Subject to the Object

Two weeks ago our nine month old could not crawl very well. He did a rather awkward version of an army man belly crawl. This morning he was moving around the room with ease – as if he had taken an intensive crawling 101 course. Crossing one room used to be a major effort. Now his potential has exponentially increased. How amazing that last month's limitations have become this week’s opportunities. These last fourteen days of development have brought great change to his life. What seemed insurmountable is in reach. His eyes reveal the excitement he is feeling. No doubt, the crash course in walking is just around the corner.

As followers of Christ, we should also be growing and developing. Paul alluded to this by saying, “When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:11-12).

As I reflect on my development as a worshiper and a teacher of worship, it astounds me how much different I am now than fifteen years ago. At that time I was relying on what I had been told. It was easier to crawl - accepting what I was taught - than learn to walk on my own. Rather than pray and probe and ponder the difficult ideas, I defaulted to what had always been handed to me. As time wore on, more and more of the convenient answers were insufficient. This dissatisfaction caused me to examine many important concepts for myself by asking several key questions. What does Scripture teach? What has the Church taught “always and everywhere?” What do trusted scholars say? Over the past decade and a half the writings of Robert Webber have influenced me more than any other – save the Scriptures.

Realizing that learning and growing should never stop, I am once again facing a “teachable moment.” In reading Dr. Webber’s last book, The Divine Embrace, I have encountered a concept challenging my predispositions – and again – I am crawling. Webber claims that Christian worship is dangerously focused on "me-centered" worship. He says, “The real underlying crisis in worship goes back to the fundamental issue of the relationship between God and the world. If God is the object of worship, then worship must proceed from me, the subject, to God, who is the object. God is the being out there who needs to be loved, worshiped, and adored by me. Therefore, the true worship of God is located in me, the subject, to God, who is the object. I worship God to magnify his name, to enthrone God, to exalt him in the heavens. God is then pleased with me because I have done my duty.

If God is understood, however, as the personal God who acts as subject in the world and in worship rather than the remote God who sits in the heavens, then worship is understood not as the acts of adoration God demands of me but as the disclosure of Jesus, who has done for me what I cannot do for myself. In this way worship is the doing of God’s story within me so that I live in the pattern of Jesus’s death and resurrection. My worship then, is the free choosing to do what Paul admonishes us to do: [Romans 12:1-2]”

For most of my ministry I have taught that God is the object of Christian worship. Soren Kierkegaard posited that God is the audience and the worshipers are the actors. This analogy has been central to my understanding. Dr. Webber seems to question this notion. He asserts that if God is objectified in worship then worshipers view Him as being an onlooker from afar. For Webber this is an incomplete portrayal of God’s position. Rather, he claims, the Lord is very active in our worship. Further, he introduces the idea that Jesus must be the subject of our worship. When Jesus is the subject, when we focus on salvation history, when we enter into the Gospel story through proclamation (ministry of the Word), and participation (ministry of the Table), then we are relocated in Jesus. What's more, we realize that the Gospel is not just the “old, old story,” but it is “new every morning.” We are in this unfolding story of God’s saving action on our behalf. Why is this important? The world seeks to reclaim us all week long. We are bombarded with the world's image of success and fulfillment - self promotion and self satisfaction. In worship, the Gospel calls us back to the spiritual pattern of death to self, burial and resurrection in Christ. While objective worship espouses the attributes of God, which is obviously good and called for, without Christ as the subject, we fail to remember the narrative that we are called to live and pass on to the next generation.

A quick analogy may bring clarity to this discussion. Little school children have different subjects each day. Math, for example, is a subject. In math class the students are taught math concepts. But, they go beyond learning math facts, they actually practice them. They don’t just attend math class, they become mathematicians. Conversely, it is possible to attend a seminar where a mathematician shares her findings. We can objectively appreciate the presenters findings, admire her process and technique. And then, we can leave the session and never participate in or practice math at all. Here is the distinction between subjective and objective worship. If Christ is the subject of our worship, and we wholeheartedly enter into the Gospel through celebration (praise), recitation (preaching), and participation (partaking of Communion), then we are living as Christians (little Christs) - much like math students become mathmeticians. But, if we objectify God, we are in danger of knowing about Him, but never becoming subject to Him. We can leave worship having declared and heard great truth about God, but never "knowing" the Truth.

This is a new concept for me and yes, I am crawling a bit - maybe even struggling. Clearly, a proper balance of espousing God’s character and entering into the Gospel narrative are vital for authentic worship to occur. Singing for 45 minutes about God’s greatness is fine. Accompany that with a sermon about reaching our potential or balancing our check books, and we have neglected the central theme of our faith. We must never forget the saving acts of Jesus. This story should animate our worship – call us to participation – and change us to live incarnationally - as Christ would live. I am praying that this challenge to my understanding of worship will become an opportunity for growth. I am willing to change, to develop, to grow if it will help me see through the glass a little more clearly and to know the Lord more completely. After all, being on our knees is not such a bad place to be.