Soli Deo Gloria - part 4
Authentic Worship (doxology)
Today we begin part 4 in our series “Glory to God Alone”. It is a very special edition, because this week’s topic is possibly one of the most controversial in churches, second only to the topic of tithing—that’s right, it is time to discuss ‘worship’. I remember the days of the 90s when the so-called ‘worship wars’ went into full steam. Horrible young people, with their ridiculous hippy music lacking all sound doctrine, invaded the sanctity of the service. Pews were ripped out and replaced with awful, cushioned chairs! Then, mean old men beat the long-haired fools with dusty hymnals chanting “Onward Christian Soldiers”.
I say this with a bit of humor, because the truth of it all is quite depressing. Churches literally split in two, because the congregation fought over what style of music was appropriate. Consider some of what was said “back in the day”:
“Flutes and trumpets are tools of the devil. And, prostitutes play the harp.”
No, wait this one is from the 200s when instruments were linked with debauchery and immorality.
“Those songs use worldly music. They just change the words.”
No, that was in the 300s. Ambrose of Milan was the father of hymnody in the Western church, introducing community hymn-singing with metrical stanzas.
“Solos by ordinary people take away worship from God!”
You know what, that one is from the 600s when monasteries sang a seven-times-daily order of prayer. The solo singer would lead with the rest repeating a refrain at intervals.
“We don’t need fancy instruments or music. We have our godly chants.”
Hang on, that one is from the 900s when Christian music was sustained through the Dark Ages by musical chants. By the way, really spiritual Christians still listen to Gregorian chant on iTunes.
“This music is too chaotic and confusing.”
I remember this one from the 90s, but it was also said in the 1200s when France led the way with harmony in music. The idea of two-, three-, and four-part music was considered “lewdness” by one critic. Quick music lesson: those two dots per line stacked on top of each other in your hymnal is four-part harmony.
Am I belaboring the point? Perhaps a few more examples to push it further:
In the 1500s, King Henry VIII added this to his faults—he decreed all services should be in English, so that the Englishmen could understand the music. In Germany, Martin Luther emphasized using hymns and music already familiar to the majority of people in Germany.
In the 1600s, the Reformed churches opposed the organ. In Lutheran, Anglican, and Catholic Churches, the organ would many times have its own verse to play instead of the congregation singing.
In the 1700s, Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley freely paraphrased Scripture and doctrine into “man-made” hymns. For your homework this week, look through a hymnal and see how many of their songs are still used today, despite the claim “our children will be confused, not respecting the Bible as an inspired book.”
In the 1800s, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, is credited for asking, “Why should the devil have all the best music?” He wrote music with ‘rousing melodies’ and a ‘martial flavor’ to set the tone for his Army.
But, early in the 1900s, when radio became a national phenomenon, Gospel quartets hit the airwaves. Many Christians were skeptical, because after all the airwaves are the domain of Satan, ‘prince of the power of the air’. (Eph. 2:2) Then, in the 1970s, Larry Norman sang these words founding what has become known as Contemporary Christian Music:
"I want the people to know,
That He saved my soul,
But I still like to listen to the radio…
They say that rock and roll is wrong…
I know what's right, I know what's wrong and I don't confuse it:
Why should the devil have all the good music…
'Cause Jesus is the Rock and He rolled my blues away."
(These facts were helpfully summarized here and can also be found in “Perimeters of Light”)
Now, what have we learned? Music is a subjective taste. As generations come and go, and as Christianity spreads into the wide variety of cultures around this globe, Christian music is going to take on an infinite number of forms. In fact, if you read Revelation 14:3, you will discover that when we all get to heaven, we will sing “a new song before the throne.” There is a heavenly style that we have yet to experience.
If we are to move ahead and become the church God calls us to be, we must put to death this ridiculous fight over worship styles. I have joked in the past that I was happy we played both kinds of music here—country and western. It occurred to me though, I should probably make sure we all understand that was a joke. I have experienced a variety of worship styles in my life—some I have enjoyed more than others. But, what has always been a joy to see is how people connect with their Maker and see the joy on their faces as they experience life through worship. I’ve watched youth dance in church—much to the chagrin of some around them.
But, let me ask this: who is more likely to be worshiping God? The one whose joy causes him to move with the music, or the one who is scowling at the dancing wondering why the youth minister doesn’t stop such nonsense?
Today, I want us to define ‘authentic worship’. Each side of the debate believes they are worshiping God while the other is only selfish in wanting their particular style. But what does it mean to truly worship the Lord?
Authentic Worship is …
Today, I have four principles of authentic worship. All four share one commonality—substance over style. Regardless the style of music used in a worship service, the substance of that worship takes precedent. To begin, turn with me to Hebrews 10:19-25.
1) Based on the nature of God
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
Hebrews 10:19-21
Verse 22 has the main verb of this sentence, but notice verses 19-21 give the reason why we can confidently draw near to God—By the blood of Jesus! Where there was once a veil between God and Man caused by sin, that veil has been torn. Jesus Christ has come and made the way.
Because Jesus is our Great High Priest, we can boldly approach the throne of God.
Consider Psalm 95:6-7,
Oh Come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
‘Let us worship and bow down’. Why? Because He is our Lord, our Maker and we are His people.
We worship because He is our God, and we are His people.
2) Pure in motive and heart
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:22
Returning to Hebrews 10, we read “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with out hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
The second reason we can draw to God confidently is that our heart and motives are pure. We have a full assurance of faith, because we know that Jesus has cleansed us from unrighteousness. But, if we come to worship with ulterior motives, or for the praise of other people, then we cannot have full assurance of faith. We worship because of who God is, and we worship confidently because He has cleansed us.
