“To be human is to worship.” These are the opening phrases of Daniel Block's glorious new guide on worship, For the Glory of God. Women and men are die-hard worshippers. Paul makes this clear in Romans 1. Even those that reject the clear information of God that may be perceived within the created order proceed to worship. Slightly, they merely start to worship created issues as a substitute of the Creator (Rom 1:18ff). Since all of us worship and our hearts are typically deceitful, it’s critical that our worship be formed by what God has made clear in His Phrase, reasonably than private opinions, previous experiences, or instinct.
Whereas not an exhaustive checklist, the next 7 factors assist us suppose extra biblically about worship:
1. Worship is to be regulated in keeping with Scripture.
God cares about how His individuals worship Him. Type issues. Simply ask Nadab and Abihu. We’re by no means invited to worship God in a method that appears proper to us. Scripture by no means calls us to do what “feels proper” in God's presence. Slightly, God's Phrase clearly states the weather of which our worship ought to consist. They’re the preaching of His Phrase, music and singing, Scripture studying, prayer, tithes and choices, confession of sins and sacraments (baptism and the Lord's Supper).
At a time when many Christians are working as religious entrepreneurs, it's necessary to keep in mind that we don't resolve find out how to come to God (or “join,” “expertise,” “encounter,” or any fancy phrase). To cite Block once more: “[The] the aim of genuine worship is the glory of God reasonably than the pleasure of human beings, which implies that types of worship needs to be topic to the need of God reasonably than the whims of fallen humanity” (p. 6).
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2. Worship is a response to God's self-revelation.
We worship God in response to what He has revealed about Himself. Christianity is a revealed faith. Which means that we can not intuit the gospel or these attributes of God that aren’t clearly seen within the created order. On this method, we rely on the Scriptures to really know and worship God. Because of this God has made the preaching of His Phrase central to worship.
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3. Worship could also be accompanied by affections, however not guided by them.
I ponder what is supposed by statements like, “Worship was nice”? I'm not attempting to be choosy, however we are able to inform what we consider about one thing by the issues we are saying about her. It appears to me that the way in which we consider worship typically has much less to do with clinging to God's will and extra to do with the depth of affections (feelings) we really feel. Certainly our worship of God ought to entice the affections. However we should at all times keep in mind that feelings are difficult issues vulnerable to manipulation and misdirection.
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4. Worship shouldn’t be pushed by pragmatic pursuits.
If there may be an unofficial faith amongst evangelicals at this time, it might very nicely be pragmatism. It's the concept if it really works, it have to be good. If it grows our church, if it attracts younger households, if it reaches millennials, if it produces the precise feelings, it's good. However the worship of the church must not ever be pushed by such considerations as church progress, the preferences of non-believers, enchantment to a most well-liked demographic, or our subjective expertise.
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5. Worship is for God.
Though we’re typically cautious to not say it, we appear to have an inclination to consider worship as one thing that’s for us. Don't misunderstand. Worshiping God brings nice blessings. What's extra, God doesn’t demand our worship as if He wants something from us (Acts 17:22-25). Slightly, God calls us to worship Him due to His important worthiness. God demanded the discharge of his individuals from Egypt in order that they may worship him (Ex 5:1). The Psalms repeatedly name God's individuals to worship the Lord due to who He’s and what He has carried out. We worship God as a result of it’s at all times proper for the creature to worship the Creator.
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6. Worship just isn’t meant to facilitate mystical encounters with God.
Primarily based on among the feedback in response to my earlier article on worship (Is your church worshiping extra Pagan than Christian?), it’s clear that many Christians consider that music and worship play a mediating position in our relationship with God. However worship doesn’t carry us or in any other case facilitate an encounter with God. We actually worship as we reside coram deo (earlier than the face of God). Jesus introduced us to God by means of his dying and resurrection. Regardless of all of the opinions on this query, I’ve but to see something in Scripture that tells us that music brings us to God. Jesus, our nice excessive priest, has introduced us near God and desires no additional assist.
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7. Worship and obedience are inseparable.
The Bible doesn’t separate individuals from their deeds. Even the Bible doesn’t separate worship from obedience. The first proof of what’s within the coronary heart just isn’t our phrases or feelings, however our actions. In his parable of the vine and the vinedresser (Luke 13:6-9), Jesus teaches that branches that don’t bear fruit are thrown into the hearth. This precept was established by God within the type of covenantal blessings and curses (Lev 26; Deut 28). God's ethical regulation (the ten commandments) can rightly be understood as a name to reside one's entire life for the glory of God.
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Todd Pruitt serves because the Senior Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, VA and blogs recurrently at Ref21 and 1517. He was raised Southern Baptist and is a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas Metropolis. He co-hosts the Mortification of Spin podcast with Carl Trueman and Aimee Byrd. Todd and his spouse, Karen, have three kids.
