Worship and Outreach - Paul Muench

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Worship and Outreach

Paul Muench

While working as a missionary in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, my friend John

was asked to be the guest preacher for a special worship service at a coastal congregation.

Since there were no roads from the highlands to the coastal town of Wewak, flying was the

only realistic way to travel.

Upon checking the flight schedule, John was confident the trip would be possible in

the time constraints he had. It was very important to him to be back at his work at Mt.

Hagen, a city in the highlands, on Monday. There were no problems with getting to Wewak

on the Saturday; however, John was somewhat concerned about the Sunday schedule.

There would be only one flight out of Wewak on Sunday. In a country in which the national

airline was less than two years old and schedules and bookings were a relatively new

phenomena, realism added a new dimension to travel arrangements. After some assurances

that he was properly booked for that one Sunday afternoon flight, John accepted the

invitation to serve as guest preacher.

John enjoyed his time in the beautiful city of Wewak, and it was a blessing to worship

with the people there. His scheduling also went well, and he was arriving at the airport a

half hour ahead of the scheduled departure time.

The sight of a plane climbing away from the airport temporarily upset John’s sense of

well-being. But he recognized that the plane taking off was a DC-3, the plane usually used

as a transport plane in Papua New Guinea. A Fokker Friendship plane was the normal

passenger plane. The DC-3 had obviously been an unscheduled transport flight.

Upon arrival at the airport, John relaxed. Other people were also arriving and preparing

to meet the one flight of the day. However, a radical change in atmosphere occurred when

the arriving passengers observed that the terminal manager was locking the terminal

building. A near riot broke out. Order returned quickly only because the terminal manager

joyfully volunteered to explain his actions to the potential passengers.

His explanation was simple and logical.

“Normally on this Sunday afternoon flight we use a Fokker Friendship

plane. But, today, due to unscheduled maintenance, a Fokker Friendship

plane was not available. We had to use a DC-3. As you all know, the

Rev. Paul Muench has served as a missionary in Papua New

Guinea and Russia. He also served as the Executive Director of

Lutheran Bible Translators. In addition to his Master of Divinity

from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis he has a Masters in

Missiology and a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies.

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DC-3 is a much slower plane. Therefore, I sent the plane to Mt. Hagen a

half hour early to be sure that it would get there on time.”

Obviously, the terminal manager misunderstood the proper relationship between the

scheduled flight and the passengers.

The relationship between worship and mission is also often misunderstood. The

resulting confusion is detrimental to present as well as potential members. This essay will

1) show the relationship between worship and mission, 2) point to the implications of this

relationship for worship, and 3) picture the benefit to both worship and outreach when the

proper relationship is maintained.

Worship and Mission

Normally worship is the time when Christians are the most visible to the community

around them. It is difficult to imagine that this time of community visibility would not have

some effect on the communications between Christians and non-Christians.

It is also very logical to assume that God would use the worship context as a time of

spiritual preparation for the people of God. Via Word and sacrament God’s people are

equipped to do what God asks them to do out in the world. “You will be my witnesses”

(Acts 1:8).

For the Lutheran worshiper the only mandatory parts of worship are Word and

sacrament; however, even in these basics of worship there is an obvious dimension of

outreach. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's

death until he comes.” (1 Cor 11:26).

The linking of worship to mission is not limited to the New Testament. In fact, the

New Testament only continues the relationship found in the Old Testament. “Israel was

not missionary in the sense we normally use that name. Israel was not to leave its homeland,

instead, the knowledge of God was to be conveyed by the witness of Israel’s life of worship

and devotion.”

Throughout the Old Testament, as God calls the people to worship, He calls them to

mission, and as He reminds them of their mission, He calls them to worship. They are to

be a witness to the nations (Zech 8:23), a kingdom of priests, a holy people (Ex 19:6).

The Apostle Paul provides us with a specific case study in which he defends the

relationship between worship and outreach as he advises the Corinthians concerning the

problems caused when some Christians used speaking in tongues in a public worship

service. Paul relegated speaking in tongues to private worship because in public worship

there should be a concern for the person who might walk in off the street (1 Cor 14:23).

Witness to the potential Christian should take precedence over any worship form, even a

form that is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Even though the length of this article does not allow further explanation of the

relationship between worship and outreach, the above establishes that relationship and can

serve as a stimulating base from which to study the implications of this relationship for

outreach.