A clean heart brings bold worship.
Many lost people do not want to come to church, because they do not want to approach God. They are afraid of how He will react when they come. I’ve heard several people say something like, “Oh, the place might burn, or I’ll get struck by lightning.” They may be completely wrong, but at least they have the honesty of admitting their hearts are far from God. The prophets lamented over the audacity of evil people whose hearts are far from God, to still approach God in His Temple.
Isaiah 1:15-16 states, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes form you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil.
Jesus quotes a later passage in Isaiah to a group of Pharisees who were just as guilty. Look with me at Mark 7:6-9:
And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
Mark 7:6-9
Why is Jesus upset with these people? The Pharisees castigated Jesus and His disciples because the disciples were not upholding the traditions of hand-washing—along with other customs. Jesus denounces them as hypocrites citing Isaiah who prophesied against Israel as being vain worshipers. His prime example is the tradition of ‘corban’. Corban was the tradition in which children would not be able to care for their elderly parents, because the contribution was given to the priests as an offering. Why would children do this? For the same reason many families are driven apart by false teachers—to pad the pockets of evil men.
Skipping down to verse 15, we read Jesus stating, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” Now, it is plain from the context that Jesus is talking about food, but consider this principle in terms of worship style. If the thing that makes us unclean is our own heart, causing evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, etc., then can we really blame a particular style of music for causing division and strife within the church? Perhaps, the cause of the worship war is not hymns or TVs, or stanzas or choruses, but rather our own selfish desires and ambitions—our own adherence to the traditions of man.
Authentic worship is honest worship.
Returning to Hebrews 10, it tells us to draw near with a true heart and with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Come to worship because God is God, and He has saved you. Any other motive, whether for entertainment, for tradition, or because your mother dragged you by the ears, is false worship.
The sinner will find himself in true worship when he admits his sin before Almighty God. The saint finds himself in true worship when he recognizes that his only hope is in the cleansing power of Jesus Christ the Lord our God!
3) Active involvement with God (Hebrews 10:23-24)
As we return to our passage in Hebrews, look closely at the verbs used—“hold fast” and “stir up”. These are active verbs. When Scripture describes worship to God, it is not a passive stance. Look with me at Psalm 96:
Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods
Psalm 96:1-4
Skimming through the rest of the psalm, you will see “ascribe” or “give”, “say”, “exult” or “be joyful”. Again, nowhere do we read “sit and listen to the choir”. The only time we read “be still” is in response to the worried mind. When we come to throne of God with our cares and worries, He will take them from us, because He cares for us. But, once we have been cleansed of our sin, and we recognize our God for who He is, it will drive us to move!—even the Baptists!
Authentic worship is active worship.
Look at Psalm 150.
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:3-6
What shall we use to praise the Lord? Trumpets, lutes, harps, tambourines, dance, stings, pipes, cymbals, and even loud clashing cymbals! “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!”
Turn to Colossians 3:16-17.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:16-17
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Again, our theology, what we believe and the truth of God drives us to worship, and how does Paul say we should worship? With teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Should we use the psalms? The hymnal? Or a spiritual song? YES! We should praise the Lord with a variety of music, because…
Authentic worship comes in a variety of styles.
There is a common misconception among congregations that the music minister is the leader, and the band or choir are the performers. The congregation watches the worship, joining in if they can. That is false. The music minister leads the instruments and choir AND the congregation. God is our audience. We have an “Audience of One”.
4) A Way of Life for believers (Hebrews 10:24-25)
In our final verses for today, look at the outcome of worship. It is encouragement to one another to love and do good. We should not neglect coming together, but encourage one another, and even more so as we see “the Day drawing near.” That ‘day’ is the day of judgment. This world is passing away, and each day draws us closer to the day Jesus returns and this world is made new. It is encouragement to live this life better than we did before.
Consider how Paul describes spiritual worship in Romans 12:1:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present you bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Authentic worship is a sacrifice of self.
We give our whole selves to God for cleansing and for His use.
Consider also 1 Corinthians 13.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
We tend to think of this chapter at weddings, but look at what Paul is saying. Whatever acts of righteousness we do, whether speaking in tongues, speaking prophecy, acting in faith to remove mountains, giving away all our earthly possessions, or even offering ourselves up as martyrs, if we do any of this without love, it is for nothing!
Christian maturity is not measured in what acts we do, or what traditions we cling to, it is measured by love for others.
Authentic worship starts with love for God and leads to love for others.
How many of us remember times of pure worship when our hearts were stirred for someone else? We knew God was calling us to reconcile with someone, or to check-in on that family or friend, or to step out in faith by serving others. It happens all the time. Some people are afraid to allow for other forms of worship, not because of some false belief in the sanctity of their style, but because they know their hearts are far from God. “Let me rest in what I did for God before, so I don’t have to think about what God wants me to do now.”
As we conclude today, let us let go of ourselves—our wants, our styles, our authority. Let it go, and surrender to God’s authority, God’s wants. For some, that means surrendering in faith for the first time to Christ. For others, it means stepping out and joining in worship. If you have an instrument, if you have a voice, join in the worship for God. For still others, it may mean that it is time to relinquish that tradition of man. You may call it devotion, but does God see it that way? Is God really calling you to hold to this man-made tradition, or is He telling you to let it go?