Theology of Worship

We know that God is one God, the only one worthy of praise and glory. When we understand His power, majesty, holiness, sovereignty, grace, and faithfulness, we usually have a desire to respond to Him. We want to thank Him for all He does, and we desire for Him to intervene in our lives. All of this is tied up in this idea of worship.

What is worship in its most general sense?

o   Romans 12:1-2: Paul calls upon Christians to offer bodies as a living sacrifice. He labels this action as spiritual worship. Our daily lives are an offering of worship to God.

o   So “worship” is not just from 11:00-12:00 on Sunday morning. Not just when using phrases/concepts like “worship songs,” “worship service,” various postures of worship or places of worship

Why then do we gather on Sunday for a time of corporate “worship”? 

OT: God always had a location, methods, and reasons for His people to worship Him. There were specific times (or after awesome experiences) to praise Him—usually through sacrifices.

Jesus came and changed the structure entirely. We now have continual access to God. Worship can occur at any time because Jesus is the greatest Priest.

So can’t I magnify God’s name on my own? Yes. Can’t I worship God through service throughout the week? Yes. We just learned that “worship” should be done 24/7.  

What is the added benefit of coming together for worship? Edification. When I see someone else praising God or praying/expressing dependence on God, I realize I am not alone. It builds me up in faith. It’s impossible to have a thriving faith journey alone. 

Is this only done through singing? No. We have prayer, preaching, fellowship. By focusing our attention on our great God, our spirit is refreshed, recharged, and sent back out to share Him with others.

What’s the responsibility of the church member as he or she comes into the building? On one hand, they have been loving God and neighbor, serving others all week long. They have been “worshipping” each day, so nothing changes. There is nothing special about the building or specified hour, because God is always with them. On the other hand, this is the body of Christ and an opportunity to grow in faith more than you gain throughout the week. This is where we disciple others. And “recharging” as a body requires focusing on God and engaging with His truth in song, prayer, and exhortation.

What’s the responsibility of the worship team and/or pastors? Is their job to hit the perfect notes? To smile? To give the most dynamic analogy? It doesn’t hurt (I’ve sat through some doozies, and you know what? It’s always okay. Sometimes the best Sundays are when mistakes happen. We are not perfect, nor called to be. But it doesn’t hurt to check the slides for typos.) But that can’t be primary. The most essential job is to help everyone who walks in the door to engage with God. He can resolve their worries, stresses, burdens, temptations, pains, and afflictions. In a phrase, remove distractions. Get them from Mon-Sat mindset to seeing glory of God.

What’s the different between excellence and perfection?

Goes back to that phrase “removing distractions.” If we are pursuing perfection, then we come across as ingenuine or a business model of church.

On the other hand, what are some distractions that churches can work on removing? Well, that’s where we talk about practicing songs. Proper temperature. Smiling. Time of service. Putting songs in keys that people can sing, and not making it performance based. (Any hint of selfish desire, and worship is tainted.)

So our goal is to connect people with God week after week (and with other people). Doesn’t everyone agree on this? Why is there so much disagreement over worship services?

The best direction we were given was from Jesus. Worship in spirit and truth. “Truth” means what we proclaim has to be true. We’ll come back to that. “Spirit” means we must have the proper mindset or attitude towards God while worshipping. We can’t just move our lips or be mindless.

But beyond those two things, Jesus didn’t give the “How?” So there is disagreement on the “best” ways to direct people’s attention to God. How do we best do that? What style of singing is best? What songs do we sing? What value is there to emotion in music? All questions have merit. And the answers really don’t change, depending on what century you survey.

I was always taught that a sermon was supposed to Feed the Mind, Stir the Emotions, and Challenge the Will. Is it possible for music to do the same?

·         Feed Mind: Jesus did say “Be true.” It should point us to the truth. Lots of debate over types of songs that we sing. 

Where is the line of “poetic license”? Do we require song writers to have theology degrees or to quote the Psalms?   

