Some thoughts on recent terms used in "Contemporary Worship". Things included here are:
- a view of interpretation
- a view of musical instruments used in the assembly. This has nothing to do with my preference.
- a view of tradition and liturgy
- a view of expression and interactivity in the assembly
- and other "cans of worms".....
Does it open a can of worms when beginning the topic of worship in the post-modern world? Well, yes, to some that is exactly what it appears to do. The tendency may then be to keep our traditions as they are and not attempt to change anything. Why are there so many ideas about how worship should be conducted and why do they seem to conflict with each other?
Many would put evil ulterior motives behind the recent changes and different perspectives when in truth this may not be the case. We have so much more available to us today than we did 50 years ago. We have murals of early Christian worshipers standing and raising their hands in worship. We have translations of writings near to the time of Christ.
We have unearthed houses of 1st Century worship and we have great online lexicons that help us better understand the meanings of terms used in Scripture. We have more accurate contemporary understanding of issues faced during the writing of the original manuscripts and a deeper and broader understanding of the historical envelope wrapped around most of the New Testament writings.
RESOURCES
In the world of information and access to instantaneous research materials, there are almost as many ideas floating around as there are people on the planet. We have never before had so much information and misinformation available to us at our finger tips. This is both a blessing and a cursing. The blessing is that there is hardly any excuse to not knowing God’s Word, His Vision for mankind, and His love for all of creation. The curse involves the author of chaos and confusion, the Devil has also taken advantage of the flood of information to turn “itching ears” in the wrong direction. Anyone, including false teachers, can publish their thoughts and gain an audience in today’s world.
In two clicks you can find a passage that will support whatever idea or thought you would like to support using Scripture. I heard a speaker say recently, “The Bible is like a human being, if you torture it enough, you can get it to say just about anything.”
RULES FOR INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
The first rule of interpretation is to LOVE the Lord your God with all your HEART, MIND, SOUL, and STRENGTH. A lover of God who is filled with The Spirit is allowed to partake in the wisdom and understanding that illuminates the heart and mind (Eph 1) And the Second rule of Interpretation is to LOVE others as yourself. These two premises must be well ingrained in our being, otherwise we will look to Scripture to please ourselves and our interpretations will be corrupt and divisive.
No matter how off base some folks are, there are some very other good rules for gleaning truth from Scripture and the resources available to us today.
Rules of context - knowing how to interpret Scripture include:
• When was it written? What was happening in the world? What was the historical envelope around which the book or letter was written?
• Who wrote it? What was the background of the writer? From what perspective did he write?
• For what purpose? Was there conflict? Sinning? A specific need?
• To whom? Who was the intended reader? What were their issues or beliefs? Why were they being addressed?
• What can I apply this letter or book to my life today?
An example of using these rules can be easily seen in this passage. (Ezekiel 4)
9 “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days. 10 Your food which you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. 11 The water you drink shall be the sixth part of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. 12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human dung.”
Does this passage apply to us? Why was it written? To whom? For what purpose? What can I apply to my life? Taking passages out of context can become a very dangerous habit! Reading the entire book or letter will give you the answers to the contextual questions.
Rules of interpretation (hermeneutics):
(1) Christ-Centered Approach: Mimicked the exact strategies that Christ and the Apostles used to interpret Scripture would certainly not be incorrect. So if we use the same hermeneutics as they did, we should approach the truth they were trying to convey. For instance, a popular way of interpreting Scripture, especially in recently years, has been to look at Scripture using a Christ-centered approach. Seeing the revelation of Christ in Scripture follows the teachings of Paul in Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” If the Old Testament was a tutor to bring us a deeper faith in Christ, then we should strive to see The Christ in its pages.
Even Christ confirmed this as a proper way to interpret Scripture, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” (John 5:39) Jesus was speaking specifically of the Old Testament when he gave this lesson on interpretation (as the New Testament had not yet been written). Again in Ephesians 1:10, Paul states that “the summing up of all things [are] in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth”
(2) Dispensational Interpretation and Chronological Interpretations are also exemplified in Scripture. Using both the chronological and covenant views of God’s Word, we see that biblical writers did make distinctions between the testaments and the historical envelop surrounding the time and events to assist in interpretation of Scripture. (Acts 14:16, 17:30-31; Romans 15:4; Eph 1:10, 3:2-3; 2 Tim 3:1)
Others have used some nefarious rules of interpretation to unwisely promote allegories, humanistic moral applications and social/political philosophies, secret metaphysical knowledge or codes, to “prove” the existence of a “rapture”, of a human throne upon which Christ will sit someday, prophecies about one-world religion or to predict the end of time, or the existence of a North American lost tribe of Israel.
