Category Archives: Worship

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Is Cultural Relativism Infecting Your Church’s Worship?

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Worship is first and foremost for God’s benefit, not ours. If a singular focus on the glory of God doesn’t characterize our practice of praise, then we have missed the whole point of worship. True worship is all about God and very little about us, although in giving him praise, we ourselves enter into the indescribable richness of the purpose for which we were created: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 16:4

David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the Lord—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.

As David brings the Ark of the Covenant to the tent of meeting that he had erected for it in Jerusalem in 1 Chronicles 16, we glean much needed insight into the essential activities that are to make up the worship experience of God’s people. While the settings of worship change over time and culture, the purpose and content should never change. Worship leaders and worshipers would do well to absorb this chapter, given the cultural relativism that has infected much of the philosophy, planning and practice of corporate praise in the modern context.

You will recall the story: the ark had been captured by the Philistines under King Saul, but then returned to Israel not too long afterwards because it had created a health crisis among the people of that heathen nation. (1 Samuel 4-6) It was kept in the house of Abinadab for some time until the new king, David, decided to bring it to the central place of worship. But along the way, the transportation of this sacred furniture was mishandled, and the anger of the Lord broke out against the priest Uzzah, and he died on the spot. (2 Samuel 6) For that reason, the ark was left under the care of Obed-Edom for several months. While there, the Lord poured out blessings so profusely upon that household that David now realized it would be best to get the ark into the capital city—right away, but this time, the right way:

David was now afraid of the Lord, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the Lord back into my care?” David decided not to move the Ark of the Lord into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household. Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration. (2 Samuel 6:9-12)

It was during this time of great celebration that David instituted much of the practices that have come to characterize the worship of God’s people, even to this day. And what did those practices entail? Of course, there was instrumental music and corporate singing along with choreographed movements and prescribed sacrifices, but it was really the content of those activities that came to characterize God-pleasing worship: the invocation of divine blessing, expressions of gratitude and outburst of praise. (1 Chronicles 16:4) The content of worship was a singular focus on the glory of God:

Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. (1 Chronicles 16:29)

I have a nagging sense that in far too many modern worship settings, the focus has shifted from offering praise for the primary purpose of pleasing God. Rather than ensuring the invocation of God’s blessing upon the people, rather than leading the people into expressions of thanks to God, rather than giving the people a pathway to verbalize their praise to God, worship leaders give too much focus, in my humble opinion, on the mechanics of worship. They fuss over the staging—the sound, the lighting and the background media, along with the style—it’s contemporariness and popularity, to create just the right mood to please the people rather than please the Lord.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love modern worship music. I think a lot of planning ought to go into a worship experience. I think staging can set a great mood and create a great experience for worshippers. But at the end of the day, if the experience doesn’t lead the worshiper to receive God’s blessing and call her to offer heartfelt gratitude to God and inspire him to offer focused praise extolling the splendor of God, it has fallen short of God-glorifying worship. It has missed the boat, and in fact, if that becomes a pattern, it is in danger of becoming idolatrous worship: worship done to please the worshiper more than to pleases the Lord.

Worship is first and foremost for God’s benefit, not ours. If a singular focus on the glory of God doesn’t characterize our practice of praise, then we have missed the whole point of worship. True worship is all about God and very little about us, although in giving him praise, we ourselves enter into the indescribable richness of the purpose for which we were created: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Now most of us are not worship leaders in the formal sense, but each of us has been called to lead ourselves into daily moments of worships wherein we invoke God’s blessings, offer thanks to God and express our praise to him. So even if formal worship in the contemporary church context drifts from God-focused worship, you don’t have to.

Just remember, you are a worship leader before the Audience of One.

Going Deeper With God: Take a few minutes before you do anything else to invoke God’s blessing, offer gratitude to God, and pour forth your praise to God. You are on the stage before the Audience of One, so praise your heart out!

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Go Ahead And Sing!

