Should our worship in the local church be traditional or contemporary? In his excellent new book, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, Bryan Chapell suggests this is the wrong question. The most helpful question is, rather, how can we ensure that our worship is shaped by the Gospel? In answering that question Chapell has some helpful words regarding church history:
Always we are to be informed by tradition; never are we to be ruled by it. The Word of God is our only infallible rule of faith and practice, but an unwillingness to consider what previous generations have learned about applying God’s Word discloses either naivete or arrogance. God intends for us to stand on the shoulders of those faithful before us. He gives us a mission for our time but he also gives us a history to prepare us for our present calling. Without critically and constructively examining this foundation we are ill equipped for building the church God wants today. This is true not only for the structures of church architecture, but also for the structures of church worship.
For an introduction to the book by Dr. Chapell, please see video below. Also, to read the introduction and first chapter visit the Westminster Bookstore here.
