Within the spiritual framework and practice of many evangelical Christians in the United States, there exists a significant gap in our understanding and application of the historical theology and praxis of the sacraments—or, more broadly, of sacramental actions. These are actions that, while not instituted sacraments of Christ (such as Baptism and the Eucharist), still bear a sacramental quality in that they serve as means of grace: tangible conduits through which God communicates His grace to His people. In classical Methodist and Wesleyan theology, these are understood as divinely appointed channels by which the life of God is imparted to the believer (cf. John Wesley, Sermon 16: The Means of Grace).
The Modern Divide Between the Physical and the Spiritual
One of the primary roots of this deficiency lies in the modern dichotomy between the spiritual and the physical. Western thought since the Enlightenment has often driven a rigid bifurcation between the two realms, sometimes even veering toward a subtle Gnosticism—a disdain for the physical in favor of the “purely spiritual.” This worldview is foreign to the biblical imagination.
In Scripture, and in the world that birthed it, the physical and spiritual are deeply intertwined. Creation itself is sacramental in that it reveals God’s invisible nature through visible means (Romans 1:20). Humanity, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), embodies this intersection of spirit and matter. God’s interactions with His people consistently employ physical means—anointing oil, water, bread, wine, touch, and even dust—to communicate spiritual realities.
The Incarnation as the Foundation of Sacramentality
At the heart of a sacramental worldview lies the Incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In Christ, God sanctified matter itself, showing that the physical world can be a vessel of divine grace. To affirm this is not to drift toward superstition, but to stand squarely within the center of Christian orthodoxy.
The Incarnation declares that God does not despise material creation; He works through it. From the water of baptism (Acts 2:38; Titus 3:5), to the bread and wine of the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 10:16–17), to the laying on of hands (2 Timothy 1:6), the pattern is consistent: God uses the physical to effect the spiritual.
The Laying on of Hands: A Sacramental Action
Paul reminds Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you” (1 Timothy 4:14). Here, something more than symbolic recognition occurs—grace is conferred. The act of laying on hands is a physical sign through which God imparts spiritual empowerment and affirmation of calling. This understanding echoes throughout Church history, from the apostolic era to the present day.
John Calvin, while cautious about overextending the term “sacrament,” still recognized that God uses external signs as “instruments of His grace” (Institutes, IV.xiv.1). Likewise, Wesley emphasized that means of grace are “outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end—to be the ordinary channels whereby He might convey His grace to men.”
The Eucharist and the Sacramental Imagination
The same principle applies to the Eucharist. While we eat bread and drink wine, we do so in faith that through these elements we participate in the Body and Blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). The physical act points beyond itself; it is both remembrance and participation (anamnesis and koinonia). As Jesus said, “This is my body… this is my blood” (Matthew 26:26–28).
Such an understanding guards against a reductionist view of the Lord’s Table as mere memorial. The mystery of Christ’s presence is not explained by philosophical categories but experienced by faith within the Church’s worship.
The Loss of the Sacramental Imagination
Unfortunately, in the last two centuries, the rise of scientific rationalism and modernistic philosophy has profoundly shaped Protestant imagination. Evangelicals often seek the movement of the Spirit, but only in “spiritual” ways—detached from the physical and the ordinary. We have come to expect God in the spectacular, forgetting that He often chooses the simple, tangible, and embodied.
Recovering Evangelical Sacramentalism
To recover a robust sacramental worldview is not to abandon evangelical conviction—it is to deepen it. Evangelical sacramentalism affirms that grace is not confined to the invisible realm but permeates all creation. It insists that God meets us in Word and matter, Spirit and flesh.
When we anoint with oil (James 5:14), lay hands in prayer (Acts 8:17), break bread in communion (Luke 24:30–31), or even gather in corporate worship (Hebrews 10:24–25), we participate in the mystery of a God who mediates His presence through His creation.
The Church’s task, then, is to reclaim this incarnational imagination—to see the world once again as charged with the grandeur of God (Psalm 19:1). By doing so, we do not drift into ritualism, but rediscover the very heart of our faith: that the God who became flesh continues to meet us in the ordinary, to make us holy, and to confer grace through the tangible signs of His love.
I grew up in Canada, so I didn’t get the experience of saying the pledge of allegiance every day. But as in the US we did sing the national anthem every morning, facing the national flag in the room as part of our daily routine. Every morning we sang the words, “God keep our land, glorious and free!”. While Canada certainly could learn a thing or two from that line right now, I’m not here to comment on that. Nevertheless, we all have these common things that bind us together in a certain identity. We know that they know, and because of that there is a shared understanding of who we are.
Then we get to the world of Christian worship, and the plethora of styles that exist in the world today. This isn’t wholly a bad thing. Before becoming a lead pastor, I led worship in a contemporary context, and there were certain things I loved about it. But one thing that nagged at the back of my head was, “what is the connection with what we are doing with the rest of the Church?”.
For most in the modern American evangelical world, more traditional styles of worship can often be looked at with suspicion (often being suspected of “being too Catholic”), or maybe kind of laughed at as antiquated. But there are many things that we in evangelicalism can learn from the faithful worship of our brothers & sisters in ages past.
One of these key elements of worship is the reciting of an ecumenical creed. Even since the earliest days of the Church, a variety of concise statements of belief have been used as a part of preparation for baptism, and in worship. The two main creeds that are often used are the Apostle’s Creed, or the Nicene Creed. Both of these creeds accepted by all orthodox Christian throughout history, contain the core truths of the Christian faith.