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Implications for Worship

Establishing the relationship between worship and mission adds another dimension to

worship. The criteria for evaluating worship forms must also include an evaluation of the

outreach contributions of those forms.

Just as the missionary going into a foreign country takes time to learn the language

and culture of the people so that they will be able to understand the message of Scripture,

our congregations must also consider the language and cultural needs of the people in our

community.

If the missionary were to demand that people learn another language before they could

hear the Gospel, we would accuse the missionary of presenting the people with a stumbling

block that is not the Gospel. Therefore, missionaries are taught to learn the language and

customs of the people so that the Word of God, both law and Gospel, comes to the people

in a way they can understand.

Just imagine the amount of mental exertion necessary to learn to participate in a

worship context that requires knowledge of King James English, medieval court etiquette,

Roman clothing fashions, Gothic architecture, Greek oratory skills and classical German

music. Four decades after being introduced to such worship, with the aid of eight years of

Lutheran grade school, confirmation instruction, college courses, seminary courses and

graduate study, I feel comfortable responding to God in that worship context. In fact, I

personally prefer “page 5 and 15” of the old hymnal. However, confronting a potential

Christian or a new convert with such demands is a stumbling block that is not the Gospel.

Does this imply that we must be less Lutheran in our worship? Are we to deny the

wisdom of our Christian forefathers for current fads? Certainly not! A brief glance at what

the Lutheran Confessions say about worship will be helpful at this point.

The confessions establish firmly that the

requirements for worship are Word and sacrament.

They refuse to go further than this because Scripture

requires no more for public worship. The Reformers

had obvious and ample evidence of the harm done

to the church when human forms were passed on as

God’s requirements. They understood the Gospel of

Matthew quite well when it says, “This people

honors me with their lips, [says God] but their heart

is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching

as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mt 15:8-

9).

The Lutheran Confessions, however, do recognize

the need for human forms in worship. Language,

music, ritual, and many other beautiful things God has given are appropriate and needed

for worship. Rather than trying to assume some kind of understanding of all possible

situations by devising “rules for Lutheran Worship,” the Lutheran Confessions recognize

that decisions about worship forms are best made by the local congregation. “We believe,

Rather than trying to

assume some kind of

understanding of all

possible situations by

devising “rules for

Lutheran Worship,” the

Lutheran Confessions

recognize that decisions

about worship forms are

best made by the local

congregation.

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teach, and confess that the community of God in every place and at any time at their

convenience has the authority to alter such ceremonies according to its own situation, as

may be most useful and edifying for the community of God”

(FC, Ep X, 4).

This approach is very consistent with the position of the Lutheran Reformers. The

people of God have access to the Word of God and are capable of being guided by God

without the hierarchy of the church. Through the Word of God and the strength given in

the sacraments, the people of God are guided by the Holy Spirit to make proper decisions

about the forms of worship.

The Confessions, however, do point out two criteria for worship forms. The forms

should be “useful and edifying.” The forms should help the people to worship God and to

learn about what God has done for them in Jesus Christ.

What does “useful and edifying” mean for the outreach dimension of worship? St. Paul

felt that a language not readily understood by the newcomer to worship was not useful.

That language should be banned from public worship (1 Cor 14).

The science of communication tells us that a form of communication is most effective

(edifying) when it calls least attention to itself. When communication forms help us to

focus on the intended message, they are most helpful. When communication forms attract

attention to themselves, they will often distort the message. In worship we certainly wish

to use forms that will not distort our intended message.

The forms that will attract least attention to themselves are the forms most common to

the people. New forms need to be learned. Forms from the culture do not suffer from this

problem. Forms from outside the culture are most often changed (distorted) as they enter a

new culture.

The Duna people of Papua New Guinea were known to the peoples around them as a

singing people. This reputation confused me when I first came to work among them,

because they had a difficult time singing in worship services. My encouraging, special

practice sessions, and better translation did not solve the problem.

The long walk necessary to visit congregations gave me time to ponder the problem.

On one of these walks, I became concerned for a teenage boy who was helping me to carry

supplies that I needed for the long walk. The boy, who had been happy to come with me,

suddenly began singing what I interpreted to be a mournful song. The tempo was very

slow. My language abilities were not yet such that I could comprehend the poetic words of

the song, but the tune was certainly slow and, to me, mournful.

