As our church approaches our season of emphasis on world missions, I am reminded of how diverse and global our worship continues to become. Without really thinking about it, we have been singing hymns multi-culturally for years as we sang, English hymns, German hymns, Wesleyan hymns, American Gospel hymns, African American spirituals, Camp Revival songs . . . all of these being born out of a particular culture or sub-culture.
A lot of the "contemporary choruses" we are singing today are coming from other countries and cultures. I approach the worship of our local church much as I did the mission field in that you have to determine the best resources to use in a particular culture or sub-culture in helping people use their heart language to worship the Lord more effectively. Because we are a multigenerational church we have to approach worship as multigenerational and to some extent multicultural.
Diversity is not born our of a "political correctness" which we hear about all the time now. Our concern with diversity comes from our deep understanding of the gospel and God's intention for the body.
First of all, we belong together as "one body" in Christ. We live in a church age where the church could be overdoing the dividing up of generations when it goes beyond small group Bible study and starts dividing the body for worship. That is not Biblical. We are to be one body, one family in our worship.
Second, unity-in-diversity is patterned after the mind of Christ and the trinitarian God we worship. We should work and worship with each other where special concerns become mutual concerns and we "count others more significant than ourselves."This is the fellowship we have in Christ, koinonia.
Finally, the Word of God constantly and consistently paints a picture of the coming Kingdom of God in which people from every tribe, nation, people, and tongue gather around the throne in praise bringing their gift of worship to God. When we worship with a global expansive worship we are preparing ourselves for that time when we will join all the peoples of God in wonder, love and praise of the Father.
When I left Zimbabwe, Africa, I told my students, one day we will join together again as the global body of believers in worship of Him! mjm
