Many Evangelicals do not Believe that God is Very Specific About How to Worship Corporately

 

J. Ligon Duncan III:

Evangelicals have for a century or more been the most minimal of all the Protestants in what they think the Bible teaches us about the church in general and in their estimation of the relative importance of ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church).

• They do not generally believe that church government is established positively in the Word;
• they often do not see the local church as essential to the fulfillment of the Great Commission or to the task of Christian discipleship;
• they are suspicious of order as restrictive of freedom…

Consequently, since the doctrine of worship is a part of what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of the church, they are not predisposed in general to expect much in the way of important, definitive teaching about the conduct of corporate worship…

…The greatest obstacle to the reform of worship in the evangelical church today is evangelicalism’s general belief that New Testament Christians have few or no particular directions about how we are to worship God corporately:

• what elements belong in worship,
• what elements must always be present in well-ordered worship,
• what things do not belong in worship.

To be even more specific…we may say that

• evangelicals emphasize the dynamic of Christian worship (the grace of the Holy Spirit)
• and its motivation (gratitude for grace, a passion for God),
• but de-emphasize the standard (the Bible)
• and goal (the prime telos [the purposed end] of glorifying and enjoying God).

Evangelicals do think that worship matters, but they also often view worship as a means to some other end than that of the glorification and enjoyment of God:

• some view worship as evangelism (thus misunderstanding its goal);
• some think that a person’s heart, intentions, motives and sincerity are the only things important in how we worship (thus downplaying the Bible’s standards, principles, and rules for worship);
• and some view the emotional product of the worship experience as the prime factor in [evaluating] “good” worship (thus over-stressing the subjective and often unwittingly imposing particular cultural opinions about emotional expression on all worshipers).

Evangelicals believe these things about worship, but they do not think that there are many biblical principles about how to worship or what we are to do and not to do in worship.

In part, this may be the result of an understandable misunderstanding of the precise nature of the discontinuity between  the worship of the people of God in the old covenant and the new covenant.

…Consequently, though evangelicals know that the Old Testament has instructions on what Israel was to do in worship,

• they tend to think that there are few if any abiding principles [let alone commands] to be gained for Christian worship from the Old Testament,
• or they think that the New Testament emphases on the heart, the activity of the Holy Spirit, and worship-in-all-of-life displace these Old Testament principles,
• or they think that the New Testament has correspondingly little or nothing to say about the how of corporate worship,
• and some even think the category of corporate worship disappears altogether in the new-covenant expression of the economy of God…

And not surprisingly, these assumptions help an evangelicalism enveloped in a culture of individualism, relativism, and situationalism remain, in its approach to the gathered worship of God’s people,

• strong on the individual, weak on the corporate;
• strong on the subjective, weak on the objective;
• strong on the heart, weak on the principles.

Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship, P & R Publishing, 2003, pp. 24 – 26

[Nota bene: These are Duncan's words, but I did the bulleting to make the lists and long (dare I say run-on?) sentences more easy to navigate.] Presented with all the usual waivers as to how his beliefs and practices differ from mine, etc… I.e. simply because I am quoting him doesn’t mean you should become a Presbyterian or whatever…I’ll trust your discernment…

God Hates Purposefully Mixed Worship & Sacrifice-Exodus 32

Some more thoughts on modern Christianity’s tendency to intermix worldliness in with the things of Christ.

It’s not some new phenomenon as we will see below.

When this artist to the right is “excited” that his album was used for a World Wide Wrestling Federation (now WWE) 25 year Anniversary service (and no, it was not chosen because it spoke a contrary message of God to those present, but because the music fit right in), you have to wonder if you want the people you love to be warned about the messages of such people. Maybe some will think you out of step “with the current Christian times”, or just a nosy, cranky curmudgeon. (Who among us would deny such are true of me? Heh heh.)

But as I preached last week, if you are doing Good News living and others have a problem with that, their beef is not with you, but they’ve just found their complaint escalated to the highest levels–Christ and the Father. So, I won’t be hurt if you disagree, but, at that point my feelings and my opinion means nada, nil, nuthin’–zilch. Someone else’s opinion does.

This kind of thinking comes from (John 15:19 – 16:3)

Anyway…

God’s rightful glory is given to someone else when we intentionally mingle godly things in with pagan things. And God does not stand for having His glory diverted, stolen or reduced.

