Christian Worship

9 Reasons People Are Not Singing in Worship

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Lift Your Voice II

Charles Spurgeon once quipped: “God is to be praised with the voice, and the heart should go therewith in holy exultation.”

While Spurgeon is right, the problem is that in many congregations the people are not “praising God with the voice”.  If the folks at Renewing Worship are to be believed, part of the reason is that many churches are turning worship into a spectator sport – where attendees watch and listen to a concert as well as a message.  As Kenny Lamm expresses it:

Simply put, we are breeding a culture of spectators in our churches, changing what should be a participative worship environment to a concert event. Worship is moving to its pre-Reformation mess.

Lamm goes on to say he sees nine reasons congregations aren’t singing anymore:

  1. They don’t know the songs.
  2. We are singing songs not suitable for congregational singing.
  3. We are singing in keys too high for the average singer.
  4. The congregation can’t hear people around them singing.
  5. We have created worship services which are spectator events, building a performance environment.
  6. The congregation feels they are not expected to sing.
  7. We fail to have a common body of hymnody.
  8. Worship leaders ad lib too much.
  9. Worship leaders are not connecting with the congregation.

In his article titled 9 Reasons People Aren’t Singing in Worship, Lamm elaborates on each of these observations. His thoughts are worth exploring, and comparing to our own church worship practices.

It may be that your church, like ours, defies this trend. In our church people do sing out, and at times, when the sancturay is full of people, and the voices seem to overflow the sanctuary, it feels majestic. Not only do we encourage singing, but we also usually offer a liturgy that invites the participants to praise God with their voices, even if not in song.  So, if you have a singing congregation, GREAT! Lamm’s observations can serve as a great affirmation. They can also serve as a wise of caution, things to look out for, to minimize the possibility of drifiting.

On the other hand, if your church has been moving more toward the spectator… I hope Lamm’s concerns will challenge you to re-examine what worship is and how it really ought to be done.

10 Principles for Worship

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

The highest calling and greatest privilege of all Christians is to love and worship God.  In worship we encounter God with increasing awareness of who he is.  In worship we together magnify God’s glory.

The following are 10 principles, developed over a number of years, and influenced by a variety of sources, that not only express my philosophy of worship, but shape my practice of worship.  By no means is this exhaustive, nor is it unchangeable. But I do hope it might be helpful.

1. God-centeredness:

A high priority must be placed on the vertical focus in our Sunday morning service.  The ultimate aim is to so experience God that he is glorified in our affections.  (Deuteronomy 6.4-5, 13-15; Isaiah 42.8; Matthew 4.10)

2. Bible Based:

The content of God’s Word will be our ground of authority for all elements & appeal, and will be woven through all we do in worship. The content of our singing, our praying, our teaching, and our activity will always conform to the truth of Scripture.  (Isaiah 29.13; Deuteronomy 12.32; Matthew 15.9)

3. Trinitarian:

God has existed from all eternity in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory.  Our worship ought to reflect this truth, and recognize all three persons   (1 John 5.7; Matthew 28.9)

4. Expecting the Powerful Presence of God:

Worship is not a memorial service, nor merely our offering of ourselves toward God.  True worship earnestly seeks to experience the present reality of Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit, particularly through the Word & Sacraments.  We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known & felt for his glory, our good, and the salvation of unbelievers in our midst.  (Psalm 139.7-10; Genesis 28.16; Matthew 28.20; Acts 2; Psalm 89.15; Ezekiel 46.3; Acts 10.33)

5. Aiming for Head & Heart:

Worship should aim at kindling & carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, but should not manipulate people’s emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things.     (Isaiah 29.13; Matthew 15.8)

6. Participatory:

Worship is an active expression of the corporate body.  It is not performance by a few to be viewed by spectators. Therefore our worship shall be ordered to give the greatest opportunity for all to participate in song, prayer, testimony & confession.  All choirs, singers, musicians, speakers & liturgists are to be used in such a way that they stimulate & facilitate participatory worship throughout the congregation.   (1 Peter 2.9)

7. Freedom & Form:

Knowing that God has given us differing personalities, heritage & experiences we desire to allow people to express themselves in worship as they are led by the Spirit.  Therefore we will not discourage the raising of hands in praise, bowing for prayer & repentance, or other such activities done decently & in order.  Yet, neither will we seek to artificially stimulate such demonstrative expression within the congregation.