However, when I inquired, I found that the boy was not depressed. He did not even

have a stomachache. I was told he was singing a beautiful love song.

A few days later as I was listening to the funeral song a mother was singing for her

child who had died the previous evening, I realized what us missionaries had allowed to

happen by importing outside music. The funeral song had a very rapid tempo. In the Duna

culture, a rapid tempo meant sadness, a slow tempo communicated happiness.

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By putting Duna words to Western music, we were combining happy words with what

the Duna considered sad music and sad words with happy music. The music forms we used

for worship attracted so much confusing attention to themselves the Duna people found it

almost impossible to sing.

As students of Luther, we have a precedent that would encourage us to avoid this kind

of mistake. In 1525 a friend of Luther, Nicholas Hausmann, sent Luther a few samples of

German liturgies. Luther returned them. “I hate to see Latin notes set over the German

words. I told the publisher what the German manner of singing is. That is what I will

introduce here.”

Luther’s great concern that the people hear the Word of God extended also to his

choice of music. Foreign music forms confused his people. His people understood German

music best. (I wonder how Luther might react to our Lutheran hymnals. Nearly all of these

hymns were written in another culture.)

There are also some profound theological implications. Our message of salvation by

grace through faith in Christ will be distorted if we insist that the new Christian or the

potential Christian must learn a new communication system in order to participate in

Christian worship. Instead of the Good News of Jesus Christ we may be communicating

bad news about the kind of music a people understand and like. We may be asking people

to stumble on something that is not the Word of God.

The Biblical and Confessional requirements for Lutheran worship are Word and

sacrament. Word and sacrament must, of course, be “incarnated.” They come to us in

human forms. The outreach dimension of worship tells us that the human forms

surrounding Word and sacrament should be forms that are understood by the people of that

place. And, finally, the people of the place, the local congregation, is the group that has the

responsibility for making decisions about what are appropriate worship forms.

However, the choice of appropriate worship forms is more complex. More appropriate

for whom? Most congregations will have a variety of people with a variety of backgrounds.

Some people will have had a long history of using a form of worship. I find special

memories in “page 5 and 15.” Many of the special worship events in my life have been

framed within these forms of worship. Some people have a special attachment to classical

music. Any other style of music would seem to them less than worshipful. How does the

local congregation deal with these needs as well as the needs of the potential Christian and

the new Christian?

There is no simple answer to this problem. The Christian congregation must consider

the needs of all its people as well as the needs of outreach. However, I feel there are some

criteria very helpful to the congregation. Luther does a good job of using these criteria, and

I am convinced that he gets them from the Apostle Paul.

But such orders are needed for those who are still becoming Christians.

… They [orders of worship] are essential especially for the immature and

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the young who must be trained and educated in Scripture and God’s

Word daily so that they may become familiar with the Bible, grounded,

well versed, and skilled in it, ready to defend their faith and in due time

to teach others and to increase the kingdom of Christ. For such, one must

read, sing, preach, write and compose. And if it would help matters

along, I would have all the bells pealing, and all the organs playing, and

have everything ring that can make a sound.

Luther knew enough about communication to know that in addressing a congregation,

it is impossible to make the message specific to every group in the congregation. However,

as a good communicator, he also knew that to compromise and make the message so

general it would be geared to everyone would mean that it would be so bland no one would

be impacted by the message. So, the good communicator chooses one group in the

audience, aims his message to that group and the other groups are invited to “listen in.”

Luther suggests this for public worship. He suggests that public worship be written for

one or two specific groups in the audience. I believe we can learn much from his choice of

a group to be the “primary target” for worship communication. Luther says public worship

should be geared to the young Christians and to potential Christians.

Luther, I believe is following the example St. Paul set when discussing the problem of

meat offered to idols (Rom 14). There is no prescribed worship form for Christian worship.

A great variety of things are possible and appropriate in worship. However, we will have

to make a choice. And our choice will have an effect on the congregation.

St. Paul and Luther made choices that considered the needs of outreach. St. Paul

advocated restricting the choices to those that could be understood best by the weaker

Christian. Luther suggests we choose forms for worship that will meet the needs of young

Christians and potential Christians.

