Embodied Worship

I have recently been reading Desiring the Kingdom by James K. A. Smith, which considers the importance of our embodied nature on worship and education.  I agree with the idea that as evangelical believers we often have a dualistic view of human nature, viewing ourselves as 'souls' that happen to have a body rather than as embodied creatures with a body/soul unified nature. Recognizing that our very humanity involves our bodily nature is the starting point for thinking about whether our worship and education has become too centered on ideas as separate from living in bodily form. This seems to me a worthwhile issue to think about. In the book he challenges the mindset of people as beings whose lives are determined mostly by what we think by proposing that we are beings whose lives are determined mostly by what we love and deeply desire. He proposes that both our worship and education should show forth what we love in visible, bodily ways as well as in propositions and ideas. This kind of approach that involves body as well as ideas he calls 'liturgy'.

What if our worship has unwittingly taken on the 'liturgy' of the shopping mall, he asks? He walks through some 'liturgies' of the secular world like the shopping mall, athletic events, and the university in the book. The question arose in my mind: has the interest in 'contemporary' worship unwittingly taken on the 'liturgy' of the rock concert? Does this show forth our love of God, or our love of the rock concert experience?  I recently went to the contemporary service at our church and this book reminded me of the unexpected bodily reaction I had to it. I physically felt it in my stomach, and it was not good. Not quite nausea, but close to that. As I thought of this while reading the book, it occurred to me that what I felt was rather like what I had felt as a college student.

This is something of a diversion, but I entered college at age 17 and did not turn 18 until near the end of my first quarter of school (we were on quarters rather than semesters then). One of the 'rites', or what the book would call 'liturgies' of entering college was that dormitory groups (typically a 'corridor', the area of one dorm Resident Assistant) would have a 'beer blast' with a neighboring dorm (one guys dorm RA and one girls dorm RA as the organizers). While only 3.2% beer was legal for 18 year olds, I was not 18 so I could go along but not drink. I recall how I felt during that 'liturgy', and it was the feeling of being in the wrong place and wishing I was not there. I have had similar physical feelings, 'in the pit of my stomach' so to say, at sports events when surrounded by drunks (though I have not felt that at similar events when surrounded by friends). That feeling is a physical, bodily reaction to what is happening. It isn't just a thought or idea. I had similar feelings at the 'rock and roll' church service.

There is much in the book I don't agree with, however. He seems to be invested in the idea of bodily sacraments as 'means of grace', which I cannot agree with. I think he gives liturgy and bodily habit more credit than it is due in formation of  character. As I look at folks I grew up with, those from more liturgical churches have been less like to live out their faith than those from Evangelical churches with less liturgy. Still, most churches have at least some of what the author would call liturgy, and I do think those bodily evidences of faith (like baptism and the Lord's supper) are important. They are just not enough, and in some (especially the so-called 'mainline' churches) there seems to be little beyond the ritual.

Yet, my own bodily reaction at that recent contemporary service tells me that there is something here worth pondering.