8. Undistracting Excellence:

Worship is to be focused on God. Therefore we will strive to sing, pray, teach & act in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the substance of worship by shoddy performance, nor excessive finesse, elegance or refinement. (1 Corinthians 10.31; 2 Samuel 24.24)

9. Convergent:

Many wonderful & beautiful traditions of the church have been passed down through the ages. They are varied from culture to culture, and from generation to generation.   Nevertheless, the best of these traditions convey the same love, reverence & adoration for God as we seek to experience & express. Therefore, in order to draw from the wealth of our forefathers, we will implement many of these songs, confessions & liturgies in ways & forms which are sensitive, meaningful & appropriate for the contemporary church.  To be convergent means to bring the best resources of the present together with the past.   (Proverbs 22.28; Hebrews 11.4c)

10. Contempory Blend:

It is a common mistake to assume that contemporary means “that which has been composed in this generation”, and traditional is a label for things composed in times past.  For timeless hymns such as Amazing Grace, Be Thou My Vision, and the Gloria Patri speak to us today as clearly as they did to the Church at the time of their composition.  Yet, our worship should always be contemporary in that it should speak to us clearly & faithfully of eternal truth, while being reflective of our current age & culture. Therefore, our worship should not reflect just our own age, for that would be to exclude those of the corporate body of Christ in the past. Nor should it reflect a limited scope from the past, for that would be to exclude the godly creative expressions of our own age. But in all things we seek the honor & glory of God, and we will transform traditions to to involve the truth of his Church from all ages.  (Proverbs 22.28; Psalm 149.1)

Why Do We Come For Worship?

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

The answer to the question, “Why do we come for worship?” determines everything about the service.  And it can only be answered one of two ways: We are in worship for God or we are there for man.

If we come to worship for man, we become principally concerned with such questions as:

  • Are we having a good time?
  • Is this service giving us a good feeling?
  • Are we getting good fellowship?
  • Do we like the preacher?
  • Are we moved by the sermons?

These questions have one common denominator: They reflect man-centered purposes for worship, because they all have to do with man.

Don’t misunderstand. Many of these question touch legitimate concerns. But they are not sound Biblical purposes for worship.

The Bible clearly teaches that the purpose of worship is for God. The Apostle Paul rebuked a group of Christians for putting their own selfish desires before God’s glory, for “coming together” for man-centered reasons. The Corinthian church cared only about stuffing their own mouths, having a good time, and celebrating together. They had lost sight of the real purpose which was to “show forth the Lord’s death” (1 Corinthians 11:26). They were not to be taking the Supper primarily for themselves, but for the Lord. How they felt and what they liked were not reasons for coming to worship.

As a matter of fact, Christians may not feel good when they come together. In the same passage the Apostle Paul says Biblical worship will make some people sick if they come for the wrong reason (1 Corinthians 11:30). They may begin to feel miserable or sick because there is sin in their lives. They are made to feel this way so that they will repent. How we feel or even what we think about Biblical worship is not the point. We are not the point at all. God is. We come to worship Him!

Once we’ve settled why we come for worship, the rest falls into its Biblical place.

Steak on a Paper Plate

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Steak on a Paper Plate

I am not sure I agree with everything he says, but Trevin Wax offers some very insightful thoughts worth considering about contemporary worship wars:

