For whatever reason this has been coming up a lot lately for me: “I grew up in such-and-such church, but yours doesn’t do all the typical readings.”  And I know all too well what they’re saying and why they’re saying it.  I’ve been there.  I grew up in a Lutheran church and can still yet today recite the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds.  I remember my first time going to a ‘non-liturgical’ church (like Cedar Point) and asking my girlfriend, “When are they going to recite the Apostle’s Creed?”  At first it drove me crazy because all they did was sing (a whole lot) and listen to a sermon.  They didn’t even say the Lord’s Prayer.  But I’ll never forget walking away from that experience knowing one thing: yes, it wasn’t church the way I was used to, but man do they love Jesus!

You see, there’s nothing wrong with liturgy and reciting certain things.  But for me, those things didn’t mean anything to me.  It was just something we did, like at a football game… “stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight!”  There’s nothing wrong with reciting the Lord’s Prayer, though that’s not what Jesus had intended for us to do.  In Matthew 6:9ff, Jesus never said, “This then is what you should pray.”  He said, “This then is how you should pray.”  Not what, but how.  It was a model prayer meant to teach us how to pray.

And personally, I believe God would rather Continue reading →