Hymns with Bad Theology (Just a few examples)

o   Alfred Ackley: “He Lives” written from frustration with preacher who denied resurrection. Personal experience is valuable but cannot be our primary apologetic. We will be considered insane.

o   Blessed Assurance:

      Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love

o   Jesus cried as a baby, too. So no more “Away in a Manger.”

Modern Worship Songs with Bad Theology

Kari Jobe: Forever

·         One final breath He gave 
As heaven looked away
The Son of God was laid in darkness
A battle in the grave
The war on death was waged
The power of hell forever broken

·         Above All: “Like a rose, trampled on the ground, You took the Fall and thought of me above all.”

·         What a Beautiful Name: Hillsong “You didn’t want heaven without us, so Jesus, you brought heaven down.” Is God not self-sufficient, or this just license for how much God loves us?

·         Typical arguments against worship songs: repetitive, modern romance language for God, not theologically deep, man-centered/ not God-centered. We can go to the Psalms and hymns with the same arguments, but yes, these are fair critiques. Each song should be critiqued on its own merit.

 

·         Stir Emotions: Where is the balance here? We are humans. We have emotions and feelings. David gave us all the emotions in Psalms: anger, worry, fear, joy, despair, confidence. We can’t be stoic in worship. Is there a line we shouldn’t cross? Is it simply “distractions” or are there other metrics? (Maybe 1 Corinthians 14–decently and in order comes into play). 

·         Challenge Will: This may be considered the weakest point, but how can music provoke us to action? (And not just dancing, haha)

For the sake of the question, let’s consider Christian music. If we are singing about God’s power, love, Christ’s death, etc., a particular lyric may encourage us to surrender our life, to forgive someone, to pray, to have faith.

Once we nail down a theology of worship, both how it affects daily life as well as why we gather for corporate services, we can plan those services accordingly. 

 

 

 

4th of July

Let me be frank and upfront in case the main point gets lost in the paragraphs below: I am so incredibly thankful to be living in America, and I have tremendous memories of celebrating our freedom as a teenager and young adult. I've been surrounded (and related to) veterans and first responders, including within churches I am a member of and at jobs I have held, and I always do my best to thank each one personally. Their daily sacrifice is more than I can imagine. 

I have had discussions with those who live elsewhere in the world, and there are definitely some attractive conclusions I hear about cultures and locations. I dream of traveling more as finances become steadier and schedule allows, but I have always been content and grateful for my upbringing.

However, being grateful for America does not compare to my love and loyalty to Jesus. There is no comparison.

This is not a post about church and state, or America's issues (or blessings). This is not an argument for how to repair any social issue, or how to improve the church's witness. That may just take several years (with some new directional choices depending on which church and which direction has been chosen recently).

I am simply addressing one issue that may provide insight into how the church views the state, because the past several years have forced me to reconsider this. I never thought much about going to church and hearing the four or five patriotic hymns, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, hearing a sermon about how awful America (or her churches) are, waving flags around, or having prayer circles for grand revival. And some or all of that may or may not be familiar with you (or some or all of that may be repulsive to you).

But I don't want to argue about flags in church. Or saying the Pledge. If we start by yelling about order of service or decorations, we talk in circles, and nothing is accomplished. The waters get muddy. 

I like to debate sometimes, but yelling and frustration just gets old after a while. And heated passion on a topic like this is understandable. Conclusions are assumed to be indicative of one's level of patriotism. But if we've learned anything the past several years, it's that no issue is clear cut. There's background, context, and multiple layers to each conversation.

So to cut through all of that, I only have one question. One fundamental question to consider before we decide how to arrange services on July 4 (or any other patriotic holiday):

What is the purpose of gathering together in the first place?

Why do we come together on Sunday? I would hope it's something like to worship the one true God, to proclaim the gospel (and not just for the unbelievers who may come but also to refresh His followers), to edify the discouraged, to equip saints for further ministry, to express dependence on God in prayer and song, to fellowship with believers and share experiences together in unity---all this to the glory of God.

Something like that.

