When it comes to the atmosphere of worship services in the next generation, something’s got to give.
More and more churches are focusing on the centrality of the Word in worship. The resurgence of Reformed theology among younger evangelicals, the reestablishment of a rock-solid belief in the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures in the Southern Baptist Convention, the revival of expository preaching… this wave that we’re riding is about to collide with an even bigger wave: the dominance of contemporary worship styles across the U.S. and the world.
For many churches, the biggest requirement for a “worship set” is novelty. We’re aiming for an experience. So we put together a worship service that is more influenced by the latest hits on Christian radio than by theology or history.
We also try to put people at ease. “Good morning… Let’s try that again, GOOD MORNING!” There’s a chatty, street-level style of worship that has become prevalent in evangelicalism. And I’m not sure how our pursuit of novelty and casualness in worship is going to mesh with hearing the Word of God expounded upon in all its glory.
Can a contemporary, casual service bring worshippers face to face with the glory of God in a way that buttresses and upholds the magnificent truths being expounded from the Word? I think the answer is yes, but not always.
It’s like eating steak on a paper plate.
My wife is an excellent cook. Her Romanian dishes dazzle my tastebuds, and her American cooking is terrific too. In the past couple of months, she has been using paper plates frequently. I understand why. We don’t have a dishwasher. She wants to save time setting the table, and she doesn’t want me washing dishes after dinner. Paper plates are easy and disposable.
But after a few weeks of paper plates, I told my wife, “Your cooking is too good for paper plates.” Slapping down a hot dog and baked beans on a paper plate in the middle of summer is just fine. But when my wife makes her famous pork chops and rice, or her Romanian cabbage rolls, or steak and mashed potatoes, paper plates just don’t cut it. I said, “Let me wash the dishes. But at least give us dishes!”
When it comes to worship, we are frequently told that form doesn’t matter. Style is not what’s important. I get that. I’m not downing contemporary music or advocating a return to liturgy, organs and hymns. I’ve been in contemporary worship services that have put me on my knees before the holiness and majesty of God. Cultural forms adjust and adapt.
But in worship today, there is a tendency toward casualness. The emphasis on feeling God’s closeness in worship may short-circuit the possibility of being transformed by a glimpse of the Transcendent One. There’s hardly any room for feeling awe in worship, and I can’t help but think that part of our problem is the form.
Form and content mirror one another. A church with serious Bible preaching is going to have a serious worship service (contemporary or traditional isn’t what matters, but serious it will be). A church with a feel-good preacher is going to have peppy, feel-good music.
Christians need to sense the weight of God’s glory, the truths of God’s Word, the reality of coming judgment, and the gloriousness of God’s grace. Trying to package the bigness of this God into most casual worship services is like trying to eat steak on a paper plate. You can do it for awhile, but at some point, people will start saying, “I want a dish.”
Awesome post. Everyone who plans such services struggles with this. In my planning, I strive to bring out one or two cohesive themes, like “God is Holy,” or the “the blood of Christ.” While leading music, I attempt to convey a welcoming atmosphere while being aware that my focus is on glorifying God and encouraging the congregation to do the same.
http://jonwellman.wordpress.com – Not a Camouflaged Soul
Trevin,
Wonderful analogy. The pre-service atmosphere can often resemble a high school assembly. Two questions: Why would a return to liturgy be ill advised? Would you consider placement of communion back on a more equal footing with preaching a beneficial thing?
SPOT. ON.
A great post. A great analogy.
Echoes of T. David Gordon’s concerns well stated in Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns: How Pop Culture Rewrote the Hymnal.
Thanks to all for your comments.
Clay, I don’t think that a return to liturgy is ill-advised, only that it isn’t necessary to my argument. Some churches may move in this direction, but again, I don’t think it’s merely the style, but the ethos of the service.
Kevin,
I appreciated your article. It brought to mind a discussion in Marva J. Dawn’s “A Royal ‘Waste’ of Time” in which she discusses the tendency of the church to serve up fast food rather than gourmet meals because the masses prefer the fast food.
