“Medieval worship worked directly on people’s emotions through pomp, ceremony, and spectacular architecture and performances. But Calvin wrote that corporate worship must ‘omit…all theatrical pomp, which dazzles the eyes [and ears]…but deadens their minds.’
“…The Reformers saw how the medieval spectacle tended to make worshipers passive observers and to stir the emotions without changing the understanding and the life. Most of all, the ‘spectacle’ represented a lack of confidence in God’s gracious action. Does God need a great performance before he will give us his favor?....”
Keller next discusses Calvin’s opposition to sentimentality (or what we might call ‘folksiness’) in worship. “’Worship leaders’ speak completely ‘off the cuff,’ sharing spontaneous thoughts. As a result of the mediocrity and informality, there is no sense of awe, no sense of being in the presence of the Holy. Calvin knew the difference between simplicity [which is a good thing in worship] and sentimentality.
In sentimental worship, the ‘worship leader’ typically uses comments like, ‘Isn’t he just wonderful?’ ‘Isn’t it such a blessing?’ – “the leader tells people how they ought to feel about God instead of telling them about God.”
“Both spectacle and sentimentality work directly on people’s emotions rather than trusting God’s Spirit to bring truth ‘home.’”
-- Tim Keller, in "Worship by the Book" (edited by D.A. Carson) p. 210 (Zondervan: 2002)
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