The Means of Our Worship Part II

The Means of Our Worship¹

Sermon Series: Pure Praise

Many Christians get wrapped up in a style of worship. We too often assume ideas and beliefs that aren't really supported by God's Word. Francis Schaeffer wrote, “Let me say firmly that there is no such thing as a godly style or an ungodly style. The more one tries to make such a distinction, the more confusing it becomes.”²

The Bible simply makes no reference to a preferred style. In fact, not one of our modern music styles-country, rock, jazz, classical, R & B, and so on-was even around when the Bible was written!

Psalm 96:1 (NASB), “Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth.”

Jeremiah 6:16 (NASB):

Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

We're encouraged in these verses to sing new songs; yet we are also exhorted to seek the “ancient paths” when our ancestors walked with God. I have no doubt those “ancient paths” could include our ancestor's songs.

Style is not the issue with God. He loves all kinds of music-as long as it honors Him. What matters is not so much what we sing, but how we sing it. He wants to see that our music is flowing from hearts that truly worship Him.

Have you ever stopped to think that classic songs like, “How Great Thou Art” and “Amazing Grace” were new songs at one point? And some the choruses that are so new to us will one day be the old and familiar hymns of the next generation. That status of a song changes with time. The key to a good praise song is not whether it's old or new-or fast or slow, for that matter-but whether it expresses truth that Christians' hearts long to sing.

Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah also chose an old, familiar psalm (see Psalm 136:1 and 2 Chronicles 7:3). The style of the song did not have bearing on their choice. It was the message, the truth of the song they were passionate about. And that is the same passion God looks for in us, regardless of our style of music.

While particular music styles should not become a personal issue with us, we still need to consider them. We have already established that the kind of God-honoring music we sing and play does not determine our vertical relationship with God and how He responds to us. On the other hand, the music we choose may have an adverse effect on our horizontal relationship with others. And, the way we treat each other does ultimately affect how we relate to and please our Lord.

John 13:34-35 (NASB):

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Romans 12:10 (NASB):

 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor...”

What do these verses say to us about how we act toward other Christians? Are we willing to put aside our personal preferences and agendas and focus instead on ministering to the people around us?

Why is it that we want to force our music on other Christians just because we like it? Who is it we apparently love the most; them or our ourselves?

There are occasions where specialized praise times are healthy and valuable for the body of Christ. Those meetings can and should focus on the specific music preferences of the particular group gathered for worship, whether it comprises teenagers, women, senior adults, and so on. Also, some churches have purposefully chosen to reach a more narrowly defined population group. When those congregations come together for corporate worship, the members expect the songs to be of a certain music style. That's not being unloving-that's being strategic about reaching the unchurched around them.

I am not speaking of using music as a tool for evangelism, although it can be used for that. We are not considering Christian music vs. secular. Our focus is on respecting one another in the entire family of God.

And in a spiritual family there are all types of musical interests. The problem is not in our varying of tastes. Actually, that is a blessing God designed for His people. The trouble comes when we want to treat every worship service as if it's our own personal “tasting fair,” and we're the judges. That way, if we don't' particularly like a song, we can reject it and toss it out of the service.

I don't' think that is what Peter had in mind when he said, “All of you should be in agreement, understanding each other, loving each other as family, being kind and humble” (1 Peter 3:8, New Century Version).

As long as the music of fellow Christians clearly and scripturally honors the Lord, we are compelled to honor them and their musical preferences. When we esteem others and consider them more important than ourselves, we are poised to let the world know we are Christians by our love.

II. Elements of Biblical Worship

Let’s look at what Jesus had to say about worship. The Gospels record three instances in which He taught specifically about this topic. From these three short statements, we get a clear picture in our worship and, thus, in our worship music.

Luke 4:5-8: “So he took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The Devil said to Him, ‘I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. If You, then, will worship me, all will be Yours.’”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”

Matthew 15:1-9: “Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”

He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, the one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death…”

“Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:

These people honor Me with their lips,

but their heart is far from Me.

They worship Me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”

John 4:21-24: Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

1. The first element of biblical worship comes from the fountain of our hearts.

The common theme in all three passages is that true, biblical worship springs from hearts that are fully surrendered to God. Worship is, first of all, a matter of the heart. That is why we learned in our very first week together that the essence of worship is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5).

One might think of the heart as the fountain of our worship, and the songs we sing express the love that is flowing from our heart. But is a pure and passionate heart all that is required for our worship to be acceptable to God? I believe we will find the answer to be no. To see what else is essential, we need to examine Jesus’ words even more carefully.

2. The second element of biblical worship is a focus on the true and living God.

When our understanding and concept of God become distorted, we are no longer worshipping the true God. Likewise, when the words of our praise songs do not represent the Lord as He revealed Himself in Scripture, then we are not really singing to Him but rather to a “golden calf” of our own making (Exodus 32).

Jesus’ words reveal one more requirement regarding the substance of our worship.

3. The third element of biblical worship represents the truth of what God says.

In Matthew 15:1-9 Jesus stated this about the Pharisees’ teaching: God had said one thing, and they were saying something else. They were misrepresenting God’s Word. Jesus, therefore, called their worship a farce because they replaced God’s commands with their own man-made laws. They were not worshipping God in truth, and it is truth that must be the foundation of all our worship.

By the same token, we must be sure that the contents of our songs and testimonies of worship are just as correct before the Lord as are the hearts from which they flow. The bottom line is this: If we don’t allow God’s precepts in everything we say and do, then we are not true worshippers of God. In the same way, if our lyrics in songs do not represent accurate, biblical truth, then our songs are not true worship songs.

III. Cooperation is the Key

Let’s face it: Christians don’t have a great reputation for cooperating with one another. We are often suspicious of how the people down the street worship. We don’t easily allow new ideas and methods.

Imagine what people outside the church must think when they look at the church. They don’t see unity among God’s people many times. Instead they see disagreements and distrust. I think the secular world sees the church more clearly than we see ourselves.

If you go to 2 Chronicles 20, you see an original picture of what cooperation in the family of God should look like. These people had plenty of reason to cooperate with each other. Just look at all they had in common:

The people of Judah had a:

Common need-they all faced annihilation.

Common enemy-they all had three vast armies coming after them.

Common purpose-they had all come to seek God’s help.

Common focus-they all waited for God to speak.

Common orders-they all heard from God through His prophet Jahaziel.

Common goal-they all trusted God to defeat their enemies.

We want to foster an environment where people’s ideas can safely fail. As much as we try, not every idea is going to be a good one. They best way to squelch people’s creativity is to criticize the last bad idea they had or shoot down their latest effort before it has had a chance to succeed. We often criticize Peter for sinking on his way to Jesus. But at least he got out of the boat!

But cooperation does not mean that anything goes. There are four definite criteria for the tools we use in worship. All four of these are evident in the praises the choir lifted up as the children of Judah marched toward victory.

1. Everything we do in a worship service should exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Everything we do in a worship service should exhort the church.

3. Everything we do in a worship service should evangelize the lost.

4. Everything we do in a worship service should engage the listeners.

In Life Together, Dietrich Bonheoffer made this selfless observation: “It is the voice of the Church that is heard in singing together. It is not you that sings, it is the Church that is singing, and you, as a member of the Church, may share in its song.”³

1 This material is taken from DeWayne Moore's book, Pure Praise (Loveland: CO: Group Publishing, 2009), 109-114.

2 Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 76.

3 Dietrich Bonheoffer, Life Together (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1954), 61.