Devotion • July 22
Today's Scripture
Romans 14:1–12
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God. (NRSV)
Reflection
The compulsory Tuesday morning worship services, held in the neo-Gothic-style chapel in the center of the campus of the small, church-related college in Arkansas where I served as a chaplain for more than six years, consistently appealed to both everyone and no one.
Two factions of worshipers (the “traditionalists” vs. the “contemporaries”) held vice-grips on their preferences in two key areas: one, style of music, and two, the presence (or absence) of a screen. The projection of liturgy and visual aids on a screen in that space made some folks feel welcome and accommodated, while others recoiled in disgust. The swelling of voices to hymns accompanied by a pipe organ stirred decency, order, and piety in the minds and spirits of many of the faculty, who derided the praise-and-worship refrains accompanied by guitars, keyboards, and drums that many of the students preferred. It boiled down to the conflict between the “boring” and the “banal” for those who cared enough about upholding what they considered the integrity of a communal worship experience.
Who was “right?” Everyone. And no one. What I found most fascinating about navigating cultural preferences in worship styles is that any aesthetic of worship can either be Spirit-filled or vacuous. I’d encountered masterful hymnody that failed to inspire; I’d experienced simple praise songs that swirled prayerfully like Lectio Divina; and vice-versa, of course. Today’s “worship wars” bear what I imagine are uncanny similarities to the Jewish and Gentile Christians’ struggles to live together faithfully that Paul addresses in this passage. His humbling words remind us not to equate our preferences for our practices with God’s providence.
Prayer
God of us all, thank you for calling us to live with one another with integrity. Lead us away from the temptation to unseat you in your throne of judgment, that we may lean into you as the center of our priorities and our being. Amen.
Written by Nancy Benson-Nicol, Associate Pastor for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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