Selecting Worship Music | Does God Care What Method We Use? Part 2
In our previous article concerning worship music we discussed in detail God’s method of worship. Let’s continue that thought and look at what God would have us reject concerning our methods of worship.
1. God Wants Us to Reject Our Own Methods of Worship
Lev. 10:1-3 helps us understand this truth; “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.”
In verse one; we see that man has the tendency to worship God his own way (1). Coincidently, Nadab and Abihu worshipped God their own way (1a). They both offered a “strange” or an unauthorized fire to the Lord.
Some possibilities of this strange fire may have been:
- going into an unauthorized place in the sanctuary
- offering certain coals that were from outside the temple
- offering the incense at the wrong time of day
- using their own ingredients for the incense for their own purposes
[1] Although both men seemed sincere in their worship, a sincere heart still falls short of an obedient heart which God wants from each one of us (I Sam. 15:22). Nadab and Abihu also disobeyed God in their worship. They “offered strange fire before the LORD, which He commanded them not to do” (1b).
In Exodus 30:9, 34-38, God clearly commands Aaron and his sons to follow His exact ingredients and regulations. It is also clear that they are not to offer strange incense to Him made by human creativity. God also explicitly states the consequence of the offender who disobeys His command “will be cut off from his people” (Exod. 30:38b).
Lev. 10:2-3 displays God’s displeasure with man’s own methods in his worship of God. We see that God brought punishment upon Nadab and Abihu for using their own methods (2).
God certainly is not impressed with our offerings as He is with our obedience (Amos 5:21-23). God wants our complete obedience and desires us to worship Him the way that He commands us to in His Word. If not, He will punish us for our disobedience regardless of the success of our worship methods.
Finally, God desires to receive all of the glory in worship none to be received by the individual. In verse three; we see that God desires to be set apart and unique from all else. He is holy and there is none like Him. We must give God the holiness due to His name by obeying and worshiping Him His way. As a result, God will be glorified. In every situation of life including our worship methods, God desires to receive all of the praise and glory (I Cor. 10:31; I Pet. 2:9).
The Morality of Worship Music and Styles
At this point, an understanding must be obtained regarding the innate morality of all music and styles.[2] In other words, music can elicit certain responses from its listener. There are two primary responses of man. The natural responses which are innate and the conditional responses which are learned within cultural influences.
In the Word of God, we see how certain musical styles can have both good and negative effects.
- First of all, David’s soothing harp music helped drive the evil spirit away from Saul (I Sam. 16:23).
- Secondly, music encouraged the working of God upon Elisha’s ministry (II Kgs. 3:15).
In both of these instances, the men involved seemed to know ahead of time the positive effect the music would have upon its listener. Finally, music that sounded like “the noise of battle” may have very well encouraged the Israelites’ immoral and sensual behavior during their worship of the golden calf (Exod. 32:4-6, 17-18).
What Musicologists Are Saying?
Now that we have established the morality and the effect of music from God’s Word, we should see what the musicologists are saying regarding the responses that certain musical styles can elicit.
- Juliann Johnson observes that “different musics are not neutral in terms of value systems…they quite literally do different things….”[3]
- Dr Max Schoen makes similar observations by writing, “music is the most powerful stimulus known among the perceptive senses… it frankly amazes me that anyone should seriously say otherwise.”[4]
- Dr. Peter Wicke states that “music is a medium which is able to convey meaning and values which…can shape patterns of behavior imperceptibly over time….”[5]
- The famous 20th century composer, Howard Hanson, says “music… can be soothing or invigorating, ennobling or vulgarizing, philosophical or orgiastic. It has powers for evil as well as good.”[6]
Interestingly, these observations substantiate the Scripture’s teaching that music has an innate morality. Furthermore, the biblical truth of the innate morality of music demands us to make our musical choices based on truth and not merely on taste or emotion.[7]
In lieu of Lev. 10:1-3, God knows that if He allows man to worship Him his way, it would be man who would receive some or even all the glory from their exciting and entertaining worship and not God. Sadly, this is exactly what Saddleback Community Church, which influences many seeker friendly churches today, is doing.
