Customer Reviews

Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time

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Marva Dawn asks how can the Church reach out, without losing its powerful message? Having attended many churches, I believe the Christian message is often "dumbed down" to fill pews. Dawn confronts our long-held views of worship. Worship, she says, is about God, not us. Christ, not entertainment value, is its meaning. Dawn reinforced my current beliefs, though I wish I had read her book earlier. I attended a "contemporary" church (she points out that it is more like an 80's church; if truly "contemporary" it would use trendier music), and found little depth. As I was discovering the riches of Christian tradition, my old church was proudly ignoring the past. Ultimately, she says we practice idolatry when we mimic empty secular culture, instead of transcending it.

Contrary to popular notions, "contemporary" churches don't appeal to all young persons. Dawn tells about a college student who left a "contemporary" service saying his intelligence was insulted. Many tire of being entertained, especially when their lives become rough and upbeat songs don't cut it, and the power-point presentations become indistinguishable from any other self-help seminar. Worship should subvert culture. Since the true gospel is shocking, it is not something that is able to be mass-marketed.

Dawn is not an old-timer. She believes that some traditionalists have let the liturgy become stale. The idolatry of "doing things as they always have been done" is no better than embracing secular society. She is not a future-fearing hidebound; she wants us to engage Christianity's rich history, but not just follow it blindly. She believes that liturgy, "the work of the people," should indeed be the people's work, not just the pastor's. The meaning of the liturgy should be taught so we can understand its fullness: confession, thanks, prayer, etc. Memorized forms, e.g. creeds and prayers, are important, because they create a solid believing community, rather than a fragmented loose association.

Yes, some of her arguments are forced, but I do hope her ideas will challenge us to worship God in Word and Sacrament (instead of being entertained), and build community (instead of just numbers). I want to share a few excerpts. Dawn discusses Youth Sunday at her Church. Everyone expected the youth to design a contemporary service. However, the youth did a traditional service, and chose old, deep hymns! I too have found that most youth want something deep, but are usually forced to endure hype-heavy study materials (which to the teen are patronizing). I was a teen 4 years ago, and the belief that teens only want contemporary is a myth. Another point Dawn makes is that worship services rarely convert anyone (friends do this). Conversion services are based on a false premise. All in all, she wants us to abandon both stagnant traditionalism and the business-church, and worship God as a tight-knit community with character, grounded in our living tradition.

As someone who tends to resist the "popular-culturalization" of life, I was drawn to this book. Dawn points out the error of approaching church planning by "How can we fill the pews the fastest?" She reminds us that pop culture and its associated cults of celebrity, wealth, and popularity are counter to the "otherness" of Christianity. Christians should be in the world but not of it. She couches her arguements in the larger terms of the changes that have taken place in American culture - changes she sees as distressing - that "ordinary people" don't sing or play instruments any more, that there is increased consumerism, that people are increasingly taking part in amusements that are passive and that separate them from other humans. But Dawn also challenges "traditionalists" not to fossilize in their worship styles and points out that some change may be necessary.

I agreed with much of what Dawn had to say; a person who is into "praise songs" and the church as mall probably wouldn't agree with her. She is pretty harsh on the "marketing-driven" churches, but I do think much of that harshness is deserved, considering what could happen to Christianity if it becomes just another "lifestyle choice."

Marva J. Dawn, a Lutheran theologian at Regent College in Vancouver, throws in her views on the current "worship wars" being waged in churches across America. Taking a firmly traditional stance, though not in an unconditional and close-minded way, she details how churches have become captive to today's therapeutic, TV-addicted, and narcissistic culture. Churches have unthinkingly adopted the standards of the secular culture by singing songs that have more to do with our feelings than God, preaching sermons that are motivational speeches rather than exegeses of the Word, and encouraging church atmospheres which pretend to intimacy but replicate the alienation of our age. Dawn, citing figures as diverse as social critics Neil Postman and Jacques Ellul to theologians Walter Brueggeman and David Wells, shows how American Christianity got that way, and details some positive corrective steps. Worship is about God, and worship should form the character of the Christian, she insists, and anything less than that is unworthy of the Lord.