I contend that “Christian” bands like these and others, often show their desires to find ways to have and hold “the world” while trying to have and hold Christ.

That’s God-glory-robbing kind of stuff–and that is a dangerous place to be, and these can be spiritually dangerous people from which to get your teachings about God.

Consider how things went in the 15th Century BC:

Exodus 32

• People often lose confidence in the people God has ordained as their spiritual leader (Verse 1)–Exodus 32:1  Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.“

• In doing so, they then reveal what their real desires are–what they truly want to worship (instead of the One True God)(Verse 1)–“come make us a god”

• Other spiritual leaders may well be as spiritually weak as those they lead and cave into their sinful desires (Verse 2)– Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

• Such leaders can end up mixing in “God-talk” and “idol-talk” as a way of gaining the approval of the sinful people, and as a way of making themselves feel better for introducing sin into the things of God–”this is your god” and “tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” (Verse 4)– He [Aaron] took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

• When such leaders intermingle pagan, sinful things in with the holy things of God, the people (whose hearts desire sin, self and their own lusts) will go along with it and even do “the godly stuff.”–they “offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings” (Verse 5)– Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”

• And when the “God” stuff is over, the sinful idolatry and self-centered fulfillment merely continues (Verse 6)–So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play

• God’s holy righteous anger burns against this kind of spiritual God-talk and idol-worship (Verses 7 – 35)–Go ahead go to the passage and take a look–God’s punishment on Israel was ugly, brutal and indicative of His love for His own glory.

Seriously, ask yourself:

• Do I want to be listening to people who are willing to look at God this way?

• Should I be learning my information about God from people who look at God this way?

• Should I be using the messages of such people to help me individually worship God?

It ought to sober us to think of what God did in the Golden Calf Worship-of-Jehovah-Disaster.

Who is really your God/god?

Thinking on Christian bands…

 

Clearly, I’m coming at this all wrong…eyeliner, $30 a pop fanclub (“Oh, I know, I know…Sam’s Club–[oh, what? that's taken already? oh"), and helping the WWE bring their family-friendly, God-glorifying message to the yoot of America...

Cooper:

"and then the WWE wanted to use “Monster” for their 25 year celebration. I was really, really excited"

and

"The rock star thing vs. the Christian thing used to be harder than it is. It’s not quite as hard now because I am so committed to my faith in God and who I know I need to be because I have to live with myself. In some ways it is still difficult because, I would say, being a Christian and being a rock star are the absolute opposites of each other. Being a rock star is all about you, all about being cool or at least trying to be cool. Putting up this front that you really don’t care about anybody or anything. Being a Christian is the opposite. It’s not all about me, it’s about God. It’s about helping people, loving God, and loving others, serving others. As a rock star you are used to getting served.

Primpin' and pimpin'

Read more: 20 questions with Christian rock band Skillet’s John Cooper – Medfield, MA – Medfield Press http://www.wickedlocal.com/medfield/archive/x576511453/20-questions-with-Christian-rock-band-Skillet-s-John-Cooper#ixzz1rpuraoO4

 

Dating, Living Together, etc: Christian Singles and Purity

For the Christian single, there truly is no alternative to abstaining from sexual contact that belongs in a marriage. By and large, this means that most behavior beyond holding someone’s hand is forbidden. The reason: God does not only consider what we do with our bodies, but He also judges what we do with our minds. Consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Matthew 5:27-30  27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’;

Christians and Gambling–First Initial Post–First Sin

(This is a work in progress–unmarked changes will occur as the document matures). Rev A is in place (11:30am 15Feb2011)

Mankind’s plunge into sin began when we[1] entertained the Opponent’s[2] sly question: “Indeed, has God said…?” (Gen 3:1) He then told Eve a bald lie: “You surely will not die.” He first questioned her—casting doubt on whether God’s command should really be understood as God’s command. Second, he told her a bold lie—contradicting God’s authority, and setting Eve up to make herself the authority. Then, he dangled a temptation designed to stir up disquiet in her—thoughts that God was withholding something valuable from her. That God was preventing her from attaining self-fulfillment, and even proper self-actualization. In other words, Satan wanted Eve to believe that God did not want the both of them (“you” etc. is plural) to become all they could truly become—Godlike, having full knowledge and wisdom.

