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Foundations for Leading in Christian Worship

Seminar prepared for Teen Leadership Conference 2005

Baptist Bible College, Clarks Summit PA.

Prepared by David B. McGrew

Instructor of Music & Church Music Program Coordinator

9.5 Theses on Worship

Extracted from article appearing in Christianity Today

by Dr. Gary Parrett

read complete article

1. Our Heavenly Father wills that the whole life of believers should be worship.

2. The word worship, when applied to public gatherings of the saints, must not be reduced to a synonym for singing praises to God.

3. Worship involves a rhythm of revelation and response: God graciously reveals Himself to us, and we faithfully respond—all the elements must help worshippers participate in this rhythm.

4. Those who lead the congregation in song must be theologically equipped for this important task.

5. Faithful response to God involves more than praise—we need a much broader range of songs available for congregations.

6. The body of Christ in worship is more than an assembly of individual worshippers—we need more “we” songs

7. The body of Christ is far bigger than what we see in the gathered community—and our songs should reflect this.

8. Those who lead the church in song are called to assist the congregation in its singing, not to replace it—technologies such as amplification must be used with theological and pastoral sensitivity.

9. The Seeker that we serve in our worship services is, first and foremost, God Himself.

9.5 In its services of public worship, the church must obey such scriptures as Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

A philosophy of worship is the organized account of a Biblical meditation on the Christian’s intimate relationship with God. It is a record of answers to “What? Why? and How?” questions about Christian worship. It is a document that makes foundations and objectives clear for an assembly of believers gathered together for the purpose of adoring God.

The corporate process of developing a philosophy of worship should build unity. Unified people are freed to delight in the process of working together and are often first to taste the fruit of their labor. The finished document, like a constitution, is a referent for the future. Both the process and the product give perspective on where a local church finds itself historically. A historical understanding gives direction for ongoing endeavors.

The finished philosophy generally exists in two forms: one is detailed and another simply comprised of abstracts from this. The goal is to build something that is indigenous to the local body of believers who formed it and timely in that it clarifies church position on important current issues; however, it should also embrace the vision of saints from every nation, tribe and tongue gathered around God’s throne in Revelation 5—a vision that implies a preference for timeless truth shared across millennia.

A philosophy of worship may be created by exhaustively answering the questions, “What is Christian worship?” “Why do believers worship?” and “How does our local assembly worship?” The language used to answer should satisfy inquiry into both how things ought to be done as well as how things are being done. The scope of each answer should reach into the future as much as possible.

What follows is an initial, non-exhaustive consideration of these three fundamental questions. They represent points from which to depart rather than conclusions. Take these answers to be a kind of first-stage development process.

For a Christian, the inspired word of God must be the source of definitions for spiritual life. With the fathers of the Protestant Reformation we must uncompromisingly cry out, “Sola Scriptura!” The, “I think . . .” of a child of God must be matured into thoughts that emanate from the Father himself. Like Christ, every servant of God must confess, “. . . not as I will but as you will.” [MT 26:39b] The Christian also sees scripture in motion—unfolding in one mighty crescendo toward the cross.

Since scripture exhorts regarding belief in God’s nature, “. . . even demons believe—and shudder!” [JAS 2:19], there must be a component to sincere Christian faith that is radically different. It is no accident that the Psalmist writes, “. . .and on his law he meditates day and night.” [PS 1:39b] Nor are Paul’s words carelessly penned, “. . . but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” [ROM 12:2] Meditation must lead to belief in the propositional truths of the gospel. There is an undeniable point where reason and faith meet without anxiety over each other.

Confession and meditation on scripture introduces the restless soul to God and to His gospel. Belief in the gospel and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit must lead to a joy-filled life. The great difference between this life and the lifestyle of happiness found through self-help seminars that acquaint those in search of happiness with an optimistic outlook on life and a community of like-minded searchers is this: the seminar opens to a doorway of personal choice through which one may walk in that decided-upon state of mind; the gospel shows the only Way to the Door beyond which the believer must walk in newness of life. A community so comprised is a community of “founders”; that is, in contrast to “searchers.” They have been found by God and find orthodoxy of community in Christ. Here, then, is one answer to the first question, “What is Christian worship?”

Christian worship may be defined as a ^[1] confession of the unchangeable ways of God and His mighty acts; a ^[2] meditation upon these until the mind of a worshipper is renewed through belief; and an overflow of ^[3] response in Spirit.

