Rituals Without Robes

"What is the chief end of Ellie?"

"To glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

"And how are you going to do that on the course?"

"By doing my best and having fun."

This is the short exchange you’ll hear between me and my daughter at the starting line to every one of her cross country races. I do the same with my son when it’s his turn to start. This is an essential moment at each race. None of us could imagine otherwise.

This little back-and-forth does more than just calm the kids’ nerves. It grounds their gifts in the God who made them and reminds them to rejoice in His kind provision. My children are routinely some of the fastest on the course. This grounding humbles and reminds them that they ultimately run for an audience of One—their heavenly Father whose cheering is infinitely more pure and less obnoxious than mine.

There’s a word for this thing we do every race: ritual.

Strictly speaking, a ritual is a formal affair—the observance of a rite (from the Latin ritus, meaning ‘correct performance’). But there is more to ritual than rules and robes. Human beings are habitual creatures with a penchant for crafting informal rites within our daily lives: morning devotions, children’s bedtime routines, family worship, etc.

We are creatures of habit, and those habits can harden into rituals.

Scripture, of course, prescribes a number of formal rituals. In the Old Testament, we have the sacrifices, the feasts, the consecration of priests, and more. And, although New Covenant worship is far simpler than that of the Old, it is not without its own ritual observance: gathered worship, the administration of the sacraments, the prayers.

Like any gift, ritual can be perverted. As Israel demonstrated all too well, even lawful sacrifices could become rote, ineffectual salves for the seared conscience (Isa 1:12-17). And, as history has shown, habits of worship unregulated by Scripture become legalistic innovations that make void the commandment of God (cf. Mark 7:1-13).

Fair enough, but abusus non tollit usum (“abuse does not cancel use”).

Understood in the informal sense, what we need is not less ritual but more. What I’m commending here is not innovation but the conquest and consecration of time (cf. Eph 5:16)—an act of applied wisdom that identifies key moments in life and uses both word and deed to claim them for the glory of God and the good of those who inhabit them.

Here, then, is my challenge. Look for moments in your and your family’s life that are ripe for ritual:

• the starting line before the race

• the parting embrace when a child leaves for school

• the beginning of a family road trip

• bedtime

• birthdays, holidays, etc.

Look carefully at these moments and ask yourself, “How can I take this moment captive?” It might be a few devotional words. It could be a recitation of Scripture. A prayer. A hymn. A catechetical call and response. The options are many. Whatever you do, establish a habit of marking that time and consecrating it to the Lord.

You’ll likely discover that some of this is already happening. Good. What I’m not advocating here is a radical departure from the norm so much as its sanctification. This is the basic impulse behind the quotidian liturgies of Every Moment Holy, which has proven a helpful guide for those who long to invite God more fully into the everyday.

Every moment is holy because we are a holy people, eager to do all things—big and small—for God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31). May this nudge toward greater intentionality spur you to promote His glory in all life’s moments and experience His joy in full.

Kenny Silva is the pastor of Hickory Grove Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Mt Juliet, TN and a Guest Lecturer at Reformed Theological Seminary (Atlanta). Kenny resides in Lebanon, TN with his wife, Suzanne, and their four children.