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Go vertical with your gaze once in a while, and you’ll see that God is still in control. Do that as the regular practice of your life, and you will find that you have much to sing about. Now this is not a proverbial whistling past the graveyard, it is an act that not only expresses faith, that not only builds faith, but it is an act that actually releases even more faith into your life. So you should sing—a lot!

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Samuel 22:1-23

Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior…”

David sang a lot! We don’t know how good of a singer he was, but who cares. He didn’t. Besides, he was king, so who was going to tell him he didn’t have a good voice. And while we don’t know if he could carry a tune, we do know that he could really write those tunes. Many of them are still topping the charts thousands of years after the fact; they are sang by millions of people around the world every Sunday when congregations sing the psalms.

David sang a lot! And why not? God had bailed him out of bad times early and often, and he was grateful. Whether it was deliverance from a lion or bear, or from a king named Saul or a giant named Goliath, or from his own personal sin, his gratitude for God’s lovingkindness often spilled over the containment walls of his being. And he sang.

I think you should too. It is good for you. It releases more faith when you lift up your voice in praise. It elevates your mood, minimizes your problems, and sends shockwaves into the unseen realm where your Enemy resides, causing him to quake in his boots. And I would argue that like David, you should make up your own songs. They may never be sung by others, or even known, but they are powerful because they come from your heart, and from your fresh experience with the lovingkindness of God. They remind you of who God is and who you are; of what he has done and what he will do. That is precisely why you should sing—a lot!

Furthermore, singing songs of praise is not meant just as a response to God for his goodness in the good times. Singing is an act of faith in the challenging times that recognizes a higher reality than the one you see in your horizontal view-finder: That God is King—he always was, and always shall be. Given that, you should sing—a lot!

Go vertical with your gaze once in a while, and you will see that God is still in control. Do that as the regular practice of your life, and you will find that you have much to sing about. Now this kid of singing is not a proverbial whistling past the graveyard, it is an act that not only expresses faith, it is an act that actually releases even more faith into your life. Singing is calling into your present reality the greater, more real, infinitely powerful reality of eternity. Singing praises invites the presence of God and invokes the power of God in your life. So you should sing—a lot!

So if you want to squeeze every ounce of joy out of the good times and have more faith for the troubling times in life, sing! Go ahead, I am not joking, and belt out a tune.

Going Deeper With God: What has God done in your life lately? What do you have to praise him for? What about him causes you to be grateful? Write it down in the form of a song. You may never publish it, but you should certainly sing it, at least in the privacy of your prayer closet. Make up your own tune, and don’t worry if you are on key or not. God is your audience of one, and he will love it!

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A Tale of Three Worshipers

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Whenever we exchange recognition of God’s holiness, surrender to his will and the sheer delight of his presence for a more controlled, convenient and cool experience of worship, we risk the loss of the kind of passionate praise that truly pleases him. Surrender and wonder are the heart of authentic worship, so offer that to your magnificent God the next time you’re in a worship experience—then offer it again the next time, and the time after that, too.

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Samuel 6:5-8, 14-16

David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God. David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah… [Sometime later, when the Ark was finally brought to Jerusalem] David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns. But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.

If you were to outline this unusual text, it neatly falls into a three-act play on passionate worship based on the three main characters of the story.

  • Act One, Uzzah Died. 2 Samuel 6:6 says, “The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.”
  • Act Two, David Danced. 2 Samuel 6:14: “David danced before the Lord with all his might.”
  • Act Three, Michal Despised. 2 Samuel 6:16, “When Michal saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.”

For sake of time and space, let’s focus on the least known of these characters, Uzzah. As you read this story, if you are like me, the question you have is, why did God kill this seemingly well-intentioned man for his momentary mistake?  Here is what we need to consider:

It is always fatal to take charge of God. Uzzah was a priest, consecrated to oversee the care of the Ark, which he’d done for thirty years. You could say, he had hung out with the holy for three decades. That meant he was very much aware of the law of God and the Levitical regulations about moving the Ark.

