Which God?

The other day, Chad Brooks put up a post called "Answering the Tough Questions :Part 1." In in, he stated:

While the task of soul-saving (in whatever manner you choose to accomplish it)is highly admirable, by using this format Sunday after Sunday, the evangelicaltradition actually loses it’s focus on the Triune God, and turns itself into afunctional Unitarianism.

The "this format" he is referring to is from a book called Ancient-Future Worship by Robert Webber, and breaks down to:

• Singing to warm the heart and soul
• Preaching to proclaim the Good News of Salvation in Christ
• Invitation to receive Jesus as the personal Lord and Savior of your life.

I'm not sure I agree completely. Perhaps the statement is just a little too broad.

Perhaps some churches are like this. But it is possible to "stick to the format," so to speak, and still clearly worship the Triune God. In a Pentecostal/Charismatic church like Gospel Light, for example, we readily give props to the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Spirit is key to all that we do, as Christ is the center of all that we do.

Not every message is preached out of the New Testament, even in the most evangelical church. There is still a lot of meat left in the OT. Generally, I will grant, these lessons are brought into proper focus when viewed through the lens of the Cross. Isaiah becomes that much more powerful a prophet when one knows Jesus; the "mighty to save" God of Zephaniah becomes more personal, and David becomes an archetype of Christ when showing mercy to Mephibosheph. But the God who provided mannah from Heaven, who gave the victory over Jericho, and who chided and restored Job is still the Heavenly Father. Jehova Jirah is the provider to all. And the work of the Spirit can be seen in all the prophets.

I think that Chad does have a point however, in that we need to consciously be sensitive to the fact that God is truine; that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while One God, each has a distinct personality, and a distinct role in our lives.

Growing up in the liturgical denomination I did left little room for the work of the Holy Spirit. Not that the doctrine exlcluded the Spirit, but the Spirt was not put really onto equal footing with the Father and Jesus. I've come to know better now, but I can see the danger.

Our worship sets, and the music we listen to should reflect this. So everyone, dig out your Casting Crowns Lifesong CD and put on "Father, Spirit, Jesus" right now.