Because of the dull and uninspiring worship often encountered in churches today, many people have experimented with different ways of reconnecting with worship habits of the early Christian church. If we could rediscover meaningful ways of worship from the golden age of Christianity, our relationships with God would be so much more meaningful, and our Christian witness so much more compelling, many people believe.
The hundred-year-old hymns that used to be sung in church were replaced by the Christian choruses of the seventies, and these were replaced by the songs of the eighties, then the nineties. New songs were used up until they were stale, and then they were replaced by newer songs. Somehow “new” just became more of the same; hence the search for some missing ingredient from the past. Can we find authentic worship in Gregorian chants or icons or candles?
According to Paul’s letter to the Romans, true worship is not about singing or ceremonial styles at all. “I encourage you, friends, by God’s mercy, to give your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual worship.” Worship is something that flows out of a life lived for God, not out of the right musical style or the correct Sunday morning atmosphere.