Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
It is true that hollow chants in an environment of limited mental engagement is a tool for mind control or alteration. But the most sound worship of most of the history of Christianity was full of repetition. Seldom as uninterrupted as an Eastern religious chant or a rousing chorus of "Oh Lord Jesus" repeated over and over. Both have been sound and both have been hollow.
I note that Evangelical has declared just a post or two after yours that you can't pray the words of the Bible in vain. Pretty foolish. I would suggest that there are many who pray those "name it and claim it" prayers right out of the Bible. Out of context but right out of the Bible.
Rather that having a knee-jerk reaction that thinks repetition is likely to be vain or that using the words of the Bible will necessarily not be vain, we should be aware of our own hearts when we pray. When someone speaks something like "We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves" after which we declare "Christ have mercy on us," then another statement of our general tendency to sin, followed again by "Lord have mercy on us," we should not presume "vain repetition" or "hollow religion." Neither should we presume it is simply OK. The question is in the heart of the participant, not in the opinion of the observer. The observer that presumes negatively is clearly not engaged in worship of Christ, but in bickering with the household of faith.
It is probably better if we didn't worry about what we have been taught to think about any particular kind of worship and to instead be sure that when we worship we are not just going through the motions of whatever it is we do. Whether it is a centuries-old liturgy or a rousing chorus of "Oh Lord Jesus." Whether the prayers are impromptu and ad lib, or thoughtfully written down (even centuries before). If they are from the heart, it is prayer. If it is from religious duty with no heart, it is vain.
But it is wise to beware of anyone suggesting that we "clear our minds" in worship. To just repeat words (even good ones) over and over. Rather than clearing our minds, we should be setting them. We should be letting it wash over our thoughts and cares. It should be convicting us of our failures and encouraging us to walk by the Spirit.
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I was speaking of praying the words of the bible as written...and not for praying them out of context. If we pray the words of the bible as written it cannot be vain.
I also note your use of the term "religious duty" seems to contradict your stance in previous discussions on the meaning of the word religion where you indicated that religion is a positive thing. Seeing you use the word in a negative way here is surprising.