Sweet Simplicity: Presbyterian Worship

I often comment to my wife that those who walk into our worship services may sometimes experience culture shock. That's because our worship is as plain and simple as a breakfast bagel. When you are used to flashy images, lots of lights, and other perks and thrills, attending our services may feel like you are walking into the first century. One may even walk out saying, "It was so primitive."


But in an age where worship has come to replicate rock shows and Hollywood productions I delight in what many may call anachronistic. I love Presbyterian worship.

One of the guiding principles of Presbyterian worship is its simplicity. The idea comes from Exodus 20:24-25. When the OT saints erected an altar, they were commanded to build it out of dirt from the earth. If they went so far as to build it out of stone (to make it a bit more enduring), they were not to make it out of hewn (or cut) stones.

Later in redemptive history the worship format would come to be quite ornate. The Tabernacle and temple were beautifully constructed. But the principle of the earthen altar still was in effect: Worship was not supposed to be flashy.

The point of the Exodus passage is that the plain pleases God. God doesn't want us to be concerned about all the glitz and glamor that the world is crazed about. He is not concerned with the outward appeal, he is concerned with the inward heart. He simply wants men to bow before Him and humbly seek his favor. Pure worship, you could say, is very "Puritan" in its nature: simple.

How different this is from the modern norm. In today's American church culture its seems that the sole goal is to copy the culture by being cutting edge and glitzy. The underlying notion that church leaders convey is "Let's keep them coming back by dazzling them with as much fanfare as possible.

But Biblical worship does not dazzle, at least not in the contemporary meaning of the term. It certainly does dazzle as the service unfolds the drama of God's grand redemption and the Spirit moves to convict hearts.

Of course, when we talk about simplicity we do not mean sloppy. Worship is never to be sloppily performed or carelessly attended to by those leading it. Not at all. The holiness of God requires the utmost attention to be paid to it. For this reason, many form written church prayers through history petition God to cover and forgive the "defects of the service." Obviously this entails that worship should be carefully studied and executed. Moreover, of all the Presbyterian tenets of worship the highest is that all should be done "well and in good order."

Neither does the idea of simplicity eradicate the emotive aspect or effectiveness of a service. One might object that the stark-ness of one of our services quenches ones spirit. But as you look at the plainness of the New Testament you see that it reveals a vital and energetic faith that permeated the Western world.

But perhaps what I like best about the simplicity of Presbyterian worship is that I can be goofy little me. I don't have the pressure that other ministers have to execute a perfect performance. Since their audiences come in for a show, they have the expectations regarding such productions. If they don't get what they want, they can go somewhere else.

I, on the other hand, do not have such expectations on me. If I flub, it can be easily overlooked. The people who gather there do not come to see me, they come for the Word of God--in all its simple greatness.