Our worship services have turned into Christianized mosh pits
Post Dave Dorsey
Reformed churches have long advocated a theological concept called the regulative principle. To quote Wikipedia, “The regulative principle of worship is a Christian doctrine, held by some Calvinists and Anabaptists, that God commands churches to conduct public services of worship using certain distinct elements affirmatively found in scripture, and conversely, that God prohibits any and all other practices in public worship.”
I like the positive side of the regulative principle — that each service should absolutely contain all the elements of worship that the Bible directs.
I don’t personally hold to the prohibition side of the regulative principle. But I’ll tell you this, churches that do don’t have Christianized mosh pits in their altars. I left the liturgical and found the Presence of God. I suppose He can be found in a high mass but that’s not where I want to be. I knew you guys were heading the wrong way but you just made it clear. Wow.
I dont consider contemporary worship services with the manifestations of the Spirit any form of Christian mosh any more than a holy roller ole time Pentecostal service was. Is there some flesh observed occasionally. of course. But as some one famously said many years ago I’d rather have a little wild fire sometimes than no fire.
You can keep your liturgy. Why don’t you put on your robes and stoles while your at it? Holy Spirit you are welcome to break in, break out and manifest your Presence in our church any time. Come Holy Spirit.
A foundation element of Christian public worship is the reading of Scripture (individually or as a body). It is the “bedrock” which Spiritual Manifestations are built on. An old saying goes:
“If you have the Word only you dry up. If you have the Spirit only you blow up. If you have both Word and Spirit you grow up!”
To paraphrase Jesus concerning worship, God wants worship that is based in Spirit and Truth (the Word). Its not about going up to the Temple mount for ceremony or about going out to the nearest hill and doing what you feel. The only acceptable worship of God is to offer God the worship he commands in the His Book.