Spontaneous Worship vs. Planned Worship

I Used to Be One of Those Crazy Free Spontaneous Worshipers

I grew up in a faith and worship environment that strongly encouraged spontaneity in worship. Kind of an unspoken rule that if you had a strictly planned schedule and stuck to it you were not “sensitive to the move of the Spirit.” Now we all had good intentions and probably unconsciously looked down our noses at all of the wonderful folks who followed a more liturgical approach to worship but for the life of me I can’t understand why we as humans always tend to lean to the extreme end of the spectrum.

Spontaneous Worship

Spontaneous worship (in my experience) is a worship environment that might have a bit of pre-planning involved but relies more on doing things spontaneously because of a negative stigma attached to agenda. You could starve from lack of lunch due to the often long-running service times. Again I’m talking about extremes here.

Planned Worship

Planned worship (in my experience) is a worship environment that has every detail of the worship gathering and service planned to the minute and allows no room for spontaneity. You could set your clock by the start and end times of these services. Of course, just in case you forgot, I’m talking about the extreme case here.

Either/Or?

As humans, we somehow naturally slide to one or the other. At least in the way we VIEW our worship gatherings. Why is it that it’s either/or?

Quit Worshiping Idols!

Here’s the bottom line: If we place higher priorities on either of these ideas over listening for direction from the Holy Spirit we are building shiny new golden calves. That’s right, it’s idolatry.

When we choose to be spontaneous for the sake of NOT being too traditional (a buzz word that we wanted to avoid like the plague back in the day) but we don’t listen closely for the voice of God in our spontaneity we’re, in essence, worshiping spontaneity.

When we choose ritual or tradition (or even routine) for the sake of NOT being too free (a scary word for some of the more traditional and liturgical folks I’m sure) but we don’t listen intently for the voice of God in our liturgy we’re, in essence, worshiping ritual.

Believe this: You can be both spontaneous and planned in your worship environments and STILL be idolatrous.

Believe this: You can be both spontaneous and planned in your worship environments AND listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction in your gatherings.

I believe that God wants us to incorporate any and every means we can to express our worship to Him and to demonstrate His love for the world in and through our worship gatherings. This includes both spontaneous and planned elements. But remember without the fresh touch and inspiration of the Holy Spirit both spontaneous and planned worship elements can be a stench to God’s nostrils if we offer them as worship.

Now I’m A Planned Spontaneous Holy Spirit Inspired Worshiper

That’s right! I believe there is room enough in our worship of the most terrifying and loving force in the universe for both spontaneous worship and planned worship. God is so big that we need every element we’ve got to express worship to Him! Also, I believe that it really doesn’t matter ultimately which way you lean as long as you are leaning on GOD! Listening for His Spirit.

Currently, I serve at a church where planned is the current mode for our worship gatherings. However, for weeks and weeks we are praying for each and every element of the service and the Holy Spirit can and does speak to us from time to time and nudges us in a different direction. Occasionally, we’ll have a moment in our gathering where we DO go in a different direction…but it’s because of a nudge from the Holy Spirit…not just because.

In Jewish Roots (an interesting read), Dan Juster says,

Preoccupation with form or lack of form will never deliver us; but only pressing into depth with God will deliver. Ritual can be a valuable expression, a tool of teaching, a revealer of God’s majesty and grace; or it may be idolatry, a means of avoiding the reality of God, a hiding behind the merely familiar, self-worship, a precluding of the surprise of the Spirit’s revelation.

This can also be said for “free” worship.

Leadership Versus Idolatry

I believe it is the leadership of any given faith family’s God ordained responsibility to help guard against idolatry. We are to model sensitivity and discernment. When someone asks why you “do” your gatherings the way you do, one of the first things that should come out of your mouth is, “We believe that God wants us to do it this way.” That then can be followed up with logistical and technical conversation about WHAT you do.

Some wrong answers to the why question:

• Because we’ve always done it this way.
• Because our parent’s did it this way.
• Because the other ways are weird.
• Because it’s cool.
• Because we have to compete with MTV.
• Because if I don’t I’ll get fired.
• Because if it’s good enough for Paul…
• Because it’s in the KJV AV1611.

The one right answer for any “why” when it comes to elements of our services, spontaneous or planned, should be:

• Because the Holy Spirit led us to do that.

There’s a great discussion going on over at The Worship Community forums (related to the Pure Praise Study) if you’d like to hear other’s perspectives.