Our aim over the past several weeks has been to discover how Christians can cultivate higher inclinations toward what is true and good, but we must recognize that the reverse also happens—deformation of our inclinations. Again, our actions are not always the outcome of rational choices, and this is true of sinful behavior as well. Sometimes we sin deliberately and willfully; but often sinful action is the result of ingrained habits, and those habits have been formed through worldly liturgies.
The rhythms of worldly routines are shaping our inclinations and the inclinations of people in our churches maybe more than we would like to admit. These are routines and habits that are part of the cultural environment all around us. And the problem is that it is because they are liturgies that people have a very difficult time both recognizing how they are being shaped and even considering living without them. If we wish to make disciples—if we wish to teach the people in our churches to observe all the Christ has commanded them—then we must do something to counteract the effects of the worldly liturgies that are affecting them each and every day. Part of what will counteract their effects is doctrinal preaching, but it will require more than data transmission.
This is where the liturgies of corporate worship come into play, a subject to which we will turn next week.
About Scott Aniol
Scott Aniol is the founder and Executive Director of Religious Affections Ministries. He is director of doctoral worship studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in ministry, worship, hymnology, aesthetics, culture, and philosophy. He is the author of Worship in Song: A Biblical Approach to Music and Worship, Sound Worship: A Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World, and By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post-Christian Culture, and speaks around the country in churches and conferences. He is an elder in his church in Fort Worth, TX where he resides with his wife and four children. Views posted here are his own and not necessarily those of his employer.
