Liturgical Script: What is it? And Why Does It Matter?
A student—now graduated, married with family, and gainfully employed in tech—told me this story a few years ago. You will see shortly just how relevant it is.
He played basketball for a private school. Naturally talented, he won a starting position as a sophomore. The team made it to the state finals. It was, he told me, a very close game, so close that with a few seconds left his team was down only one. He was fouled and sent to the line but missed both free throws. He remembers that game as one of the worst experiences of his life.
The loss motivated him. He started to practice in earnest, especially shooting free throws. During his senior year, the team made it to the state finals. Once again it was a close game, once again it came down to a final shot, and once again he was sent to the line. He sank both free throws and won the state championship. He remembers that game as one of the best experiences of his life.
Talent alone is not enough. It can carry us only so far. We also need skills and habits so that our capacity to perform grows, which is especially necessary when, like that former student shooting free throws at the end of a close game, we face pressure.
It is not just athletes who can tell such stories. So can musicians, actors, surgeons, and carpenters. None of these professionals and performers can afford to think self-consciously about everything they do. They have to keep their minds free to give themselves to the needs and demands of the moment, which requires a high degree of concentration and competence. Musicians have to know the score, surgeons the human body, actors the script, carpenters their tools (and how to use them). Without dutifully developed skills and habits, they will fail, sometimes at great cost to themselves and others.
The same is true for Christians, especially in our current situation.
Christendom created an aura of religiosity in the West where the majority of people identified themselves as Christian. They grew up in religious homes, attended “church” (as worship is often and unfortunately called), received the sacraments, learned basic doctrine, and followed various practices. They could recite the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles Creed and the Doxology by heart. There were differences among Christian groups, to be sure. Catholics prayed the Rosary, not Protestants, and evangelicals sang Blessed Assurance, not Episcopalians. Still, most Christians knew the “liturgical script” of the church, which helped to habituate the faith.
“Liturgical script” refers to those essential texts, songs, traditions and practices that Christians have memorized and mastered over the centuries. To be sure, this script often became rote, mindless and superficial. In earlier periods of history, Christians faced little pressure to live according to courage and conviction. They never faced tough competition, except each other. It was all practice but no game, all scales but no performance.
Today we face different circumstances. Few would say that we live in a Christendom culture, especially in urban centers and on the two coasts. Christians find themselves in a setting akin to that state tournament, with the game on the line. But many are not prepared for the challenges of being Christian in a post-Christendom environment. Unlike previous generations of Christians, many of us lack the resources of the liturgical script at just the time when we need it most.
Christians have to be selective. The liturgical script must, out of necessity, be basic and foundational. It is impossible to develop mastery of the entire Bible, to learn every hymn by heart, and to know the key texts that have informed and shaped Christians over the centuries. I have read all 150 Psalms many times, but I know 25 or so well. I memorized Psalm 139 when I was in my 20s. It still lives in me. I can sing most of the old hymns, but I have memorized only a few of them. Of those, Be Thou My Vision is the most important to me, journeying with me as if it were a faithful friend. I have read many books over the years, too. But Augustine’s Confessions has played a significant role in shaping my life. We have at our disposal the riches of the Christian tradition. But we can’t master it all. We have to be selective.
What should we include in a liturgical script? What should we master and internalize? It depends on our needs. Still, it seems obvious that some passages, texts and hymns are too important to overlook. These would include Psalm 1, 16, 36 and 139; Isaiah 53; Amos 5:21-24; John 15:1-11; Phil. 2:5-11; and Romans 5:1-5 and 8:1-8. I would also include such hymns as Amazing Grace and Be Thou My Vision, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostle’s Creed. The list could be longer, but this provides a good start.
When I consider the importance of the liturgical script in the lives of Christians today, I think of that former student. His talent won him a starting position, but it did not prepare him to make game-ending free throws. Failure under pressure showed him that he needed to develop a more consistent practice to truly develop mastery. He was smart enough to pay attention.
I often ask myself, “Am I paying attention to what is happening in the culture? Am I prepared to live as a Christian in this new and challenging setting?” The church’s liturgical script is at my disposal to help me, to help all of us. Are we paying attention?