Worship that tastes like heaven

MY STORY

I have to what?? 

I had just been told I would be leading worship for a large conference in Athens, Greece where we were living and serving at the time. 

The question came though when I was told I had to include English, Greek, Persian and Arabic into the times of worship. I wasn’t a complete stranger to multilingual church but this was a different altogether. Thankfully many friends came to my rescue and we were able to put together seven sets of worship songs that included these different languages. And as we sang in different languages, 400 people from 49 different countries, our different voices and tongues blending together, something I couldn’t explain happened… 

This started me on a journey of simultaneously leading worship like this more often and seeking to understand what we were doing, what it was about this ‘intercultural’ worship, as people were calling it, that was so special. 

It was only upon returning to Northern Ireland where I live now and taking on intercultural worship leading as half my job that I was able to set aside the time to really understand why something different happened in the room when we led worship in different languages. And here’s what it came down to: 

Intercultural worship is a reflection of the now and not yet intercultural kingdom of God!

WHY?

When we meet as the local expression of the Church, we are to be a foretaste of heaven for the cities and villages in which we find ourselves.

Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10 ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ (NIV). 

James said in James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (NIV)

John said in Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. (NIV)

So… heaven is made up of christians from every nation, tribe, people and language. Jesus prays that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. James tells us the Church is meant to be a foretaste of the New Creation… And then it clicked… 

When we meet as the local expression of the Church, we are to be a foretaste of heaven for the cities and villages in which we find ourselves. And one of the characteristics of heaven is that it will be an intercultural, diverse gathering of people. And so when our worship reflects this, it is to be expected that we should experience something different because we are being faithful to Jesus’ prayer and James’ teaching on the Church as we bring John’s vision of heaven to earth. 

So if this makes sense theologically, how can you begin the journey of intercultural worship in your local context? 

HOW?

First of all, start small and simple. Some of the worst mistakes in ministry are made when somebody has a great biblical vision but moves too quickly and then leaves a lot of people behind who hadn’t had the time to truly understand and get on board. Start small! Maybe a youtube video of a song in a different language during a prayer time, maybe the chorus of a known song in another language. In the church in which I regularly lead worship we do one multilingual worship once a month. I would love to do more but it needs to be explained clearly and then rolled out very slowly. 

Second of all, ask! Leading a worship song in someone’s language can be honouring and loving, but it can also be tokenistic and insulting. I remember once adding a chorus in Ukrainian at the last minute because a woman from Ukraine showed up to an event. At the end I was so proud of myself and went over to ask her how she had found it when we all sang in her language. Praise God she was gracious because actually we had all sung in Russian… And all because I hadn’t taken the time to go and ask this woman to help. Asking for help from people in our churches is also a beautiful way of submitting to one another. If I had asked this Ukrainian woman to help check the pronunciation (and the language!!), then not only would we have avoided a bad mistake but also it would have communicated to her ‘you are equal to me. You are not just a guest, you are a member of the family. You are not just welcome, you belong!’ As ethnodoxologist and ethnomusicologist (yes those are both real!) Ian Collinge says intercultural worship is impossible without intercultural friendship. Genuine reciprocal relationship with people different from me is the only way this vision of the Church can become a reality. So ask!

And then pray. Intercultural worship reflects the will of God to have a people made of every nation, tribe and language. So if you pray for His help, you can be assured He will answer! Pray that He would send more people from different nations and backgrounds to your church. Pray that He would guide you as you pick songs, languages and styles to include. There is a debate over whether churches with no other languages should include different languages or, if you have different languages, whether you should include languages that are not represented in your context. While I am fairly new to this, I would argue that you should. And the reason is that if you pray for God to guide you in your choice of languages to include, then He may have someone in mind He is going to lead to your church the day you use that language. And this has happened too many times to us for it to be a coincidence. 

Final appeal

Every time we gather as one body from different tribes, languages, backgrounds, and we submit to one another, sing each others’ songs in each other's languages, we tell Satan loud and clear that he has lost and Jesus has won! 

Paul in Ephesians 3:10 ‘His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms…’ (NIV)

In Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as many other places, we are living in divided and tense times. Mass immigration, social inequalities, health system crises are causing us to look at others as enemies and problems. And this is exactly what Satan wants! So how about we stop giving him what he wants? Paul tells us that God’s wisdom is on display for angels and demons to see when the Church gathers as one body, Jew and Gentile, British and Irish, Welsh and Iranian, French and Syrian, Israeli and Palestinian… Every time we gather as one body from different tribes, languages, backgrounds, and we submit to one another, sing each others’ songs in each other's languages, we tell Satan loud and clear that he has lost and Jesus has won! 

An edited version of this article appeared in Evangelical Magazine, a publication of the Evangelical Movement of Wales.