I recently read an article in a series on worship that I thought was helpful. The very idea of worship has taken on strange cultural meanings in American evangelicalism. The advent of the Christian music industry has virtually reshaped the definition and practice of worship in our churches.
I hope to write a series of articles on the topic in the near future, but for now, here are six helpful rules to consider when thinking about worship:
1) The direction of the service should be removed entirely from the hands of the worship leaders, and solidly and unequivocally returned to, and made the whole responsibility of, the pastoral authority of the church. If a worship leader is retained, he must understand that he is wholly subordinate to that authority, having no standing whatever as such to determine the form or content of the service. (I would also add that giving this person pastoral status and title does not fix the problem. If that is done, one must say explicitly that the responsibility is that of the teaching authority of the church, normally vested in the Senior Pastor.)
2) The attraction of inquirers to the principal service of worship—which, after all, should culminate in a communion in which they cannot yet participate—is to be subordinated to the theological and doxological integrity of the service itself.
3) Words to all music sung in the service must be studied and approved by pastoral authority as theologically sound, and unapologetically rejected when not, no matter how beautiful the music to which they are set, or how beloved by the congregation.
4) The service of worship is not to be conducted as if it were a show in which some of the worshippers are performing for others, but rather all present should be worshipping God in every aspect of the proceedings. Musicians should be placed and used so as to give glory to God rather than themselves, and should present themselves accordingly both in dress and demeanor. Prayers should not, for example, be used as an opportunity to move about or change settings.
5) It must be understood and attended to by the pastoral authority that the service does not take place in a vacuum where it is free to innovate as it will, but participates in the worship of the whole church in heaven and earth, to which it is called not only to add its own unique voice, but to conform that voice to a pattern that lies outside itself. This conformance should be a matter of constant study and meditation on the part of the pastor and elders of the church. To leave it to the tastes of the congregation or to a professional worship leader is a dereliction of pastoral duty.
6) It must be understood and accepted that what results from this, while it should be of firm integrity and deep beauty, may not be a “popular” product for that very reason. No proportion is to be expected between faithfulness in these matters and congregational size.
To read the entire article and the series from Mere Comments, click here.
