New Innovations, New Prejudices

I found Finney’s lecture “Measures to Promote Revivals” to be very interesting.  Finney seems very comfortable experimenting and trying new “innovations” in public worship meetings.  From new types of hymns, to instruments, to female prayer groups, and lay exhorters Finney doesn’t have a problem with the many outward changes to American Protestantism in the decades surrounding his time.  On the face of it and knowing his involvement with the abolitionist movement I am encouraged by his zeal to try new things and go against the grain of the mainstream.  Even today in many of the Evangelical movements that have followed his revivals I see an ease in adapting new practices and forms to worship; this seems to have always been a strength of the Evangelical movements.

However, as with the modern-day Evangelical movements, there is another side to openness to trying new worship styles: a tendency to to reject anything “stale” or “old” in worship and a willingness to coerce people towards “salvation”.  I find it contradictory to, in the same lecture, chastise people for being small-minded towards new forms of worship whilst being at the same time small-minded towards older forms of worship such as vested ministers and use of the prayer book.  Had Finney ever in his life even experienced liturgical worship?  Would he have so easily discounted Lutherans, Episcopalians, etc. for their style of worship?  How does Finney make the jump from extemporaneous prayer, instruments in worship, etc. to anxious meetings and the anxious seat where people are studied and tactics used expressly to move them towards a crisis and a desire to follow the will of the crowd?  He can talk all he wants against Arminians, but in the anxious meeting I see less sovereign grace and more mob mentality.