The Highest Duty of the Church (Part 3 of 3)
Worship Structured by the Gospel
Worship is our response to the divine initiative of God to make covenant with His people through Christ Jesus our Lord. We believe and practice that “God meets his people in Christ as the Holy Spirit works through the liturgy: confession of sin, declaration of forgiveness, songs of praise, confession of the faith, the preaching, the prayers, and the sacraments.”63 In every service we endeavor to praise God, confess our sins and our faith to God, receive the grace of God from preaching and sacraments, give thanks for His blessing and go blessed by His Word into the entire world to preach the gospel as commanded by Christ. Terry Johnson called this order of worship “Gospel logic.”64 In other words, worship that is structured or ordered by the gospel.
Consider again the prophet’s encounter with the “High and Lofty One” in Isaiah 6. Isaiah heard the praise and the call of God from the heavenly beings saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah’s response “at the voice of him who called” was “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” God then gives grace; He offers atonement for Isaiah’s sin with a burning coal from the altar to touch his lips.
Isaiah then receives assurance of pardon, “your guilt has been taken away, and your sin atoned for.” The voice of the Lord speaks again and said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then Isaiah said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah experienced worship structured by the gospel.
Biblical reformed Christians practice an ordered freedom in worship. We have few fixed forms. We are neither “High Church” with every form, prayer and text prescribed for us, nor are we “Low Church” worshiping without form or order.65 The Apostle Paul never provided a particular form for public worship. Neither does the New Testament contain an explicit order of worship
for us to follow.66 Yet, throughout the entire Word of God, it is the character and nature of God’s self-revelation of His transcendent holiness that informs our worship; it is the sinful character and nature of man revealed in Scripture that requires a certain order and form in worship; and, it is the gospel itself that bring the two together. In the Spirit, on the Lord’s Day, God’s people meet with Him through His Word to renew the everlasting covenant of grace between Christ and His Church. It should be noted that biblical form is not formalism. Scripture warns of godly form not united with believing hearts.67 The Church must be careful about ritual not rooted in the Bible expressed by obedient hearts of faith. The answer to mere formalism is not the absence of form, but in having true faith in Christ that informs and directs our worship faithfully to God. All form communicates something. Form is not neutral.
Music Style Matters
Not only is form not neutral neither is style. It is commonly held that style, particularly in music, is incidental to worship. Many people believe that if what is communicated is true then style doesn’t matter. “Behind this thinking is the insistence that all music, language and format are created equal, an aesthetic relativism, if you please.”68 I once heard R. C. Sproul say something
like, “All form is an art form and every art form communicates something.” What we do in worship and the manner we do it reflects what we believe about God. Consequently, worship must reflect the glory and character of God and His gospel. We cannot forget God’s command that He be worshiped “acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’”69
This is not to say every worship song or instrumentation must be either traditional or contemporary. There are many traditional hymns void of theological truth that are filled with sappy romanticism. Much modern contemporary music, what Robert Godfrey calls “God is my girlfriend”70 music, is sadly lacking in the themes, proportion and weight of the biblical Psalms. New songs or old songs must all be judged by the same standard – are they fully biblical lyrically and are they musically appropriate to the subject matter? Does the content and style of the worship service in general and music specifically create an atmosphere conducive to leading the people of God to an appropriate and reverential response to God’s grace? Generally speaking most contemporary expressions of faith and worship do not meet these standards.
Ironically, most so-called contemporary Christian music is not really contemporary at all. More often what is called “contemporary” is often a throw back to the music of the 60’s and 70’s thereby appealing to the baby boomers and the narcissism of their generation. Certain styles of music such as rock, country, blues and rap, to name of few, are simply not acceptable musical forms of worship style because stylistically none can convey the transcendence and holiness of God.
Notwithstanding the musical and theological weakness of much contemporary music, this throwback music that makes baby-boomers feel comfortable with God cannot be compared to the really contemporary cutting edge alternative Christian music of the day that is ungodly and not suitable as music much less as worship. If parents were to listen carefully to what current contemporary music offers their children as worship they would find nothing more than crude, guttural, man-centered and blasphemous noise. In the end that which is exclusively contemporary lacks standards of any kind. What is new and culturally relevant today is gone tomorrow.
Soon the Christian faith will be unrecognizable except for the occasional reference to Jesus and His wonderful plan for everyone’s life. However strong the appeal to insist on musical ministry forms distinctive to every group and sub-culture for the purpose of evangelism, nothing in modern memory has divided the church like the so called “worship wars” over music.
This war over worship music creates other problems as each generation and ethnic group seeks to define on its own terms the worship of God. Christian apologist, Ravi Zacharias has observed, “Now, as cultures are blended across generations, a whole new ethos is framed, and each generation must reinvent itself without the checks and balances of time and preceding generations. There is no transcending community, and the breakdown is drastic. It is not accidental that music has a generational shelf life, where new music fails to connect with the previous one.”71 If every generation can determine for themselves what is acceptable to God in music, belief and practice we cannot be one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. “A worshiping community should be the fountain from which life flows and the ocean into which your efforts are merged. That is where identity is defined, refined, and consolidated and where continuity remains.”72 Appropriate biblical psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are critical to maintaining a communion of saints between all generations.
