The Bible Nerd

Sometimes, you can just feel a few “heretic” emails coming your way. I know this post title will ruffle a few people’s feathers. I get why people use “worship” in talking about doing everyday tasks. First, there are many Christians out there like me with no musical talent whatsoever. I have at least 4 different levels of monotone, and I often have to lip sync in worship because I can’t go that high or that low. Telling me I can worship while doing housework, for example, makes me feel like I can be a better worshiper of God. Let’s face reality, it also makes it easier to motivate people to do a better job at chores they view as “non spiritual”. The problem is that the Bible simply doesn’t support using the word “worship” this way.

I know, I know, you will quote Romans 12:1 to me, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” To some people, they see this verse as Paul creating a new category of worship, called “spiritual worship”. The example of spiritual worship then is offering your life to God, which then opens the door for a wider meaning. If offering our lives is worship, then it is the heart of honoring and revering God that matters, not the action. You can therefore honor and pay respect to God by scrubbing toilets with all your heart, serving the poor, or preaching the Gospel. Worship loses it’s attachment to any specific actions, and now becomes possible in all areas of a believer’s life.

First of all, the context of this passage in Romans can’t be overlooked. Paul has been attempting to bring the Jewish and Gentile Christians back into unity in the church of Rome. The first 11 chapters lay the theological reasons for unity, as they are all one body in Christ. Now in chapter 12, Paul turns to the application, or walking out of this unity. One of the areas of contention is about worship, as evidenced in chapter 14. The Jews are meeting on Saturday to worship, while the Gentiles are meeting on other days. The Jews are still following the food laws, while the Gentiles do not worry about ceremonial uncleanliness. This verse about worship in 12:1 is addressing this issue.

The Jews no longer have to follow the sacrificial laws of the old covenant to worship God. Some of the Jews may be saying that they are “the chosen” because of the old covenant and laws they follow. Paul has rejected this as salvation is by faith, but here he is redefining sacrifice, not worship per se. Even though they don’t sacrifice animals, they can offer up their lives as a sacrifice to God. It is the same line of reasoning in Hebrews 13:15, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” In Hebrews, it isn’t your life, but praise that is used as a replacement for animal sacrifice. The point in both verses is showing that though the old covenant is dead, the concept of sacrifice is still there through praise and offering our lives. Neither is attempting to completely change the normal actions associated with worship.

Second, by digging into the Greek, we can see that not all translators even agree that the word “worship” should be used in Romans 12:1. It is not the typical Greek word “proskuneo” which is closest to the Old Testament “shachah”. It is the Greek word “latreia” which is closer to the Hebrew word “abad”. Therefore, many English translations use the words “acceptable service” not “spiritual worship”. Remember from our post on the meaning of worship that both bowing down and service are part of the meaning of Biblical “worship”, but many times the words are translated as “service”  if the context fits. Since Bible scholars don’t even agree on the translation, should we be building whole teachings that stand or fall on one disputed translation??? No.

I can find no Old Testament passages where worship is used in the way I hear today. It is never “all that you do for God with a heart of respect and honor” but was something that involved a more defined area of actions. These actions involved sacrifice of animals, singing Psalms, bowing down, prayer, festivals, and in general paying homage. In the New Testament, there are over 70 references to worship, and these are the only two I can find where you could try to stretch them to make it apply to other actions. You can’t take 2 passages and overlook the 99% where worship is used in the same traditional way as the OT usages (of which there are over 100 of them, none of them “spiritualizing” worship).

You may ask at this point why I care about this. I care because if you are looking for verses about all we do, you could easily use 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” or Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Both of these show how we can give God glory and thanks in all we do, by doing it with the right attitude. We don’t need to change the meaning of worship to use these to motivate ourselves and others in all areas of our lives. Second, I simply feel that we cause worship to lose something by applying it to all things. It was meant to be something sacred and special, where our actions of prayer, singing, bowing down, and paying homage were purposeful and in a time set aside for it. Sometimes I feel if worship is everything, then it becomes nothing.