More and more churches are focusing on the centrality of the Word in worship.
The resurgence of Reformed theology among younger evangelicals, the reestablishment of a rock-solid belief in the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures…, the revival of expository preaching… this wave that we’re riding is about to collide with an even bigger wave: the dominance of contemporary worship styles across the U.S. and the world.
For many churches, the biggest requirement for a “worship set” is novelty. We’re aiming for an experience. So we put together a worship service that is more influenced by the latest hits on Christian radio than by theology or history.
We also try to put people at ease. “Good morning… Let’s try that again, GOOD MORNING!” There’s a chatty, street-level style of worship that has become prevalent in evangelicalism. And I’m not sure how our pursuit of novelty and casualness in worship is going to mesh with hearing the Word of God expounded upon in all its glory.
Can a contemporary, casual service bring worshippers face to face with the glory of God in a way that buttresses and upholds the magnificent truths being expounded from the Word? I think the answer is yes, but not always.
It’s like eating steak on a paper plate.
My wife is an excellent cook. Her Romanian dishes dazzle my tastebuds, and her American cooking is terrific too. In the past couple of months, she has been using paper plates frequently. I understand why. We don’t have a dishwasher. She wants to save time setting the table, and she doesn’t want me washing dishes after dinner. Paper plates are easy and disposable.
But after a few weeks of paper plates, I told my wife, “Your cooking is too good for paper plates.” Slapping down a hot dog and baked beans on a paper plate in the middle of summer is just fine. But when my wife makes her famous pork chops and rice, or her Romanian cabbage rolls, or steak and mashed potatoes, paper plates just don’t cut it. I said, “Let me wash the dishes. But at least give us dishes!”
When it comes to worship, we are frequently told that form doesn’t matter. Style is not what’s important. I get that. I’m not downing contemporary music or advocating a return to liturgy, organs and hymns. I’ve been in contemporary worship services that have put me on my knees before the holiness and majesty of God. Cultural forms adjust and adapt.
But in worship today, there is a tendency toward casualness. The emphasis on feeling God’s closeness in worship may short-circuit the possibility of being transformed by a glimpse of the Transcendent One. There’s hardly any room for feeling awe in worship, and I can’t help but think that part of our problem is the form.
Form and content mirror one another. A church with serious Bible preaching is going to have a serious worship service (contemporary or traditional isn’t what matters, but serious it will be). A church with a feel-good preacher is going to have peppy, feel-good music.
Christians need to sense the weight of God’s glory, the truths of God’s Word, the reality of coming judgment, and the gloriousness of God’s grace. Trying to package the bigness of this God into most casual worship services is like trying to eat steak on a paper plate. You can do it for awhile, but at some point, people will start saying, “I want a dish.”
Trevin Wax is an Editor at LifeWay Christian Resources, and former Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN. This article appeared on his blog, Kingdom People – Living on Earth as Citizens of Heaven http://trevinwax.com/ and is used with permission. I first read this piece on The Aquila Report.

The Supremacy of God in Missions Through Worship

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

by John Piper

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Psalm 97.1). “Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Psalm 67.3-4).

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!”, who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High” (Psalm 104.34; 9.2). Missions begins and ends in worship.

If the pursuit of God’s glory is not ordered above the pursuit of man’s good in the affections of the heart and the priorities of the church, man will not be well served and God will not be duly honored. I am not pleading for a diminishing of missions but for a magnifying of God. When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God’s true worth, the light of missions will shine to the most remote peoples on earth. And I long for that day to come!

Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak. Churches that are not centered on the exaltation of the majesty and beauty of God will scarcely kindle a fervent desire to “declare his glory among the nations” (Psalm 96.3). Even outsiders feel the disparity between the boldness of our claims upon the nations and the blandness of our engagement with God.

Albert Einstein’s Indictment

For example, Charles Misner, a scientific specialist in general relativity theory, expressed Albert Einstein‘s skepticism over the church with words that should waken us to the shallowness of our experience with God in worship.

“The design of the universe…is very magnificent and shouldn’t be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preacher said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had every imagined, and they were just not talking about the real thing. My guess is that he simply felt that religions he’d run across did not have proper respect…for the author of the universe.”

The charge of blasphemy is loaded. The point is to pack a wallop behind the charge that in our worship services God simply doesn’t come through for who he is. He is unwittingly belittled. For those who are stunned by the indescribable magnitude of what God has made, not to mention the infinite greatness of the One who made it, the steady diet on Sunday morning of practical “how to’s” and psychological soothing and relational therapy and tactical planning seem dramatically out of touch with Reality–the God of overwhelming greatness.

It is possible to be distracted from God in trying to serve God. Martha-like , we neglect the one thing needful, and soon begin to present God as busy and fretful. A.W. Tozer warned us about this:

“We commonly represent God as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world. … Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God.”

