What Does God Say to Do in Church?
Now, I am not naturally a loud person. I can be loud, if the situation requires it. But I talk softly and live quietly. I prefer gentle, sensitive things. Things like night sounds, baby chicks, and the silence of falling snow. I'm saying this to help you understand this was a difficult thing for me to learn, and to obey. But there was such a BLESSING and a FREEDOM in obedience, even though it means exerting myself to work at worshiping the Lord the way He prescribes.
You see, I read through the entire Bible - especially the Psalms and the New Testament - to find out what God said about how to worship Him. And I was astounded! What God says to do is NOT what we feel like doing in the flesh! And it's NOT our comfort zone! It does NOT come naturally to any carnal person.
A carnal, "soulish" person might try to perform outwardly, but his heart will be far from God.
This applies both to a quiet style of worship, and to a louder, more demonstrative style.
But God requires first of all, that the heart be turned toward Him fully.
God requires first of all, repentance from all sin. That's where the tears are appropriate.
But He doesn't want us to stay there! Tears are not appropriate on all occasions.
There are occasions when dancing and shouting praise are more appropriate.
God commanded specific emotions at specific feasts in the Old Testaments.
In Nehemiah 8:9, the people had to be instructed; "This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep." (For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.)
Why was weeping inappropriate?
Because God had commanded in Lev. 23:40, Deut. 12:7-18, 14:26 , 16:11, and 27:7, that the emotion He wanted them to display before Him was joy.
To us today, that sounds weird. That seems hypocritical, to act out an emotion we don't necessarily feel. That's because we think if we act out our feelings, then we're being genuine.
But that's nothing but egocentric pop psychology.
There's a deeper genuineness than acting out our feelings.
It's bringing every thought and emotion into obedience.
That means, if God says rejoice, then I will put on a smile and praise Him!
And it means if God says afflict your soul and weep, then I will do exactly that.
This is a shift in our control center.
It's stopping being controlled by soul-generated feelings, and choosing rather to be genuinely controlled by the Spirit of God!
This isn't self-control. It's allowing the Spirit of God to control us.
It's not hypocritical to be spiritually obedient in your emotions. It's mature.
But it IS hypocritical to "worship" God any old way we feel, even though He tells us how!
Because true worship involves obedience.
Now, many approach the New Testament with the idea that if something isn't found there, then we don't do it. Therefore, many prohibit musical instruments in church services.
But if we are going to come from that standpoint, then we'd better do away with church buildings and 11 o'clock Sunday morning preaching! Neither of those are spoken of in the New Testament!
(In fact, the 11 a.m. Sunday morning sermon as the most sacred hour of the week stems from something rather strange. Martin Luther was the one who started it. You see, the Catholic Church had Sunday morning mass starting at 6 a.m. Luther felt this was too difficult... because he liked to spend his Saturday nights out at the bar, drinking and debating with college students. Every Sunday morning, he had a hangover. So, he changed the time to 11 a.m. And still today, every Protestant church sticks to that "sacred" tradition of man... a hungover man, at that.)
What DOES the New Testament say about how to worship?
It doesn't really prescribe how to order the service.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:26-31, that every member of the meeting has something to contribute.
(And this verse is not a disapproval of the idea!)
We are not supposed to be all sitting there, row-upon-row, being entertained, and uninvolved.
We ought to be testifying, giving forth tongues and interpretations, singing, or prophesying.
That's the New Testament church!
So much for two-songs-and-a-sermon-and-we-all-go-home!
There was a time Paul preached all night.
There was a time Jesus sang a hymn with the disciples, before going to Gethsemane.
(Imagine that! He knew what He was facing, and He was SINGING!)
The New Testament (like the Old) says a lot about singing.
Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Not just hymns. There were "spiritual songs," too...
And then, besides the hymns and the spiritual songs, the New Testament says to "sing psalms."
Psalms? Psalms? This is the New Covenant, Paul!
How dare Paul refer to the Old Testament song book, when instructing the church how to worship?
In the Jewish community, to sing a psalm meant you were singing from the Book of Psalms!
The early church sang the Psalms.
God, (through Paul) says we are to sing them.
But God didn't say, "but avoid the 150th one, under the New Covenant."
You know, where it says to "Praise Him with the clanging cymbals, the high-sounding cymbals, with the timbrel and dance, etc..."