If I ever start complaining too much about worship today, all I need to do is reread Leviticus. I don’t know about you, but I would be so busy following all the worship laws that I wouldn’t have time to do much else. Why? Two words: sacrificial system. If I had to head down to the tabernacle or temple every time I had a sin described in Leviticus, I would be buying sheep by the Costco super value size packs. As I stood in line waiting to offer my sin sacrifice, I would probably sin some more as I had bad thoughts about the old person in line in front of me taking way too long to transfer his guilt over to that goat. I would then just end up getting back in line again. I wonder if they had frequent sacrifice miles?

What Leviticus is trying to impress upon us is what an unholy person has to do to worship a holy God. How does a person stained with sin and guilt approach the throne of God (the mercy seat), enter His dwelling (tabernacle), and offer praise and thanksgiving? There must be a penalty and judgment for the sin, and unless the worshiper wanted to die personally, he needed to bring a substitution to offer in his place. God isn’t being mean or making people simply jump through hoops, it is the consequence of our rebellion against Him starting in Genesis 3. We have only ourselves to blame for the complicated ceremonial procedures. Consider how even the design and rules of worship communicate how small the access is to God.

Only Hebrew men are allowed to come into the inner court of God. Only Hebrew men over 25 and of the tribe of Levi have a chance to go any further. Only those of the specific line of Aaron, inside the tribe of Levi,  have a chance to go into the holy place. Only one day a year, on the day of atonement in Lev. 16, does just one man, the high priest, have a chance to enter the holy of holies.  If he fails to follow the exact letter of the law, the other priests will end up pulling him out dead on the end of a rope. From the opening of the outer tent wall, to the holy place, to the holy of holies, the entry way to God is smaller and less accessible. The bronze laver reminded them that they need to be purified to approach God. The altar was a daily reminder of their unworthiness and sin as they worshiped God.

The author of Hebrews understood well how blessed he was to be living in the new covenant of Jesus. Hebrews 10:19-23 says, “  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Imagine how a Jew might feel understanding the significance of what Jesus did. For over 1,400 years, his people have been in the old covenant, following the hundreds of laws governing worship. Even with those laws, there was a constant reminder of their separation from God. Most Jews would never see the Holy Place, and almost none would ever see where God dwelt in the holy of holies.

They couldn’t even eat without thinking through the laws of Leviticus. Slip up and have that pulled pork sandwich, and you can’t go in and worship until you have offered a sacrifice of cleansing. Get that tattoo of Dagon your girlfriend talks you into, busted again, no worship until it is dealt with. Leviticus 11 – 15 lists all the ways a person could become unclean and be barred from worship. Now, these Messianic Jews realize that Jesus has opened a new way. One in which He is the sacrifice, and they no longer need to kill sheep after sheep to approach God. He declares all foods clean to the apostle Peter, and you can finally have the pork ribs after church. Yet, the real shocker is that Jesus has opened the way for the average person to access the very throne of grace. It went from only one person once a year to all who have faith in Jesus and are covered by His sacrifice on the cross!

I will be honest with you here (does that mean I haven’t been honest in the rest of this post?). I will sing hymns with or without music, wear robes, eat tasteless wafers, sit in uncomfortable wooden pews, stand up or sit down, raise my hands or cross myself, play the guitar or organ, do that same chorus over and over that just goes, “La, la, la, la, la”, read responsively or sing prophetically, and all that stuff we do in worship today and STILL be eternally grateful for what Jesus has done for us to allow us access to God in our worship through Him instead of the sacrificial system and old covenant laws. It just puts things in perspective for me. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “ Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Amen.

Reality check: what would our worship look like without revelation from God? We would be cutting ourselves and using our blood to satisfy and connect with gods. Sex would be a common form of worship, and most women who worked in religion would be glorified prostitutes. We would have to “dress” our god every day, and feed him with our offerings.  Our service would basically turn into a drunken orgy with “prophets” yelling and dancing around, channeling the spirit of the gods. If we were truly devout, we might even offer our first born child as a holocaust to the gods, burning them alive.