Scientists know that light travels at the speed of 5.87 trillion miles in a year. They also know that the galaxy of which our solar system is a part is about 100,000 light-years in diameter–about five hundred eighty seven thousand trillion miles. It is one of about a million such galaxies in the optical range of our most powerful telescopes. In our galaxy there are about 100 billion stars. The sun is one of them, a modest star burning at about 6,000 degrees Centigrade on the surface, and traveling in an orbit at 155 miles per second, which means it will take about 200 million years to complete a revolution around the galaxy.

Scientists know these things and are awed by them. And they say, “If there is a personal God, as the Christians say, who spoke this universe into being, then there is a certain respect and reverence and wonder and dread that would have to come through when we talk about him and when we worship him.”

We who believe the Bible know this even better than the scientists because we have heard something even more amazing:

“To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these (stars)? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. (Isaiah 40.25-26)

Every one of the billions of stars in the universe is there by God’s specific appointment. He knows their number. And, most astonishing of all, he knows them by name. They do his bidding as his personal agents. When we feel the weight of this grandeur in the heavens, we have only touched the hem of his garment. “Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways! And how small a whisper do we hear of him” (Job 26.14). That is why we cry ‘Be exalted, O God, Above the heavens!’ (Psalm 57.5). God is the absolute reality that everyone in the universe must come to terms with. Everything depends utterly on his will. All other realities compare to him like a raindrop compares to the ocean, or like an anthill compares to Mt. Everest. To ignore him or belittle him is unintelligible and suicidal folly. How shall one ever be the emissary of this great God who has not trembled before him with joyful wonder?

The Second Greatest Activity in the World

The most crucial issue in missions is the centrality of God in the life of the church. Where people are not stunned by the greatness of God, how can they be sent with the ringing message, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods!” (Psalm 96.4)? Missions is not first and ultimate: God is. And these are not just words. This truth is the lifeblood of missionary inspiration and endurance. William Carey, the father of modern missions, who set sail for India from England in 1793, expressed the connection:

“When I left England, my hope of India’s conversion was very strong; but amongst so many obstacles, it would die, unless upheld by God. Well, I have God, and His Word is true. Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand times stronger than they are, and the example of the Europeans a thousand times worse; though I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith, fixed on the sure Word, would rise above all obstructions and overcome every trial. God’s cause will triumph.”

Carey and thousands like him have been moved by the vision of a great and triumphant God. That vision must come first. Savoring it in worship precedes spreading it in missions. All of history is moving toward one great goal, the white-hot worship of God and his Son among all the peoples of the earth. Missions is not that goal. It is the means. And for that reason it is the second greatest human activity in the world.

God’s Passion for God Is the Foundation for Ours

One of the things God uses to make this truth take hold of a person and a church is the stunning realization that it is also true for God himself. Missions is not God’s ultimate goal, worship is. And when this sinks into a person’s heart everything changes. The world is often turned on its head. And everything looks different–including the missionary enterprise.

The ultimate foundation for our passion to see God glorified is his own passion to be glorified. God is central and supreme in his own affections. There are no rivals for the supremacy of God’s glory in his own heart. God is not an idolater. He does not disobey the first and great commandment. With all his heart and soul and strength and mind he delights in the glory of his manifold perfections. The most passionate heart for God in all the universe is God’s heart.

This truth, more than any other I know, seals the conviction that worship is the fuel and goal of missions. The deepest reason why our passion for God should fuel missions is that God’s passion for God fuels missions. Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God’s delight in being God. And the deepest reason why worship is the goal in missions is that worship is God’s goal. We are confirmed in this goal by the Biblical record of God’s relentless pursuit of praise among the nations. “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” (Psalm 117.1). If it is God’s goal it must be our goal.

The Chief End of God Is to Glorify God and Enjoy Himself For Ever

All my years of preaching and teaching on the supremacy of God in the heart of God have proved that this truth hits most people like a truck laden with unknown fruit. If they survive the impact, they discover that it is the most luscious fruit on the planet. I have unpacked this truth with lengthy arguments in other places. So here I will just give a brief overview of the Biblical basis. What I am claiming is that the answer to the first question of the Westminster Catechism is the same when asked concerning God as it is when asked concerning man. Question: “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.” Question: “What is the chief end of God?” Answer: “The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself for ever.”

