Bible Question:
My church is a liturgy and ritual one. We hold high value of sound doctrines of orthodoxy. Some years ago, in face of the growth and the influence of the contemporary music on the Sunday service which has been espoused by most young christians, our chuch has made a slight adjustment for fitting the youngsters' need, where 2 Sunday services were arranged. The late morning section remains unchanged with choir serving the music part. An additional early morning section was set up with the contemporary music praise group (a more inter-active way) in place of the choir. The rest of the programmes remain the same. Recently, the leader of the praise group expressed her idea to our elder that she hoped the praise group could take an additional part after the sermon and in doing so, the congregation's emotion could be uplifted to the peak. After hearing that, the elder talked to me about his concern that the leader could have missed the focus. A meeting has been arranged next week for discussing the issue in details with the leader. I was asked (by the elder) to prepare for the meeting that I can step in when there need a proper guidance. I am reading some books. However, I would also like to receive any pertinent thoughts on the issue. Thank you in advance for your input. Shalom Azure |
Bible Answer: Dear Sister Azure, I would not detract from what our brother Jeff has stated, but I hope that my humble contribution will be of value to you. Some of this I've posted previously. Hopefully I'll do more than be simply redundant. First, our worship services are not done for our benefit. God is the audience. That doesn't mean that we don't benefit by our participation, but focusing on ourselves reveals serious spiritual problems. The world focuses on self, Christianity is all about God, who He is, and what He has done, is doing, and will ultimately do. Our primary purpose is His primary purpose: to bring God glory. Second, I believe that proper worship arises out of how God reveals Himself to men. (1) He reveals Himself to their understanding (cognitive), and (2) He reveals Himself to their hearts (affections). Therefore, in worship we must see God and savor God. If we focus solely on the cognitive, we end up with a cold intellectualism. Indeed, seeing God without delighting in Him is an insult to Him. Alternatively, one might argue that if you aren't delighting in God, you really haven't seen Him! If we focus solely on the feelings, we end up with baseless emotionalism. Consequently, proper Biblical worship -- whether liturgical or informal -- should help us see more of who God is and respond in loving adoration. That should be the objective of the preaching and the praise. Third, be careful of pragmatism. As believers we are not interested in what works, we are interested in obeying the Lord, regardless of the outcome. It would be a huge error to imagine that the product of our worship is people feeling better. God forbid! The proper product of the church is disciples; i.e., people that look more like Christ (obedience), and love Christ more (affections). If our objective is not clearly derived from the Scripture -- in full harmony with what God has revealed -- we cannot possibly honor Him. We might as well be a social club, or a self-help group. Finally, what John Calvin wrote of worship and worship styles may be helpful to you: "[The Master] did not will in outward discipline and ceremonies to prescribe in detail what we ought to do (because He foresaw that this depended on the state of the times, and He did not deem one form suitable for all ages)... Because He has taught nothing specifically, and because these things are not necessary to salvation, and for the up-building of the church ought to be variously accommodated to the customs of each nation and age, it will be fitting (as the advantage of the church will require) to change and abrogate traditional practices and to establish new ones. Indeed, I admit that we ought not to charge into innovation rashly, suddenly, for insufficient cause. But love will best judge what may hurt or edify; and if we let love be our guide, all will be safe." I think one of the important things which Calvin has to say to you, Sister Azure, is that your worship may properly reflect your culture. In other words, you needn't imitate Western styles in order to have a Godly worship service. Even in our own context we Westerners often fail by falling into cold intellectualism or baseless emotionalism. Right worship, guided by the Holy Spirit, can manifest itself in a uniquely Chinese fashion. Discourage them from changing the way you worship simply because of what they see in the West. That would certainly be a terrible mistake on several levels. Furthermore, I think that Calvin's caution about making changes in our practice too quickly or without proper thought and prayer is sound advice. That kind of rash change might even result in more harm than good. Perhaps a careful study of Scriptural worship might stem from a study of the Psalms. The Psalms contain both elements of what I was talking about in right worship -- both through the mind and the heart. I hope that these few thoughts will be helpful for you. We will be in prayer as you and your church carefully consider how best to glorify our awesome God. In Him, Doc |
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