Could A Muslim or Mormon Worship With You This Sunday?
In my dispatches and at conferences at which I speak I insist that great care be taken in the worship hymns and songs. While in the modern church there has developed a cavalier attitude towards worship songs, this is neither the Biblical nor historical practice of the church. All Christians should understand, first and foremost, that worship songs are prayers to God. God the Holy Spirit instructs in Psalm 42:9 “…His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.” What is said by a Christian in prayer is of both great and grave importance. Again, God the Holy Spirit warns in Ecclesiastes 5:2 “ Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.” I remember my shock at the words of a contemporary Christian song which I heard on the radio. It contains the words… “It doesn’t matter what we say, It doesn’t matter how we pray, As long as we say “’Jesus.’” Nothing could be further from the truth. However, in an age when some worship leaders are as concerned about their opportunities to perform as they are of engaging the congregation in doctrinally correct worship, it is not surprising to find them more interested in the music than in the doctrine. I remember talking to a seminary student who was doing a paper on worship. He personally interviewed worship leaders from some of the largest churches in his city. Not one could articulate the doctrine of the Trinity, nor felt it was significant in terms of their worship leadership. This is not surprising to me. The shallow Scriptural substance of most worship songs is no doubt the reason unity in the church today is built around Christians concerts than Bible conferences. I can honestly say that, as I travel the country (and the world), I hear countless contemporary worship songs. I found that I had to stop singing about half the time because the words were expressing a doctrinal falsehood concerning God, worship or the church.
Let me ask you something. Suppose you are sitting in the church and someone, during the service, stands behind the podium and proclaims, “(Your Name) is dancing constantly in church and at work. In fact he dances as an expression of his love for the church and all Christians. He dances all the time at church, in Sunday School and at prayer meetings!!” How would you feel? Would you be indifferent to this announcement? Now let me ask you something else. How many times have you sung the lyrics to this song? With joy He is dancing And singing o'er me His pleasure is me He dances o'er me The light of His favor Is setting me free to rejoice Lift up your voice We are His bride He dances o'er me. There is nowhere in the Bible where God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit are depicted as “dancing” or as “dancing over” us. The Hebrew in Zephaniah 3:17 clearly speaks of singing and joy but never of dancing. There is a big difference between the two. You may be known for singing with joy in a church service but are you known for dancing around in the church during the singing? Suppose again that people began to assert that you danced in church? Would this be true or false? Are you indifferent to the falsehoods spoken about you in public at church? Are you indifferent to misrepresentations placed on a PowerPoint and recited by the church as they pertain to your actions? Do you think God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are no less jealous of their reputations and how they are represented to the church and to others than are you?
In times past the church worshiped God as guided by the Word of God. They worshiped with the Psalms but, also, the words of hymns were carefully “vetted” by the church. Hymns were the poetic expressions of theologians, pastors and Bible teachers who, through years of study, application, instruction and trials, were able to express in poetry and prose the great doctrines and lessons of faith. These were set to music by others but rarely by the author. The Bible and the church, not the market place, determined the value of a hymn or worship song.
Another illustration is the song Nearer My God To Thee . When this song is blindly presented to the church for worship, I don’t join in participation. This is because author Sarah F. Adams attended the Unitarian Church, denied the Trinity, denied the divinity of Christ and was a non-Christian mystic. A close scrutiny of the song reveals no clear message of salvation through faith in Christ but, instead, a mystical union through suffering and devotion. The correct doctrine may or may not be filled in by the listener. Although the words may be a blessing to many, the testimony of the author might lead many to attend the Unitarian Church and delve into ascetic mysticism. (Many hymnals add a 6th verse to “Christianize” this song.)
Christians should remember that to sing is to pray and that we must be very careful what we say to God and what we publicly testify about God before others in our singing. Before you choose a song for worship and prayer, before you pray the words to God, ask yourself... Who wrote this and how did they live? With whom am I worshiping with this song? Does it clearly speak of the great doctrines, as revealed by God the Holy Spirit, about our Lord? Are the great doctrines of the blood, substitutionary sacrifice, grace, mercy, repentance, the cross, death to self, the Word, Prayer, Witnessing, Discipleship, Missions or devotion to the church extolled? Could it just as easily be sung by a Mormon, Muslim or lovesick teenager? Which is more compelling--the words or the music?
Older
Top