I do think you hit the nail on the head concerning the “casualness” of our approach. As you said, “Form and content mirror one another.” I would add that when form becomes the primary concern, content always suffers. Let me offer this comment from Marva Dawn:
“Far too many churches are not doing a good job of sorting what they use from ‘contemporary’ music because they choose it primarily for its style, and the result is worship filled with stuff that trivializes God and forms narcissistic people.” – Marva J. Dawn, A Royal “Waste” of Time: the Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World
This is an issue that responsible worship leaders must deal with. We have the responsibility to facilitate singing “unto the Lord (Eph. 5:18-20)but also to be theologians who understand the power of song to ground people in Biblical truth (Col. 3:16).
My challenge is finding a synthesis between worship for the head and for the heart. There are signs of some really healthy songwriting out there. (Matthew Smith, Stuart Townend, Sovereign Grace) Songs with great theological content in a contemporary vein are emerging but the danger is always for the pendulum to swing to far. Just as we have suffered from a “thinness” by focusing primarily on intimacy in worship, it would be a mistake to discard the intimate for only the intellectual. As a wise man once said: “The Spirit alone and you blow up. The Word alone and you dry up. The Spirit and the Word together, and you grow up.” There is some wisdom there.
At the church I pastor we have made it a point to be “ancient/future” in our approach. We use music from sources like Chris Tomlin and Indelible Grace. We want to encounter the living God. We’re hand raisers, vocal praisers, even known to lift up a shout now and then. We kneel, we weep, we pour our hearts out. We read the scriptures publicly, recite the Apostles Creed (usually over a song instrumental that leads back into singing)and the Lord’s prayer, pass the peace and share communion every week. The charismatics tell us that we’re “too liturgical” for them and the liturgists say we’re “too charismatic” for them. Probably why we remain a small church – we don’t appeal to anyone!
It’s rich though.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Arrghh! Trevin not Kevin…
Trevin,
GREAT post. You are indeed one of the most insightful bloggers I know. Your voice is greatly appreciated.
“There’s hardly any room for feeling awe in worship, and I can’t help but think that part of our problem is the form.”
Trevin,
Excellent thoughts. Your quote above sums up my feelings about how our overly casual approach to how we do “worship” is and will yield bad fruit with respect to God’s glory being furthered.
As one example consider how our observance of Communion/the Eucharist in many ev. churches has been pushed to a monthly or even quarterly observance while we continue to build the “event” that has become our worship services. Go to most any mainline or even my local “emergent church” service and you will find that much is made of communion. And why not? What has replaced this most important observance in our churches? Another couple of kickin CCM songs? This is not good IMO.
At the church I currently belong to the Pastor is a lover of Hymns and has written several devotionals using them. They usually weave the old in with the new and I think it is quite uplifting and stirring to your contemplation. I love both–Some of us boomers are used to loud music with good guitar and drums so the contemporary catches our ears quickly and I believe it is good for soul winning for the boomers still out there searching.
(By the way, sure would love to taste your wife’s cabbage rolls–grew up on them & would even take on a paper plate. Good food for the soul if I may say so)
another reason to stop using paper plates is the environment.
I I have to admit, I am not entirely sure I understand your point.
A steak still tastes like a steak regardless of what you put it on – paper plate, stone ware, fine bone china or even the floor if it’s clean. Only the perceived flavour in the mind of the lucky guy eating the steak changes.
I’m a big believer in context. Take that steak grill it to medium rare, pair it with a nice pinot noir and a tomato and scallion salsa. What you now have is a meal that I could eat every night for the rest of my life! On the flip side, pound that sucker flat, pan fry it in oil, smother it in gravy add a bud light and, while I may throw up in my mouth a bit, some one else could put that in their mouth and experience God in a new way for the first time. The steak is still the same steak, but speaks to different people in different ways.
Churches are no different, in my opinion. As a leader – pastor, worship leader, elder, whatever – if you are not prepared to serve (and notice how I used the word serve here) pinot to a pinot community to see God’s kingdom flourish, then why bother?
