I am something of a creativity junkie. I love bringing new ideas into being, and watching lights go on for people as they see things in a new way. I am always on the look out for new music, new theatre and movies, new books, new places to go. If I was ever forbidden to express myself creatively, my life would lose a significant amount of joy, energy and meaning.
But, I also love routine. I tend to structure my time in repeatable ways. I like to return to the familiar and enjoy the comfort and reassurance it brings. Without this sense of routine – tradition, if you will – my life would be chaotic and dysfunctional.
In worship, there is a tendency to put creativity and familiarity at odds with one another. C.S. Lewis, I am told, wrote that he struggled when ministers changed the liturgy just at the point where he was familiar enough with the words that he didn't have to focus on them and could connect with God through the familiar language. Similarly, in many churches in which I have worked, there is strong resistance to anything new. In other churches, though, the opposite is the case. If things are repeated, if anything is the same for a week or two, people begin to feel like things are stagnating. It's like there needs to be a constant stream of new music, new technology, new ways of organising the services or we don't get the right injection of energy. And these two groups often struggle to worship together.
It doesn't need to be this way. In a world of media, entertainment and multi-tasking, creativity speaks in a language that makes sense. In a world of fast and constant change, familiar rituals and routines can keep us grounded and give us roots. We need both. Creativity and tradition are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are two sides of a single coin that draws us closer to God, and God's eternal truth and grace, and opens us to the new move of God's Spirit in our hearts and in our world.
There is a longing in us for an experience of God that is fresh and alive and new, but there is also a need for the comfort and security of the familiar, and the history and depth of tradition. So, as you worship this week – and as you live your worship out – how can you embrace the new things God wants to do in and through you? And how can you preserve and protect the familiar, the traditional and the routine? How can you set your heart free to fly on the wind of the Spirit, while also remaining rooted and anchored in the wisdom of the ages?
As Jesus said in his awesome parable: "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure chest." (Matthew 13:52 – God's Word). Remember, everything that is tradition now, was once innovation, and a lot of what is innovation today, will be tradition tomorrow.
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.