Why is reciting a creed even important?
First, historically the creeds have been placed in the order of worship for churches as a check on the clergy. In Anglican liturgy, the creed follows the sermon. This is placed there as a statement and question, “does what was just preached line up with what we just said?” In many churches there can be problematic theology that is presented from the pulpit, and having the core creed of Christian doctrine help work as a ruler that the sermon can be compared too. Though sadly this is not a sure fire way, because there are many more traditional denominations and traditions that are wholly caved the liberal and woke ideology, despite saying the creeds weekly.
Secondly, creeds provide a foundation of right belief, and an inoculation against bad ideas. A good friend of mine was raised Roman Catholic. He learned the creeds from a young age, and even during his teen years when he wasn’t really following Christ, he encountered a preacher who was sharing aberrant theology. Despite not actively living the Christian life, my friend was still inoculated from these ideas, because he instantly recognized that what was being said did not line up with the creed in certain areas. Now again, as stated above, this is not a 100% sure thing. You can know the creed, and choose to ignore what it is actually saying. But, I would argue that for most Christians, knowing the creeds would be a beneficial thing.
We live in an age with a million messages hitting our brain every singly day. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Youtube and the list goes on and on…not to mention traditional advertising on billboards and TV commercials. We are constantly being messaged to.For us as followers of Christ, the creeds provide to us messaging that we can get on board with. Something that we can remember and look to, as a sure thing as to the truth of the Christian faith.
Below is a photo showing the Scriptural references that are found in the Nicene Creed. The creeds are not just “concocted words of men”, but are synthesized and condensed truths from Scripture, organically presented to systematically present the truths of, and the general flow of the Gospel message. The creeds help ground and center us in a crazy world.
The creeds help provide a guard rail against bad theology. You see, the tricky little secret that many don’t think about, is that heretical ideas use the same Scripture. Yes, ideas are over weighted in their importance, or incorrect translations or ideas are added to the text, but nevertheless the Bible is used as a proof-text for bad ideas. The creeds help us in telling us that as we read God’s holy and inspired Word, the correct interpretation and understanding of them will be found inside of the bounds of the creeds.
But how can all of this work in a contemporary setting? Good question!
As I had mentioned, I had been leading worship in a contemporary worship setting up until the beginning of 2025. For the entire last year I led worship, we recited the Apostle’s Creed every single week as part of our time of worship. And other than a little confusion about the word ‘catholic’, it integrated really well.
It can, and I would argue should be done. As Christians we have a beautiful and rich heritage in the creeds, but for many Christians there is complete ignorance that they even exist. But so much benefit is being missed out on. There are so many different ways for contemporary worship settings to use the creeds.
In recent years there have been a bunch of fantastic contemporary worship songs coming out based on or directly quoting the ecumenical creeds of the Church. I Believe by Phil Wickham, We Believe by the Newsboys, The God We Love (Nicene Creed) by CityAlight, This I Believeby Hillsong just to name a few. Use these songs, often! If a worship leader or pastor doesn’t feel that reciting a creed regularly can work for some reason, sing these songs.
But in the end, I believe firmly that EVERY church should in some way shape or form should recite a creed every single week. I always led it at the beginning, before going in to the worship set. But that is just one example, there are a multitude of ways that they can be added in, and practically it can take 30 seconds. The Apostle’s Creed is an easy one because it is shorter, but for most the Nicene Creed is the “gold standard” that the Church historic has used.
In our day and age having a good handle on the truths of the Christian faith is more important than ever, which means we need the creeds more than ever. Their usage will be enriching for all, because not only are we being taught and reminded of the Gospel, and the work of Christ, but we are being connected to Christians all around the world, and throughout history. There is continuity, there is connection, there is family.
The last 3 years as I have made my journey into a historic approach to Christian worship, Winfield Bevins has been one of the most influential writers, especially as I started the journey. His book Liturgical Mission: the Word of the People for the Life of the World does more than just look at the benefits a liturgical approach to faithful Christian worship has, but expounds on the holistic and all-encompassing nature that it has when looking at the role of the Church in the world.
The first major aspect Bevins looks at is how liturgical worship helps the Church recover the big story of Scripture, and applies it to the life of the Christian. Through the rhytms and movements of the liturgical calendar, we are constantly reminded and participating in the story of Jesus as we move from nativity to resurrection. In our bustling world of a million stories and sub-plots we as people are disenchanted and disenfranchised. Whereas the Christian story can give us something better to be apart of, helping us be on task for what Christ has called the Church to be.
Through the movements of gathering, word, table and sending, liturgy provides to Christians an all encompassing time of worship that ensures all part of our being are worshipping God, and that we are being equipped to be sent out to mission in the world.
The next major section is the idea of sacramentality. In a world where many in the west presume a form of scientific naturalism that has invanded the imaginations of many in the church, sacramentality restores the relationship between physical and spiritual, acknowledging that God works through more than just the immaterial, but that He can be and is amongst us. The Eucharist is of course one of the first things you think of when talking about this. But more than that, if we look at the world more of how God is working actively in even physical actions, we can see how we are called to be His actors in the world.
Finally, Bevins calls the Christian not just into orthodoxy, (right belief), but also into orthopraxy (right actions). What liturgy provides is not just a historic and faithful was of worship, but an integration to urging the Christian to not just take, but to also do. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to go spread the Kingdom, and be an ambassador of Biblical justice in a broken world.