Why are we disobeying Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, by carefully avoiding doing what the Psalms explicitly tell us to do? It's a theme throughout the Psalms:
God loves loud worship!
Obviously, the early church had no careful instructions to avoid loud, rhythmic, instrumental music as traditional European-style churches do!
(...and I wonder... did we hang onto a bit of Catholic tradition there?)
This is getting long; I need to wrap it up.
But there's one more thing:
The New Testament expressly commands us to lift our hands.
1Timothy 2:8 "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands..."
It's amazing, how literally the verses afterward (about women's dress, etc) is applied.
Why is it that what is said to the men is only taken to be symbolic, and not necessarily literal...
but all that was said to the women in the same chapter is literal, and strictly enforced?
Lifting the hands is an expression of surrender, of supplication, of praise, and of victory.
It's "body language" that opens us completely up! No more defenses. Like a little child to his daddy.
And scientific research has proved that if we adopt the body language of the emotion we wish to feel, it starts us feeling that way.
Therefore, the command to lift our hands to the Lord will actually begin our opening up before Him. It changes the very atmosphere from defeat, to victory.
We NEED to lift our hands in praise, if we feel down and depressed.
It's the action of "sowing to the spirit" that can yield a harvest of true joy!
Church worship, according to the Word, ought to contain all of these elements, on a regular basis.
Preaching, praying, shouting, singing, musical instruments, dancing, and lifting up the hands.
Anything less is disobedience.
We need to seriously consider the words of Jesus:
"Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9
And there are times for quietness. For silence in His presence. But...
God loves noisy worship!
In fact, check out Revelation - the only time you will see silence in heaven, is when everyone knows judgment is about to fall. Silence an stillness is not heaven's norm!
In fact, it was so rare for heaven to be silent, that it was actually timed! And when it was over, everything went back to normal: noise and activity.
Silence is not the norm for heaven. And God designed heaven's atmosphere to reflect His personality.
He loves noisy worship. Far more than silent reflection.
I'm not saying silence in worship is wrong.
But it's not supposed to be the norm.
There are times of repentance and tears. But...
God loves positive emotions!
He created us with a wide range of ability to show positive emotions...which we all show on a regular basis, in daily life.
Let the cows get out, and see how you can shout and lift your hands!
So, you DO have it in you!
Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful NOISE unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
Psalm 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
Psalm 47:1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
Psalm 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psalm 150:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
If you've got breath, you owe it to your God, to give Him the loudest, highest praise you can.
Don't give your cows (or the ball game) more than you give God.
You see, I read through the entire Bible - especially the Psalms and the New Testament - to find out what God said about how to worship Him. And I was astounded! What God says to do is NOT what we feel like doing in the flesh! And it's NOT our comfort zone! It does NOT come naturally to any carnal person.
A carnal, "soulish" person might try to perform outwardly, but his heart will be far from God.
This applies both to a quiet style of worship, and to a louder, more demonstrative style.
But God requires first of all, that the heart be turned toward Him fully.
God requires first of all, repentance from all sin. That's where the tears are appropriate.
But He doesn't want us to stay there! Tears are not appropriate on all occasions.
There are occasions when dancing and shouting praise are more appropriate.
God commanded specific emotions at specific feasts in the Old Testaments.
In Nehemiah 8:9, the people had to be instructed; "This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep." (For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.)
Why was weeping inappropriate?
Because God had commanded in Lev. 23:40, Deut. 12:7-18, 14:26 , 16:11, and 27:7, that the emotion He wanted them to display before Him was joy.
To us today, that sounds weird. That seems hypocritical, to act out an emotion we don't necessarily feel. That's because we think if we act out our feelings, then we're being genuine.
But that's nothing but egocentric pop psychology.
There's a deeper genuineness than acting out our feelings.
It's bringing every thought and emotion into obedience.
That means, if God says rejoice, then I will put on a smile and praise Him!
And it means if God says afflict your soul and weep, then I will do exactly that.
This is a shift in our control center.
It's stopping being controlled by soul-generated feelings, and choosing rather to be genuinely controlled by the Spirit of God!
This isn't self-control. It's allowing the Spirit of God to control us.
It's not hypocritical to be spiritually obedient in your emotions. It's mature.
But it IS hypocritical to "worship" God any old way we feel, even though He tells us how!
