Worship and humble orthodoxy
Dec. 6 2006
We asked Bob Kauflin some questions about worship and humble orthodoxy.
1. Why is holding truth so important in worship?
Jesus said in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” We can’t worship a God we don’t know. That’s why biblical doctrine and theology are so important in the songs we sing. If the object of our worship is unclear as we sing, we’ll be tempted to be more excited about our passion than we are about God. Harold Best has wisely pointed out that being emotionally moved by music is different from being morally changed by it. Music can affect us deeply, but without truth it can only speak the vague language of emotion. Although emotion is vital to our relationship with God, it must be emotion that springs from seeing the God’s glory revealed in Jesus Christ, not simply from being moved by the sound of the guitars or the beat of the drums.
2. How does what we do Monday-Saturday affect what we sing on Sunday?
If I’m not living for God’s glory during the week, it can produce a coldness in my heart when I sing on Sunday. It can sow seeds of hypocrisy, self-deception, or apathy towards God. I may be so full from feeding at the table of the world’s pleasures that I have no desire to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8) as I sing. On the other hand, if I’m seeking to honor the Savior during the week, it increases my desire to join with God’s people on Sunday and passionately proclaim the truths that give my life meaning and purpose. However, even if I haven’t been living for God during the week, I should join with the church to sing God’s praise on Sunday because I’ll be putting myself in a place where God’s Spirit can teach, admonish, and encourage me through the songs of others (Col. 3:16).
3. What about singing words you don’t feel like saying?
Rather than simply sing what you don’t feel, I’d suggest four actions. First, acknowledge to God that your heart is cold, and that it’s a result of sin. It may be pride, self-sufficiency, bitterness, or some other root. God is always worthy of our praise and love, and it’s our sin that keeps us from seeing how worthy he is. Second, receive the forgiveness God has provided for us through sending his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died to take the punishment we deserved for our pride and rebellion against God. Third, ask God to change your heart, to enable you to love him more than you love this world, and to fill you with his Spirit. Finally, sing the words with gratefulness for God’s mercy towards you, trusting that God will change your heart as you sing.
4. How does culture affect the songs we sing in worship at church?
Culture is our shared understanding of how life “should” work. It’s the common perspectives we share that enable us to work, play, and live together. Scripture commends and challenges aspects of every culture. Our responsibility is to study our culture and know what can be helpful in promoting biblical worship and what is a hindrance. For instance, using contemporary music with rich theology can enable more people to engage with that truth more readily. They don’t have to learn a new musical language. However, we need to avoid promoting a rock concert mentality that encourages spectatorship and causes people to think loving music is more important than loving truth. We might also choose to sing songs that are counter-cultural to make a statement about the uniqueness of the Gospel and God’s kingdom. For instance, in a culture enamored with what’s new and faddish, we could do songs that are rooted in history and communicate that God has been working for centuries. For a culture that’s traditional and unmoving, it might be helpful to introduce songs that are more contemporary to communicate God’s heart for the present generation.
5. Should we ignore the music of the culture around us and sing Gregorian chant? Or try to sound like the Billboard’s Top 40? Or just stick to Steve Green favorites?
God commands us to teach and admonish one another with thankfulness in our hearts as we sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). That implies that the music we use should be varied and not restricted to one style. God continues to give new songs to each generation and we shouldn’t ignore what he’s doing. However, when we only sing songs that were written in the last ten years or songs that are at the “top of the charts”, we’re missing out on a rich resource. God has used songs to encourage the church for hundreds of years, and we shouldn’t lightly dismiss them. Some of the greatest songs for worship were written long before we were even born!
Since music’s primary role in worship is to increase the impact of truth in our hearts, style is important. If the music we sing is a style that no one appreciates, we won’t hear the truth the songs contain (which may or may not be the case with Steve Green favorites). However, we should recognize that God’s Word is more important than our musical preferences, and it brings more glory to God for me to sing a song in a style that I don’t like, knowing that others might be blessed by it, than to refuse to worship him with that song at all.
Bob leads worship at the New Attitude conference with his son Devon. He is director of worship development for Sovereign Grace Ministries and is a pastor and worship leader at Covenant Life Church. He writes the blog WorshipMatters.