We are kidding ourselves if we think that we would have progressed on our own to a more “civilized” concept of God and worship. There is a reason that God said in Leviticus 18:3-4, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God.” I wasn’t going for shock value when I was describing horrific means of worship above. That is ACTUALLY the way the Canaanites and surrounding nations worshiped their gods when the Israelites were moving into the Promised Land. That is ACTUALLY the way that Abram and his forefathers worshiped before God rescued him. Joshua 24:2, ““This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped (Hebrew=abad, or served) other gods.”

God rescued Abraham from idol worship just as He rescued the Israelites from such ugly worship in His divine revelation. If we don’t understand this, we will have two problems. First, we won’t understand why God follows the simplicity of Abraham’s worship with the codified,  ceremonial laws about worship in the old covenant. It would seem confusing why God adds so many rules and stipulations to worship, if you don’t understand Egyptian and Canaanite worship. Second, we modern day Christians won’t have a true appreciation of what God has done for us, to save us from sacrificing our own children in service to a false god. We haven’t even gotten to how appreciative we should be for Jesus rescuing us from old covenant worship!

Have you ever wondered about odd laws in Leviticus such as 17:10, ““‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. ” or 18:19, ““‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.”, or 19:27, ““‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” or 17:7, “They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.’” All of these laws were safeguards to keep the Israelites from worshiping God like the surrounding, pagan nations worshiped their own gods. It is appropriate at this time to say “Ewwwww…. yuck!” or “Thank you God!”

We need to be so aware of the fact that unless God had made this known to us, we would all still be worshiping God (or gods) this way. Any of you who are reading this from an idolatrous nations know the truth of what I am saying, or if you have visited a nation where there is a majority worshiping false gods, you may have gained a whole new appreciation of your church’s worship times. Often, as we fight about worship styles, musical tastes, hymns or modern songs, we lose sight of the bigger picture of what God has rescued us from, organ or no organ. Reading through Exodus to Deuteronomy should refresh our memories. Stories like the golden calf highlight how man thinks worship should be.

Before we get too proud, we should remember that even after God made these things known to Israel, they STILL kept worshiping in this way. Judges 2:10-12, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped (Hebrew = shachah) various gods of the peoples around them.” I don’t want to forget or ignore what God has done for us. I am glad that I can worship together with my first born son, rather than be offering him as my worship.

Ancient future worship. Modern worship. Emerging worship. Interactive worship. Liturgical worship. Postmodern worship. Contextual worship. Generational worship. Elmo worship. By the time you are through, the complexity of worship styles and approaches can leave your head spinning. Everyone has an opinion on HOW the church should worship. As a missionary, I have the added fun of thinking through how culture shapes and alters worship. In the end, sometimes I miss the simplicity of worship from my younger days.

That is when I go back and read through the life of Abraham, and think about his worship of God. It was simple. No law to speak of, no priesthood, no tabernacle or temple, no ceremonial liturgy, no Psalms, nothing that would come later in the covenant based worship. Genesis 12:6-8 describes what Abraham’s worship looked like.

Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

Wow, that seems way simpler than what we do today. Abraham is in daily relationship with God, praying and receiving revelation. In response to God’s revelation and guidance, Abraham wants to express his gratitude and awe of a personal, yet powerful God. He doesn’t travel to some far away place making pilgrimage. He doesn’t build some elaborate building or temple. He doesn’t start a cult or set up ceremonial laws. He grabs a few rocks and makes a crude altar. Most likely, he offered some type of sacrifice, although that isn’t stated here. It would have been something simple and on hand, possibly a sheep. Then he “calls upon the name of the Lord”. What did that look like? What did he say about the name of the Lord? We don’t know, and the author of Genesis thinks that information is sufficient.

Can worship really be that simple? We don’t even need to offer sacrifices anymore (see Hebrews), so we can even cut that step out. Simple worship doesn’t mean that Abraham’s reverence for God wasn’t meaningful or deep. Intricate ceremony doesn’t mean that the heart behind it is more sincere. This would be proven in Genesis 22 in Abraham’s case.

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship (shachah) and come again to you.”

When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Abraham tells his men that he is going to “worship” God. After waiting so long for his promised son, the heir of the land, Abraham doesn’t appear to hesitate when told to sacrifice him. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that he believed that God would raise him from the dead to fulfill His promise. Even though there was no law, there was an understanding somehow that sacrifice was necessary to approach and worship God. We will discuss this more when looking at worship in Leviticus. Though Abraham’s worship was simple, it had a challenge that most will never face in their lives, testing the authenticity of his faith toward God.