Another way to say it is simply, God is righteous. The opposite of righteousness is to value and enjoy what is not truly valuable or rewarding. This is why people are called unrighteous in Romans 1.18. They suppress the truth of God’s value and exchange God for created things. So they belittle God and discredit his worth. Righteousness is the opposite. It means recognizing true value for what it is and esteeming it and enjoying it in proportion to its true worth. The unrighteous in 2 Thessalonians 2.10 perish because they refuse to love the truth. The righteous, then, are those who welcome a love for the truth. Righteousness is recognizing and welcoming and loving and upholding what is truly valuable. God is righteous. This means that he recognizes, welcomes, loves and upholds with infinite jealousy and energy what is infinitely valuable, namely, the worth of God. God’s righteousness passion and delight is to display and uphold his infinitely valuable glory. This is not a vague theological conjecture. It flows inevitably from dozens of Biblical texts that show God in the relentless pursuit of praise and honor from creation to consummation.

Probably no text in the Bible reveals the passion of God for his own glory more clearly and bluntly than Isaiah 48.9-11 where God says,

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

I have found that for many people these words come like six hammer blows to a man-centered way of looking at the world:

For my name’s sake! For the sake of my praise! For my own sake! For my own sake! How should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another!

What this text hammers home to us is the centrality of God in his own affections. The most passionate heart for the glorification of God is God’s heart. God’s ultimate goal is to uphold and display the glory of his name.

“For the Sake of His Name among All the Nations

Paul makes crystal clear in Romans 1.5 that his mission and calling are for the name of Christ among all the nations: “We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations.”

The apostle John described the motive of early Christian missionaries in the same way. He wrote to tell one of his churches that they should send out Christian brothers in a manner “worthy of God.” And the reason he gives is that “they have gone out for the sake of his name, taking nothing from the Gentiles.” ( 3 John 6-7).

John Stott comments on these two texts (Romans 1:5; 3 John 7):

“They knew that God had superexalted Jesus, enthroning him at his right hand and bestowing upon him the highest rank, in order that every tongue should confess his lordship. They longed that Jesus should receive the honor due his name.”

This longing is not a dream but a certainty. at the bottom of all our hope, when everything else has given way, we stand on this great reality: the everlasting, all- sufficient God is infinitely, unwaveringly, and eternally committed to the glory of his great and holy name. For the sake of his fame among the nations he will act. His name will not be profaned forever. The mission of the church will be victorious. He will vindicate his people and his cause in all the earth.

The absence of [David] Brainerd‘s passion for God is the great cause of missionary weakness in the churches. This was Andrew Murray‘s judgement a hundred years ago:

“As we seek to find out why, with such millions of Christians, the real army of God that is fighting the hosts of darkness is so small, the only answer is–lack of heart. The enthusiasm of the kingdom is missing. And that is because there is so little enthusiasm for the King.”

The zeal of the church for the glory of her King will not rise until pastors and mission leaders and seminary teachers make much more of the King. When the glory of God himself saturates our preaching and teaching and conversation and writings, and when he predominates above our talk of methods and strategies and psychological buzz words and cultural trends, then the people might begin to feel that he is the central reality of their lives and that the spread of his glory is more important than all their possessions and all their plans.

The Call of God

God is calling us above all else to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the supremacy of God in all of life. No one will be able to rise to the magnificence of the missionary cause who does not feel the magnificence of Christ. There will be no big world vision without a big God. There will be no passion to draw others into our worship where there is no passion for worship.

God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of his name among the nations. Therefore let us bring our affections into line with his, and, for the sake of his name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts, and join his global purpose. If we do this, God’s omnipotent commitment to his name will be over us like a banner, and we will not lose, in spite of many tribulations (Acts 9.16; Romans 8.35-39). Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. The Great Commission is first to delight yourself in the Lord (Psalm 37.4) . And then to declare, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Psalm 67.4). In this way God will be glorified from beginning to end and worship will empower the missionary enterprise till the coming of the Lord.

Great and wonderful are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the ages!  Who shall not fear and glorify your name, O Lord? For you alone are holy.   All nations shall come and worship you, for your judgments have been revealed.  –Revelation 15.3-4

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This article is excerpted from the first chapter of John Piper’s book, Let the Nations Be Glad. This article also appeared in Mission Frontiers magazine from the U.S. Center for World Mission.