Although there are many other ways to look at Scripture some with value and some misleading, let it be said that seeking a deeper faith in Christ through the Scriptures most likely will not lead to misinterpreting the original intention of God.
HOW DOES INTERPRETATION APPLY TO UNDERSTANDING WORSHIP?
What do we know about New Testament (and Old Testament) worship and what should we glean from God’s original intent for the "called out" in their practices and pursuit of holiness? In order to see how God desires us to worship Him, we must make sure of several things:
1. It’s not about us, it’s about Christ. We must have a Christ-center view of Worship moment by moment throughout our day. In the assembly, He would have us remember His sacrifice and then mentor, encourage, and love those who attend and seek those who don’t. Christ-centered worship and communion, NEVER ENDS. It has no beginning and it has no end. We don't worship Him and then just stop. We don't commune with Him and then just stop.
2. We must have a dispensational view (chronological view) of worship practices. We must understand the historical context of Worship. We no longer sacrifice animals because Christ fulfilled that practice.
The truth about worship is that it must take place in our lives all throughout the day and all through the week so that when we come together in assembly, we are prepared to share our best with the One who loves us best (Heb 13:15; 1 Thess 5:14-19; Romans 12:1-2; James 1:25-27; 1 Cor 15:31.) We are prepared to love our brethren and encourage them.
Preparing our hearts to take the Lord’s Supper “in a worthy manner” does not involve only the 30 second contemplation of the cross just before the cup and bread are passed to us, it MUST involve a 24/7 examination of our lives and dedication of our whole self to the cross of Christ (Luke 9:23).
We, then, come together to experience sacrificial praise, prayers of agreement, and “one another” fellowship with our brethren before our Lord and God (Rom 15, Gal 6:2, Eph 4:2, 32; 5:19-21; Col 3:16; 1 Thess 4:18, 5:11; Heb 3:13; 10:24-25.) to spur one another on to fulfilling our calling in Christ.
TRADITIONS between the TESTAMENTS (Luke 4:16)
Jesus and the disciples attended synagogue worship “as was [their] custom” or tradition. Did you know that nowhere in God’s Word is there ANY command or direction from God for synagogue structure, guidelines, worship, or any command from God to have such an “animal”? It was purely a tradition of man formulated between the Testaments. Yet Christ participated. Some of the feasts were purely traditions of men. The feast of Lights is one of these, but yet, Christ participated.
We will note that during the time of Christ's walk on earth, there were no musical instruments, except for, as some Rabbi’s have informed us, a ram's horn (shofar) being blown during several religious ceremonies. Again, this was more of a tradition of man, than a directive from God.
Having or not having harps or bells or lyres or horns was not directed by God, it was the choice of men. Nowhere did God command worship to take place without musical instruments. (Some might point to the book of Amos, but this reference has more to do with attitude and heart-condition than with musical instruments.)
As you may also know, the word, “psalm” in the Greek is “psalmos” which means to pluck strings, like a harp. As the psalms were brought into the Christian worship and approved of by Christ and the Apostles, some see this as approval for musical instruments.
Others see the directive to “speak to yourselves in psalms...” translated to mean, we are only allowed to "speak" the psalms. But we have been singing the psalms since the first century. Sill others, who look at the Greek text see the word "yourselves" as meaning you do this when you are alone. “Alone” is actually part of the preferred translation of this phrase. What follows in this same passage is another one of the “continuous” commands: “Giving thanks ALWAYS for all things unto God” which takes these passages beyond of the realm of corporate assembly worship and into the realm of continuous daily personal worship. Either way, whether you are given permission to pluck strings in assembly or to continuously give thanks outside of assembly, these passages are very often used in a manner to forbid instruments within assembly. Perhaps an unintentional result of poor interpretation.
Others will point to New Testament practices which continued to carry on the contemporary Jewish traditions of the time. We are without a doubt to sing and make melody in our hearts because we are to have a heart-felt relationship with our Lord. Singing stoically, stiltedly, unemotionally, without the heart, would be a trespass against this command.