Thankfully, we know how the story ends. God provides a ram and Isaac is spared. The whole event is a clear foreshadow of God the father offering His son Jesus on the cross to make atonement for man and open up true worship. A clear message was also sent that God is not an idol who requires the life of children to satisfy Him (unlike Molech, a Canaanite god Israelites end up worshiping). The challenge to us is to return to the depth and simplicity of Abraham’s worship. Of course, we still need to consider culture, details of the service, words of the songs we sing, and other matters. However, if we lose the heart and power of true worship, we are wasting our time fighting over details or stressing out over complexity. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go grab a couple of rocks, make a pile, and call upon the name of the Lord.

“I don’t feel like worshiping today.” I have to admit that I have either said that out loud or thought that way more times than I would like to admit. It is basically saying that my worship of God depends on how I feel, which usually means am I happy with my life. Are things going well with ministry? my family? my finances? If they are, then yeehaw, it is time to do same David like worship and dance in the streets. However, if an unexpected bill comes in, my car breaks down, or the internet is too slow today, and my hands go in my pockets during worship (or I at least fold them behind my back to sort of look respectful when I am refusing to sing along). This kind of attitude doesn’t really go with the Biblical definitions of worship.

In the New Testament, the word “worship” is most often used for the Greek word “proskuneo”. “Proskuneo” has a very similar meaning to the Hebrew “shachah”, in that it was used to describe the action of bowing down and kissing the feet of a king, ruler, superior, etc… It can literally be translated “to kiss” or “kiss the hand to” and was the Oriental practice of touching one’s head to the ground as a sign of profound reverence. You can see this in the following verse:

Matthew 18:26 (NIV)
“The servant fell on his knees [proskuneo] before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

In the same way as the Old Testament, when “proskuneo” is used to describe an action toward God, most often the word “worship” is used by translators.

John 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship [proskuneo] in spirit and in truth.”

Since it took on meaning beyond the original action of bowing and doing obeisance, we have to ask what additional meanings did it take on? First of all, no where in the New Testament is proskuneo/worship used to describe the whole service of when a church gathers together. That leaves the question though what actions or attitudes accurately describe worship. Prayer? singing? communion? Before we can try to answer these, we must consider why this Greek word was chosen. Also, just as with the Hebrew “abad”, a few times the Greek word “latreo” (service) is translated as “worship”. So, deep reverence and respect is combined with obedient lifestyles to make up the term worship.

I don’t see anything about our feelings in any of these Biblical terms. Of course, we want to “want” to worship God. I love the times of worship when I feel true joy AND happiness in my praise of God. Yet, even in the worst times of my life, I still should have deep respect and honor for God, as well as an obedient lifestyle. Obedience tested by the fires of trials often yields the sweetest worship times. Great hymns that we treasure have often been borne out of times of personal tragedy (“It is Well with my Soul” for example). Our obedience also doesn’t hinge on how much we are enjoying our lives. Otherwise, Jeremiah the prophet should have had a free pass to sin based on his suffering.

The other thing that you can’t get around is that whatever word is translated as “worship”, it seems to involve some type of action. Yes, true worship comes from the right heart attitude, but it is still an action. Whether we decide it is still bowing down, singing, or praying out, worship must not be reduced to a concept or feeling. That would be like saying, “I am an evangelist at heart, and my life shows Jesus, so I don’t need to actually say anything.” Lame. The Bible always portrays evangelism as proclamation of the Gospel, the message of the cross. In the same way, you can honor and respect God in your heart, but that is not worship. At least not in the Bible.

It doesn’t really matter then whether or not I “feel” like worshiping or not. God is ALWAYS deserving of my homage and obeisance. Worship is based on who He is, and He is never changing. He is king yesterday, today, and forever, so I must bow before Him forever. Isn’t that the picture we see in Revelation 7 as all the saints bow before Him in eternal worship? I guess I have to take my hands out of my pockets, set aside whatever worries me, and focus on the sovereign creator of the universe. You didn’t get to tell the kings of this earth, “Hey, I don’t feel like bowing before you, so maybe tomorrow.” Attitudes like this were followed by statements like, “Off with his head!” God isn’t going to whack my head off (hopefully), but it is His grace and love that motivate me to worship Him at all times.