The book's clarion denunciation of the easygoing, narcissitic "gospel" is a real eye-opener and a prophetic challenge to the contemporary church. Though somewhat repetitive, her points are made clearly and with good support from both Scripture and theological tradition. The passion in her critique stems from what's at stake, which is the very life and death of God's people today. Her case for the traditional liturgy is particularly compelling in how she describes its effect on children and newcomers to the church. Having a set, repeated, and Scripture-rich liturgy following the church calendar will do much more to shape the worshiper's character than most of today's informal services. Dawn is also a classically trained musician and choir director, and it shows in her preference for older church music and especially in the chart presenting the difference between "high" and "pop" culture productions; it is such sections that have led some to accuse her of elitism. The criticism is unwarranted, in my judgment. The issue is not aesthetic taste, but whether the content of both the lyrics and the music are focused on God and will last over time. It's a mistake to think that people will be turned off by substance and depth, and prefer what they hear and see in the outside culture; thoughtful people come to church looking for something different. The church imitates the outside culture at its own peril--the final warning in her book, about the church being its own worst enemy, is a striking warning to churches who think otherwise. They may be, in fact, be captive to "principalities and powers" that guide our broken ways of life, and may be committing slow spiritual suicide in the end. Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down needs to be read by everyone, especially church and worship leaders, concerned with the way they are evangelizing their neighbors. From the Old Testament we learn that the Holy God cares a great deal about the structure and content of our worship, and if the situation is as bad as Dawn thinks it is, we dare not let that state continue for long. Souls are at stake.

Worship is meant to be meaning-full. Every word, pause, and action is (or should be) intentional and holy. Dawn invites the reader into (an admittedly one-sided conversation) that reminds the reader of the sacredness of a gathered community of faith; and persuasively argues for the preservation of the rich tradition of Christian worship.

Passionate proponents of "contemporary" worship will at the very least find points of disagreement. In fact, they may very well be offended. Nevertheless, this excellent book is a much needed and well-researched counter to the current trend towards assuming that traditional worship has no connection or meaning to contemporary culture.

I highly recommend this book to anyone planning, contemplating, or participating in Christian worship in any form or denominational tradition. Warning: It may very well change things you have believed for a long time.

In this thought-provoking book, Marva Dawn challenges all of us to make a deeper committment to more meaningful worship. For those of us who have trained to become professional musicians serving the church or pastors, it is an excellent commentary on why we need to maintain the rich heritage of rites and rituals of many faiths.

Dawn takes a no-nonsense approach to expressing herself and uses many personal experiences to support and explain her positions.

While tough reading at times, this book is well worth the effort. The opinions shared must be faced by all of us if we are to have continued meaningful worship in our churches in the future.

Dawn solidly challenges us to care.

In her book, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, Marva Dawn endeavors to help readers clearly understand culture and worship, to give absolutes to help evaluate the influences or worship, and to offer suggestions to help church reach out to their community without dumbing down their message.

Marva Dawn's stance on worship is a bit too conservative and traditional for me. I agree with her that our churches focus way too much on individual people and that we need to focus more or God and our community, but I do not think that we need to be so judgmental in our criticisms of contemporary cultural. I believe that we can keep God the center of our worship and yet package our worship services in a culturally relevant and user-friendly form. Dawn seems to agree and yet at the same time emphasizes the traditional liturgical form of worship. She states, "... the idea that we should change our worship patterns to attract people to Christ is a mistaken notion." I disagree, and I believe that as long as our worship is biblical, Theocentric, Spirit-sensitive, and community-driven, we can package it however seems to best fit our contemporary context.

