Ok, this has bugged me for three days, so I have to get it out. This weekend I was very uncomfortable as I listened to a pastor preach. There were a few good parts I supported. But much of the sermon frustrated me to no end. It was about worship, a very important topic that needs to be addressed. But he blew it, just like so many preachers and Bible teachers today. Since God only cares about what’s in our hearts, does it matter if we worship even by clanging pots and pans as long as it’s with a sincere heart? Yes, it does. Stay with me, now. Let me explain.

The Situation

I really don’t like being critical of people, especially well-intentioned people. But when it comes to the Bible, truth, and holiness, I get very protective. That also means I have to keep myself in check for what I teach and preach. The Bible says teachers and preachers will be held to a higher standard than others because of the importance of their influence, so it’s not unreasonable to hold them accountable for their messages. But it should be done in love and with the hope to correct and rejoin in fellowship. Nevertheless, there is a rampant problem in the church today, as I see it, and this sermon went right along with it.

The order of service was changed, for one thing, which was actually a welcome delight. Normally the church, in typical church fashion, begins with engaging music, then the offertory and Lord’s Supper (Eucharist), followed by the sermon and closing altar call. This time, however, there was one opening song, then the offertory and Lord’s Supper, followed immediately by the sermon, which then led to a few more songs of worship and praise.

This is actually a very Biblical model, having the sermon lead up to the worship rather than the music designed to get people into the mood of hearing the sermon, as is otherwise so common today. To be fair, it’s usually viewed as filling the room with praise to draw in and welcome God’s Spirit into the service from the start, and opening ourselves up to worship Him and receive the message God has for us that day. But it really is a very emotional time that is meant to settle people down into a unified body to be prepared for the message. Anyway, I digress.

The Sermon

The point of the sermon was to say that what matters about our worship isn’t us, but rather the object of our worship, which is God. Sounds good, right? And that what matters to God is our hearts, the sincerity and meaningfulness we have. He also threw in that coming up in a few weeks would be a combined service of both the traditional and contemporary groups. From there he springboarded into how music in the church has long been debated, but that it’s not really about style and preference and such that matters to God. Only our sincere worship of Him.

He said that nowhere in Scripture does God ever condemn anyone for the type of music they used. He illustrated with his own children, how when they were small they called him and his wife in to hear them play music by pounding on pots and pans. As parents it was beautiful music to their ears because of the sincere effort of those kids to honor them, but he said he certainly would not play it on the radio.

He ended by drawing from the rainbow around God’s throne mentioned in Revelation, and how that includes all forms of music and worship, that heaven will be full of all forms of music and worshipers to praise God. He said that there will be guitars up there, and that even the organ will be there, and so on. Although the rainbow thing was a bit of eisegesis (reading into the Scripture rather than drawing out), he was exaggerating for illustration’s sake. I don’t think he was intentionally misquoting Scripture. But basically, he was trying to say that anything goes with God and is acceptable as long as we are sincere because only what’s in our hearts matters.

The Reaction

Red flags. All over the place. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to stand up and shout, “No!” Biblically speaking there is actually a time and place for that. But when you’re in someone else’s house is not usually the best time to do it. I refrained and just softly vented some of my frustrations to my wife on the car ride home. My wife is so patient and dear to me. But I digress again.

Why was I so frustrated? It’s not about contemporary vs traditional music. There are good and bad songs in both categories. There are some really great songs in both categories. That’s not the issue. The point is the principle being taught behind it all. And this is where I see problems in the church. I’m using this particular pastor for an example, but it’s common in today’s churches. Here are some issues I had with this sermon.

The Problem

First, it’s true that what matters about our worship is what’s in our hearts, but it’s not true to say that it’s the only thing that matters. And not just anything goes with God no matter how sincere we may be. Scripture is replete with passages where God mentions a number of things that are displeasing to Him. Period. Even about how things are done, what clothes are worn, what things are allowed and not allowed, and what is holy and unholy. And the best intentions don’t change that.

Holiness seems so lacking in churches today. Instead we find so many excuses to call anything we want holy.

A couple of sad examples are with Nadab and Abihu, who on their own offered censors of fire to the Lord, albeit sincerely, and were destroyed for it in Leviticus 10, and again as a reminder in Numbers 3:2-4; 26:60-61. Or when David brought back the Ark of the Covenant on an oxcart, even while dancing and singing and praising God, which also ended in disaster and the unfortunate death of Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13. God was upset with David for using a cart like the pagans instead of the poles God had commanded, and God was upset with Uzzah for touching the Ark, even though Uzzah meant well by trying to keep the Ark from toppling off the cart to the ground.

