by Marva J. Dawn

See this item in the bookstore...

review by Bethany Lee

WITH HER YEARS of experience teaching, speaking, and writing, Marva Dawn has become a respected voice on such wide-ranging topics as evangelism, discernment, pastoring, and Sabbath-keeping. In this, her third book about worship, Dawn charges into the “worship wars.” But instead of taking sides for liturgical worship, or against traditional hymns, she calls for a truce and leads us off the battlefield.

According to Dawn, the primary question we should be asking is not how we worship, but whom. Who is this God who calls us into relationship with him? Our practices of worship should radiate from our answers to this question, not from personal or even corporate preference.

Using Psalm 96 as a model for worship, she walks us through some of the concerns facing worshipers today, and presents suggestions for redirecting our focus away from idolized worship methods and toward our incredible God.

Through many different topics, including an explanation of the liturgical church year and a discussion of the use of technology in worship, Dawn consistently points us back to God. She encourages us to allow our growing understanding of paradoxes within God's character—supremacy and humility, strength and beauty—to expand our worship practices to include some paradoxes as well. Opposites like celebration and lament or ritual and spontaneity can coexist in harmony. In fact, welcoming these differences into our services results in deeper, more genuine worship—an experience that will surely leave us changed.

It is this very experience of life-changing worship that is so attractive to people desperate for a connection with a personal God, according to the author. In her words, “Our primary evangelistic tool is the corporate life of the believing community.” Instead of watering down our worship to appeal to a world already tired of tepid messages, she urges us to create spaces where a gathered community can interact with God and, with the altered lives that result, proceed to transform the world.

This book, part of a Vital Questions series from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., includes a section of discussion questions to encourage further dialogue. These helps, along with the length of the book (a compact 170 pages), make How Shall We Worship? a perfect option for small group study or a Sunday school series. But I would also recommend it for anyone interested in the life of the church. Dawn's style, never preachy, drew me in and left me thinking. Without sliding toward legalism or drawing up a universal blueprint, she offers scripturally sound guidelines for worship and trusts the reader to discover practical ways to worship God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Have you read this book? Add your comments below.