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church, writes, “I will admit that we have lost hundreds of potential members…. On the other hand, we have attracted thousands more because of our music.”[8] Rick Warren justifies his deviant worship methods by how many people his church is pleasing. God wants us to be concerned about pleasing Him and not others even if it means having smaller crowds than the seeker friendly churches across the street.
Therefore, we must please God and not man with our musical choices and styles in our worship services.
2. God Wants Us to Reject the World’s Methods of Worship
Not only does God want us to reject our own methods in worship, He wants us to reject the world’s methods of worship. This truth is clearly displayed in Deuteronomy 12:29-32.
When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest, them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Following the world’s methods of worship leads to failure
We see that following the world’s methods of worship leads to failure (29-30). God would destroy the other nations who did not worship Him (29). The question was not if God was going to destroy the heathen nations but when will He destroy them.
Because of the nations’ worship of other gods and of their methods, He would utterly destroy them. According to Deut. 12:29, the world’s music and their way of worship is a failure since God destroys those who do not worship Him.
God also warns Israel not to be enamored with the heathen nation’s worship (30). Throughout history, including today, there is a tendency to respect and to check out the gods of the other nations that we may either worship those same gods or pick up various things from their worship.
For example, G.A Pritchard explains that the programming team of Willow Creek, another influential seeker church, “goes to plays, musicals, concerts, and movies to understand the culture of unchurched Harry. The entire programming team went to the musical Les Miserables and to a Janet Jackson concert.”[9]
God knows about this tendency and clearly warns us to not be curious or enamored with how the world worships. This includes checking out the music based on the popular culture of our day.
The Oxford Dictionaries Online defines the pop culture as “commercial culture based on popular taste: the fashion, music and the iconography of pop culture…”[10]
God commands us to “love not the world neither the things that are in the world.” (I Jn 2:15a). This does not mean that we should abstain from all musical styles that are unique to various cultures and sub-cultures throughout the world.[11]
However, it does mean that we are to reject the music that appeals to and promotes the popular tastes and ideologies of our day which are anti-God and anti-Christian (I Jn. 2:15b-16).
The idea that using the world’s music in our churches is acceptable in reality is a minority compared to what many others, including the unsaved, believe.
- Joel Heng Hartse rightly observes that “rock and roll is supposed to be the rebellion, and Christianity the establishment… It’s music without God that is, historically, an anomaly.”[12]
- Marva Dawn notes that “worship practices that only evoke good feelings and thereby foster a character that seeks instant gratification might be enormously successful at first, but the costs, though not immediately obvious, may be high…a focus on self and feelings limits the nurturing of a godly and outreaching character.”[13]
- A concerned CCM musician, Charles Peacock, sadly observes that “to our detriment, we have at times relied more heavily on spontaneous spiritual hunches than the clear and reliable instruction of the Spirit-inspired Word…This has contributed to our lack of biblically comprehensive theologies for the enjoyment and use of music…”[14]
If secular writers and a CCM musician can recognize the dangerous consequences and apparent confusions of using the world’s music in our worship, then we must as well.
Following the world’s methods of worship leads to disobedience
Not only does following the world’s methods of worship lead to failure but it also leads to disobedience (31-32). God commands Israel to reject the worship methods of the heathen nations (31).
The commandment is clear; we must not worship our God the same way the world worships their gods! If we do, then we are clearly disobeying God no matter how sincere our intentions are.
God clearly commands us to;
- “learn not the way of the heathen…” (Jer. 10:2),
- “…to henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk…” (Eph.4:17)
- to “…be not conformed to this world…” (Rom. 12:2).
God hates how the world worships and does not want believers to follow their methods of worship (Deut. 12:31). God also demands Israel’s complete obedience to His worship instructions. We must not add to or take away from God’s commandments to us (Deut. 12:32).
God has given us all that we need in His Word to know how He wants us to worship Him (II Tim. 3:16-17). If we are not following God’s instructions in how we should worship Him, we are living in disobedience and will answer to God for this disobedience using the world’s methods in our worship.
3. God Wants Us Reject Certain Styles of Worship
Therefore, God is not pleased with nor approves of all styles of worship as many Christians erroneously believe.