So Uzzah’s reflexive act wasn’t a mistake of the moment, it was a lifelong obsession with managing the Ark. During those thirty years, it is highly likely he began to cut corners in his worship and to be selective in his obedience to God. Slowly, perhaps imperceptibly, he learned to control the presence of God. So to him, the cart was a more efficient way to worship. Eugene Peterson, who wrote a brilliant book on David called, Leap Over A Wall, says of this incident,

A well-designed ox-cart is undeniably more efficient for moving the Ark about than plodding Levites. But it’s also impersonal—the replacement of consecrated persons by an efficient machine… Uzzah is the patron saint of those who uncritically embrace technology without regard to the nature of God.

Do you think we tend to do that in our day, that we tend to manage God into more convenient and cool forms of worship? Do we ever approach worship in terms of what’s preferable to us or trendy to our culture rather than what is pleasing to God? Whenever we move from obedience to God and recognition of his holiness to a more controlled, convenient and cool worship, we risk the loss of the kind of passionate praise that pleases him. As Peterson writes,

Uzzah should forever be posted around the church as a warning sign: Danger! Beware of the God

There is certainly a danger in our day of getting too casual and too convenient in our worship and forgetting that God is still holy. We need to remember: God will not be controlled. When we fall into a pattern of control, deliberately or not, sooner or later, like Uzzah, we will become spiritually dead in our worship. Now since we were created to worship God, this is a grave danger.

Thomas Carlyle rightly stated, “Wonder is the basis of worship.” Let Uzzah be a perpetual watchman who cries out from the walls of our church, “Don’t ever lose your wonder of God!”

Going Deeper With God: Next time you are in a worship service, make it about God, not you. Then try that again the next time, and the time after that, too.

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Voyeuristic Worship

Reject Performance Based Worship and Just Sing to the Audience of One

Don’t be a voyeuristic worshiper. Next time you’re in a church service, forget the music style, the song choice, the smoke and mirrors, and the talent on the stage leading the singing. Shut all that out and give your heart in praise to the Audience of One.

Read: Psalm 145 // Focus: Psalm 145:21

“My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.”

I had occasion to be in another city some time ago where I attended a worship service. From all outward appearances, the church seemed to be thriving. The building was attractive and innovative, the guest services were effective, the publications were outstanding, outreach opportunities were plenty, the mission of the church was cleverly stated, the people were great looking, the worship band was hip, the songs were the latest—the “cool factor” of this church was extremely high. Oh, I almost forgot, they were even observing the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt have a cool café that serves Starbucks coffee and blueberry scones!

But I was bugged. As I looked around, I noticed that people were not engaged in the worship. They were watching, enjoying, applauding after each song that was performed perfectly by the band. And that, I think, was what bugged me: It was a performance—or it appeared that way to me. The congregation was really a “concert crowd” and they were watching and enjoying “worship” as it was performed onstage by their band of spiritual “rock stars”. Worship was happening voyeuristically.

Then it hit me! As I was looking around at everybody else and judging the authenticity of their worship, I suddenly realized that anybody else in that crowd could have looked at me “rubbernecking” and made the very same assessment: Voyeuristic worship. I wasn’t worshipping, I was watching.

It was in that moment that the Holy Spirit reached down and dislocated my heart—ouch! So I decided to worship. I literally whispered this prayer, “God, you deserve worship, and if I am the only person in this place that will do it, I will worship you with all of my heart. You’re going to get worshipped today, and I am going to be the one to do it!” And to the best of my ability, I did.

Now I’ve got to tell you, once I made that choice, and even though I didn’t particularly like the style of music or the song choices, I ended up having one of the greatest experiences of worship I’ve ever had. I came into God’s presence and experienced the joy of giving my love to him, basking in his goodness, and experiencing his presence. And guess, what? When I opened my eyes, I saw a different church—there were lots of worshipers.

