Matt 9:38

Worship?

A few weeks ago I went to a concert at the BJCC Concert Hall. It was a group called “Black Jacket Symphony”. They are a group of musicians that pick out a well known album and play it word for word and note for note as much as possible. It was a good show. People were up, clapping their hands, dancing to the music and singing along to the songs they knew. I have to admit, some of them were “drinking” heavily and probably did not remember much of the show the next day, which makes no since to me. But that is another topic for another time. As I said people were having a good time which is what the event was for. To be entertaining and for people to enjoy the evening. I know I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

So, why am I telling you this? Well, the religious world has turned “worship” into this type of event with the same atmosphere. Religious organizations (they are not churches), advertise their “worship” just like this concert was advertised. They hire “Lighting Directors” and “Worship Diectors”. They have stage hands to move the scenery around as needed. Thye have both male and female “Worship Leaders” singing on stage with the [eople in the audience singing along occaisionally to   the songs they know. People are dancing and clapping their hands, and I have even seen some of these events with smoke machines and other strobe lights to enhance the show. So, let me ask; “Is that worship?” NO, of course not! In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote about worship; “But all things should be done decently and in order” (I Cor14:40). And what he meant by that is that our worship must be reverential to God. We must worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Most of the people who attend these events on the Lord’s Day will try to justify their behavior by saying something like…”Well we are worshipping in spirit. The Spirit takes over and you can feel the presence of the Lord” Really? First of all, the Spirit does not work that way. He would never “take control” of anyone. If he did that would negate us being free-will beings”. Others would say, “well, they worshipped like this in the Old Testament, so it must be ok”. But what they fail to recognize is that we are no longer kiving under the old covenant with all of it’s rules and other particulars (Col 2:13-15; Heb 8:13). Also, if you are going to follow the old covenant, then you must follow ALL of the covenant, with all of it’s sacrifices, pilgrimages to Jerusalem, temple worship and all the rest. Now, don’t misunderstand me. God does not want lifeless, worship that sounds like a funeral dirge. We can be joyful and even jubilant in our worship as long as it isdone according to the New Testament. We are to “sing and make melody in our heart” (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16), not bang away on drums and electric guitars. New Testament worship is just like everything else that God has commanded us, simple, pure, and from the heart. When people become the center of what is taking place as in these events they call worship, people are no longer reverencing God, they are entertaining themselves. Let’s follow the simple plan God laid out in the New Testament in all that we do as Christians, including; “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb 13:15).

                                                                                                                -God Bless, kevin