A great number of believers today seem to agree with the philosophy of Bob Kauflin, director of Sovereign Grace Music, as he states in an interview “that it seems like God doesn’t have a particular kind of music that He likes or a particular kind of era that He likes; that God likes music of all kinds. That’s the way He created the world.”[15]
However, God wants us to reject our own styles and the world’s styles of worship meaning that there are certain musical styles that do not please Him.
These concepts may seem novel to us but sadly the majority of churches today are using their own methods and the world’s methods in worship. Their focus is not as much on worship but rather on evangelism resulting into using the world’s music in order to reach the lost for Christ.
Rick Warren summarizes this philosophy well, “We need to understand the incredible power of music… use the music that will best reach the unchurched for Christ.”[16] Sadly, this philosophy characterizes the majority of churches throughout the world.
I believe that the heartbeat behind the worldliness and the pop culture tendencies in the area of worship in our churches today lies within a faulty view and understanding of who God is and how He wants us to worship Him.
In order to have the right view of our God and reflect Him accurately in our worship, we must spend much time getting to know Him through His Word so that we will have an exalted view of Him (Isa. 6:1-8).
To know God more intimately and accurately is the answer to the confusion and misunderstanding regarding our worship of Him. Dan Lucarini accurately states, “People can tell a lot about your god by the way you worship him.”[17]
What are people saying about God by how you are worshipping Him? Are your worship methods a help or a hindrance to the Gospel?
As we have seen in the Word of God, our worship methods are not to please people but rather to please, obey, and magnify our great God. This is what defines true biblical worship.
Yes, our God does care about our methodology in worship and He wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
[1] Mark F. Rooker, vol. 3A, Leviticus, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c2000), 157.
[2] Musical style is the form or musical organization of a particular composition. Every composition has some type of form and thus many would agree that it is one of the primary elements of music along with melody, volume, rhythm, and timbre. Thus, one cannot consider the musical style as a separate entity from the music itself. Certain music scholars believe that musical style is synonymous to musical genre.
[3] Julian Johnson, Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choices and Musical Value. Oxford Press, 2002, p. 8.
[4] Dr. Max Schoen, The Psychology of Music. New York: Ronald Press, 1940.
[5] Dr. Peter Wicke, Rockin’ the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements, p. 81.
[6] Dr. Howard Hanson quoted in the American Journal of Psychiatry, XC (1943), p. 317.
[7] Julian Johnson, Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choices and Musical Value. (Oxford: NY, Oxford Press, 2002), p. 12. “Music is like a language…this linguistic aspect means that music is always more than a matter of taste…the problem of making judgments about music is rooted here…music was understood to be based on natural laws, and its value was derived from its capacity to frame and elaborate these laws in musical form.”
[8] Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Church,(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 285.
[9] G.A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 65.
[10] http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pop+culture; accessed October 27, 2011.
[11] Ken Browne, An Introduction to Sociology, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011) 276. “A subculture is a smaller culture held by a group of people within the main culture of a society, in some ways different from the main culture but with many aspects in common.” Not all culture is inherently evil as culture is a part of life and what represent our tastes, customs, and beliefs. However, God’s Word must be our final authority in shaping our beliefs and choices in the midst of what is acceptable found in our culture (I Thess. 5:19-22).
[12]Joel Heng Hartse, A History of Christian Rock, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/mayweb-only/christianrock.html: accessed May 21, 2013
[13] Marva Dawn, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, 1995, p. 111.
[14] Charlie Peacock, At the Crossroads: An Insider’s Look at the Past, Present, and Future of Contemporary Christian Music, (Broadman & Holman, 1999), 47.
[15] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q7QiJdSm0Q; accessed July 15, 2013. This quote is an excerpt from Mr. Kauflin’s interview with Desiring God ministries in preparation for their national Desiring God conference in 2008.
[16] http://www.cephas-library.com/purposedriven/purposedriven_quotes_by_rick_warren.html; accessed February 1st, 2011.
[17] Dan Lucarini, It’s not About the Music: A Journey into Worship. (Carlisle, PA: EP Books USA, 2010), 2010