ABSTRACT
Liturgical theology's focus on Christian ethical practice and its relation to sacramental efficacy raise a complex challenge to thinking about how it is that worship provides the locus par excellence for ethical thinking and behavior among evangelicals. While critics in various media spheres have questioned the ethical state of evangelicals in light of their political connotations in the United States, this chapter aims to provide a nuanced perspective that is guided by the postmodern-deduced premise that all talk of a Christian ethic must be situated within a particular community's reality and context. Here, the focus is on understandings of Christian worship, mission, and discipleship operating at Bethel Church in Redding, California. How does Bethel understand its embodiment of Christian action? And, how does its public worship empower that vision of lived faith? I offer a sympathetic analysis in clarifying the relationship between Bethel worship and its associated divine-human encounter that identifies modern worship music as a chief practice contributing to the Bethel worshiper's “kingdom” lifestyle. Given the global influence of evangelicalism, and of Bethel Church in particular, this chapter contributes to the growing body of contemporary theological studies of modern worship music.
