Earlier this year, we published an issue of Leadership on the theme of “Rediscovered Roots: Timeless practices that keep us grounded and bring new life.” Jonny Baker, a leader of Grace, an alternative worship community in London, wrote a fantastic article for us called “Something Old, Something New.” In the piece he discusses the transformation of worship among the young away from a purely contemporary style toward an appreciation of history, liturgy, symbol, and even tradition.

I recently came across this cartoon called “The Evolution of a Worshiper” which reminded me of Baker’s article. The ‘toon progresses from an outwardly enthusiastic (can we call it Charismatic?) style, through the reserved form of popular evangelicalism, to the cynical postmodern with iPod and goatee, to the fully liturgical high-church Anglican. Can you relate to the illustration? Where on the scale do you find yourself?

Read this excerpt from Baker’s article and tell me if you feel he’s on to something. For the full article, you’ll want to visit LeadershipJournal.net. 

In the United Kingdom where I serve, something intriguing has been taking shape in the area of worship. It’s not uncommon to find communities practicing rituals, lighting candles, projecting icons, and regularly using liturgy around Communion, which is becoming more central in many gatherings. The irony is that many of these churches turned away from traditional worship a few decades ago when tradition became a dirty word.

Some reacted negatively to tradition, as many still do, because they saw it used to defend a flawed status quo and squelch innovation. But there is a significant difference between tradition and traditionalism. Christian tradition is living; it is not closed or completed, and it is not opposed to innovation.

Traditionalism, on the other hand, is dead and static. It is championed by those who want to do things “the way they have always been done.”

Part of faithfully carrying a tradition forward is keeping it truly alive. To keep reforming religious tradition is part of being faithful to that tradition. This reformatory impulse is at the heart of our Christian heritage. And when tradition is kept alive, it actually subverts the traditionalism that attempts to the choke life from a community.

Jesus employed precisely this approach when confronting the traditionalism practiced by the religious leaders of his day. He often drew from the past to move forward. But it takes leaders with a developed set of instincts to draw on their traditions in a creative manner. They must carry a deep respect for their tradition, but not a blind one. They recast the tradition for their present context by fusing old traditions with new innovations.

N.T. Wright calls this process “faithful improvisation.” He asks us to imagine the discovery of a previously unknown Shakespeare play. The script is complete except for one missing scene. To perform the play, the missing scene will have to be improvised by a group of actors. To improvise well, they must immerse themselves in the rest of the plot, the characters, and other Shakespearean works. Only those who know the play and the author well can judge whether the improvised scene rings true.

In a similar manner, Wright suggests that the Bible is a drama in five acts. The first four acts are Creation, the Fall, the calling of Israel, and Jesus. The fifth act begins with the birth of the church in Acts and ends with the new heavens and new earth in Revelation. But there is a missing scene in the middle of the fifth act-the scene in which we live. Our task is to faithfully improvise that scene. But not just any improvisation will do. Our improvisation will be judged by its faithfulness to the larger story and its author. Even so, there remains a wide range of imaginative possibilities.

Jazz is a good example of faithful improvisation. The better a musician knows his scales, instrument, written music, and jazz tradition, the more depth his improvised jazz performance will have. Likewise, church leaders with greater knowledge of Scripture, church history, mission, theology, and worship will find more freedom to improvise within their context without sacrificing depth. For them, tradition becomes a reservoir to be immersed in and a deep spring to draw from. Improvisation is a skill that requires taking risks and making mistakes, but it is undergirded by a desire to remain faithful to tradition.

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