I guess we can’t go too far without answering one really basic question: what is worship? Seems like a simple thing, but I hear it used in all different ways. Some people use the word worship to refer to the whole Sunday morning experience as in “Wasn’t the worship service great this morning?” Others use worship exclusively to talk about what we do in the service generally before the sermon as in, “Man, worship time was awesome this morning!”. This is usually mostly about singing in people’s minds. Finally, some people believe you worship through your lifestyle, as in “Worship God by loving and serving others.” At this rate, worship may end up meaning being alive as in, “Wow! I am so glad to still be worship.” Ok, maybe that is taking it too far, but clearly we need some help from the Bible to define this.

Unfortunately “worship” is just an English word that we use to translate SEVERAL words in both Hebrew and Greek. Our word “worship” comes from the Old English “weorthscipe,” which means worthiness. We “worship” someone because they are “worth” the respect they receive. In British English, “Worship” was actually used as a title for various officials, usually magistrates and some mayors. You have to look at these passages in the Bible to decide if the word worship fits best, and why translators chose this term.

In the Old Testament, worship is most often used for the Hebrew word “shachah”, which originally literally meant to bow down before someone “worthy” of honor or obedience. Occasionally, some translations will use worship for the Hebrew word “abad”, which usually carries a connotation of serving, generally in a liturgical sense (there are a few other Hebrew words translated as “worship,” but the uses are more rare). What we need to think about is what these Hebrew words tell us about how people have relationship with God.

“Shachah” is often translated as “prostrated”/”bow down”/”pay homage” in the English Bible. This was the appropriate behavior when in the presence of a king or powerful ruler.  Here are a few examples from the NIV of this:

Genesis 23:7 (NIV) Then Abraham rose and bowed down [shachah] before the people of the land, the Hittites.

1 Kings 1:23 (NIV)
And they told the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.” So he went before the king and bowed [shachah] with his face to the ground.

However, when “shacah” is used as an action done before God, translators use the term “worship” to indicate that it isn’t just homage to a person, but rather to God. It may mean the person is literally bowing down before God, but it also reflects their heart toward Him.

Exodus 24:1
Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship [shachah] at a distance…

Exodus 33:10 (NASB)
When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship [shachah], each at the entrance of his tent.

From the first passage, we can see that God Himself is quoted as using the word “shachah” and He is telling the Israelites HOW they should worship. God has foundational guidelines for worship. Second, both of these references are from Exodus, yet the last passage seems to indicate that “shachah” has taken on a new meaning beyond bowing down. How else can we explain that the people “arise” and worship? That in it’s literal sense would be an oxymoron. The Jews themselves saw the progression of the term from a physical stance to a heart attitude and action meaning  paying honor to God.

The term “shachah” then shows us that worship is our deep humility before God, bowing before Him in all things, yet also carries a connotation of obedience. What good is it to an earthly king if you bowed down before him with no intent to follow his law? To “shacah” without obedience following is fairly useless to a king. Our worship of God rests on grace as we are saved in Jesus, however, our heart attitude needs to be that in worshiping God, we are combining it with an effort at a life of obedience. Otherwise, our worship can be hollow.

The other Hebrew word used for worship is “abad”, and literally means “to serve”.  When people are serving (abad) God, some translators use the term “worship” as in the following Scriptures:

Exodus 3:12(NIV)     And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. ”

Exodus 20:5(NIV)     You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…”

The clear contrast here is of serving/worshiping God instead of serving/worshiping idols. In the first reference, the Israelites were to serve God through sacrifice and paying Him honor. In the second, they were commanded not to do the same for false gods. Like “shachah” there is an element of obedience in worship.