What happened between the writing of the Psalms (with all those instruments) and the Jews returning to Jerusalem from captivity? Had God given some command to remove the instruments from worship? According to some rabbinical writings, the Jews refrained from using instruments upon their return from Babylon as a result of seeing them used in pagan worship. They came back to Jerusalem determined not to reflect the pagan worship they had seen there. They remembered WHY God had sent them into captivity in the first place--because of their pagan worship practices (Ezekiel 6:9)
Seven Important Things to Glean Here:
1. There has never been a command from God for the non-use of musical instruments in worship. The decision to remove musical instruments originated from man. Is it OK to continue this tradition? Well, of course. We see the apostolic fathers continue many of the Jewish traditions after the establishment of the Kingdom. Do we condemn those who choose otherwise? That is not our place. Consider David using instruments and the angels in Heaven using instruments to praise God. Is it OK for us to choose them in worship? Well consider item 2.
2. The existence of “synagogue” and synagogue worship, synagogue officials/rulers/chiefs are purely an invention of man. The synagogues arose between the times of the Testaments. They were vehicles for both good and evil (Luke 4:44, Luke 21:12). The term, “synagogue” in the New Testament, is often preceded by the word “their”. In other words, “their synagogues” as opposed to God’s synagogue. There was never a command from God on the guidelines or use of synagogue worship, yet Jesus participated in it and never spoke against this aspect of Jewish life, except when it became a vehicle for persecution of saints (take heed!). Was it OK for Christ to worship in the tradition of the Jews? (Luke 4:16)
3. During the 1st Century, there was freedom in choosing celebrations and traditions of men as long as they did not contradict or get in the way of God’s mission or there had not been a direct command from God. The Apostles, after the death of Christ, still visited synagogue, made Jewish vows, and kept the feasts and hours of prayer, much of which were merely traditions of men.
4. When envisioning worship we would do best to revisit the New Testament in earnest. What is worship? How was it laid out during the initial years? We see that the saints met daily and fellowshipped daily. They dedicated themselves to learning, praying, serving, teaching, testifying, baptizing, and sharing daily. There have never been just the so called “5 acts of worship”.
These very familiar 5-finger sermons were vehicles to teach illiterate pioneers. They were easy to memorize when Bibles were scarce. These 5-finger sermons should not confine us in this present information age. We know that God commanded our worship to take on more than just 5 acts. We know for instance that we are to come together and confess our sins one to another, to bare one another burdens, restore the weak, to testify to the power of God working in our lives, to stimulate one another to love and good works. Are these acts of worship? Romans 12 says that they are!
5. You will find that Jewish writers often described the “what” but rarely the “how" to do something. Arguments began with early Christian fathers on “how to” baptize someone. Should it be in running water (stream) or stagnant water? Should the person being baptized be completely naked or clothed? Should you require a believer to wait before being baptized and show some form of repentance first? The “how to” in MANY areas of religious thought became the crossroads for many splits and arguments among not only early Christians, but up unto this very day.
THE CRUX OF THE MATTER
If God did not give the “how to”, then do we have freedom to determine the “how?” Ahhh, this is the crux of the matter! When do we have freedom and when are we bound? We have had some directives from men that often determined our practices. These guidelines usually sound something like this:
• Is it commanded?
• Is it exemplified?
• Is it expedient?
The problems arise in the latter two. Is it exemplified? Is it expedient? We like to pick and choose which examples we follow and which verses we translate for use with expediency. Do we call the elders to anoint us with oil? Do we sell our goods and have everything in common? Do we meet daily in fellowship? Allow women to pray, speak forth, become deaconesses (Acts 2:16-18; 21:9; 1 Cor 11:5; Romans 16:1-2)? Are our collections only sent to non-local works (1 Cor 16:1-3) as directed by Paul? Do we lift holy hands (1 Tim 2:8)?
The Devil wins EVERY argument for or against any modern consideration of worship UNLESS we humble ourselves and love one other while re-evaluating our sacrificial life and worship to God. Would I recommend splitting a congregation over my preferences for worship? If I did that, I would be DEVOID of the Spirit. (Jude 1:19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.)
Please be aware that there are pitfalls no matter which tradition or format (the “how to”) you decide to follow. The stoic, emotionless tradition of “decency and in order” (a phrase taken WAY out of context!) or the “contemporary” version, both have the potential of Satan entering into the hearts and minds of those who participate in either version.
