Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

The following are selections and excerpts from responses to the column on Mystery Seekers.

From: KEVIN GOWEN
I think you have just pointed the main reason out why many evangelicals are embracing Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. If it's mystery and transcendence you want, these groups have double handfuls of both. Compared to them, American evangelicalism is about as deep and mysterious as a comic book. Don't get me wrong; I am not endorsing either RC or EO, but am merely pointing out one of their aspects that evangelicals are deficient in. And it is a very serious deficiency. American evangelical worship is shallow because American evangelical theology is shallow. If the shallow theology is not addressed, then the worship will remain unchanged.

From: kimbrokj@horizontel.com (Kimbrough, Kevin)
I agree with all of your points. The second (practical application) is something God has been dealing with me on and my teachings. Too many times we tell the class "how to" correct a problem or "how to" live a Christian life that we lose focus on what a Christian is.... -- Kevin Kimbrough

From: "R. Mark Thornton"
... I couldn't help but think that it depends on where your congregation is in relation to the changes in worship styles. If a congregation has been keeping up to the times, I would agree wholeheartedly; however, for a congregation that is still in the early stages of transition, the decline in the level of "mystery" is probably still a welcome change... -Mark Thornton, Pastor, Cedar Heights Brethren In Christ Church; Mill Hall, PA

From: mwilson
Liturgy does not necessarily bring a sense of "mystery". However, in many cases, it brings a sense of boredom. I hope [the evangelical] church does not become "wanna-be Episcopalians." -- Mark O. Wilson

From: Khoo Tse Horng
Keith, what you said is true even in Singapore. I have one Sunday school student who went over to Roman Catholicism because of the element of 'mystery' in their worship. The priest does not take the central stage. -- Tse Horng

From: "Dr. Fisher"
This is simply an expression of appreciation for your comments concerning Mystery-Seekers. This was forwarded to me by David Troyer. You have clearly identified a weakness that has been increasing in today's Evangelical society. The warning is needed. I have often given a similar warning, especially concerning what you named as "God-as-buddy" theology. May the Lord help us hold a proper balance in our thinking and preaching. Most serious theological errors come from taking a truth too far and not keeping it in line with other truths. -- Wilfred Fisher

From:rstryke3@internettport.net
...I come out of a Presbyterian high church background, much like Episcopalians. The Hallelujah chorus, Nicene creed, chant for communion, no amen, and definitely no clapping worship service... My little word of wisdom to clergy would be, let us not use the information that "Americans are now in search of a God of mystery" as the politicians use the polls and seek to fulfill people's need. If we attempt that, we will simply manufacture "gods of mystery" which will not be the real thing. If we can "let God be God," God will take care of being omnipotent and imminent, at the same time. This will free the church from the impossible task of balancing God. -- Richard L. Stryker Rising Star United Methodist Church Hobson City, AL

From: RJAJ4@aol.com
...It seems that you are saying people are longing for the "holiness" of God. If that be true I praise God. But since I have not gone into the "fad" directions of the Church in our worship I wouldn't know if that is true or not...

BLK130@aol.com
Another topic that "hit" me. I started my life in the Pilgrim Holiness Church then moved to Nazarene, Evangelical Free, Missionary Alliance. I am presently attending a Lutheran Seminary. The first week I was nearly petrified of the communion! Who ever heard of the "presence" of Jesus in the bread and wine? I have now been there over a year and I find it very meaningful. Communion at the other churches I attended was a necessary task. Now, I find it very meaningful and an important part of my worship. The Lutherans can't explain it, they accept that it is a mystery!

