Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 10.5)

Disciplines
Ritual
For most Protestant Christians, “ritual” is a kind of four-letter word. Ritual connotes rote behavior, shallow participation, meaningless repetition, and so forth. Many confessing Christians want to avoid ritual and seek a more authentic and personal experience of faith. “Ritual” derives from “rite,” which is a prescribed form of action in a ceremonial context, usually, but not always (as we shall see), related to religious life. Ritual sounds like “rigid” to many Christians, and is the opposite, in their minds, of “spontaneous” or “personal” or “genuine.”

Christian rituals include both personal and corporate prescribed actions. Prayer, Bible reading, singing, worship, fasting, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, keeping the Lord’s Day – these are the primary rituals which have been associated with the Christian faith through the centuries. For many confessing Christians these rituals have lost whatever “punch” they once had, so they must be revised, replaced, merely endured, or simply avoided in the quest for some more meaningful experience of faith.

It’s true, of course, that rituals can become mindless exercises of unthoughtful faith. But they don’t have to be. And to despise ritual, or to regard it lightly, simply because our experience of it does not match our expectations, does not justify either avoiding all rituals, submitting to mindless participation, constantly trying to tweak our rituals to coax some vitality out of them, or replacing them with something that “works for me.”

Even secular people recognize the value of ritual as an aid to getting along in life. For example, ritual, rightly understood, can be useful even in helping to address the challenges of climate change. This, at any rate, is the view of Sarah Darwin and Stephen Cave (“It’s not easy being green,” Aeon, 15 March 2016). As you read about their experience and conclusions, pay attention to the words I have set in italics, and think about the power of Christian ritual in that light (all italics mine).

Seeking to learn whether ritual might supplement argumentation in promoting environmental stewardship, the pair submitted to a variety of activities designed to connect them with the natural world so that they would learn to love it more. They were impressed with their experience, and this led to a further reflection on the role of ritual in life.

“Rituals act to align our values, our behavior and our expectations of others,” the authors explain. “Their success is measured in their ability to impose order on a chaotic world.” Rituals involve drama, memory, imaging, and story-telling, and they enable us to approach life from a different perspective, which can aid in behavior change. “The world – and our own feelings – sometimes seem chaotic and unmanageable. Rituals allow a controlled expression of these emotions while helping us to go forwards.”

Ritual helps with social connections as well, as people join together in a common experience. “The role of ritual is to clear away the emotional obstacles to action.” And they help us to break bad habits and form new ones. The authors conclude that “rituals have real power.”

All of which confirms what Christians have known for centuries, and argues for a more informed and solemn approach to the rituals of our faith.

The rituals of our faith are prescribed by God for the purpose of connecting us with Him and leading us to love Him more. Christian rituals enable genuine participation in God, because our lives have been hidden with Christ in Him. Rituals are means for ordering our time and disciplining our bodies to seek the Lord, and, as we submit to them, they give insight to God’s expectations for us as His people. They help us invest our time and strength for seeking the Kingdom and righteousness of God. Rituals enable us to approach life from a different perspective – a spiritual and exalted perspective – so that we can continue to grow and make progress in the life of faith.

Christian rituals unlock true spiritual power for knowing, loving, and serving the Lord Jesus. To despise, ignore, or substitute for these is to despise the Lord’s own prescriptions for growing in Him.

If we find our participation in rituals to be mindless, boring, or unexciting, then the problem is not with the rituals, but with those who practice them.

For reflection
1.  How would you describe the role of rituals in your Christian life?

2.  Can we expect to know full faith and abundant life if we lightly regard or ignore what God prescribes as important? Explain.

3.  What could you do to improve the use of rituals in your walk with and work for the Lord?

What role do rituals play in your church? Talk with a pastor or church leader about this question.

Why not start a reading group – make it your own weekly ritual? An excellent book to use in starting a reading group is T. M.’s The Ground for Christian Ethics. It’s brief, conversational, and deals with foundational ideas relating to how we are to follow Jesus as His disciples. Order your copy by clicking here.

The Week features insights from a wide range of topics and issues, with a view to equipping the followers of Christ to take every thought captive for Jesus. Please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.