side as well! I have really enjoyed reading Give Praise to God this semester (and I have learned a ton), but I have noticed something in this book that really worries me. That is this: It seems like many of the writers in GPTG turn to creeds and historical arguments WAY MORE than they turn to Scripture; they seem to be advocating a "reformed view" of worship more than a "biblical view." The irony is: they stress being Word Centered, but do not practice what they preach.
So, in all of this, I have a growing theory. Is the Church today falling into the same pattern of religious legalism that the Jews had in Jesus' day? Some of us run to be like the world (like the Sadducees) and some of us try to stay protected by tradition (like the Pharisees). As far as this second group, it seems like some of us place theologians and creeds as practically equal to Scripture (e.g. take GPTG, "Calvinism", and the Lord's Table). I guess my main question is: Why are we slipping away from God's Word? Is there an underlying psuedo-legalism?
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