What changed? Not the church so much; it was me that had changed. My perspective was different. My heart was softer. And my experience of worship came close to what I think God wants it to be for me whenever and wherever I gather with his people to praise him: Worship from the heart of the worshipper. I made the choice to worship—style of music notwithstanding—and I experienced God!

That’s what David is doing here in this psalm—finding reason to give God the worship he deserves. That’s what this psalm is calling for from you and me. So the next time you have occasion, join David—and me—by making that choice to worship the God who deserves our very best worship. There are plenty of reasons, you know!

And if you are the only one willing to do it—which you are probably not—make sure that God gets worshipped!

Making Life Work: The next time you are in a worship experience, close your eyes, forget about everybody else, forget about the style of the music, forget about you, and just sing a love song to the Audience of One.

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Enduring Love

Sound Bites of God’s Love

If you are one of those who dislikes modern worship, think about this psalm the next time you are tempted to get a little grouchy about your church’s song service. If you want to be critical of your worship leader’s “shallow” or “repetitive” song selection, then line up the psalmist too, and take your shot at both. You see, he repeats himself a lot—but that’s only because he can’t get over God’s enduing love.

Read: Psalm 136 // Focus: Psalm 136:1

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.”

One of the critiques of modern worship choruses is that they are too simple and overly repetitive. The great hymns of the church, on the other hand, are deeply theological and majestic both in lyric and music. I truly love both—the modern worship the Holy Spirit has birthed in the contemporary church as well as the hymns of our historic faith. Both move me to joyful worship of Almighty God.

Psalm 136 is akin to a modern worship chorus. In each of the twenty-six verses that comprise the psalm, you will notice simple, sound bite phrases that recall the goodness of God as both creator and redeemer, followed by the same line twenty-six times: “His love endures forever!”

So if you are one of those who, frankly, just dislikes modern worship, think about this psalm the next time you are tempted to get a little grouchy about your church’s worship. If you want to be critical of your worship leader for his or her song selection, you might as well line up the psalmist right beside them and take your shot at both of the psalmist and the song leader!

Or you could do what this psalm calls you to do: Focus on the goodness of God throughout the history of the world, and throughout your personal history as well. God has been faithful in all he has done, and merciful, too. He is the loving Creator and Redeemer—he always has been; he is right now, and when you wake up tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that, he still will be.

O give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever!

Now—don’t you feel much better?

Making Life Work:Read this psalm out loud from beginning to end. Now see if you don’t sense God’s enduring love a little bit stronger than before.

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Loving The City God Loves

Pray For Her Peace and Prosperity

God cares for all cities, but he has a special love for the city of Jerusalem. It is special because God chose it as the physical place that would house his uncontainable presence. And since Jerusalem was once the physical address of the Great House of God, as it will again one day be the home of his holy temple, we ought to do everything we can now to contribute to its prosperity.

Read: Psalm 122 // Focus: Psalm 122:6-7

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

Why should we pray for the peace and prosperity of a city that is not even in out country? My goodness, don’t we have enough to worry about in my our own community much less one that’s clear across the ocean! And why should Jerusalem get singled out for special attention? What about London or Moscow or Pretoria or Sao Paolo, or for heaven’s sake, Washington, DC? Aren’t those cities important to God?

Courtesy of Debbie Martin

Photo Credit: Debbie Martin

Well yes, those cities are important to God—all cities are! But Jerusalem is special. It’s special because God chose it as the physical place that would house his uncontainable presence. He selected the land of Canaan as the place where his people would live, Jerusalem to be the city where his temple would be constructed, and the sanctuary of that temple would serve as the central location for his people to worship him.

And even though there is no longer a temple, it is very clear from Scripture that Jerusalem will feature prominently in God’s grand plan for the eternal ages, where once again, Zion will be the central place in the entire universe, in all creation, where redeemed beings will gather to worship Almighty God.

