An important reminder by Darryl Dash - Theology is Doxology
When I sit on ordination councils, I begin with a mental checklist of theological issues to be covered. I want to make sure that the candidate is theologically sound, as well as someone who is qualified as an elder.
Usually I get a sense of the candidate’s suitability pretty quickly, and my focus changes. As I hear the doctrinal statement, I begin to realize again: This is true. This matters. This matters to me. It’s as if I lose my footing as a council member and stagger under the weight of the truth of what I’m hearing. It’s an awesome thing.
This is as it should be. I remember reading Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology for the first time, and thinking that he got it right when he wrote:
"The study of theology is not merely a theoretical exercise of the intellect. It is a study of the living God, and of the wonders of all his works in creation and redemption. We cannot study this subject dispassionately!"
I find myself listening these days to sermons by preachers who open the text and work their way into worship. They are theological to be sure, but they aren’t content to stop there. As they explain the text, they begin to be filled with wonder. It’s almost like their outlines are: This is true! Can you believe it’s true? Because it’s true, it changes everything! Somehow it never gets old to hear a pastor preach his way to worship.
Theology is doxology. It had better be, or something is seriously wrong. I never want to get over the truth of what I hear every week. What truth; what a God.
I grew up singing the little chorus know as the Doxology: "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow..." Thanks to Zac Hicks for the reminder that singing such words that are full of Biblical content also shapes us.
One drop of water on a rock has little effect, but a steady dripping will eventually wear a hole into a seemingly impenetrable stone. Singing the Doxology every week is like getting a steady drip of life-giving Trinitarian water over hardened hearts.
James K. A. Smith, in Desiring the Kingdom, reminds us that the very form and rituals of worship have a shaping effect on us. We don’t just become more godly by learning the theology of the songs and imbibing the propositional content of the sermon. Our desires and habits, as we move along the path of the liturgy, are shaped to more subconsciously and instinctively move along the direction of that path. For instance, I have been in a context where I have experienced the same weekly liturgy of Confession, Assurance, and Repentance for over ten years now. I now find that I have new instincts and desires when I slip into sin. With nearly Pavlovian certainty, my heart drops to its knees, I acknowledge it before God, I preach the good news to my heart of God’s assurance of my pardon through Christ, and I find greater strength to turn and re-commit myself to God’s service. Repeated liturgy makes you love it and live it every day of the week. There are many things that we could point out about the shaping effect of the Doxology. I will mention three.
First, the Doxology shapes us into whole worshipers.
- Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
- Praise Him, all creatures here below;
The first line gives us the “why” of worship (because of what He does). But next is the “who.” First, “all creatures” are summoned to God’s praise, and suddenly our minds are blown about the fact that worship is not merely a human activity. It is an activity of all creation. Before the fall, somehow all creation was more attuned to the worship of God, and there was a sense of solidarity between human beings and creation in the act of worship. ”Praise Him, all creatures here below” is a summons toward fall-reversal, saying to the earth, “Return, and worship the One who made you.”
When we realize this, singing this weekly shapes us into a people dissatisfied with a hyper distinction between sacred and secular. We become a people who grate against our society’s bifurcation of our private, personal religion and our public self. God’s demand for worship has equal authority in our schools, homes, and workplaces as it does in the sanctuary. Our worship is whole, because the summons isn’t “Praise Him, all Christians here below.” We become a people who are passionate about the reclamation and return of all of the earth’s worship to its rightful Owner and Object.
From Jared Wilson -
The Apostles Creed as worship
It’s possible that we have become so familiar with the creed that we’ve
become blind to some of its unique qualities. First, notice that the
creed is not merely a catalog of doctrines but is phrased as a
confession. “We believe” it urges us to say. Sincere recitation of the
creed requires faith in the God who has accomplished these great things
and belief that these great things were accomplished. In this way, the
Apostles’ Creed is not just theology, but doxology, and as it is so
often included in the liturgy of Christian worship services, it is meant
to be recited together, as a body of believers, as an act of worship.
The Apostles’ Creed is not simply textbook theology; it is hymnbook
theology! It is the song of a liberated heart, similar to the biblical
confessions and doxologies, the eruption of personal confession that is
faithful profession. The creed is a confession in the truest sense of
the word: Christians confess with the creed that these are things they
must believe to be saved.
