Biblical Worship

Today many churches advertise a worship service they call “Extreme Worship.”  Usually what they mean by this is a service especially geared to a group of people looking for a “rock concert” worship experience complete with upbeat full volume music, flashing computer-controlled lights, a fog machine sending a mist through the air and several video screens with quickly changing background scenes and words for songs.  In this type of “extreme worship” it is all about the experience, and the emotions stirred by the music, lights, and video.  It is often focused more on man than God.  Is this really “extreme worship” or an artificial experience created by music and technology? 

I think the worship found in the book of Revelation is a picture of real extreme worship.  What are some worship principles found from several of these pictures of worship in chapters 1-5?

1.  Extreme worship is expressed through real humility, reverence and fear before Jesus. It is falling at Jesus’ feet as the Apostle John did.  (Revelation 1:12-18)

2.  Extreme worship is 24/7.  It is praise and worship that is constantly happening before the Throne of God.  (Revelation 4:8)

3.  Extreme worship recognizes the holiness of God.  God is three times Holy.  (Revelation 4:8)

4.  Extreme worship realizes that the One Eternal God, Creator of all things is alone worthy of worship.  The created worships the Creator.  This worship is a picture of God-centered worship not man-centered.  (Revelation 4:9-11)

5.  Extreme worship is focused on the Lamb of God – Jesus Christ.  The new song of Revelation 5 was about the work of Christ on the cross redeeming people for God.  Worship that is not focused on Jesus Christ and His work on the cross is not true Christian worship.  David Prior once said, “We never move on from the cross, only to a more profound understanding of the cross.” (Revelation 5:8-10)

6.  Extreme worship is the worship of all of heaven:  angels, living creatures, elders, thousands of thousands singing in full voice to Jesus.  Our first “call to worship” is when we come to Jesus and it is then that we join with the heavenly worshipers before the Throne.  (Revelation 5:11-12)

7.  Extreme worship of the Lamb will one day include every creature in heaven and on earth.  (Revelation 5:13-14).

A while back I learned of a large church that is experimenting with a new way of doing church on Sunday mornings.  The church no longer has a Bible Study hour (Sunday School) but instead runs three worship services at the same time.  The church offers a worship service for adults, one for youth and one for children.  Each service has its own particular style of music, its own music leader and a pastor who brings a message appropriate for the age group.  On a typical Sunday morning a family arrives at this church and all go in different directions.

Some may say that this is not any different than the traditional setup where families are divided by age groups during the Sunday School Bible Study hour.  I would say that there is one main difference – In this arrangement at least the family is together in the worship hour that follows the Bible Study hour.  I am a strong proponent of keeping the family together during the main corporate worship service of the church.  I am not an advocate of children’s church accept for the very young children who have a difficult time understanding what is happening in the main worship service.

The Scripture exhorts parents to teach their children about the Lord (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9).  One of the best ways we teach them at church is by example.  Children need to see their parents involved in the worship service.  They need to be guided in the service to understand all that happens: prayers, singing, offerings, and preaching.  This responsibility is first given to parents and although it might be easier to send them off into another room during the worship hour, we should not usurp our role of teaching our children about worship.

I do believe there is a place for age-graded teaching in the church.  There are better ways to teach children that are not suitable for youth or adults.  I do think that the main worship hour is a time for the church to be gathered together – all ages – children through senior adults in the same room worshiping the Lord.

Several questions that a divided worship hour brings:

1. Doesn’t a church that divides itself by age groups for worship really create several different churches under one roof?

2. If we have to win our children and youth to the Lord by providing fun and games, doesn’t this create a ‘circus’ atmosphere that they expect the church to continue year to year?

3. How does a pastor be a pastor to children and youth who he does not see on Sunday mornings nor has the opportunity to teach at the message time?

4. Is this really more about music style preference or song preference?  Shouldn’t we learn to worship together as the Body of Christ?

5. How can the parents model the importance of worship participation when the whole family is separated the whole time they are at church?

I would encourage churches to keep the family together at the worship hour.  We all need to learn from each other – young and old alike.

Mark Dever and Paul Alexander discuss the role of music in the church in their book, The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel (Crossway, 2005, ISBN 1-58134-738-3).  Dever is the Senior Pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.  Paul Alexander is the contributing editor for 9 Marks Ministries which is a ministry to pastors and churches espousing the principles of a healthy church.  Dever is also the executive director of 9 Marks Ministries.

Dever and Alexander give 3 main guidelines for congregational singing:

1. It is public, not privatized.  “Many musical worship leaders encourage members (by word or deed) to close their eyes in pursuit of private emotional intimacy with God in the context of the corporate gathering. Dever explains that although closing one’s eyes in the worship service is not “categorically” wrong, he states it is wrong for the worship leader to encourage the congregation to “shut out the rest of the congregation to have a privatized emotional experience with God.”  Congregational singing is something we as Body of Christ do together.  “It is best, then, not to privatize what God has decreed should be public.”

