When C. S. Lewis gave...
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When C. S. Lewis gave us Screwtape, the senior devil in the nefarious heirarchy, he taught us what "the other guy" doesn't want Christians to do. One satanic prohibition for Christians is celebration. You know, "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" and such as that.
Lewis puts square upon the tongue and lips of Screwtape this advice to his earth stationed nephew and junior devil Wormwood, "Never let him (Christian) see the banners flying."
Tommy Compolo in The Kingdorn of God Is A Party counters the devil's strategy with this stated conviction, "Whatever else Christian conversation involves, let it be very clear that coming into the 'born again' experience is coming into a state of joyful celebration" (page 114). Compolo also helps us ecclesiastics to professional assessment when he critiques our liturgical attitude, "They say the priest is celebrating the mass. The first time I heard that, I thought it was strange to put it that way. It seemed to me the one thing the somber man in the front of the altar was not doing was celebrating. But that is exactly what he was supposed to be doing. That is what the whole church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be doing when its people worship on Sunday morning" (page 70).
In a time when so much of what we do in worship is dry, drab, and dull perhaps our request of God should take a cue from the solicitation of Zorba the Greek, "Teach me to dance."
-- Barnhart
Lewis puts square upon the tongue and lips of Screwtape this advice to his earth stationed nephew and junior devil Wormwood, "Never let him (Christian) see the banners flying."
Tommy Compolo in The Kingdorn of God Is A Party counters the devil's strategy with this stated conviction, "Whatever else Christian conversation involves, let it be very clear that coming into the 'born again' experience is coming into a state of joyful celebration" (page 114). Compolo also helps us ecclesiastics to professional assessment when he critiques our liturgical attitude, "They say the priest is celebrating the mass. The first time I heard that, I thought it was strange to put it that way. It seemed to me the one thing the somber man in the front of the altar was not doing was celebrating. But that is exactly what he was supposed to be doing. That is what the whole church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be doing when its people worship on Sunday morning" (page 70).
In a time when so much of what we do in worship is dry, drab, and dull perhaps our request of God should take a cue from the solicitation of Zorba the Greek, "Teach me to dance."
-- Barnhart