People might say that’s just the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? Well, for starters Christ said there will be many who come before Him and say, “Look at all these things we’ve done in your name”, and He will tell them He never knew them, even though they called Him Lord (Matthew 7:21-23). Or the Ephesian church in Revelation 2 that was so busy about doing the work of the Lord that they lost their first love, their love of the Lord. How and what they were doing became a distraction and hindrance to their relationship with the Lord.

And when it comes to music in particular, especially regarding contemporary music, I often hear people use a quote attributed to Martin Luther, “Why should the pagans have all the good songs?”, so Luther wrote many hymns to the tune of old beer-drinking songs of the time. Again, sure, God use anything for His purposes and good, although I have yet to see anyone fall into an altered state of consciousness from listening to “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” as I have with other music designed for that purpose with heavy drum beats, volume, and chord combinations.

Yes, music is a very powerful force. And though this pastor says he is not a musician, he has been to remote countries on mission trips and is surely familiar with pagan ritualistic uses of music in just that way. Yes, there are some types and styles of music that would not be appropriate for church.

What about Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice for us? Doesn’t that mean that we no longer have to offer sacrifices and keep the Law and all that? Yes, it does. And yes, we are made holy and acceptable to God in Christ. But that still doesn’t mean that just anything goes, or that anything and everything we do is holy and acceptable to God. That doesn’t suddenly make everything pleasing and acceptable to God. It just means that we don’t have to pay for it. There comes a fine line about crossing into legalism sometimes, and I’m certainly opposed to legalism. But there are also certain principles God has given us to live by because of holiness.

The Analysis

Holiness seems so lacking in churches today. Instead we find so many excuses to call anything we want holy. With so much in Scripture about God’s holiness, we cannot presume that just anything is made holy just because we are made holy in Christ or because we sincerely mean well in our hearts. God’s tolerance does not mean God’s acceptance, pleasure, or endorsement. Rather, it demonstrates God’s mercy.

My dad loves cabbage or liver. My mom can’t stand either one. If I brought her a serving of cabbage or liver, she would not like it no matter how sincere I was. She might graciously accept it so as not to hurt my feelings, and then throw it away. In truth, my mom would refuse it to my face, lol. But what if I brought her raw chicken because I liked the color and thought it looked pretty and shiny? What if I brought her sewage? Or poison? That would not be acceptable no matter how sincere I can be. As an illustration, this is the same with God. God tells us what pleases and displeases Him. Our prayers bring Him a pleasing aroma. Our tears are precious to Him. Our penitent heart is acceptable to Him. He dwells in the midst of our praises. But there are limitations.

God’s tolerance does not mean God’s acceptance, pleasure, or endorsement. Rather, it demonstrates God’s mercy.

God has said in both the Old and New Testaments not to do as the pagans do that got them destroyed, to come out from them and be separate from their behavior, not to do what they do because God is holy and we are holy. And those who are holy don’t do the things as the unholy, which would be displeasing to God.

Does it matter then which instruments are used in church? Probably not, despite those who don’t think they should be used at all because they’re not specifically mentioned in the New Testament. But the way they are used does matter. Regardless, that’s not even the point. The point is the principle that was being taught. Apply it however you will, whether to styles of music and worship or whatever. Notwithstanding, it is wrong to say that just anything goes and just anything is acceptable to God because we have a sincere heart. Paul warns about people becoming weak and sick and even dying for taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:27-30), and he was talking to and about believers.

The Exhortation

Pastor, why is it that you won’t play those pots and pans on the radio? Because it’s not appropriate. And as your children matured, you taught them what was appropriate. That’s what I see lacking among Christians today:  Spiritual maturity. And there seems to be no boundary to what is deemed appropriate in the church. Maybe God tolerates our immature efforts to praise and please Him, but we seem to keep ourselves at that immature level so we don’t have to change. We like where we are, so we find ways to stay there. Paul even talks in 1 Corinthians 13 about how when he became an adult, he put away childish things. He also talks about transitioning from spiritual milk to spiritual meat, as well as going into the deeper things of God. This seems to be missing in our churches today.

Instead of what used to be called the Gospel, we now have this message that God wants us and needs us, and that’s why He will accept us no matter what. We teach that it doesn’t matter who or what you are, just come to Jesus and He will accept you just as you are. That is just not true! If it were, then why did Christ even die for our sins? God will accept anyone who repents just as they are, who acknowledges they need Christ as Savior and becomes changed by Christ! Christ is who and what is acceptable to God, and we are only acceptable because of and through Christ. People need to understand just how bad sin is.

Instead we rename sin. We downplay it. We call it something that doesn’t sound so bad, like “affair” instead of “adultery”, or “stretching the truth” instead of “lying”, or “borrowing something that doesn’t belong to us” instead of “stealing”. We even refer to God as “the Man upstairs” or “the Big Man” or play off of “Abba” so we can excuse informality and responsibility and act childlike and even disrespectful because we can call Him “Daddy” instead of “Master” or “Lord”. This is where we can take our freedom in Christ too far. People don’t feel convicted, and we wonder why. We wonder why the church is struggling and the world keeps getting the worse.