Scriptures teach believers to worship. Furthermore, the soul of a scripture-confessing Christian has found rest in God—because of the gospel preached as peace with God—through Christ alone (”Sola Christus!”). Who has found peace with God and not discovered therein the most profound meaning in life? Our sins are forgiven; our God reigns; we have access to the dwelling place of the most high through our great high priest—who counts us as both adopted children and friends. This is why gospel worship is an overflow of response in Spirit.

No believer who has grasped the gravity of this good news can remain silent. Believers worship because the Holy Spirit dwells within them, swinging the double-edged blade of the Word to teach, reprove, correct, train in righteousness—in startling confirmation of what Christ said to the Samaritan woman, “. . . but the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” [JN 4:23] Truth is foundational to worship. So, in answer to the question “Why do believers worship?”:

Believers worship because ^[1] they have been set free by the gospel ^[2] they cannot remain silent because this good-news has been confirmed by the Holy Spirit ^[3] through the law of love, they delight in obedience to the Word which the Spirit of God confirms.

Consider the nature of our present condition as the church of Christ. As one man put it, there is the “already,” and there is the, “not yet.” We are already fellow heirs of the promise in Christ Jesus [Eph. 3:6] yet what we will be has not yet appeared, for when we see it we will be like Christ [I Jn. 3:2]. To focus on one at the expense of the other creates a deficiency that will ultimately manifest itself in a kind of spiritual sickness. It is very important to assess the particular culture of a community of Christian worshippers because we are all stuck in the flux of already / not yet. All cultures are impermanent. The constant change informs how pressing the need is for the philosophical implication to be transformed into wise application.

Again, timeliness and timelessness should be put in order. Nothing should be done merely because it is timely. Timeless truth, however, should define everything the church does.

The already / not yet principle should keep us conscious of the church as a unified whole: we all look forward to the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. There is no distinction on this matter between the old and the young. There should be a deep hunger for the old and young to worship together. Both should be eager to gaze at the glory of Zion. The transience of any culture must melt with a fervent heat before our timeless Hope.

Not one page of scripture will fail to stand the test of time. God’s Word is core to what we confess as timeless truth. We confess the truth of scripture with prayer, thoughtful reflection, and exuberant praise when we gather together corporately. “How does our local assembly worship?”:

Our local church worships with ^[1] an understanding of and an appreciation for timeless Biblical truth confessed in different ways throughout church history ^[2] an intergenerational communion that raises timeless truth high above temporary trends ^[3] prayer, thoughtful reflection, and praise—both silently and aloud, in song and in spoken word—that God Himself would be known through His holy Word.

1. God-Centeredness. We put a high priority on the vertical focus of our corporate worship services. The ultimate aim is to understand God in such a way that He is glorified in our affections.

2. Expecting the powerful presence of God. We do not just direct ourselves toward Him. We earnestly seek His drawing near according to the promise of James 4:8. We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes Himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in the midst.

3. Bible-based and Bible-saturated. The content of our singing and praying and welcoming and preaching and poetry should always conform to the truth of Scripture. But more than that, the content of God’s Word should be woven through all we do in worship and will be the ground of all our appeal to authority.

4. Head and heart. The elements of our worship service should aim at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, especially joy, but should not manipulate people’s emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things based on shareable evidences outside ourselves.

5. Earnestness and intensity. We will try to avoid being trite, flippant, superficial, or frivolous, but instead will aim to set an example of reverence and passion and wonder and broken-hearted joy.

6. Authentic communication. We utterly renounce all sham, deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, affectation, and posturing. We do not pursue the atmosphere of artistic or oratorical performance, but the atmosphere of a radically personal encounter with God and truth.

7. The manifestation of God and the common good. We expect and hope and pray (according to I Cor. 12:7) that our focus on the manifesting of God is good for people and that a spirit of love for each other is not incompatible with, but necessary to, authentic worship.

8. Undistracting excellence. We will try to sing and play and preach in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the substance by shoddy ministry nor by excessive finesse, elegance, or refinement. Natural, undistracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through. We will invest in equipment good enough to be undistracting in transmitting heartfelt truth.

9. The mingling of historic and contemporary music. No church or service can be all things to all people. But we do not value stylistic narrowness. We believe there are affections owing to God that different tunes and different texts and different genres may awaken better than others. We will strive to be who we are without exalting our own tastes as the standard of excellence or power. We will see God’s guidance in each worship-setting to be both indigenous and stretching.