Worship - Modern or Liturgical?
What is your definition of worship? Is it a part of the service or the service as a whole? Are there clear rules on what is allowed or not? Theological issues can come to the forefront when worship is discussed at length within the church. We tend to either avoid the subject like a plague, or argue about it like we know exactly what God meant when he wrote the Bible. At any point, there are some things that we should all be able to agree on such as the purpose of worship, and the necessity of it. So let’s dive in and talk about what is probably the most debated thing within our churches today.
First, let’s discuss the distinction between worship music and worship as a whole. Ralph Martin defines it in these words: “Worship is the adoration and service to God the Father through the mediation of the Son and prompted by the Holy Spirit.” In a different perspective, Byrne Price says “worship is a dialogue, one that begins long before a community of believers gathers on a particular day to worship God and one that doesn’t end when the sound of the concluding benediction is no longer audible.” In both of these definitions, nothing has been mentioned about music, because worship goes far beyond music. However, since this is more focused on worship THROUGH music, we should take a different approach.
I have a thorough background in music. I have played piano since I was eight years old, started playing in a worship band when I was about fourteen years old, was in choir and musical theatre all throughout high school, and ended up getting my Bachelor’s in Music Education in college. I have played and sung everything from hymns and Gregorian chant, to Italian operas. I understand the attachment people have to listening to certain genres of music, and I understand how fiercely protective people are about the musical style of their churches, however during my lifetime, I have seen people become so obsessive over stylistic preferences that they forget all about what worship actually is.
Recently I took a class through The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary titled The Worshipping Church taught by none other than Matthew Boswell. (If you aren’t familiar with him, look him up because he writes amazing modern hymns.) I will admit during this class I was disappointed because a majority of the things we focused on was not church music, but rather church history. See, before we can properly understand worship in our modern context, we must understand how we got here.
Mini History Lesson
Long story short, there are references to music in 44 out of the 66 books of the Bible. People were intentionally trained to lead music in the temple, and were called upon in certain situations to lead people in worship. (2 Kings 3 - music used during prophecy, Numbers 10 - trumpets used for military commands, 2 Chron. 15:22 - musicians called on for dedication of temple) Through the centuries, worship music changed drastically and through the efforts of our typical classical composers (Beethoven, Mozart, etc) we eventually came to have hymns. Hymns were used in wide circulation by several different denominations for centuries. It hasn’t been until the last 100 years that worship music really got revamped.
“But I don’t like that”
People now tend to have strong opinions on modern worship music, and from a majority of the conversations I’ve had, the most frequent reason I hear from people against modern music is simply “that’s not the way we have always done it”. I will go ahead and state that if that is your attitude towards life, then you should reconsider because the Jews in the Old Testament had that same attitude and it blinded them from recognizing Jesus as Messiah when He was right in front of them. It is absolutely foolish and downplays the majesty of God when we make statements like “well that music has no value to our faith”, or even “God can’t use that music”. God is God, and is more than capable of using whatever means necessary to get our full attention, even worship music in a style that we don’t prefer.
When talking about worship music, people then start to debate what has value in the church. Here are two theological schools of thought regarding what is “allowed” in worship. There is the regulative principle, which states that in our corporate services only what is prescribed in Scripture is acceptable. This principle follows Paul’s idea of worship- only the reading of Scripture, praying, singing, giving offerings, testimonies, baptizing, and taking communion. The other principle is called the normative principle - anything in corporate worship is acceptable as long as it is glorifying to God and edifies the body except what Scripture forbids.
Before you immediately pick which one of those you agree with the most, let me point out some flaws in them. In the regulative principle, the use of pianos and organs would be forbidden. Ascribing to the regulative principle would mean only using instruments explicitly mentioned in the Bible, and singing only Psalms. The normative principle is the one that most of our churches already fall under, and the one that gives the most grace towards what churches chose to do. So is one of these right and the other wrong?
Is it wrong to have preferences over worship style? No, but it is when you are so unwilling to be open towards other avenues that God can use to further his Kingdom. At the end of the day, are we truly worshipping God or are we worshipping ourselves and our preferences? If what Bob Kauflin says is true that “what we love most will determine what we genuinely worship”, then are we loving music more than we love God? Are we loving our heritage more than seeing God move in people’s lives?
My personal definition of worship music, is any music regardless of style that glorifies God, edifies the Bible, and directly or indirectly quotes Scripture. All worship music, in my opinion, should point us towards characteristics of God and helps us to remember Scripture. I highly recommend forming a personal definition of worship music, and what you believe it should include, not based on personal preferences but on what is found to be true in Scripture.
Has this changed how you view worship? What is your definition of worship music? I’d love to know! Interact with me on any of my social media links or comment below what you found most helpful!