I agree that some people today do need to smarten up, and take their faith seriously. On the other hand, I also think, an equal number of people need to lighten up and realize that no two communities are alike and they all have different “nutritional” needs.
Cam is right on the mark. The longer I spend following Christ, the more I realize that our supreme calling is to continually incarnate Christ and His unchangeable truth to a continually changing, multi-faceted culture. Newbigin was right, we all need to be missionaries. It’s going to look different people.
I like your reflection, “Steak on a Paper Plate.”
If you want some examples of new hymns with theological depth, check out
http://www.carolynshymns.com/
One problem with the steak illustration is that many Christians are moving away from eating less beef as a way to better care for God’s creation as well as for personal health. A five-day environmental meeting at Prague’s International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS) made the connection between global warming and meat consumption, see: http://ethicsdaily.com:80/news.php?viewStory=16537 See also http://www.globalissues.org/article/240/beef
Who is God? Is He the Almighty Creator, awesome and transcendent, sovereign over all creation, Lord of all? Or is he the incarnate Jesus, carpenter-turned-itinerant-preacher/healer; a man who walked among us, taught a rag-tag band of followers, invited children to his lap, cared for the sick; the servant of all?
Of course, God is both of those…and so much more. How we worship should depend largely on “which” God we are approaching. There are times when we need to come to him as Mighty God and Prince of Peace, and other times we need to come to him as Wonderful Counselor and Everlasting Father. All that we do in a “worship service” should present a consistent, cohesive approach to God. (That doesn’t mean we can’t approach him as Mighty God and Everlasting Father in the same service, but let there be smooth flow and order, not be worship schizophrenia.)
One particular song always reminds me of the dissonance that we sometimes have in worship: A loud, driving, heavy-metal band singing “in the peaceful, in the quiet place.” Even worse than steak on a paper plate!
I agree with Cam. To push the analogy, the whole point is to eat the steak. If we are intimidated by the fine china, or the environment that uses fine china, we will not be comfortable even approaching the table. The message will not be received because we have not been able to relate. The same is true of the paper plate, in that it may put some people off. If however, at least at first, an informal style breaks down the phychological barriers and is less threatening to those who come in to seek, perhaps the first bites will keep them coming back for more.
I do want to ask Trevin – was “style” – formal/informal really your main point? It seems to me that these discussions always implode into issues that don’t keep the bigger picture in front of us. At the risk of seeming self serving, let me add a quote from Ralph Martin that I included in my blog post of this issue:
“What is the pattern of worship that best conveys the richness of divine grace, faithfully interprets the gospel in our modern world and helpfully consolidates the body of Christ?”
To me, this encapsulates the dilemma we face concerning worship. Please feel free to read the rest and comment: http://clearriver.org/jefflingblog/2010/08/the-critical-need-of-transcendence-in-worship/
Trevin – if you don’t want links on here, no worries – please delete.
I am more like likely to go to a barbeque and enjoy steak off a paper plate among “casual” friends,… approachable, friendly, inclusive, of like mind and lifestyle,… than I am to go to a “formal” gathering of nose-in-the-air, holier-than-thou, exclusive and judgmental people eating cabbage rolls off china plates using sterling silver cutlery. (Not pointing fingers,… just continuing the analogy.)
When Jesus wandered the earth looking for people to touch, He did not wear a black suit with accompanying tie. He met the people where THEY were.
If “formal” is your style, so be it. Some people are more comfortable in tuxedos than others. Most people though, just need to have a face-to-face, heart-to-heart with The Living Saviour,… regardless of what they are wearing, or whether the “style of service” meets the approval of the “main-line, in-line,” self-appointed watchdogs of all things pertaining to “church.” I might add that “casual” does not necessarily equal “insincere.”
I like a sign I saw recently. At last somebody is finally “getting it”:
” ‘Church’ is WHO we are, not WHERE we attend meetings.” Again, I might add “or HOW we approach God.”