Sure, the church has the underlying belief and understanding that we need to repent, but it isn’t emphasized or specifically taught anymore. We just tell people that God loves them and wants them and needs them and will accept them just as they are. No, God wants to change them from just as they are. When people discover that, many turn away or create their own version of Christianity because they want to fit God into their lifestyle rather than change for anybody, even God.

A popular Christian song right now that is beautiful in so many ways and Christ-honoring and has a verse that is dead wrong. The second verse stars out, “You didn’t want heaven without us, so Jesus you brought heaven down.” This goes right along with what I’m saying. The Bible says God so LOVED the world, not that He NEEDED or even WANTED the world. See, God created out of His abundance, not out of His emptiness or lack or need. God is love, and everything He does stems from that. He created and even provided for our Salvation because of His love, to demonstrate His love, not to fill a gap. He is fully complete and satisfied in the Trinity of Himself. He is God. He is complete. But we can’t get over ourselves and our craving to feel wanted or needed.

God created out of His abundance, not out of His emptiness or lack or need.

So many Christian songs these days are so elementary. As I hear these songs come on the radio since this sermon, I think to myself, “Pots and pans, that’s a pots-and-pans song”, because that’s about the level it is to me as a fellow musician, composer, and worship leader. There was a time when Christian songs were written by theologians. Not so much anymore. Most are written by people with some emotional life experience that translates into a song. Many songs have little substance or depth. Some of the lyrics are just plain corny and stupid. Sorry, not sorry. Some are more about making money and selling catchy songs than honoring or leading to God, I feel. I know of several songs on the Christian radio right now that are all about being strong and fighting and such and never mention God once. Not a single time. You could play them on the secular station and no one over there would notice. Musicians, if people can’t tell your Christian song from a non-Christian song, is it really a Christian song? And radio stations don’t seem to care, as long as it’s by a certain Christian performer.

And pastor, if the only thing that matters in our worship is God, then why do you change clothes between services, going from a suit for the traditional service to a t-shirt and jeans for the contemporary service? Aren’t you dressing for the people rather than for God? People used to dress up for church because they wanted to offer their “Sunday best” to God. If we’re all about the latest fashion trends and showing off our tight muscular t-shirts and looking cool, is that really for God or for us? I really don’t think He’s impressed by that, and may be insulted. Yes, it’s important for people at least to be there regardless of their dress. And I’ll say that if the best you have really is a t-sheet and jeans, at least make sure they’re clean!

But God requires and deserves our best. When did it become our best to dress down for God? To become more casual? To treat God’s house like our friend’s game room rather than a Sanctuary? Or a stage to perform on rather than a House of Worship? To make sure we look and act…like the rest of the world so we attract people, make them feel comfortable, have a good experience? People will be attracted by our relationship with God, not by how we look, unless it’s us that we want them to be attracted to instead of God.

But how we look and act reflects what is in our hearts. That’s why it matters. What’s the takeaway from church? What will people remember? What will change their lives? What will keep them coming back for more? Is it a relationship with God or the experience? Are we bringing the world up to God’s level, or bringing the church down to the world’s level?

Conclusion

I leave this with you. There are pros and cons, good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate when it comes to worship. We must see what Scripture has to say about it and not just compromise or find ways to excuse what we want it to be or think it should be.

I’ve rambled some and nitpicked some and criticized quite a bit, and yet much more could be said. My purpose is just to raise some concerns that need to be considered and addressed from a Biblical worldview. I see too much of the church falling into a secular worldview and trying to find random verses and opinions to back it up.

We need to be careful about what we say and what principles we teach, no matter how sincere we may be in our hearts. It’s not about what music we use or liturgy or clothing or whatever per se. It’s certainly not to lead into legalism. It’s the principles we proclaim, or rather that the Bible proclaims. No, I’m not opposed to contemporary music and other means of worship. I use traditional and contemporary tools and methods as a worship leader, and they can be very powerful. That’s not the point. And there are limitations.

Some of these issues may be in-house debates. Some may be good and just need to be used appropriately. But some truly violate Scriptural teaching. There is still right and wrong despite Christ’s sacrifice. Christ didn’t come to destroy or end the Law, only to fulfill it. And Paul says the Law is what exposes right and wrong. Because of holiness it matters to God. Because of mercy and grace God tolerates our inadequacies until the day we will be with Him and all things be made clear. Let us examine ourselves closely and be willing to change to do what is right and pleasing to God, not because we have to but because we want to. That is sacrifice pleasing to God. That is true worship. That is love.