Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God.
Come.

(Refrain)
One day every tongue will confess you are God
One day every knee will bow
Sill the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose you now.[i]

Today’s church has a propensity to use, and overuse, some choruses simply because they have a catchy tune that sticks in the minds of worshippers. But infinitely more important than whether or not a song is singable, we must ask, Is it good theology? In this case, Is it good theology to teach believers they can come to God just as they are? Is it good theology to encourage them to simply waltz (or wiggle) into the presence of God anytime and in any way they please? At the very best, this is sloppy theology, which will lead some into baptized carnality.

Let’s ask an old-fashioned prophet (who was not voted “most popular preacher of the year” by his rebellious congregation) what he thinks of this theology. “So, Isaiah, what do you say to this approach to worship?” And he answered:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.’(Isaiah 6:1-7)

What Isaiah knew, which too many in today’s church have forgotten, is that God is far too holy for us to come to Him “just as we are.” His holiness is breathtaking. He is so far removed from us that to say “holy” once was not enough. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord,” was the unceasing cry of the angelic majesties. As a result, Isaiah saw his own sinfulness in a new light, humbled himself in confession, and was purged of his sin. Now, he was prepared to worship.

“But,” you ask, “What about the legendary hymn, Just As I Am? Doesn’t it also tell us to come to God just as we are?” Well, that is a legitimate question so, let’s think about it. As I see it, the great difference between these two songs is that one, Just As I Am, is clearly the response of an unsaved sinner coming to Christ for the very first time as his Lord and Savior. Notice the centrality of his coming to the blood-stained cross for forgiveness and salvation.

Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,
Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come! I come! [ii]

However, the other song, Come, Now Is the Time to Worship, is obviously written to encourage (to rev up?) believers to come to their God. There is a profound difference between these two approaches. It is one thing to sing of us sinners coming to the Lamb of God for salvation with empty-handed faith, “just as we are,” with nothing to offer Him except our truckloads of sin. But it is quite another thing altogether for us as saints to sing of coming to God in worship just as we are, for that is not what God’s Word calls us to or even approves of. In fact, it was because some of the Corinthian church members were coming to God “just as they were” (while suing their brothers, while tolerating immorality, while devouring one another, etc.) that they were dropping like flies (Cf. 1 Corinthians 11:30).

The grace and forgiveness of Christ do not give us the freedom to casually approach our holy God, but instead provide incentive to confidently approach Him, understanding the high price that was paid to redeem us from our sin. Consider just two biblical calls to worship:

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? [i.e. Who can come to God?] He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully (Psalm 24:3-4).

When the Psalmist asked, Who may come into the presence of God for worship?, he did not say, “anyone can, just as he is.” Instead, only those with “clean hands and a pure heart,” who are not liars or guilty of making deceitful promises. In other words, those who are serious about dealing with their sin. That does not sound like a “just as you are” mentality to me. Consider also some words from the New Testament book of Hebrews:

…and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:21-23).

Even the writer of these verses, while dwelling in full assurance of the newly slain road to God, paved by the blood of Jesus, did not say, “Come just as you are.” Instead, he called every believer to draw near to God with a clean conscience and confessed sin and undying hope and faith in their faithful God. This does not sound much like “just as you are” kind of worship either.

Even if it could be argued that the refrain of the newer song (it is not poor because it is new, by the way) speaks of salvation, thereby making the “just as we are” language justifiable, it is a baseless “salvation” at that (contrasted with the Lamb of God language of the older song). Those who truly “confess you are God” must actually bow their knee to Jesus, Who will one day be exalted because of His obedience to the humiliation of the cross. The Bible never makes cheap offers of an unidentified “treasure,” nor does it treat conversion as an easy experience for “those who gladly choose you now.”