In the next post, we will look at the New Testament Greek words normally translated as worship. For now, let us think about and apply what we have learned from the Hebrew terms. Worship represented a deep felt humility and honoring one who was worthy of  respect and honor. So much so, that they often literally got down on their face to “worship” God. I am not saying we all need to hit the carpet, but our heart attitudes and lack of pride should show that same bowing down mentality. The Hebrew words also showed how worship is connected to our obedient lifestyle. Going and singing on Sunday, even if you have a great voice, doesn’t impress God. He is looking for worship that flows from our whole life of following Him and His holy ways.

Something seems really wrong with the whole title of the “Worship Wars”. It’s like I suddenly have visions of robed choir leaders lobbing grenades into the modern worship drummer’s cage. In a counter attack, the organist ducks and throws a mean upper cut to the cool guitar guy wearing jeans and t-shirt. All right, I realize that people take the debate in worship seriously, and so do I. I am just not sure who the genius was who coined the term “worship wars” and escalated the discussion to a global event needing United Nations intervention.

Initially the worship war was between traditional churches who favored hymnals and organs, and modern worship teams spawned in the Jesus movement who used guitars and newly written songs. Growing up, I always thought the worship war was between the liturgical churches using doxologies and schedules, and the Pentecostal churches whose spontaneous worship services included speaking in tongues and people getting slain in the Spirit. Pick up a new book on worship, and they will tell you that the worship war is between seeker friendly “pop” worship music, and emerging church’s eclectic mix of liturgy and multi-sensory experiences like mazes. If this war gets any more complex, we will need trading cards for each view on worship. Then, we could have a nerdy battle card game based on this.

I can’t really go any further in our series of posts on the church without wading into this dangerous territory. However, I want to make it clear that I am not a professionally trained church musician. I am not even an untrained, guitar wielding modern worship leader. I tried to learn to play the guitar at age 30, and achieved the level of “trained monkey”. I have “led” worship, although I would use that term very loosely. My favorite time was when I got so lost leading one song that I completely stopped in the middle of the song. Really nowhere to go after that. What I do have is 40 years of experience being a Christian who has gone to a LOT of worship services. In addition to that, I have been a Bible teacher for 17 years and have done topical studies on worship in the Bible.

After that glowing confidence builder, I want to once again bring us back from all the eloquent speakers, well written books, and convincing speakers to the simplicity of asking, “What does the Bible say about worship?” It won’t answer all of our questions, as the Bible is NOT a manual on worship with tons of details on music styles, activities, and so on. The Bible will provide us with the foundational purpose of worship along with some very practical examples. We can know what worship isn’t, which goes a long way in hopefully ending the worship wars.

As we study through, we will get to look at some statements that get thrown around the church these days. Worship is a lifestyle. You can worship God by scrubbing toilets. Singing is not necessary to worship God. The Bible says that we shouldn’t use musical instruments. Liturgy is better as it keeps us rooted in church tradition and avoids the “me centric” modern worship trend. No one understands hymns, so dump them for songs written in everyday English. Worship should be spontaneous. Worship is affirming who God is, it is not about our emotional high. What would it sound like if Raffi made a kids’ worship CD?

I have to be honest here. After 40 years of mostly evangelical church services, the 4 songs and done sets have lost something to me. Sometimes, I just hope they will sing 1 1/2 songs just to mess with me and the order. I do struggle at times with how some modern worship songs just talk about how I feel. Who cares how I feel, God created the universe! I don’t know who the guy is making a killing off of worship song Powerpoint backgrounds, but I don’t want to see anyone else raising their hands behind the words, or watch waves roll in as I try to read the lyrics to Amazing Grace. Don’t even get me started on how I feel when worship leaders tell you what to do. You raise your hands if you want, or say something to your neighbor, but leave me alone pal!

In the midst of all of it, I know that God must have something to say to the church today about worship. I know that there have been times during worship where God has given me my life call, touched me with grace that changed my life direction, and given me a vision of woman in a wedding dress (yes, my soon to be wife). God has brought me to repentance, used me to encourage others prophetically, and begun whole movements in churches I have attended through worship. It is so worth it to press through the issues to the heart of God on worship. Sing to the Lord a new song! … but just know someone will probably complain about your song (too loud, too long, not deep enough, too deep, not enough instruments, too many… bla, bla, bla).