Thinking Theologically 7:
Worship Leading For Transformation
READ:
Romans 12:1-2
DISCUSS:
1. As we read through the passage, what do you think it means to be ‘conformed to the pattern of the world?’ How are you conformed to the world around you? How does this happen to you and others?
2. What does it mean to be transformed? Do you feel like you are being more conformed or more transformed in your daily life?
3. How can worship be a place of transformation? How do we encounter God revealed in Jesus Christ in worship? How can we hinder transformation?
REFLECT:
As we continue to build a framework of worship, we need to discuss worship as transformation. As we know, worship is more than just a time to remember the salvation story and to express our whole lives to God; worship is is a divine meeting where we encounter the living God. And no-one who encounters the living God is ever the same. We are transformed through the encounter. So, this week we are going to discuss how we are transformed through worship.
In our passage Paul uses the language of the potter in discussing how God works in our lives. “To conform” means literally ‘to take the shape of something’, like a potter would take a lump of clay and conform it into the shape of a bowl or plate. Paul encourages (or warns us) not to ‘take the shape of’ the world around us’. The Message version of the Bible captures this sentiment well as it translates this verse: “Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.” So we are encouraged and commanded to be transformed.
“To be transformed”…. comes from the Greek word “Metamorpho”, where we get the word ‘metamorphosis.’ It means ‘to change the essential nature of something’. As a potter, you will never be able to ‘metamorpho’ clay….even though you turn it into a pot or a plate, it will always be essentially clay. This is the same with our walk with God. We can never ‘transform’ ourselves. This comes from God. Paul writes in Romans 6:2-4: “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Our essential nature as humans is sin, and we are 'dead' in our sins. Yet God changes our nature through Christ’s death and resurrection! This is essential for us to remember as we lead worship. We are not the instigators of transformation nor can we somehow make people transform through their own works. Transformation always comes from an encounter with THE HOLY OTHER, in Latin, the “Mysterium Tremendum” (or tremendous mystery).
Because of this, transformation always involves disruption, dis-orientation, dis-equilibrium, because you cannot encounter God and stay the same. Transformation is essential but often uncomfortable because it involves shifting paradigms, challenging long held assumptions, shifting perceptions of reality. We see examples of this throughout the Bible from Jacob wrestling with God at Bethel to Paul on the Damascus road. In fact, everyone who encounters God in the Bible experiences this type of encounter, which then leads to transformation.
The metamorphosis always begins and ends with God. And out of this encounter with God, we are called to ‘renew our minds’, which means to let the reality of the gospel become the most real thing to us. The process of metamorphosis is the process of becoming who we already ARE in Jesus Christ if we have accepted God’s grace through faith. So we are called to stay close to God in prayer, study of scripture, service, fellowship, worship and to challenge the values of the ‘aeon’ we live in. The call to ‘renew our minds’ is the daily call to renew our attitudes about life, ourselves, and each other, (Colossians 3:1-17) and to renew our perceptions about reality and world around us. (Colossians 1:15-23) .
So, as worship leaders we are to called to lead worship for transformation. Transformation occurs when people encounter God and are changed by that encounter. The Holy Spirit instigates this encounter and transforms us as Christ encounters us. As worship leaders we strive to provide ‘space for transformation’, and to engage people with the reality of the gospel through our worship. The question for us though is: Do we view our worship services as places where encounter happens and people are transformed through GRACE?
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
John 2:3-21, 2 Corinthians 2:7-18, Colossians 1:15-23, 3:1-17, Philippians 3:20-21,
REFERENCES (for further reading)
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