Any Given Sunday of Global Worship |
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Most pro football fans are familiar with the phrase “any given Sunday,” which captures the unpredictability of each week on the NFL schedule. Prognosticators might spend Monday through Friday confidently identifying which teams will coast to victory. But when Sunday rolls around, at least one putative David always seems to triumph over a putative Goliath. |
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Yet the language of “any given Sunday” might also apply—doubtless with a good deal more gravity—to Christian churches at worship across the globe. It’s simply astonishing to consider, even briefly, the vast number of geographic settings, languages, and cultural contexts in which Christ is exalted every Lord’s Day. |
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Authors Tim Challies and Tim Keesee give readers a firsthand glimpse at this astonishing reality in From the Rising of the Sun: A Journey of Worship Around the World. The book follows their visits to church services in various time zones, where they celebrate the church’s underlying unity in Christ while documenting differences in local forms of worship. |
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In his review for CT, Dean Flemming—who pairs experience on the global mission field with experience teaching missions in the college classroom—can’t help but enthuse about the authors’ passion for the global church. Yet he questions whether they have shown readers a truly representative sample. |
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He writes that “despite the book’s positive features, it left me with several concerns. First, for a book claiming to celebrate the diversity of Christian worship around the world, it offers only one relatively narrow slice of the Christian pie. |
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“Challies and Keesee set boundaries for the types of churches they visited, some acknowledged, some not. The common thread that ties these congregations together is ‘a deep commitment to Scripture and sound doctrine.’ Fair enough. But in practice, these parameters translate into conservative, evangelical churches, primarily from a broadly Reformed theological background. Further, nearly all these churches prioritize doctrine-centered expository preaching. |
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“Given the Reformed backgrounds of Challies (a pastor) and Keesee (a missions organization leader), these limits are perhaps not surprising. But I wonder what would have happened if the authors had expanded their journey and moved out of their comfortable lane. What if they had included churches from a Wesleyan Methodist or Pentecostal background? Given that Pentecostals are the largest single group of evangelical Christians worshiping on any given Sunday, that tradition might have been worth considering. |
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“Or for that matter, what about Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christians? (Surely some will appear among the diverse multitude described in Revelation 7:9.) Or churches that use more drama, ritual, storytelling, media, or other preaching styles, like the kind of call-and-response pattern so familiar to African American worship? Or congregations that emphasize Christlike living as much as or more than sound doctrine? |
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“And what about women? In the book, pastors and pastoral team members are always men, with females fulfilling roles like composing music and singing. But in my time as a missionary and professor serving in different global contexts, I have witnessed God consistently using called and Spirit-gifted women in many ministry roles, including pastoral leadership and preaching. What if the authors had grafted a church with more female leadership into their itinerary, even if this took them outside their comfort zone? |
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“Filling these gaps would have yielded a different book. But perhaps the resulting product would better reflect Revelation’s vision of worshipers from every nation, tribe, people, and culture.” |
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Introductory books on Scripture are written, in large part, for people who want to understand Scripture, read it profitably, and live by its precepts. That doesn’t mean, however, that such books succeed merely by giving their readers a better grasp of how the Bible is structured and what it teaches, praiseworthy as these goals are. |
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The reason, as theologian Brad East emphasizes in his review of a new introductory guide, is that God’s Word is given for the church as a worshipping community, not merely for individual followers of Christ. |
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East finds much endorse and applaud regarding the book in question, The Well That Washes What It Shows: An Invitation to Holy Scripture, written by Beeson Divinity School professor Jonathan Linebaugh. |
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As he argues, however, “one walks away without any sense that the book of Scripture—which is absolutely the book of Christ, the Word of the gospel, the inspired medium of the Lord’s living address—is also the church’s book, or that this book’s home and habitat is the church’s public worship. Linebaugh has an enviably light touch with historical details, like the exile from Babylon or the cities Paul visited, but he does not mention the history of the texts themselves: authored by leaders and servants of God’s people, edited by them, collected by them, copied by them, preserved by them, translated by them, canonized by them, and much more besides. |
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“These aren’t mere matters of history; they’re theologically significant. The same Spirit who inspired and speaks through these texts superintended every moment in the entire canonical process, from their initial transcription, down through the centuries, all the way to hearing Joshua or Jeremiah from the pulpit last Sunday in one’s mother tongue. And the hands the Spirit used were the hands of the people of God. |
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“In short: no Scripture, no church. But also: no church, no Scripture. |
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“This dynamic is not incidental to the story Scripture tells. That story is indeed universal in scope and minute in impact—cosmic in extent while reaching down to me. But it also has a particular protagonist: the family of Abraham, the elect people of God, whom Christ has opened to the nations. Linebaugh doesn’t avoid talk of Israel. But reading him, you wouldn’t know that the church is Christ’s ‘body, the fulness of him who fills all in all’ (Eph. 1:23) or, in the words of the Shepherd of Hermas, that ‘for her sake the world was framed.’ |
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“The resulting impression is that Scripture’s primary business is to facilitate a one-on-one relationship between individual readers and Jesus. Not for a second do I think Linebaugh believes this or intended to communicate it. But that is what comes across. This unintended effect is part of what makes the final chapter so odd. In place of a chapter on ministry, the book needed a chapter on the church: its traditions of reading (not only Augustine and Luther but also all the fathers and medievals between them, not one of whom Linebaugh cites or references), its sacramental worship, and most of all its life with the Holy Spirit.” |
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In a remote village in Cambodia, Christians dressed in black cloth worship God with indigenous songs and a tribal dance, accompanied by rhythmic clapping. In a congested city in South…
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If the Bible is the most-published book in world history, books about the Bible sometimes feel like a close second. That’s not a bad thing. I’ve written a couple of…
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August Is Make-A-Will Month!
Need to create or update your will but not sure where to start? Christianity Today has a trusted partnership with PhilanthroCorp, a Christian charitable will and estate planning firm, to provide you with free, no obligation, and confidential help based on your needs, values, and financial situation. |
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1. A representative contacts you to arrange a phone appointment. |
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2. On your first call, you answer basic questions for the estate planning specialist to learn how to best serve you. Additional calls are scheduled as needed. |
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3. You are given a plan for your attorney to draft final legal documents or PhilanthroCorp can refer you to an attorney in their network at reduced rates. |
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As developments in artificial intelligence change daily, we’re increasingly asking what makes humanity different from the machines we use. In this issue, Emily Belz introduces us to tech workers on the frontlines of AI development, Harvest Prude explains how algorithms affect Christian courtship, and Miroslav Volf writes on the transhumanist question. Several writers call our attention to the gifts of being human: Haejin and Makoto Fujimura point us to beauty and justice, Kelly Kapic reminds us God’s highest purpose isn’t efficiency, and Jen Pollock Michel writes on the effects of Alzheimer’s . We bring together futurists, theologians, artists, practitioners, and professors to consider how technology shapes us even as we use it. |
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