I must admit that much of my theology of worship has been influenced by my experiences in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. On the other hand, Marva Dawn's Dawn's theology of worship is based on her Reformed tradition. These presuppositions that we both come to the table with cause most of our disagreement. For example, I appreciate spontaneous worship services, but she urges worshipers towards a more structured service centered on the Eucharist. What is interesting is that neither of our worship traditions nor liturgies are contrary to the Bible because the Bible does not prescribe a certain order or style of worship. There are potential problems with both spontaneous and more liturgical worship models, and we must be aware of these problems. No matter what tradition or model of worship we must keep God the focus of our worship.

This book is an excellent must read for all worship leaders and pastors. It goes beyond style taste and gets in to the theology of worship and how few in the church understand the true issues at stake. By the way this review is being written by a drummer in a contemporary praise band. I am not anti contemporary and neither is the author by the way. However I believe that contemporary worship needs reform. So many lyrics focus on we the worshiper and our promises to God rather than declaring who God is in His magnificent glory and His promises to us. Worship is not first and foremost about reaching out to the unbeliever but, is to be the believers praise and thanksgiving for who God is and what He has done. When we boldly and scripturally worship God unbelievers will be drawn but, that is a by product not the goal. The author unlike a reviewer stated above speaks out against dead traditionalism as well and is not entirely against contemporary worship but, is calling for needed reform. As for the idea that teens in the church will never except older hymns that is not true. Many teens are apparently looking for more substance in worship than their parents are. We need hymns as well as the creeds to root the contemporary church to the historic church.

This book is an excellent look at how beautiful music, forms, and even words are lost in an attempt by congregations to be "seeker sensitive." As a Lutheran, I found Dawn to be both encouraging in her praise of liturgical worship as well as challenging in her criticism of hidebound "traditionalists" (many of whom embrace traditions that really aren't that old). Dawn is very interested in the spiritual and intellectual growth of young people and that has come across in "Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down" as well as many of her other works. I highly encourage you to buy a copy for your pastor or your church library, especially if your congregation is going through a "worship war."

Many of the worship wars occur today because people are asking the wrong questions. Marva Dawn poses the essential questions and provides guidelines to help us revitalize our worship. She takes on many of today's popular church-growth strategies, such as seeker-sensitive services and contemporary worship choruses focusing on the worshiper. At the same time, she has no sympathy for dead, boring liturgy. She does, however, make a compelling case for the use of liturgy, whether it be traditional or contemporary.

The book begins with an in-depth analysis of our culture as it impacts and defines our worship, then develops three worship themes: keeping God rightly as the subject and object of worship, forming Christian character, and building community. Areas treated include music, preaching, liturgy, sacraments, silence, gestures and postures, architure, and participation of children.

The book is well-written and thought-provoking, based on considerable third-party research and sound theology. Because each chapter builds on the previous chapter, there is an element of repetition and tedium, but the insights to be gained are more than worth the effort. No one who reads this book will ever enter into worship of our holy God in quite the same way as before.

This book, along with Thomas Long's "Beyond the Worship Wars" is a must read for all committed Christians, particularly those who are worried about where both Christ-centered worship and church membership numbers are headed in the current wasteland of contemporary culture.

Dawn goes into how we got into the current cultural mess in our society, though given the book's age it is a bit dated as it refers primarily to "Boomers" (from what I've gathered in other research, the situation is similar for GenX, just worse). She then critiques the well meaning (I hope) attempts to reach America's dumbed down, short attention span, commitment phobic generation with worship styles that would be attractive to them, no matter the cost to the Gospel.

Dawn critiques not only contemporary worship but traditionalISM as well. She sees the function of worship (quite correctly, I might add) not as means of attracting numbers (AKA "worship evangelism"), but of having a personal experience with part of God, forming the character of the worshiper, and building community. Both extremes are the antithesis of this.

I have two minor criticisms of this book. Dawn, who I guess has no training in science or technology, tends to present as scientific fact the results of single research studies which appear to be unverified by independent work (to be fair, some are unlikely to be reproduced anytime soon) and might not have had significant peer review. Second she, unlike Long, is a little vague when it comes to solutions, though they seem to be there somewhere. In other words, she can ramble a bit.