I agree whole-heartedly with Cam, Randy and Sailor. Today, I may need a visit with my Heavenly Father, to sit on His lap and indulge in some snuggling. Tonight, perhaps He will meet me,… also as My Heavenly Father,… with a gentle rebuke or a word of encouragement. Does it really matter to Him HOW I approach Him as long as I do,… approach Him, that is?
Arthur,
I’d like to follow up on your reply and explain why I find it so disappointing.
First – the polarizing comment. Although you tempered it with a “not pointing fingers,” I couldn’t help but think that you were dividing folks into camps – the “approachable, friendly, inclusive, of like mind and lifestyle” folks of the paper plate vs. the “nose-in-the-air, holier-than-thou, exclusive and judgmental people” of the china. I have to state as I did earlier that I don’t think Trevin’s post has anything to do with formal vs. informal – frankly, I don’t care which “style” people may choose. I have met people from all kinds of churches who are among the first group you describe and I have met folks from all kinds of churches who fit your second grouping – but those goes to character, not style of worship. By identifying those who prefer “china” – perhaps a more liturgically structured service of some kind – the way you did is a broad brush stroke of the worst kind.
Secondly, I was shocked, truly, by the idea that “how” we approach God is of no consequence. I agree with you that church is who we are and not where we meet, but what WE do as the church in worship is profoundly important. I say that for the simple reason that you don’t find the subject treated nonchalantly anywhere in scripture. Obviously the Old Testament is very clear in regards to how God was to be approached and people neglected it to their own peril. So perhaps we toss that out? Perhaps we live in the “Abba” age – God as daddy. Grace has opened an new and living way into God’s presence and everything will be snuggles or gentle rebukes at best. What matters is sincerity. Alas, I fear that attitude falls sadly short of what worship is designed to be. Let me be clear. I love the grace of God. I love the Savior who purchased it for me and I don’t think for a moment my “grade” on worship has anything to do with my place in His kingdom. Like you, my heart cries out for the affectionate touch of my Father and the reproofs of His word and Spirit. Still I do not think that we are at liberty to create any old approach to God with the only qualification being sincerity. This doesn’t work in any other arena of life. I can approach my wife for affection in a tuxedo or work clothes but if I don’t approach her with respect and honor, it won’t be received well. The writer of Hebrews – while describing the opportunity for us to come “boldly before the throne of grace,” also writes these words:
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29
To worship God acceptably would infer that there are unacceptable ways would it not?
Which brings me back to my earlier thought. Your reply is a perfect example of a discussion disintegrating into the same tired old fights that miss the issue. Why do the replies focus on formal or informal? Why aren’t the words “transcendence” and “holiness” being talked about? The real question in mind is the one I posted earlier –
“What is the pattern of worship that best conveys the richness of divine grace, faithfully interprets the gospel in our modern world and helpfully consolidates the body of Christ?” (Ralph Martin)
Arthur, blessings to you and worship God as it pleases you – I question not for a moment the sincerity of your heart or the validity of your worship (unless it involves killing chickens or something) but I do believe that the larger questions get buried under the rhetoric.
Sincerely
Jeff Ling
“Self-appointed watchdog of all things pertaining to church.”
http://www.jefferyling.com
The danger of using analogies is that not everyone is capable of grasping the point of analogy. For anyone who may puzzle over Trevin’s analogy, there are many others that may be helpful.
Going to beach or a picnic in a tuxedo.
A bride marching in to her wedding accompanied by a requiem.
Attending a funeral in swimwear.
Preaching God’s Word while wearing sleepwear.
Jeff,
I apologize for my inept attempt to make my point.
I did not mean to suggest that all those who prefer bone china have their “nose in the air”, or that all those who prefer paper plates are “approachable”, etc., etc. Nor did I mean to imply that “how” we approach God is of no consequence. God is indeed Holy, and we should bear that in mind when we seek to approach Him.