That should be reason enough to love Jerusalem. That is plenty of motivation to pray for the city above all others. Since Jerusalem factors significantly with the people and purpose of God, we should go out of our way to be protective of it. (Psalm 122:8) And since it was once the physical address of the Great House of God, and one day will be again, we ought to do everything we can to contribute to its prosperity. (Psalm 122:9)

praying-for-jerusalem-near-holy-of-holies

Prayer for Jerusalem at the excavated site near what is believed to be the Holy of Holies. Photo Credit: Sheryl Landis

Perhaps you have never been to Jerusalem, and maybe you don’t give the city much thought. I want to challenge you to rethink that—on both levels. Do what you can to go there—make plans to go there at least once in your life. And in the meantime, consciously pay more attention to its goings on, keep your eye out for news about it, attend functions in support of it, and most of all, pray for it!

Do all that, and sooner or later, you will fall in love, like I have, with a city. There’s no place like it!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates and sing,Hosanna, in the highest, hosanna to the king. By the way, when you take care of the things God cares about, and he very definitely cares for Jerusalem, then you will find this major blessings coming back upon your life: God will care for the things you care about!

Making Life Work: Make it a practice, today and every day, to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city of the Great King.

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A Near Death Experience

The Sacred Lesson of Learning What is First and Foremost in Life

A near death experience – avoiding a devastating accident, escaping a crushing spiritual blow, overcoming a life-threatening illness – leads us to the overriding conclusion of what is most important in life: the extension of God’s mercy to us and our response of love to the Lord. That is a sacred lesson no one wants to learn, but afterwards are glad they did!

Read: Psalm 116 // Focus: Psalm 116:1

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.”

There’s nothing like coming face to face with death to bring clarity to what is most important in life. The psalmist had either come through a literal near death experience, or he had gone through something spiritually that was so intensely difficult that death would have been a welcomed option. Whatever the reason for this deeply personal psalm, staring the grim reaper in the eye led the writer to this bottom line: I love the Lord!

I don’t wish a near death experience for you, me or anyone, but I do pray that we would come to the same overriding conclusion of what is first and foremost in life: The extension of God’s mercy to us and our response of love to the Lord. Tell me, what else in life is more important than that?

Now I understand, as do you, that love is a term used rather loosely in our world. We love our favorite food or football team, or a certain TV show, or a song or a celebrity—we even love our pets (dogs I can understand; cats I can’t). And when we are teenagers, we love our best friends one day and hate them the next. Love is a pretty squishy thing in our culture.

But when a near death experience peels all the false “likes” and faux “loves” back from the core of what love truly is, we find a response of love for God that expresses itself in very real terms and quite practical actions. The psalmist mentions several:

• Prayerful dependence on the Lord in daily life: “Death stared me in the face—I was frightened and sad. Then I cried, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Psalm 116:3-4, LB)

• Calm assurance in the face of death: “His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.” (Psalm 116:15, LB)

• Heartfelt gratitude for God’s goodness: “O Lord, you have freed me from my bonds, and I will serve you forever. I will worship you and offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving.” (Psalm 116:16-17, LB)

• Ruthless follow through of our vows to obey God’s law: “Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord.” (Psalm 116:18, LB)

• Vocal, even visible and thoroughly authentic demonstrations of public praise for the God we claim to love: “Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 116:19).

Do you love the Lord? I do! How about we not just say it, but show it today in one of those practical ways. After all, in his mercy he has saved us from a great deal of bad stuff in life: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Please, Lord, save me!’… He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.” (Psalm 116:4,8) More than that, he has saved me from even worse stuff after death: “The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” (Psalm 116:15).

Wow! Now that I think about it, I really do love the Lord!

Making Life Work: Psalm 116:2 says, “Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” God is bending down to listen to you pray right now. Why don’t you give it a shot. Call out to him and tell him what’s troubling you. He’s ready to hear—and act! And don’t forget to thank him as an act of faith and trust.