--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So it is precisely our allergy to…" description: "\"“So it is precisely our allergy to repetition in worship that has undercut the counterformative power of Christian worship—because all kinds of secular..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/james-k-a-smith-11405_christian-worship_so-it-is-precisely-our-allergy-to-repeti_16112.jpg" --- # So it is precisely our allergy to repetition in worship… ![“So it is precisely our allergy to repetition in worship that has undercut the counterformative power of Christian worship—because all kinds of secular liturgies shamelessly affirm the good of repetition.” quote by James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/james-k-a-smith-11405_christian-worship_so-it-is-precisely-our-allergy-to-repeti_16112.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/james-k-a-smith-11405_christian-worship_so-it-is-precisely-our-allergy-to-repeti_16112.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/james-k-a-smith-11405_christian-worship_so-it-is-precisely-our-allergy-to-repeti_16112.jpg) > ““So it is precisely our allergy to repetition in worship that has undercut the counterformative power of Christian worship—because all kinds of secular liturgies shamelessly affirm the good of repetition.”” [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that Christian worship has lost its transformative edge because it avoids repetition, while secular rituals embrace it, thereby missing the deepening effect of repeated practice. **In simple terms:** Repetition fuels transformation; its avoidance weakens worship. Key Takeaway Repetition is essential for spiritual formation. Themes ritual repetition formation secularism Christianity Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type theoretical observational cultural critique When to use this quote - personal prayer - church services - public ceremonies - daily routines - educational settings Key Concepts habit formation symbolic practice cultural contrast Practical Applications - designing worship formats that incorporate repeated elements - creating secular rituals that foster deeper engagement Questions to Reflect On - How does repetition shape belief? - Can secular rituals achieve the same depth as religious ones? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christian worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-worship/) [Liturgies Shamelessly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liturgies-shamelessly-382479/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Repetition Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repetition-worship-382478/) [Secular Liturgies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secular-liturgies-382481/) [Worship Undercut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worship-undercut-382480/) ## Related quotes > [“Formative Christian worship paints a picture of the beauty of the Lord--and a vision of the shalom he desires for creation--in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/formative-christian-worship-paints-a-picture-of-the-beauty-of-the/) [James K.A. 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Life is already an expression of worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/for-the-christian-worship-is-co-extensive-with-life-life-is-already/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [To worship God 'in spirit and in truth' is first and foremost a way of saying that we must worship God by means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/to-worship-god-in-spirit-and-in-truth-is-first-and-foremost-a-way-of/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [“Wise Christian worship takes fully into account the fact that creation has gone horribly wrong, has been so corrupted and spoiled that a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/wise-christian-worship-takes-fully-into-account-the-fact-that/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“At the heart of early Christian worship was table fellowship. Throughout the first three centuries Christian communities gathered once a week for a meal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kreider/at-the-heart-of-early-christian-worship-was-table-fellowship/) [Alan Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kreider/) > [“The Eucharist is usually not considered an essential aspect of Christian worship by those concerned with church growth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-chilcote/the-eucharist-is-usually-not-considered-an-essential-aspect-of/) [Paul W. Chilcote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-chilcote/) > [The foundation of true holiness and true Christian worship is the doctrine of the gospel, what we are to believe. So when Christian doctrine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/the-foundation-of-true-holiness-and-true-christian-worship-is-the/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [All Christian worship is a witness of the resurrection of Him who liveth for ever and ever. Because He lives, "now abideth faith, hope,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/all-christian-worship-is-a-witness-of-the-resurrection-of-him-who/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) ## More by James K.A. Smith > [“Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/jesus-is-a-teacher-who-doesn-t-just-inform-our-intellect-but-forms/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“too often we look for the Spirit in the extraordinary when God has promised to be present in the ordinary.5”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/too-often-we-look-for-the-spirit-in-the-extraordinary-when-god-has/) [James K.A. 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Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“While formally or structurally speaking, there are mechanisms of discipline operative in both the convent and the prison, in both the factory and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/while-formally-or-structurally-speaking-there-are-mechanisms-of/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry captures this well: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry-captures-this-well-if-you-want-to-build-a/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“Because of this Christian materialism, a catholic postmodernism (or postmodern catholicity) affirms sacramentality on two levels. On the one hand, it affirms a general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/because-of-this-christian-materialism-a-catholic-postmodernism-or/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“The state does not take a merely temporal regulatory role and leave salvation in the hands of the church; rather, the modern state seeks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/the-state-does-not-take-a-merely-temporal-regulatory-role-and-leave/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) [Explore all 60 James K.A. Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) ## More Christian worship quotes > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Awe combined with intimacy is the essence of Christian worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/awe-combined-with-intimacy-is-the-essence-of-christian-worship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Formative Christian worship paints a picture of the beauty of the Lord--and a vision of the shalom he desires for creation--in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/formative-christian-worship-paints-a-picture-of-the-beauty-of-the/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“At the heart of early Christian worship was table fellowship. Throughout the first three centuries Christian communities gathered once a week for a meal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kreider/at-the-heart-of-early-christian-worship-was-table-fellowship/) [Alan Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kreider/) > [“The Eucharist is usually not considered an essential aspect of Christian worship by those concerned with church growth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-chilcote/the-eucharist-is-usually-not-considered-an-essential-aspect-of/) [Paul W. Chilcote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-chilcote/) > [“According to Tertullian, impatient actions do not produce what they promise. Instead, impatient actions make things worse, bringing about massive misfortunes. “Now, nothing undertaken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kreider/according-to-tertullian-impatient-actions-do-not-produce-what-they/) [Alan Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kreider/) > [The foundation of true holiness and true Christian worship is the doctrine of the gospel, what we are to believe. So when Christian doctrine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/the-foundation-of-true-holiness-and-true-christian-worship-is-the/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [All Christian worship is a witness of the resurrection of Him who liveth for ever and ever. Because He lives, "now abideth faith, hope,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/all-christian-worship-is-a-witness-of-the-resurrection-of-him-who/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [“The body of Christ is that unique community of practice whose members own up to the fact that we don’t always love what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-a-smith/the-body-of-christ-is-that-unique-community-of-practice-whose-members/) [James K.A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-a-smith/) > [“Wise Christian worship takes fully into account the fact that creation has gone horribly wrong, has been so corrupted and spoiled that a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/wise-christian-worship-takes-fully-into-account-the-fact-that/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [To worship God 'in spirit and in truth' is first and foremost a way of saying that we must worship God by means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/to-worship-god-in-spirit-and-in-truth-is-first-and-foremost-a-way-of/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [For the Christian, worship is co-extensive with life. Life is already an expression of worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/for-the-christian-worship-is-co-extensive-with-life-life-is-already/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Proclamation, the preaching of the Gospel, should be central to Christian worship. The sermon is the central dynamic in the worship experience. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-s-hawkins-2/proclamation-the-preaching-of-the-gospel-should-be-central-to/) [O.S. Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-s-hawkins-2/) > [It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-in-the-process-of-being-worshipped-that-god-communicates-his/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [We must be both more conservative and more liberal than most students of Christian worship: conservative in holding exclusively to God's commands in Scripture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-frame/we-must-be-both-more-conservative-and-more-liberal-than-most-students/) [John Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-frame/) [Browse all 36 Christian worship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-worship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So it is precisely our allergy to repetition in worship that has undercut the counterformative power of Christian worship—because all kinds of secular liturgies shamelessly affirm the good of repetition.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James K.A. 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