A. Contemporary Worship Pitfalls: Two videos to demonstrate how worship of self and self preferences can become a stumbling block to exalting God.
• Sing of your love on Sunday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJp98hoqy5I
• Contemporary Worship http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A
These are critiques of what might go wrong in worship for those who follow “modern” worship practices. The Devil works on all of us to pervert our ability to truly worship God. Sometime we think we have to have an emotional high to say we have truly worshiped. If you have felt that way, then you might want to contemplate this video.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_71356&feature=iv&src_vid=Rf72L962E6A&v=kbnJWlFjSFk
B. Stoic, Post-Constantine Worship Pitfalls: God wants our whole self (heart, mind, soul, and energy) He would be jealous if we did not give Him everything. 4th Century worship practices resulted in an audience with pulpit performances. Have you ever judged a “service” by the talent of the preacher, the length of the sermon, the song leader’s ability, the pace of the songs, the number of stanzas being sung, the length of a prayer or the announcements? Have you ever wanted to raise your hands or fall on your knees, but refrained for fear of what others might think?
Have you ever wished you could ask a question, get some clarification, or make a comment? Have you ever wanted to share a personal issue or give a joyful testimony, but realized it might not be an acceptable thing to others in the service? Have you ever felt like part of an "audience". If you answered, “yes” to any one of these, then you have experienced the pitfalls of a post-Constantine worship service.
Sing, Shout, Praise, Call out, Rejoice, Bow Down, Lift Hands, Kneel, or Falling on the Face are some of the ways believers exhibited their love and thanksgiving to God according to New Testament Scripture. (Don't see "stoic," emotionless characteristics in Scripture anywhere in reference to thanksgiving, praise or worship.) Along the same lines, it might be important to note that there are other ways to demonstrate how we worship and express our thankfulness. Scripture tells us that we show our thanksgiving to God by the way we choose to live our lives.
Thanksgiving is more than words, it is action. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 & Colossians 4:2-6 tell us that testifying and sewing the seed of the Kingdom are glorious ways to give thanksgiving to God.
Up until the late 4th century, worship was not stoic, subdued, stilted, or quiet. The Reformation Movement also had much to do with how we view worship, not Scripture. This movement began much earlier than the Restoration Movement. Thomas Paine’s, “The Age of Reason; being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology” refuted the supernatural working of God in the lives of the faithful, exchanging miracles and supernatural for reason and mental assent. Formulating worship as merely involving the reason and mind.
Many other writers and reformers influenced how the Restoration fathers campaigned against involvement of the emotions during worship. They saw Christianity as logical with ethical behavior patterns and rules of reason (checklists)—to be completely comprehended with the mind with no external reaction or involvement of the Holy Spirit necessary. Today we would call this “intellectualism” which Jesus shunned. Jesus was looking for the heart in relationship, rejoicing, sincere prayerfulness, thankfulness, faithfulness (stepping out without sight) and fearless trust. You might be interested in reading through this short resource:
• http://www.zachicks.com/blog/2012/4/9/was-early-church-worship-reserved-and-stoic.html
6. It was Constantine, a non-baptized ruler, in the 4th century who took worshippers out of small interactive worship practices in the home and placed them in repurposed large pagan temples (Basilicas) with a podium facing a non-interactive, passive audience. He dictated a hierarchy of “ordained” clergy (people who told believers what to think, do and how to do it), and the liturgy (order of worship, i.e. 2 songs and a prayer, Scripture reading, lesson, and sacraments). He dictated when to worship and how to worship. He prescribed that clergy would be responsible for sharing the gospel, baptizing a sinner, and taking confessions.
A “layperson” (regular, “non-ordained” person, who does not have the knowledge or abilities of an “ordained” professional), had the responsibility to show up, shut up, and to give up a portion of their means.
It was also Constantine who made “church” a place instead of a “calling”. In fact the word “church” never appears in translations of Scripture until after Constantine. Pre-Constantine translations used appropriate contextual terms for “ecclesia” or “called out” or “house hold of God” all of which infer to relationship and purpose, not a place.
Constantine’s regime took all responsibility of being “ON MISSION” for God, called out and being sent out, from the repertoire of ordinary Christians. As long as members were “good”, nice moral folk who obeyed laws and legal edicts, attended services, and didn’t cause any problems, they were assured eternal life….. And that is how the “legalistic checklists” began. Unfortunately, we have not been very successful in shaking this vision of “church”. Yes, if truth be told, we have successfully restored the 4th Century church of Constantine (c of C).