Community in Worship

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

In our society, we are conditioned to think primarily in terms of the individual.  This also seems to be true  in the church – sadly, perhaps especially so.

Noted worship scholar, Robert Webber, said that so much stress has been laid on individual conversion that worship services, in many churches, are often not worship-centered.  He said that in conversion-centered services:

“… worship center[s] no longer on the objective and corporate action of the church, but on the personal experience of the worshiper.” 

Webber goes on to say that the shift from the corporate to the individual happened because some early American Christians mistakenly thought that:

“… those who were converted needed less structure and were less dependent on others for worship.” 

In truth, freedom comes through structure.  For instance, people can’t make music if they don’t some idea about music theory and notation.  Real freedom for the Christian requires that other people be involved in our lives to help us: to train, to encourage, and to stimulate one another to good works. (Hebrews 10:24)  

Why does the modern Church abandon the principle of freedom through structure so often?  I believe it is due to too much emphasis on I and not enough on we the corporate body.  Many come to worship for themselves: what I can get out of it, or, what I put into it.  Biblical worship does not exclude the individual, but it is a corporate act.  It draws together the entire congregation as one voice to God and one ear to listen to Him. 

We must understand, we do not stand alone when we worship.  We also join with God’s people of times past because the Church draws near to heaven where all the departed saints dwell.   

What is Worship?

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

This post is an interview with Joseph F. “Skip” Ryan, former pastor of Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, and Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.  This interview first appeared in RTS Ministry in Summer 1990; and later in Reformed Worship. 

Q  In your opinion, what constitutes worship?

A   Most importantly, I think that the presence of God constitutes worship. It is not a human endeavor, but one that is inspired by the presence of the Lord himself. When people gather for worship, it is fundamentally an assembling of God’s people, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. And God is the most important person present. Frequently, during the invocation I will say things that will help people remember that.

The primary activity during worship is listening to the speaking of the Lord, not only in the proclamation of the Word, but in the hymns and other elements of the worship service. We don’t just hear God through his Word; the whole environment speaks of his presence.

God’s presence is the beginning point for biblical worship; in the Old Testament, where God is present, there worship takes place. Dignity and awe and solemnity are very appropriate in his presence. There are times in worship when we should be struck dumb, when clapping hands and shouting would be inappropriate., because at times we need to be silent before the Lord.

The assembly of God’s people is the place of God’s worship – not the building. In the prayer of invocation we are calling upon the Lord to be among His people, to do as He has promised and constitute us as a worship assembly of his people.

Q  You have said there are some inadequate models of worship. What are they?  

A   First, worship is not simply instruction. We should not see the worship service only in terms of the sermon, which is accompanied by a few frills like the offering and some hymns. To avoid this tendency, we sometimes rearrange the order of our service so the sermon is not the climax of worship.

Second, worship is not a training center. The worship service is not the time to train the congregation in evangelism, visitation, or discipleship. The emphasis in worship is on being, not doing. We are not coming to learn how to do something; we are coming to learn that we are the Lord’s people and that our primary purpose is to glorify and enjoy him forever.

Third, the worship service is not simply for fellowship. Surely fellowship takes place in worship, but the primary reason for being there is not horizontal; it is vertical. If the strongest feeling you have after a worship service is that you have been in the presence of other people, then you have not been in the presence of the Lord.

The purpose of worship is also not evangelism. Gearing a worship service primarily to the unchurched, in my opinion, is not worship. It may be an evangelism meeting, which is good, but it is not worship. Dr. Edmund Clowney talks of “doxological evangelism,” which means that as we praise and worship God, other people are drawn to him and are converted. It is true; I have seen people become Christians in our morning worship service – not because we directed the service evangelistically, but because they sensed a reality that they had never experienced before.

Finally, we should not see the worship service as vision-building time for the church. Using the worship service to promote the new building or new programs will cause you to end up with something less than worship.

Q  You advocate providing opportunities for people to participate in worship, not merely watch. How is this done?

