Why Doesn't the Auditorium Look Like a Sanctuary?
Why doesn't Xenos Follow Special Religious Seasons?
What About the Sabbath?

by John Rue, Quality Initiatives Division Coordinator

(Xenos Lead Pastor Dennis McCallum's book, The Summons, is an excellent resource for the new Christian. Large portions of this article are extracted from Chapter 27 of this book.)

How Old and New Testament "Forms" Differ

The Old Testament is rich in outward forms: highlighted by the sacred space in the temple, and surrounded with the detailed structural elements of the tabernacle and outer court.

One reason for this may be the illiteracy of the population at that time. For oral cultures, lessons contained in ritual and symbolism would communicate effectively, while a printed page with abstract truths could be problematic. Of course, even oral cultures memorize stories and teachings, so at best, this is only part of the answer.

In the New Testament, we find this level of outward formality ("formalism") radically reduced. For instance, there is no provision in the New Testament Era (beginning at Pentecost in Acts 2) for any form of sacred space. What we find is that Paul, Christ, Peter and the author of Hebrews reinterpret the provision for sacred space in the Old Testament. They all teach the temple now corresponds to the assembly of true believers in Christ. (Paul did so frequently, but most clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:16; Jesus did so in John 2:19-21; and Peter in 1 Peter 2:5, where he calls believers "living stones being built into a spiritual house.")

The early Christians met in the temple court, and although they may also have continued to relate to the temple ritual for some time, this is condemned in Hebrews and elsewhere. (See Hebrews 8:13; 13:10-14; Acts 7:48-50.)

Likewise, there was no claim made in the area of sacred time, or a religious calendar. On the contrary, in Colossians 2:16-17, Paul directly declares the idea of a sacred calendar obsolete, including the Sabbath day. He warns, "therefore do not let anyone judge you" by such things because "these are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."

In Galatians 4:9-10, he says a sacred calendar is among the "weak and worthless elemental things," and the Galatians observance of these things is proof they have not understood Christianity correctly. Even though Paul allows "weaker brethren" to observe "one day greater than another," such as the Sabbath, he clearly views this outlook as unnecessary. (See Romans 14.)

Human priesthood was also abolished in the New Testament period. Priesthood is attributed primarily to Christ as our high priest, and secondarily, to all believers, making a formal priesthood obsolete. (See Hebrews 5-8 which decisively limits the intercession of this role to Christ, as does 1 Timothy 2:5. Peter refers to all believers as a nation of priests in 1 Peter 2:9, because we are able to intercede for others.)

From the time of Pentecost on, the Bible teaches that the universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables people to remain faithful without many outward forms like in the Old Testament period. In place of outward forms, God provided for a more personal avenue of relationship. This is why he dispensed with the "shadows" or "elemental things" that had served as a tutor before. (See Hebrews 7:18, Colossians 2:18.)

The only two remaining specific outward forms in New Testament Christianity are water baptism and the Lord's Supper (communion). However, these ordinances are very simple in comparison with the elaborate ritual of the Old Testament.

Baptism is only practiced once in a person's life, and the New Testament gives no instruction on how often to celebrate communion. (It only says "as often as you do it…") This is a striking contrast to the Old Testament forms that were spelled out in exacting detail.

In Xenos, baptism and communion are practiced within the more intimate setting of our home groups with other Christians.

Outward Forms Today

One of the warnings God makes throughout the Bible is that people tend to look to the symbols and outward forms as goals in and of themselves, rather than to the reality they are intended to express. (See Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-26; and Isaiah 29:13).

We find very little in common between the simplicity of early Christian church life and the heavily formalized rituals of many modern churches. Sadly, formalistic thinking has led to the exclusion of the laity from ministry, and from access to the Scriptures, despite the fact that the New Testament authors address their letters to the rank and file of the church, not just to the leadership.

The overall effect of formalism usually has been to create a role for clergy beyond that prescribed in the New Testament. Formalism also tends to the replace the high level of understanding of the truth claims of Christianity that the apostles called for at the grassroots level with an oversimplified knowledge of some formal observance.

The rank-and-file Christian grows more ignorant under formalism, leading to an impersonal, mechanistic or even magical way to relate to God, where we do the least we can to stay out of trouble. The aspect of personal love certainly becomes clouded or lost in such a relationship.

In Xenos, our building layout reflects our stance against formalism. We want people to be comfortable and seek to have the facility serve the people. This is why we encourage food and drink in the auditorium, why our teachers wear jeans just like everybody else, and why our auditorium looks like a college assembly hall.

While we enjoy Christmas and Easter as cultural holidays, we do not treat them as spiritually special seasons—we simply recognize them as special opportunities to communicate the message of God's grace to people seeking a relationship with the one true God.