7. If you had been raised in isolation on a desert island with a New Testament and wanted to honor God by imitating His Vision for the First Century Church, you would never imagine the post-Constantine legacy. Instruments or no, have nothing to do with how we have forsaken our first love – LIVING the Commission of Christ!
The question now remains, “What should be done?” Seeing how Jesus accepted the synagogue model which eventually transitioned into Christian tradition, it doesn’t seem detrimental to our spiritual health to give some credence to traditions of men when not specified otherwise by God. But the Devil will win EVERY TIME if we argue over our traditions among ourselves, especially when we don’t realize that most of what we see as sacred is truly 4th Century tradition and not God-inspired commands.
My dad preached for 55 years and raised his hands as he prayed over a baptism in the tradition of the Hebrew priests who raised their hands in expectation of God’s blessings. He also knelt to pray when he led a public prayer. I recently read a church history which denoted when the men stopped kneeling in leading the public prayer. Apparently, this change in posture was significant enough to be mentioned. The historical account spoke of the early 1950’s when the first microphones were added to the pulpit. These were big clunky, stiff devices which were not easily moved and thus the men began to stand to lead public prayer. Do we even know when and why our traditions change or where they originated? We often use poor hermeneutics to justify why we do what we do. When, in fact, we are following traditions of men.
We have spent sooooooo much time and energy arguing over our (3 songs and a prayer) liturgy that God must be truly pained and disappointed (they will know you by your love for one another). We must remember that early Jewish writers were concerned more with the “what” then the “how”. We are told to partake of the Lord’s Supper but never told the logistics of that command (one cup, one loaf, songs between the cup and the loaf, etc) but rather the motive. Worshipping God in spirit and in truth has to do with the heart, not Constantine’s legacy.
NONE of the judgment scenes in the New Testament depict us being taken out of the Book of Life because of “how to” practices in our 1 hour assemblies. ALL of the judgment scenes in the New Testament deal with how we approach our God-given mission of serving Christ and others through daily sacrificial living.
You might not want to know my opinion on musical instruments in worship and I am fully aware that my opinion accounts for nothing at all. However, I thought you might like to know that I don’t really have an opinion. I have been in both kinds of worship formats and seen performance-oriented vanity in both, apathetic participation in both, and been uplifted and full of praise in both. Will I force my preference on you? Absolutely not!
I’m sure of this one thing…God will not accept worship that is heartless. God will not accept worship that does not bring Him glory, honor, and praise. God will not accept worship that violates His initial vision for the Bride of Christ. God will not accept worship that is "separate and apart from our daily lives" and only expressed during 1 hour a week.
We are often influenced by a few prominent writers/preachers and out-spoken popular publications which try to define us as a fellowship in ways that God never intended. Our prayer should be as Christ followers, “that we are all one as He and the Father are One”. That we spend our time in His mission instead of fighting among ourselves over things that have nothing to do with God’s intended purpose for us.
TRUE WORSHIP
We have fought over the 1 hour a week more than we have striven to fulfill the purpose of our mission from God—seeking and saving those who are in darkness. We made it “the most important thing we do” which is nowhere noted, inferred, or intended in Scripture, therefore, such a statement is a false teaching. The assembly is important, but not for the reasons we have often heard. It is important to motivate us to love and good works – to get out there, to GO, to make the Will of God priority in our lives. It is our refueling station, remembering who we are and who our Lord is and what He has done and is doing for us. It is our rededication to our mission. Assembly worship is NOT our mission! We have cloistered ourselves in our Basilicas long enough instead of “GOING” and we think we are worshipping in spirit and in truth.
MY PRAYER: God help us to wake up to Your call and to get out of our post-Constantine stupor before You return and find that we have “lost our first love”, that we are “lukewarm”, self-indulgent, and have “little power” because we have been blinded by the kinds of tradition that truly do keep us from the Will of God. (Rev 2 & 3).
Other Resources:
• What Happens When the Church Copies the World
http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/170623-joe-mckeever-happens-when-the-church-copies-the-world.html#.UllUaZBzCSg.email
• You will need to order it from MRN http://www.mrnet.org/library
• The “Shallow Small Group” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMyTMTmJU6E
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