All I was attempting to say is that there are those who prefer to be in a less formal, less liturgical worship service, while agreeing that there are others who are much more comfortable in a more traditional setting. Maybe I pushed the analogy too far, but I still submit that it does not really matter which “camp” one belongs to.
There are those who believe that Contemporary Christian songs have no place in a “modern” Church, and there are those who question many of the old standards as being unscriptural. Know what? There is some validity in BOTH viewpoints.
You ask, “What is the pattern of worship that best conveys the richness of divine grace, faithfully interprets the gospel in our modern world and helpfully consolidates the body of Christ?” (Ralph Martin) I would still reply that it is of little consequence what “pattern of worship” one prefers while wholeheartedly agreeing with you,… and the author of the book of Hebrews,… that we “worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”
I sincerely believe that the attitude of the worshiper is as important as the attitude of the worship leader. I also sincerely believe that God is as desirous of meeting with the blind beggar as He is of meeting with the High Priest. Obviously, there will be differences in the way either of these people approach God. I am thankful that God is big enough, loving enough, Grace-full enough, to meet all of us where we are. I am often amazed that He cares enough to meet with us at all!
Again, I am sorry if anybody misunderstood what I was trying to say. I will take my foot out of my mouth NOW.
“Preaching God’s Word while wearing sleepwear”
God doesn’t care what we wear, not when we worship, and certainly not when we preach His word. It’s all about the attitude we have. When God created Adam and Eve they were naked, clothing was only thought necessary when they disobeyed God and ate the fruit. Even Jesus called his disciples to come as they were. My family has deep ties to the coast of Maine. We have visited friends who are fishermen; they aren’t clean people when they are working. Matt. 4:18-22 “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” Those dudes were nasty, but Jesus called them anyway.
Stepping off my soapbox… and now to rejoin the discussion already in progress.
I don’t agree with this analogy of steak on a paper plate. Maybe I’m getting hung up by feeling this analogy is dealing only with the physical (read style, service order, lighting cues, etc.) aspects of a service, the “Man Made” things. God isn’t looking at those things. He is looking at our attitude, our spirit. Something can be said for doing things with excellence, but I would argue that excellence of attitude/spirit (respect/honor) is more important than anything else. Sometimes we forget that the “Man Made” things are only self serving. That sometimes those things become what we are worshiping. The Ralph Martin quote is good, here is what I believe to be the “pattern of worship” he is looking for.
Monday – Saturday
We can’t expect to come in to church on Sunday and be pleased with everything that happens. We are selfish people, we want what we want and if we don’t get it we will be distracted. Distraction will keep us from entering God’s presence. That’s why we need to spend the week praying, studying, and worshiping. That way when we get to church on Sunday we have already been fed. We ate the steak on our own china, and now it’s time for dessert.
I appreciated your response. We do what bring us closer to our Lord and reaching others to transform the world.
Trevin,
Thanks for this thoughtful post. It inspired some reflection of mine (as an outsider) on the liturgy and evangelical forms of service:
http://trahtoom.blogspot.com/2010/08/paper-plates-and-wisdom-of-liturgy.html
Trevin,
Excellent analogy. Here’s another: suppose the President gave his State-of-the-Union address dressed in a pink bunny suite. He could state truth after truth, but no one would take him seriously because of his attire. Much worship today is just that–God’s truth dressed up and trivialized in a bunny suite. The casual atmosphere (and dress) is proof that even those who attend aren’t taking worship seriously–they’re simply there to be gratified by trivial, Christian entertainment with Jesus thrown in. How can one sense the glory, majesty, mystery, awe, and sacredness of God while they’re jumping around and having a good time to the lowest manifestations of human expression?
Terin, enjoyed your article, it brought the following question to my mind: How does God want to be worshipped!
He tells us explicitly in His Word! – the real question is – are we interested? – this moves us fundamentally from a Man Centered focus to a God Centered one!
This is how we will get a sense of “the weight of God’s glory, the truths of God’s Word, the reality of coming judgment, and the gloriousness of God’s grace.”