And although up to that point, God was everything to them and they had fully relied upon Him for truth (as they were designed to do)—although their lives were essentially limitless and boundless—they chose to cross His one limit, His only boundary. Think of it! Before them lay a planet (a planet!) of great beauty, discovery, adventure and blessing.[3] Planet-wide there were likely trillions of trees, trillions of bushes, quadrillions of different fruits to eat—essentially innumerable alternatives to sin![4] And, what if He had “limited” them to the Garden only for the time being? Does that leave them wandering around constantly staring at the Tree?

If we understand some of the biblical boundaries for the Garden of Eden, it was possibly as big as the states of California and Nevada combined. It is impossible to be too specific about the size, but its topography is described usingfour rivers—with the idea that the Garden could be described as “vast.”[5] By stating “of all the trees of the Garden you may eat, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat” (Gen 2:16 – 17) God pointed out that they had plenty to choose from, and more than enough places to explore and live.

And yet, because Eve judged the tree to be good for food (in complete rebellion against God) she ate. Even though God had given her all that she desired, because she felt a great desire for the fruit (the word “delight” is the same word used to describe sinful lust elsewhere in the OT) she took the fruit and ate. Even though God was supposed to be her Source of wisdom and truth, she looked at eating the fruit as being “desirable” to give her wisdom (apparently supposing God was somehow depriving her of this wisdom—in light of Satan’s tempting words). Again the word for “desirable” can have meanings which point to satisfying selfish desires—like sexual lusts, etc.

So, even though at one time, she had put up a personal rule of holiness for herself (“do not touch the tree”—God had never said “do not touch it”, only do not eat it), she trusted a talking serpent and gave herself over to her sinful, self-centered desires. And Adam ate it with her—possibly (likely?) witnessing the whole conversation (“she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” Gen 3:6). There is no further record of her (or Adam) arguing with Satan. Instead, in an eerie foreshadowing of our inborn sinfulness in Romans 1:32, she sinned, and dragged someone else into the sin with her.

The Bible’s description of the first sin hearkens with me when I look at gambling. The strong desires attached to it, the response of professing Christians when someone confronts them on the issue–these both seem present at the tree.

These are my initial thoughts–more to come.

 

 

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[1] We bear the guilt and propensity to commit Adam’s sin (Romans 5)

[2] “Satan” means “adversary” or “opponent”

[3] The current area of land on the globe is approximately 57.5 million square miles. It is possible, given the description of the Flood waters, (bursting from the depths of the earth, and falling from the sky) that there was even more connected land in the pre-Flood world.

[4] By the way, lest we think otherwise, as Christians, we are in a similar situation.

[5] Doing some research to see if when Moses recorded such statements as in Genesis 2:8 – 14 if the geographic markers are meant to record the geography and topography of the Garden before the Flood, or is Moses saying the Garden was located in the areas where the four rivers mentioned currently flowed (at the time when Moses recorded Genesis)?

 

Overcoming Sorrow, Bitterness and Resentment…

Genesis 4:3-7  3

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.  4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.

The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,  5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?

But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;

it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Teen & Preteen…………IDOL

Seriously, what are Billy Ray, and parents promoting this to their children thinking? Breaks my achy-breaky-heart… BTW, it might be best just to take Billboard’s word for the dancing that is performed…

David Wells Helps us Understand our Flawed, Selfish Worship

“…The thought of loving God, and occasionally of being in love with God, that characterizes postmodern hymnody has replaced the emphasis on consecration and committment that was so characteristic of classic hymnody.

At this point, the essentially mystical nature of postmodern piety becomes obvious, even though it is a mysticism that is filtered through modern, psychological assumptions. This is evident, first, in the way this kind of spirituality believes in direct access to reality. The experiencing self is admitted, as it were, into the innermost places of God directly, without any wait. The result of this assumption is that personal intuition about the purposes of God, how His will is being realized in one’s personal life, tends to blur with divine revelation and become indistinguishable from it.

Second, the God so approached is often beyond rational categories. Third, grace, in this form of Christian life, is often understood as a power that brings psychological wholeness rather than as God’s favor by which we are constituted as His in Christ. And worship is less about ascribing praise to God for who He is, than it is celebrating what we know of Him from within our own experience.” From Losing our Virtue–Why the Church Must Recover its Moral Vision, by David F. Wells.