From: SteSue@aol.com
In the book, The Purpose Driven Church (which seems to have replaced the Bible in some people's life) amongst all the analysis of churches and roles and such, there is a strange omission. Nowhere does it give a function of pastor as "priest." Nor for any significant place for sacrament. Just my way of saying that you have a valid observation that the need for the transcendence is no fad at all, but a God-created part of a human. --Steve Cummings

From: "Terry Dawson"
...It seems that the deal is that we must contend for simplicity. We have to try hard, and work at, not clouding things over to an opaque kind of spirituality. See God clearly, means seeing mystery that cannot be explained, and in many ways, not even approached in the small space of our finite minds. I think that your comments regarding communion are particularly prophetic. Much mystery there, and it has been lost to a large extent. -- Terry Countryside Christian Fellowship,

From: "C. G. White"
Hey, Keith. This one was right on! My church isn't yearning for mystery, but I am. --CG White

From: tsmith@Perigee.net (Tim Smith)
We just read Robert Webber's book on worship in our book group and we trashed it. It seemed too out-of-touch with what people want. Those who liked it (a minority) were recent seminary grads and current students. Those of us "in the biz" didn't. When I heard you mention his name in a previous email along with some accolade like "best book on worship since Revelation" I said, "Hmmmm, I wonder what I missed?" This column clarifies what I missed: Worship that seeks a full-orbed view of God is awfully hard work. It guarantees constant uncomfortable-ness because God, not us, is the audience. He can't be "focus grouped". That's awfully hard to do. It takes running on the edge of disaster as opposed to careful planning, rehearsal and other things you can do in the flesh. So once again, the Tuesday Column has convicted me. I take back what I said about "what can a guy know about worship who has a grill named after him." -- Tim Smith

From: Larry202@aol.com
Is it possible to come up with a liturgy that works at a broad level? Can we come up with anything that functions as the mass does for Catholics . . . a common language of shared experience that transcends culture? And which would obviate the need for multiple services that aim to satisfy varied tastes? -- Larry

From: Richard Perkins
Around 1900, Emile Durkheim's response to his secular age was to claim that the sacred is really real -- not a fiction (as Marx and Freud would have it). The response to the sacred is a response to something that is OUT THERE according to Durkheim. Of course, what Durkheim thought was out there wasn't GOD, but society: social solidarity, to be exact.
But most of my students don't know what "solidarity" is, since they live comfortably in an overwhelmingly individualistic age. Even so, some of us DO experience social solidarity...once in a while. Walking into Fenway Park on the night of the Big Game does it for me...or remembering what it was like to sit around the campfire at Camp Brookwoods on the last Friday evening of camp, and listen to the testimonies and songs: Kum By Yah...all six million verses...or recalling the parade I was in during my army hitch when the flags snapped in the breeze, the sun shone down on MY battalion, and the wearing of my uniform (for the first and only time) felt like a privilege I was ready to die for.
That type of experience--social solidarity--is what people yearn for still. We always will. But we don't have to go as far as the atheist Durkheim did to recognize that the search for solidarity and the search for the sacred are both headed in the same direction.
That's my explanation for the "new" search for mystery we see around us. It is a deep humanistic need we all have, despite our cultural inclinations to maintain our precious privacy--a need for inclusion in something far grander, far higher, far more lasting than our own careers, or even our own lives. We can get that mystery from each other, but to do so, we have to be willing to give up some of our privacy and comfort. That's asking a lot from some of us. Christian community anyone? -- Rich Perkins Houghton College

From: marktina@juno.com (Mark E Reed)
The church has decided (seemingly) that we cannot be bothered by waiting for the mystery of God (The Holy Spirit) to make himself known (revealed) to us. WHY? #1 It is too inefficient! Who can afford to hold still waiting on the unknown. Seize the day! #2 It is too risky! What if the mysterious (i.e. that which is clearly beyond our explanations) actually shows up!!! It might well reveal the true nakedness of all our neatly organized programs! #3 It is too humiliating! We members of the professional clergy work for people who expect results. We gotta make it happen. (We have become "career" men rather than "called" men) #4 It is too painful! We are medicating ourselves with programs and rituals. When the Holy Spirit comes he always reveals the Truth about ourselves. NOBODY WANTS THAT! #5 It involves repentance. And everyone knows there is nothing wrong with us. Instead we dilute the Gospel message in order to package/market it for our target consumers. -- Mark Reed

So what do you think?

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu