How Highly Does Your Church Regard Scripture?

It is difficult to categorize and label churches these days. Denominational affiliation is sometimes a helpful guide to understanding a congregation's beliefs and practices, but there can be wide variations even within a single denomination. The "evangelical" label continues to lose its meaning, since that term can increasingly be applied to many different kinds of congregations. Few churches want to be called "fundamentalist" or "liberal"; those names usually come from outsiders projecting their own critical judgments on a congregation. But even self-identifying words like "progressive" or "traditional" still leave a lot to the imagination. Of all the many things can be used to categorize and classify church groups, often the most important factor is what level of authority that Scripture is granted. Recently I heard a pastor at a large gathering invite the people to join "Bible-teaching" or "Bible-believing" churches. I'm pretty sure he was promoting a high authority of scripture, which probably speaks to his assumptions about how the Bible was inspired and limits the kind of questions one can ask of it.

I have attended many "Bible-teaching" churches. But several of them, while claiming to put a high value on scripture, don't actually use the scriptures in worship. I remember attending a large evangelical church one Sunday morning. We sat through 45 minutes of worship before a single verse of scripture was read or presented. Through all the announcements and singing none of the pastors on the platform referenced the Bible in any way. The projected slides that contained the song lyrics did not even include references to the verses we were presumably singing about. Not until the (very long) sermon was about to start did the pastor read a few verses from the Bible.

It's hard for me to believe that the scriptures are honored if they aren't used to worship the God who inspired them. Over a decade ago the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship published Ten Core Convictions about Christian Worship. Point 3 is "Deep Engagement with Scripture." This commitment involves more than what kind of authority is given to the Bible. It points instead to how worshippers encounter Scripture when they gather together.

"Bible-teaching" churches often distinguish themselves against liturgical churches. "Liturgy" is used by some as a negative term to criticize worship services that are seen as stuffy, inflexible, and rote. Certainly there are some places where the worship has become just that. But in a liturgical worship service there will undoubtedly be numerous encounters with Scripture. It will be read out loud, and I as a worshipper will have the chance to respond to it through prayers, songs, and congregational acclamations. One of the beauties of a liturgical service is that I know that the scriptures will be proclaimed. Even if the sermon is uninspiring, the gospel will be presented--often more than once.

How is your congregation using Scripture? Is it read, proclaimed, shouted, and sung throughout the service? Or is it used as window dressing to support the message that the pastor wants to preach?