Have you seen or experienced an extravagant service about "God and Country" or "God Bless America"? If not, try First Baptist Dallas. I'll let you reach a personal conclusion on how much of the previous paragraph is occurring within that service.

"But Kevin, it's just one week. Besides, we're told to pray for civil leaders." Ok, we can pray for leaders. Of course--by all means--any role of leadership deserves prayer. But praying for leaders seems to imply a heart of prayer lives inside the pastor, the elders, the congregants. In my experience, it's really easy for someone to royally bash anyone in government they despise and then fulfill 1 Timothy 2 and Romans 13 in a two-minute prayer on July 4 (begging for revival). 

So a full service devoted to these things? Probably not necessary. Focus drifts from what is essential on the life of the believer, and the emphasis is placed on the secular. The things below. The kingdom(s) of this world.

One biblical passage that could support a service like this would be Jeremiah 29 (oh, don’t say v. 11). The people of Israel are getting antsy in exile and false prophets are telling them they are going home soon. Jeremiah has other ideas (from YHWH). He says to plant vineyards, build houses, and get comfortable, because it’s going to be a while. Then v. 7 says to seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray for it, because if it prospers, Israel will prosper. 

I can get inside the heads of many, many preachers who want to see the church in exile (true, from 1 Peter), but their attitude towards America is rarely the same attitude that Israel had toward Babylon. The church is not ethnic Israel (obviously), the church is not America, and Israel is not America. If America prospers does the church prosper? Maybe, maybe not. If America suffers, does the church suffer? Maybe, maybe not. Here’s the main point—the church does not depend on America’s wellbeing. There’s a whole world beyond our borders where the name and kingdom of Jesus is expanding.

So here's the litmus test that I have found so helpful. I’ve read several articles and social media posts on the issue, and one thought always shines bright (and it applies to any day, but especially on these special occasions). 

Could our worship service be transported to another culture? 

Or perhaps more likely, what if someone from another culture/country were sitting in our service? Would they still be able to sing, listen, and respond?

Of course, there will always be barriers of culture and language. We cannot translate every idiom or preference for everyone who may cross our path. But if a refugee finds solace within the doors of my church, and I spend an entire hour singing about my country, praying for God to bless her, and teaching my people how to improve her status in the world, he/she may be confused. How is that message applicable? How does it edify him? I cannot expect her to pray for my home country. 

The church is universal. The gospel is for all peoples, and that is what binds us together. I have more in common with a brother or sister around the world in a completely different culture than a completely atheist neighbor across the street. 

If I plan a worship service, it must reflect this global bond.

Again, this is really not a post about the Pledge of Allegiance or the existence of flags in service or praying for America or tribute videos. But if you’ve ever felt that tension while sitting in a service about America, thoughts wandering through your head, “Does this count as worship? What are we worshipping here?”—then maybe the worship service has ended and something much more secular has begun (though well-intended).

I agree with others who have articulated much better and with far better reasoning/support that patriotic celebrations are appropriate and may even be necessary at times. (Some groups of individuals may even disagree with that statement, and I would be open to their concerns and having open dialogue. Though we may disagree, I understand hurts and grievances run deep.) But the time for these celebrations is not a specific block of time that we mortals have devoted to worshipping the Almighty. 

One could argue that our lives are worship, "all days are sacred now" according to Paul. So who gets to decide which block of time is more important than any other. It's a double-sided argument, I suppose. Either we appreciate blocks of time to gather as an assembled body (locally) for worship, edification, and ministry with our gifts (not to the neglect of doing these elsewhere throughout the week) and focus our attention on the God alone, or we devote our entire lives to Him, implying nothing sacred may ever stir our hearts or exit our mouths (I'm speaking of devotion to another cause, team, idea, goal, or yes, country). It's a tense conversation to have, but worthy of the deepest thoughts and considerations.

The last several years only surfaced some deep misplaced loyalties among churchgoers. Perhaps returning to a singular focus in our worship times will weed out some of this division, polarity, animosity, and disunity. Imagine that. Focusing on Jesus may remind us of what we have in common--even with believers around the world.