If your interested, check out this on Sermon Audio (Anthony Selvaggio):
The Power of Congregational Singing:
The Argument for Exclusive Psalmody:
Why We Worship Without Musical Instruments:
The Arguments Against Exclusive Psalmody:
A Manifesto for Psalm Singers:
Additional info:
Why we sing a cappella
One of the things you will notice when you worship with us is that we sing a cappella, that is, without instrumental accompaniment. We don’t use instruments in public worship because they were part of the ceremonial Law and Levitical Priesthood that were abolished when Jesus died on the cross,
“The priestly sons of Aaron, moreover, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
“When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies.
“Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.” (Numbers 10:8-10)
With the death of Jesus, the ceremonial law and Levitical Priesthood have ended,
For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. (Hebrews 7:12)
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness. (Hebrews 7:18)
We are now commanded to sing to God with the instrument of the heart,
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. (emphasis added; Ephesians 5:18,19; cf. Colossians 3:16)
By not using instruments in public worship the church declares that the work of Jesus Christ is finished. The church is now listening for the trumpet of God when Jesus returns and the dead are raised and we will be changed (1 Cor.15:51-52; 1 Thess.4:16).
A cappella singing was the practice of the apostolic church and it was the unanimous practice of the post-apostolic church. In fact, it wasn’t until A.D. 560 that bells were first used in a church and the approximate year an organ was first used in worship was A.D. 730. Below are remarks and reasons by well-known Christians as to why instruments should not be used when the church gathers to offer sacrifices of praise:
Justin Martyr A. D. 150
Plain singing is not childish, but only the singing with lifeless organs, with dancing and cymbals, etc. Whence the use of such instruments and other things fit for children are laid aside, and plain singing only retained.
Clement of Alexandria A. D. 190
We [Christians] make use only of one organ or instrument, even the peaceful Word, with which we honor God; no longer with the old psaltery, trumpet, drum, cymbal, or pipe.
Cyprian—A. D. 240
Such organs, or instruments, were then permitted them (the Old Testament Church) for this cause, even for the sake of their weakness, to stir up their minds to perform their external worship with some delight.
Chrysostom A. D. 396
It [Instrumental Music] was permit¬ted to the Jews, as sacrifice was, for the heaviness and grossness of their souls. God condescended to their weakness, be¬cause they were lately drawn off from idols; but now instead of instruments we may use our bodies to praise him withal. Again, let no man deceive you, these, [in¬struments] appertain not to Christians; these are alien to the Catholic Church; all these things do the nations of the world seek after.
Thomas Aquinas—A. D. 1260
In the old law, God was praised both with musical instruments and human voices. But the Church does not use musical instruments lest she should seem to Judaize. Nor ought a pipe, nor any other artificial instruments, such as organ, or harp, or the like, be brought into use in the Christian Church, but only those things which shall make the hearers better men. Under the Old Testament such instruments were used, partly because the people were harder and more carnal, and partly because these bodily instruments were typical of something.
John Calvin—1545
Instrumental Music is not fitter to be adopted into the public worship of the Christian Church than the incense, the candlestick, and the shadows of the Mosaic law… We know that our Lord Jesus Christ has appeared, and by His advent, has abolished these legal shadows…. For instruments of music in Gospel times, we must not have recourse to these, unless we wish to destroy the evangelical perfection, and to obscure the …light which we enjoy in Christ our Lord.
John Wesley 1703-1791
I have no objection to instruments being in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.
Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892
We should like to see all the pipes of the organs in our …places of worship either ripped open or compactly filled with concrete
“The custom of organ accompaniment did not become general among Protestants until the eighteenth century.”
— The New Shaff-Herzogg Encyclopedia, 1953, Vol 10, p. 257
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED
OVERVIEW
• We don’t use instruments for the same reason we don’t bring bulls, goats, and sheep into worship and slit their throats at an altar.
• We don’t use instruments for the same reason we don’t have earthly priests or an earthly High Priest.
• We don’t use instruments for the same reasons we don’t use incense.