2.  It should be theologically rich.  “We want to sing theologically textured songs that make us think about the depths of God’s character, the contours of His grace, and the implications of His Gospel; that teach us about the biblical doctrine that saves and transforms us.  Negatively, we want to avoid songs that encourage us to reflect on our own subjective emotional experience more than on the objective truths of God’s character and implications of the cross.  We also want to avoid needless repetition of phrases in almost mantra-like fashion, as if seeking an emotional high were the purest form of worship.”

3. It should be scripturally encouraging. “The result of theological richness will always be increasing accuracy in worshiping God as He really is, which will in turn result in increasing spiritual encouragement for us… This kind of congregational singing is a powerful encouragement to our souls, reminding us of our fellowship and unity in the truths that we sing.” (119-120)

Although I do not agree with all this chapter on music suggests, I think Dever and Alexander’s  comments about congregational singing are quite helpful.  Corporate worship should include a strong commitment to congregational singing and the selection of songs that exalt God and build up the church.

This summer I had the opportunity to join with a large group of high school students for a worship service.  The worship songs were great, the preaching was cross-centered, but the students worshiped in the dark during the musical portion of the service.  The room was mostly dark except for the stage area where the worship band played.  It was so dark that I really could not see the person standing right next to me. During the singing time some students seemed to be participating but others were standing and watching the worship band as if it were a concert.

A number of worship services these days seem to value a dark worship area, but I really think this type of setting is detrimental to worship.  First of all, as I remember there is a lot of talk in the Bible about God being light and in Him there is no darkness.  Jesus is the True light according to John 1 who enlightens every man.  We are also instructed to walk in the light as Jesus is in the light.  If this is so, why do we want to worship in darkness?  Perhaps the early church worshiped in darkness or low-lighting to escape persecution, but today for most Christians in America this is not the case. 

We describe a group of believers gathered for worship as “corporate worship,” something we do together.  We join as the body of Christ and worship the One True and Living God.  When the Epistles talk about the Body of Christ gathered, one of the main points often emphasized is that these gatherings must be edifying to the believers.  We are to encourage one another as we worship.  We are to build up one another as we worship.  Corporate worship is a group effort. 

Much of corporate worship today seems to be more focused on the individual’s ‘experience’ in worship.  It is almost as if there is a large of group of believers all worshiping God individually not corporately.  This is evidenced when the worship space is dark and people can not see the person next to them.  This also happens when everyone worships with their eyes closed as if they were the only ones in the room.

I am not concerned about people who occasionally close their eyes during a worship song, but I am concerned when most of the service believers worship as individuals and not the corporate body of Christ.

Let there be ‘ambiance’ if that is what we are attempting to do with low-lighting in the worship service, but let the lighting not be so low that we can not see each another.  The gathered body of Christ should encourage, edify and join together in one voice and mind worshiping our great Lord because He is the Light of the World!

Many Bible-believing churches today stand firm on the principles of the Scriptures and yet in their worship services there is not much Scripture read in the service.  Songs are sung that are vaguely biblical.  Sermons are preached where the pastor reads a verse or verses of Scripture and never returns to the Scripture for the rest of the sermon.  In fact, many people no longer even bring their Bibles to church.  They trust the church staff and video projections to tell them what the Bible says.  If we say we are people of “the book,” then we should let it be the main guide in worship and have a prominent place in our services.

How can we be sure of being faithful to the Scripture in our worship services?  Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Look to Scripture for instruction in what we are to do in worship.  Study passages like I Corinthians 14 that give us wisdom on Chrisitian gatherings.  Look to Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 for guidance on selecting songs for worship.  1 Timothy 4:13 and 2 Timothy 4:1-4 help us to understand the priority of reading the Scripture and Preaching.  The list could go on… but the principle is to let the Scripture have top priority in our planning and leading of worship.

2.  Use biblical principles when selecting music for worship.  Is the text theologically sound?  Is there a balance of simple praise songs and songs that teach the doctrines of the faith?  Does the text express the deep truths of the Bible in language that is clearly understood by your congregation?

3.  Employ Scripture reading in the worship time as much as possible.  If we believe Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 2:14-15 and Matthew 7:24, then we should strive to let the Word of God speak in our corporate gatherings.  Let our words be few so that the Word of God has its place.

4.  Preach expository sermons.  Unpack the Word of God phrase by phrase, verse by verse.  Challenge both the heart and mind.  Preach from the Old and New Testaments.  Teach the great doctrines of our faith.

5.  Incorporate Scripture in our prayers.  Pray biblical prayers.  Study the pattern of biblical prayers in the Scripture.  Memorize Scripture so you can incorporate the Word of God in your prayers. 

Our worship services should be rooted in the Scriptures.  Scripture should saturate our singing, praying, and preaching.  It should be the guide to our worship planning.  In other words in our corporate worship we should:

Read the Scripture,

Sing the Scripture,

Pray the Scripture,

Meditate upon the Scripture, and

Preach the Scripture.

Worship Leader, I challenge you to let the Word of God have its proper place in your worship planning and leading.  Let your people hear more of God’s Word than your words.  God’s Word will not return void.