People very much identify themselves with certain styles of music. Therefore, there is a natural desire to sing and worship God in ways familiar to each person. But a church must be careful that the style comport with the message. The question isn’t “Is this permissible?” The more important question is “Is this proper?” I heard Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III make reference to the fact
that “Amazing Grace” could be sung to the tune of “Gilligan’s Island.” There is nothing inScripture that prohibits singing “Amazing Grace” to the theme of “Gilligan’s Island.” But it wouldn’t be proper, even for children, because of the serious message of grace communicated so powerfully by that old hymn.
When confronted with the permissible versus the proper issues the Westminster Confession of Faith gives guidance – “There are some circumstance concerning the worship of God . . . common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, (emphasis mine) which are always to be observed.”73 Therefore, even in matters of judgment and discretion the Word of God regulates the worship of His people.
When thinking about worship music style, think about God’s glory; think about the weightiness of God! We say we believe in soli Deo gloria, but do we mean it? Does our worship reflect it? “Cultural style is never wholly divorced from theological substance. This is why God, taking His glory so seriously, took His worship so seriously as well.”74
The Heart Wants What it Wants!
Comedian Woody Allen once said, “The heart wants what it wants!” The hardest thing for a father to do is say “no” to a demanding child. More often than not in Scripture the demands of God’s people did not comport with what God wanted for them. Time and again prophets, priests and kings faced the decision to either lead God’s people, God’s way, according to God’s Word or give in to the demands of the moment. Church fathers have the same problem with the children of God ever demanding to give them gods like the other nations. In modern church life people increasingly demand their version of the “golden calf.” Author Philip Rieff once commented on the increasing non-Christian paradigm of the Church when he said, “Christian man was born to be saved; psychological man was born to be pleased.”75
For the bible believing Christian worship is theocentric; worship that centers on the God who saves! For all others, worship is increasingly psychological – it’s about them, it’s about therapy. The current church growth gurus’ tell us that if we make people comfortable, have entertaining services, keep worship casual, stay light on the doctrine, preach practically, and don’t get too serious the “seekers” will come – and they will come. But to what end? The Puritans called this “will worship” and it begs the question, “Who is the worship to please God or man?” “Tell me what the world is saying today,” Francis Shaeffer once remarked, “and I’ll tell you what the church will be saying in seven years.” Why do we monkey and morph the world around us
and call it church? Because it’s what most people want and the Church has forgotten that worldliness is sin. So the choice before us is whether to cater to the demands of the world, outside and inside the Church, or to worship in obedience to the Word of God.
Conclusion
Every church is defined by worship. You can tell much about what a congregation believes or doesn’t believe about God by observing Sunday morning worship. Those of us that believe in biblical orthodox worship may be in the forefront of God giving us a 2nd Reformation in America, or, we may part of the last gasp of biblical faith before the light goes out again. I’m not sure
which way America is heading spiritually. Sometimes I’m hopeful. Other times discouraged. Nevertheless, faithfulness to God in all things, including worship is the hard way, it’s the narrow way, and it is not the popular way.
Ordained pastors and teachers are given the authority and the duty to regulate the worship of His Church according to the Word.76 This we will do by God’s grace. But unity in the Church the “peace and purity” of the Church, is directly related to the unity of her officers. Without ruling elders and deacons committed to the “regulative principle” of worship, most churches cannot survive the “worship wars” of modern Christianity. Therefore, by ordination vow and biblical conviction the officers of the Church of Jesus Christ cannot be moved by what works, what draws a crowd, how we feel, what the cultural demands are or even what the people want, for we too are regulated by God’s Word.
In the worship of God, anything more than the Bible requires is legalism and anything less is license. Neither is acceptable to God. Let us therefore, “Fear God, and give Him glory . . . and worship Him.”77
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63 Michael Horton, A Better Way, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 2002, p. 27
64 Terry L. Johnson, Leading In Worship, The Covenant Foundation, Oak Ridge, TN, 1999, p. 15
65 I Corinthians 14:40
66 Edmond Clowney, in his contribution to “Give Praise To God”, p.98
67 Isaiah 29:13; Amos 5:21-24
68 Terry L. Johnson, Worship That Is According To Scripture, Reformed Academic Press, Greenville, 2000, p. 11
69 Hebrews 12:28-29
70 Robert Godfrey, Pleasing God In Worship, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL., 1999
71 Ravi Zacharias, I, Issac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p.100
72 Ibid, p.102
73 Westminster Confession of Faith, Of The Holy Scripture, Chapter 1.6
74 Michael Horton, A Better Way,Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 2002, p. 166
75 Philip Rieff, The Triumph of the Therapeutic, Harper & Row, New York, 1968.
76 Westminster Confession of Faith XXVII.4; PCA Book of Church Order 50.1, 52.1-4, 53.1, 56.1, 58.4
77 Revelation 14:7