Years ago, many churches in our denomination (and in many other denominations) experienced what were later called the “Worship Wars.” Can you imagine? Churches fought over organ or piano; hymnals or projectors; hymns or contemporary music. Some churches actually split over this issue. Martin Lloyd Jones, a British pastor and theologian observed that
“the question of singing caused more quarreling and divisions in churches than practically anything else, that singing gave the devil more frequent opportunities of hindering and disrupting the work than any other activity in Church life.” Worship is an area of church life where theology and personal preferences overlap, and the enemy would seek to exploit this area of the church in order to do great damage.
There are real dangers in the area of worship. Perhaps we decide that we want worship that makes us feel good. Or we insist on singing only songs from the hymnal. Or we dismiss music because it doesn’t match our personal tastes. The list is lengthy…
Recently, the worship committee met to talk about our convictions on worship in the life of our congregation. Together, we came up with several core, biblical convictions about worship. These are still in process, and so your feedback is welcome!
"The purpose of worship is to come together in Christian fellowship, sharing in common our bond in Christ, to remember God’s grace, demonstrated in Jesus, and to express our communal adoration of God."
"Worship must faithfully reflect the word of God, as we understand it from a Reformed Point of view. We must be careful to guard against inaccurate biblical teachings from shaping our theology of worship."
"The church is unlike any other organization, in that we are made up of people from a wide range of ages, ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and walks of life. Corporate worship must help each group express their love for God. Thus, the purpose of worship leaders (praise team, musicians, singers, organists, readers, etc.) is to HELP The CHURCH express her worship (not to perform, not to take over, or drown out, etc.)"
"We will not define our worship by age (catering to younger or older believers) preference (contemporary or traditional) or anything else. Our worship reflects our unique makeup as a part of the body of Christ."
"Scripture reflects a wide variety of musical styles, which the church is free to engage in."
Do you have thoughts or questions? If you are on Facebook, check out the church’s facebook page, under “Discussion” and post your comments. Or, feel free to email me. Let us worship the Lord together; let us sing to the Lord our God!