Benefits to Worship and Outreach

When the proper relationship between worship and outreach is maintained, both will

benefit. Worship will more clearly communicate the Word, and the sacraments will be

better understood. Outreach will be better able to focus on the task of bringing the potential

Christian into contact with the Word of God.

I often advise congregations making decisions

about worship to give 51% of their voting power to

people who are not yet Christian. The criteria for

making worship decisions needs to be more

theological than “I like,” “This is how we have

always done it,” or “This is what the pastor wants.”

If outreach is to be a priority in a congregation, then

the decision-making criteria for worship will

include the needs of potential and new Christians.

When the proper

relationship between

worship and outreach is

maintained, both will

benefit.

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Of course, to be helpful, decision-making criteria need to be used. An excellent way

for leaders to build a healthy use of proper criteria is to provide many opportunities for

making choices. When worship is being planned, leaders should present several options.

This will help avoid the assumption that the form presented is the “right” form. Presented

with a choice, the worship committee will have the opportunity to ask, “What is the most

useful and edifying in this situation? And, of course, you will regularly want to encourage

the committee to tell why it chose one option rather than the other. If outreach is a part of

their philosophy of ministry, you will soon see it in the decision they make.

When the outreach dimension of worship is considered, it is less likely that the worship

will become outdated. If St. Paul’s concern about the person coming in off the street is

considered when making worship decisions, the language and forms of worship will be

adjusted to communicate well to the people in our situation today.

Updating religious forms does not mean that we abandon correct doctrine. In fact, not

updating worship forms is more likely to result in false doctrine than a proper concern with

being relevant will. C.H. Kraft puts it this way, “Holding to religious forms that have lost

their intended meanings, as the Pharisees did is superstition.”

The proper updating of the

language and ritual forms that we use for worship will strengthen the communication of

correct doctrine.

Understanding the relationship between worship and outreach will, I believe, also give

us a greater appreciation for the best traditions of Christian worship. My study of Christian

worship leads me to believe that when the church was most active in outreach, worship

was at its best. When mission lagged, worship stagnated. When you find a great

proliferation of worship forms, you also find a time of much mission activity.

Outreach also benefits from the relationship. When worship forms are relevant, it is

much simpler to bring potential Christians to hear the Word. Rather than a frustrated

“You’re all crazy,” the potential Christian is more likely to say, “God is really among you”

when brought into a worship context that can be readily understood.

With worship forms appropriate to the community of the congregation, there is more

time for sharing and feeding on the Word, rather than hours of translating for the potential

or new Christian. Rather than being forced to take the time to explain the cultural history

of a form and its supposed meaning in this context, relevant forms will communicate

intended meanings without the need for additional study.

Appropriate worship forms will also make the movement from worship to witness

easier. When worship happens in a special or outdated language, the witness will need to

take the extra effort to translate the Word he has heard before sharing. When the proper

relationship between worship and outreach is kept, the transition from church to street is

made easier.

As I mentioned earlier in the article, in a mission situation we make learning the

language and culture of a people a priority. With all of the upheaval in the world, as well

as in the United States, we are in a mission situation. With the refugees fleeing Ukraine,

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and more than a million migrants streaming across the border of the United States, we are

in or near a cross-cultural situation. And, in many of these situations, we will not even have

the usual structures of an established building, a usual routine of worship, and a history of

music choices. Recognizing the relationship between worship and mission should be easier

in these situations and obviously is very necessary.

Witness is enhanced when worship communicates that God is a God of today. God is

capable of understanding and using forms of our cultural world. Incarnation is still

happening today. God is alive and functioning in the world of today. Just as Jesus was not

ashamed to come into the world as a human being to save us (Phil 2:5-11), God still comes

to us in ways that are understood by us. We are not required to learn a sacred language or

perform a secret ritual. God, in His great love for us, become human.

At the heart of Lutheran theology is our understanding that we are saved by the grace

of God through faith in Jesus. This theology is best expressed in both our worship and our

witness when we come to people in their world, when we communicate in ways that are

readily understood by the people around us.

Endnotes

J.G. Davies, Worship and Mission (London: SCM Press, 1966), 22.

Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions

of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 515.

Martin Luther, in Luther’s Works, Vol. 53: Liturgy and Hymns, ed. Ulrich S. Leupold,

(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1965), 54.

Luther, 53:62.

C. H. Craft, Christianity in Culture (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979), 331.