I believe the strength of diversity IS our differences! They say in marriage, if the two of you are too much alike, well, one of you is unnecessary! That's how it is with diversity...
The church, the bride, born out of so many different REVELATIONS, not just merely preferences...wow, she is beautiful, colourful... how could we ever dream to fully express in ONE way the awesomeness of our God?
I think of some of the songwriters... Wesley, Jack Hayford, the Gaithers, Andrea Crouch, Keith Green, Graham K, Chris Tomlin, Michael W, Martin Smith etc... IMAGINE if our expression and revelation were one and the same.... oh what a monotonous sound that would be.
With contemporary worship, traditional hymn based worship, liturgical worship... all of them have dangers, but you cannot dismiss ANY of them as they are all a powerful way to unlock the heart of the harvest. I read a great book recently called 'Exploring The Worship Spectrum' by Paul Engle and Paul Basden... and if you want to read great theological reasoning and comments behind specific styles, this is a good read.
A more specific danger is a CRITICAL SPIRIT... it often cloaks itself in self-righteousness, but it actually is very nasty and damaging, it is a voice that wants to be heard no matter how damaging, no matter the cost... and is often very dangerous. I actually believe that we, the body, should always be in pursuit of relationship, for often what you perceive to be true, and the actual truth are two very different things.
Another danger is pride... which comes in many forms, but often is simply unteachable, unreachable, and always eventually twists and turns into a similar shaped evil, and will take a wonderful hope-filled future and fill it with drama...
John Piper... an absolutely stunning bible teacher says this, 'If God's reality is displayed to us in His word or His world, and we do not then feel ANY grief or longing or hope or fear or confidence, then we may dutifully sing and pray and recite and gesture as much as we like, but it will not be real worship. We cannot honour God if our hearts are far from Him. The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of the feelings and emotions and affections of the heart. Where feelings for God is dead, worship is dead'. Wow... there it is.
