The connection between theology (what we believe) and behaviour (how we live) is undeniable. The way we live is directly affected by what we believe. The modern church’s growing involvement in adultery, divorce, pornography, lying, cheating, materialism etc. has not only led me to believe something is wrong with our theology, but also to another conclusion many people want to ignore - ‘praise and worship’ makes no difference to the way we live. All our singing and CDs have not deterred us from becoming like the world around us. Never before has the western church had more music and never before has it been more depraved in its behaviour. ‘Worship’ is now a style of music instead of being a style of life.
What does it mean to ‘worship’ these days? I heard a youth pastor once proudly describe how his young people ‘really know how to worship’, which was based entirely on how they participated in the singing during ‘awesome’ meetings and conferences. In the modern church the word ‘worship’ is almost exclusively associated with music. That’s why we say things like, ‘Let’s move into a time of worship’, when it comes to the slow music in a church service. What disturbs me is not only is worship all about music, but we have also compartmentalised Christianity into sacred and secular; times when we worship, and times when we don’t.
Music has very little to do with worship. If that sounds like heresy, then it’s time for short a Bible study. The first time the word ‘worship’ is used in the Bible is Genesis 22:5. ‘Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you”‘ (italics mine). Abraham wasn’t about to strap on an acoustic guitar and go with Isaac to sing some choruses. Instead of a guitar, he had wood for a burnt offering. Abraham was about to radically obey God and sacrifice the most precious thing to him, his boy, his only son Isaac. This is what the Bible calls worship. Worship has nothing to do with shutting our eyes, raising our hands and exuberantly singing the latest Hillsong hit. The thought of comparing that to what Abraham did is almost blasphemous. True worship is all about radical obedience and self-sacrifice. The people of the persecuted church know the true meaning of worship; compared to them we hardly have a right to comment, let alone hold a conference about it.
In case some of us think that the Abraham example was an isolated incident, the worship in the Tabernacle (built by Moses) and the Temple (built by Solomon) was no different. It all centred around real sacrifice and strict obedience. There was no music in the Inner Court or the Holy of Holies. It was only 100% obedience to the procedures God instituted that allowed the priest to enter those sacred places of worship. Obedience is something we do, not something we sing about.
‘Praise and worship’ is the Golden Calf (see Exodus 32) of the modern western church. Not only is our over-emphasis and homage to music concerning, but also what we are singing about. The focus of so many modern choruses is the individual (I want, I need). Some choruses carry this theme to the next level and make noble claims like this, ‘Jesus I believe in you and I would go to the ends of the earth…’ (direct quote from a song entitled, ‘To the ends of the earth’). I think Jesus would rather we not sing lines like that simply because it’s not true. We will hardly go to the end of the street, let alone the ends of the earth. When Peter started grand-standing about what he was going to do for Jesus, his bold grandiose claims weren’t met with appreciation and a pat on the back. Instead, Jesus told him the truth: he would deny Him 3 times. I’m sure if we turned our music down we would hear the rooster crowing.
We need to be more careful about the things we say and sing. Emotional high talk does not impress God. Good intentions are not good enough. It is better that we shut our mouths than make promises we can’t or won’t keep. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, ‘When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.’ When words become cheap and meaningless so does our commitment.
The first church (Acts 2), unlike the modern church, was centred on the three Cs: Christ, community, charity. There were no music teams, building funds or motivational speakers. Christianity at its heart is a social movement. Jesus was a holistic humanitarian, not a singer/songwriter. That the heroes of the modern church are musicians and so-called ‘worship leaders’ is a sign of how far we have moved from the example of scripture. The first church turned the Roman Empire on its head, not with music and conferences, but with a self-sacrificing love for the risen Christ and for their neighbours. Their worship was their lives, literally. ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church’ (Tertullian).
I wonder. Is the modern church with all its money, music and materialism what Jesus had in mind that day He ascended to the Father? Is this the Gospel He left us with? What message are we actually preaching to the world? I asked a Buddhist friend of mine what he thought of the church and his polite, honest reply was a wake-up call: ‘The church seems more concerned about buildings and finance’. Whether we like it or not, that is the perception of the outside world. What we think ‘they’ think is not the reality.
Early twenty-first-century evangelicalism mimics popular culture as closely and successfully as anyone could ever hope to while still getting away with it. In each case the end result is not only a betrayal of the faith but a hapless impotence before the very audience the church was out to impress. — Oz Guinness, Prophetic Untimeliness
The message the modern church gives to the world is not Christ, but, ‘we want to be just like you’. What is measured as success in the church is a mirror image of success in the world. The beatitudes are out, the beautiful people are in. After a serious moral crisis at a certain church the financial manager was heard to say while the offering was being counted, ‘Well, there are still plenty of people and the money is coming in; God’s hand must be on us’. Since when has popularity and money determined whether God’s hand is on something? Under that criteria famous death metal bands and the mafia have God’s approval too. The prosperity doctrine has certainly produced some twisted theology, and lifestyles to go along with it.
Is there any hope for the modern church? Yes, but this predicament is not something we can sing our way out of. The answer is worship. We must worship like Abraham. It’s time to put down our guitars, pick up wood for a burnt offering and make the trip to Moriah, the place of sacrifice. True worship is all about radical obedience and real sacrifice.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments — Jesus, John 14:15
(All Bible quotes from the ESV)