It seems to me that in contemporary Christianity there is a real drive to be Innovative and Creative in our programming styles. This ideology has been absorb into the very fabric of our cultural expression of "how we do church." I am not against new ideas and creative expressions, in fact I am all for them in the proper context. What I see as a problem with this type of approach to "doing church" is that it is not biblical. There I said it. So now I invite anyone to offer me their thoughts on this after I unpack it.
It actually seems more practical in it's approach (in other words "the end justifies the means"). If we create a clear program and a path that people can jump through, and each step or component of that program is measurable then we will clearly see the results of our efforts after we have laid them before God for him to bless. Don't believe me? When was the last time you heard someone say right before an event that was planned, "I can't wait to see what God's going to do here tonight" or pray "God please bless this morning's service" or after the event, "Wow, God really showed up in a big way" or "We had 12 people say the magic prayer to accept Jesus as Lord." Too harsh? Maybe. But understand, I am not calling into question the sincerity of the person speaking these words, but I am suspicious of the meaning and belief that is behind them. Why do we say these things? Why do we approach God this way?
Frank Viola in his book, Pagan Christianity? writes these words about this kind of approach to church:
Pragmatism is unspiritual, not just because it encourages ethical considerations to be secondary, but because it depends on techniques rather than on God to produce the desired effects. Genuine spirituality is marked by the realization that in spiritual things, we mortals are utterly and completely dependent on the Lord. Recall the Lord's word that "unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1, ESV) and "without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).
How many times have we done our inno-creative process in order to come up with something new, hip, cool or different? And how many times have we really allowed the Holy Spirit to guide that process? What are we really hoping to accomplish? What are we really doing to perpetuate people into a life of a disciple of Jesus? If we are all really honest, we mostly do all of this inno-creative process for ourselves. And then we ask/hope God will bless it.
Viola goes on to describe that the philosophy of pragmatism ("if it works let's do it") opens the door for human manipulation and a complete reliance upon oneself rather than upon God. There is a monumental difference between well-motivated humans working for God in their own strength, wisdom, and power versus God working through humans.
When was the last time your church gathered and the liturgy was not over-programmed? When was the last time your church gathered and more than 10% of the members spontaneously, freely and openly participated in leading the teaching, singing, prophesying, praying, and encouraging (1 Cor. 14:26) of all who were gathered? Paul teaches us in 1 Cor. 12 that Christ speaks through his entire body, not just one person. Jesus is the "Lead Pastor," and His body is to function freely under His headship and through the working of the Holy Spirit. Pragmatism seems to stifle this type experience. We are so dialed in to our inno-creative program that the Holy Spirit has no room to breath and we are so focus on tight transitions that we wouldn't even hear Him if He spoke.
So I wonder what the inno-creativeness that we are attaining to is actually accomplishing? I struggle to understand where it is coming from. Is what we're doing biblical? Is what we're doing really align with scripture or is it just a means to the end goal? What is the end goal of the church? Wouldn't the real innovation be to design a church gathering where all members have the opportunity to use their gifts to mutually edify everyone present?
I can hear some readers saying, "well that would be total chaos and their would be no order." And they are right if that is allowed. I am not advocating a free-for-all by any means and neither does scripture as Paul tells us that "...God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (1 Cor. 14:29-33). I think the true test of a church leader's inno-creativeness would be do design a liturgy that would allow a more biblical approach to church gatherings.
In summary, when we over inno-create our gathering we are really building a church that is dependent on a few talented (not necessarily spiritually gifted) individuals to "run the show." What's left? No room for the body of Christ to freely participate with their gifts, instead we have one big talking head and a bunch of little ears. The Holy Spirit is limited by the program outline. Jesus is no longer the headship of the gathering but the directors are now in control. Ultimately we lay our offering before God and ask him to bless it and we go on. What if God wanted to do something else? I think there is a reason the New Testament gives us an outline to how the church should function when they gather. To add to it just doesn't seem biblical.
O.K. your turn. What are your thoughts? Help me understand this....
