Form or Inform

For some time, I have been thinking about the difference between form and inform, or to put it in its noun form, the difference between formation and information. My reflections on this subject have to do with how we experience worship in church.

I have talked with many people about worship and it is clear that not everyone is blessed by the same approach. For some people, ideas are very important. They feel worship has been good or helpful if they are challenged with a new and stimulating thought or idea; in other words, with new information. For such people, a sermon that offers a fresh perspective about God is often a blessing as it offers them “something to think about.”

For others, ideas are not as important as experience. For these folks, it is important to have a sense of drawing near to God in worship. For them, music and testimony are often more important than sermons because these elements help them come into the Presence or “feel the Spirit.” For these folks, information or ideas appear not to be as important as spiritual formation.

The difference can be surprisingly polarizing. If you attend church regularly or have in the past, you may have instantly identified or aligned yourself with one of these two positions. Whether people find a worship service to be a blessing or a waste of time may be determined by where they are on this continuum. What is more, two people attending worship in the same chapel may have the exact opposite reactions to the service!

My intent here is not to determine that one approach is right or wrong, or that one is more important than the other. What is important is what is helpful to the person, and we cannot decide that for anybody else. Is it possible that we can provide both formation and information in worship? Ahh, now there’s a challenge!

For many worship planners and leaders, it is easier to provide information than formative experience; in fact, they may not have even thought about the difference. Even prayers are often more intellectual than formational, more head than heart. For others, sensing the Holy in worship is everything.

Have you thought about this puzzle? What do you find helpful in a service of worship? Are ideas that give you something to think about more important than experience? Is the experience more important than ideas or teaching? Perhaps you have a different take on the question altogether.

The question may be important. Can we have a conversation on this subject? Will you share your thoughts or experience?

Posted by Carman