Biblical Imagination for Seeing Through the Window of One’s Eye:
Imagination, for the most part, is relegated to the confines of fictional storytelling, youthful artistry, or mythical fantasy. However, what if I told you that imagination is an essential component in developing a biblical, Christian worldview? It helps to grasp the eternal truths and forms of reality. Imagination, in this sense, isn’t sheer creativeness; imagination is a spiritually informed disposition and/or posture at seeing beyond the outer form and gazing into spiritual truth. Or as Kevin J. Vanhoozer says,
The literary forms of biblical discourse themselves are essential to their communicative function. The biblical texts do not simply convey information to fill the head or use images to warm the heart. Rather, they display in manifold ways the world as suffused by the presence and activity of the triune God, and they invite us to live into it. Scripture communicates the reality of God not simply by informing us what God has done, but also by enabling us to perceive the world in ways that transcend our empirical senses by inviting us to grasp in diverse ways the meaningful whole summed up “in Christ.” For this crucial task, words—the imagination in its verbal aspect—are essential.[1]
All this to say, God has woven into creation images and truths that serve to point us toward the transcendent forms that culminate in who He is through His redemptive act. For example, the created shell of, let’s say, the family unit is instituted into creation herself in order to showcase God’s covenantal union with His people—Israel and the church. These shells, then, are not arbitrary. They are, however, grafted into the created order to point beyond themselves. To this end, we need a biblically informed imagination or, dare I say, a Gospel lens to see these truths for what they truly are. For this reason, Paul prays that the church would “[have] the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18; italics mine). Imagination is an essential component to truly see.
The Elements within the Worship Service:
The worship service, then, is not merely an assembly to entertain congregants amid the toil and grind of life. Rather, the gathering of the saints and, for our purposes, her liturgy are intentionally construed to give the saints an image (if we are using our imagination) into the heavenly truths that inform and fuel our missional lives with the covenantal Lord Himself. “The liturgy,” according to Simon Chan, “may be described as embodied worship. It is worship expressed through a certain visible order or structure (thus the phrase ‘order of service’).”[2] To this end, this article will examine five (5) differing components in the worship service that points beyond themselves to the heavenly forms. These, again, are substantiated by our imagination in communing with the living God Himself through the Scriptures.
The Gathered Saints. The gathering of the saints is not merely a sociological phenomenon. The construct of the church is theodynamic. Or as Martin Luther the German Reformer contends in On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church the church is creatura verbi divini (“a creature of the Word”). Therefore, the church’s union with Christ affords them the privilege of being the New Covenant temple of God.[3] The assembly of saints cannot be seen as merely a human feat. Rather, her presence points to the heavenly tent which is construed by Christ Jesus Himself (cf. Heb. 9:1-28). That is to say, the church’s gathering forges imaginatively a temple-picture within a particular geospatial location. The church in her gathered form is a spiritual temple and a center of worship with the covenantal Lord Himself. Paul implies this when he says, “When you are assembled in the Name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:2). The church, consequently, is the New Covenant temple.
The Reading and Preaching of God’s Word. The presence of the Word amongst His people—read, taught, preached, and, more importantly, lived—is emblematic of God’s covenantal presence in the temple of God (cf. Ex. 25:21-22). If God’s people are to be a new covenant temple housing the presence of God, she will be fundamentally marked by the life-giving Word. That is, she will be a logocentric community.[4] Therefore, this central marker points to God’s presence in their midst; His commandments abiding in His people (Jn. 8:31; 15:5-7, 9-10, 1 Jn. 3:24; 5:2-3; 2 Jn. 1:9).[5] The Word and its formative residue, then, serves imaginatively as God’s presence within the covenant community.
The Praises of Song. Since the covenant community is marked out by God’s Word, the outflow of her affection embodies songs of praise that reverberate Him as Truth. Or said differently, the emergence of joy spills over in heralding truths about God through song (cf. Ps. 68:4-6; 100:1-2; 105:1-2; Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16). Thus, the worship service is not merely a concert-like enthrallment. Rather, its fashion functions imaginatively as steppingstones into the inner courts of temple-dwelling to commune with the living God. Song expresses and embodies the purpose of the church—worship. Or as Chan contends, “To be church is to be the worshiping community—this statement acknowledges that the church’s most basic identity is to be found in its act of worship.”[6]
Congregational Prayer. Congregational prayer points to the corporate, unifying principle of the covenant community. As the New Covenant temple, we gather not only to adore our Lord, but to commune with Him through prayer. Due to the work of Christ, we have access in fellowship through intercessory petition. In addition, we have a great high priest who “holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever” (Heb. 7:24). Thus, our prayers of thanksgiving, repentance, offering, and more are accepted because we have confidence in the One who intercedes on our behalf. Prayer, then, points us to this divine access and by this entrance the covenant community engages in spiritual truths through the gathering of the saints. The church is, as Chan infers, “gathered to meet God; God is, in a sense, the host, and we are being welcomed into His presence.”[7]
The Ordinances. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Table—the Eucharist—serve as covenantal markers to the grace bestowed upon us by the Creator Lord Himself (1 Cor. 11:25; cf. Matt. 26:28; Rom. 6:1-3). These covenantal seals serve imaginatively as signs to the true and efficacious work of Christ in redeeming a people to Himself.[8] “Sacrament brings the proclaimed Word,” asserts Chan, “to its fulfillment. We come to know what the proclaimed Word is by actually entering into communion with the Real Presence effected by the Spirit in the Lord’s Supper.”[9] Again, these signs point beyond themselves to the covenantal seal in the work and Person of Christ. Baptism being the initiatory right into the church and the Eucharist being a renewal of covenantal commitment in Christ.[10]
More than Meets the Eye:
The order of service is not arbitrary in its function nor is it capricious in its nature. Rather, the liturgical outline serves to teach the people of God how to love their covenant God by hearing, obeying, and observing the Word of God. As one author contends, “[we] are what we love, and our love is shaped, primed, and aimed by liturgical practices that take hold of our gut and aim our heart to certain ends.”[11] That is to say, particular forms within the worship service—let’s say, the ordinances—are not mere rituals construed for the confines of presentational display. Rather, the forms point the covenant members toward the spiritual realities that supersede their earthly existence. They prepare the people of God for the eschatological ends in enjoying the Creator and communing with Him for all eternity.
Therefore, the liturgical structure not only gives light to the presentational service on the Lord’s Day, but it also catapults and fuels the episodic moments of the believers’ everyday life. “Doctrine, beliefs, and a Christian worldview emerge from the nexus of Christian worship practices;” contends one author, “worship is the matrix of Christian faith, not its ‘expression’ or ‘illustration.’”[12] The Christian, then, must strengthen their imagination by the renewal of mind in order to obtain a biblical worldview that allows them to see beyond the shell of the created order onto the divine form within the heavenlies. In addition, the church’s liturgical formation must not be a passive endeavor. The church’s liturgy must provide the necessary social imaginary so that when the saints sing, pray, read, preach, and see the Gospel, they embody a holistic gaze that fuses into the very fabric of their God-ordained, missional lives. Liturgical theology, to this end, provides the vehicle to see and love the covenantal God who has granted these means of grace for the growth of His church and the glory of His fame. Soli Deo Gloria!
Footnotes
[1] Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Pictures at a Theological Exhibition: Scenes of the Church’s Worship, Witness and Wisdom (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016), 26. Italics mine.
[2] Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006), 62.
[3] G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, NSBT, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004), 183-188. Beale has been a tremendous help in assisting me to think through this biblical themes and propelling me toward the ramifications and implications of church life.
[4] See Gregg R. Allison, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church. FET (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 110-117.
[5] See Boersma, Hans. Scripture as Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2017.
[6] Chan, Liturgical Theology, 42. See also Piper, John. Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022.
[7] Chan, Liturgical Theology, 131.
[8] See Wilson, Andrew. Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018.
[9] Chan, Liturgical Theology, 66.
[10] See Mark E. Dever, “Baptism in the Context of the Local Church” in Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, Ed. Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2006), 329-352. See also Ray Van Neste, “The Lord’s Supper in the Context of the Local Church” in The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes, Ed. Thomas R. Schreiner and Matthew R. Crawford (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2010), 364-390.
[11] James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 40.
[12] Ibid., 138.
McYoung Y. Yang (MDiv, SBTS; ThM, MBTS) is the husband to Debbie and a father to their four children. He is a Pastor of Preaching/Teaching at Covenant City Church in St. Paul, MN and the Executive Editor of Covenant City Church Content Team. Along with his ministerial duties, he is a homeschool dad. McYoung is continuing his doctoral studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO, and his ambition is to use his training as a means to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens.
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