 A   First, there needs to be a balance between form and freedom (or spontaneity), between structure and liturgy, between formality and informality. I think we should use all the liturgical forms – creeds, liturgical prayers, and responsive readings – particularly the Psalms. But a worship service should also have pockets of spontaneity – usually in the form of music, sharing, or praying. These are the freedom within the form, and through them, we encourage people to be involved.

Ours is not an informal, spontaneous, new-fangled worship service. It is a blend of formality and informality, liturgy, and spontaneity. But the key is not to calculate some blend. The key is to focus on the presence of the Lord Jesus and let those who have gathered worship in spirit and in truth. This means they must really worship and not just play at it.

In our service, the beginning of worship may be rather formal, with a responsive call to worship – perhaps a Psalm – then a prayer of invocation, a hymn, and a creed. We then, however, move into a period of informal singing, flashing Scripture songs on the wall. We encourage hand clapping here, with a joyful kind of singing.

Other pockets of spontaneity may take place in the form of sharing or praying. Sometimes we have a straightforward pastoral prayer, sometimes we ask specific people to pray, sometimes the elders come forward and pray. Also, during our communion service, people must come and get the elements instead of waiting for the elements to come to them. Since we celebrate the Lord’s Supper frequently (about twenty-five times a year), this is a wonderful way of helping people participate.

Q  Where do you feel that contemporary elements like drama fit in a worship service?

A  I think the worship service is drama, and we participate in it. I try to work that out in worship by moving around; I start out behind the Lord’s table, move to the front for another part of the service, then later move to the pulpit to preach. Also, I think we should use all the beautiful instrumentation we can. We use a piano, flutes, violins, drums and guitars. The Psalms give us many examples of the music and drama of worship.

Celebrating the Lord’s Supper is also part of the drama of worship; the Lord’s Supper is the demonstration – the drama – of the gospel. I think pastors should make much more of the rightful place of the dramatic portrayal of the Lord’s Supper than we do.

We derive spiritual benefit from the Lord’s Supper, but it is mediated through the dramatic portrayal of the Lord’s death. Some of the liturgies – Episcopal, Anglican, or Reformed – can help us here; we should use them, or create our own biblically-centered ones, and exhibit more wonder at what we are doing in the Lord’s Supper.

Q  What do you think our biggest failure is in worship today?  

A     I think we are trying to cram too many agendas into one hour of worship. We are trying to instruct, train, fellowship, evangelize, build vision, and give out all the announcements to keep the church running for a week – all in one hour. We allow many things to formulate our objectives for worship rather than focusing on the main goal of leading people into the presence of God.

Another failure is our tendency to imitate other churches’ models of worship without due regard for the unique way in which the Lord may be leading our church to worship. There is too much stress on specific types or models of worship and too little stress on entering into the presence of God.

Q  Do you think congregations should be better educated about worship?  

A  Yes, but I do not think that means more sermons about worship, unless that subject comes up naturally as a pastor preaches through the Bible. I think pastors need to instruct their people while in the process of worship. Sometimes when our folks are half asleep during the first hymn, I’ll stop it halfway through and lightly suggest we try again with our eyes open and our voices raised, reminding them we are singing to the Lord of all the universe.

Q  If a church wants to get serious about worship, what should the congregation do?  

A    Visit other churches where they are doing things differently and get ideas. Don’t imitate them slavishly, but do see what is applicable to your situation. The pastor should ask the session or council for freedom to experiment with the worship service to make it better. Also, the pastor needs to make sure he is worshiping as he leads the people; if he is, the people will catch it. Think through the service-the rhythm of worship, the elements, the flow, the content, the structure.  Pastor, don’t be overly chatty like a talk show host. Don’t talk about yourself; talk about the Lord. Lead people to the Lord. Call upon them to think about what they are saying and about the Scripture they are reading.

Q  What have you found to be the greatest benefit in your approach to worship?  

A     People come to worship really wounded and needy from the battles of the world. There must be a place in the midst of the battle where they can find the Sabbath presence of the Lord. If church becomes just another meeting, if there is no reality in the worship service, then we are asking people simply to come to another teaching session.

One Sunday, a very old man approached me after the service. He shook my hand and introduced himself. He looked me in the eye and said, “Young man, I have my own church, and I probably won’t come back here. But I want you to know something. I have not worshiped like that for twenty-five years.” He had tears in his eyes.