• We don’t use instruments for the same reason we don’t worship anymore in an earthly tabernacle or temple.
I. SILVER TRUMPETS AND THEIR USE DURING THE TIME OF MOSES (Numbers 10:1-10)
A. To summon the congregation (Num.10:2,3)
B. Signaling the camps to set out (Num.10:2)
C. Assembling leaders (Num.10:4)
D. Going to war (Num.10:9; cf. Num.31:6; Josh.6:4; 2 Kings 11:14; 2 Chron.13:12)
E. Burnt offerings and peace offerings (Num.10:10)
1. Numbers 10:10 is the first time the Bible mentions instruments being used in the worship of God.
2. In all the instructions God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai concerning the tabernacle, its furniture, and all the different kinds of sacrifices and offerings – only one verse is given concerning the use of instruments in the tabernacle!
3. The use of music in the worship of God did not become prominent until the time of David.
II. MUSIC IN THE TEMPLE AND ITS USE IN THE TIME OF DAVID
A. David was known as the “sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Sam.23:1).
B. About half the Psalter is attributed to David Who wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Sam.23:2; cf. Acts 2:25-31; 4:25).
C. David did not introduce instruments in the worship of God according to his own whim. Rather, it was in accord with the Word of God (Ex.25:9,40 with 1 Chron.28:11-13; Deut.12:32; 1 Chron.21-29 [see esp.1 Chron.28:11-21]; 2 Chron.6:4; 8:12-15; 29:25; Ezra 3:10; Neh.12:45).
D. In 2 Chronicles 29, Hezekiah restored the worship of God (see also 2 Chron.31:20-21).
1. As the burnt offering was offered, the priests sang and played trumpets (2 Chron.29:27).
2. When the burnt offering was finished, the trumpets stopped, but the singing of praises to the LORD with the words of David continued (2 Chron.29:28-30).
III. MUSIC IN NEW TESTAMENT & ITS PLACE IN OUR WORSHIP TODAY
A. When the Apostle Paul speaks about our singing, it is making melody with your heart to the Lord (Eph.5:19,20; Col.3:16; cf. Heb.13:15; James 5:13; Rev.14:2,3).
B. To be sure, a few instruments are found in Revelation (Rev.8:3-5; however see Rev.14:2,3). When we read in Revelation about temples, priests, lampstands, incense, altars, the Ark of the Covenant, the lamb slain and harps, our thoughts should focus upon how these things have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The church is not being encouraged to turn back to these shadows, but to see their reality in heaven where Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Rev.1:1; 5:11-14).
C. The next instrument the church is to be listening for is the trumpet of God when the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Cor.15:51-52; 1 Thess.4:16).
D. By not using instruments in public worship the church declares that the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ is finished (Hebrews 13:15).
E. Why is the purity of worship so important? It is one of the main principles justifying the Protestant Reformation. In his excellent work, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, John Calvin states:
If it be inquired, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence amongst us, and maintains its truth, it will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the whole substance of Christianity: that is, a knowledge, first, of the mode in which God is duly worshipped; and, secondly, of the source from which salvation is to be obtained. When these are kept out of view…our [Christian] profession is empty and vain.”
In Christ
Kevin
I really do appreciate your take on this. I have been a contemporary “worship guy” over the years and I have to say that when I am in that environment now it seems so pithy and empty. Like a bunch of people with self-esteem issues trying too hard to be one of the cool kids.
However, I think that your words still miss the point. Why are we trying so hard to “create” something transcendent in worship. We are so effected by our culture that no matter what form (style) it takes, our worship is still an attempt to get people to feel something, which makes it seem like we just want them to “buy” something…. and of course we do, we want them to “buy” our ideology… our brand of spirituality that we believe to be THE ideology. I think the church is beyond screwed up and all of these attempts to tweak it and fix it are like a finger in the whole of a damn, sooner or later the wall is coming down. But I think that will be the best news for all of us, and true reform will perhaps begin to happen.
My two cents
Peace