Because true worship involves obedience.
Now, many approach the New Testament with the idea that if something isn't found there, then we don't do it. Therefore, many prohibit musical instruments in church services.
But if we are going to come from that standpoint, then we'd better do away with church buildings and 11 o'clock Sunday morning preaching! Neither of those are spoken of in the New Testament!
(In fact, the 11 a.m. Sunday morning sermon as the most sacred hour of the week stems from something rather strange. Martin Luther was the one who started it. You see, the Catholic Church had Sunday morning mass starting at 6 a.m. Luther felt this was too difficult... because he liked to spend his Saturday nights out at the bar, drinking and debating with college students. Every Sunday morning, he had a hangover. So, he changed the time to 11 a.m. And still today, every Protestant church sticks to that "sacred" tradition of man... a hungover man, at that.)
What DOES the New Testament say about how to worship?
It doesn't really prescribe how to order the service.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:26-31, that every member of the meeting has something to contribute.
(And this verse is not a disapproval of the idea!)
We are not supposed to be all sitting there, row-upon-row, being entertained, and uninvolved.
We ought to be testifying, giving forth tongues and interpretations, singing, or prophesying.
That's the New Testament church!
So much for two-songs-and-a-sermon-and-we-all-go-home!
There was a time Paul preached all night.
There was a time Jesus sang a hymn with the disciples, before going to Gethsemane.
(Imagine that! He knew what He was facing, and He was SINGING!)
The New Testament (like the Old) says a lot about singing.
Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Not just hymns. There were "spiritual songs," too...
And then, besides the hymns and the spiritual songs, the New Testament says to "sing psalms."
Psalms? Psalms? This is the New Covenant, Paul!
How dare Paul refer to the Old Testament song book, when instructing the church how to worship?
In the Jewish community, to sing a psalm meant you were singing from the Book of Psalms!
The early church sang the Psalms.
God, (through Paul) says we are to sing them.
But God didn't say, "but avoid the 150th one, under the New Covenant."
You know, where it says to "Praise Him with the clanging cymbals, the high-sounding cymbals, with the timbrel and dance, etc..."
Why are we disobeying Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, by carefully avoiding doing what the Psalms explicitly tell us to do? It's a theme throughout the Psalms:
God loves loud worship!
Obviously, the early church had no careful instructions to avoid loud, rhythmic, instrumental music as traditional European-style churches do!
(...and I wonder... did we hang onto a bit of Catholic tradition there?)
This is getting long; I need to wrap it up.
But there's one more thing:
The New Testament expressly commands us to lift our hands.
1Timothy 2:8 "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands..."
It's amazing, how literally the verses afterward (about women's dress, etc) is applied.
Why is it that what is said to the men is only taken to be symbolic, and not necessarily literal...
but all that was said to the women in the same chapter is literal, and strictly enforced?
Lifting the hands is an expression of surrender, of supplication, of praise, and of victory.
It's "body language" that opens us completely up! No more defenses. Like a little child to his daddy.
And scientific research has proved that if we adopt the body language of the emotion we wish to feel, it starts us feeling that way.
Therefore, the command to lift our hands to the Lord will actually begin our opening up before Him. It changes the very atmosphere from defeat, to victory.
We NEED to lift our hands in praise, if we feel down and depressed.
It's the action of "sowing to the spirit" that can yield a harvest of true joy!
Church worship, according to the Word, ought to contain all of these elements, on a regular basis.
Preaching, praying, shouting, singing, musical instruments, dancing, and lifting up the hands.
Anything less is disobedience.
We need to seriously consider the words of Jesus:
"Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9
And there are times for quietness. For silence in His presence. But...
God loves noisy worship!
In fact, check out Revelation - the only time you will see silence in heaven, is when everyone knows judgment is about to fall. Silence an stillness is not heaven's norm!
In fact, it was so rare for heaven to be silent, that it was actually timed! And when it was over, everything went back to normal: noise and activity.
Silence is not the norm for heaven. And God designed heaven's atmosphere to reflect His personality.
He loves noisy worship. Far more than silent reflection.
I'm not saying silence in worship is wrong.
But it's not supposed to be the norm.
There are times of repentance and tears. But...
God loves positive emotions!
He created us with a wide range of ability to show positive emotions...which we all show on a regular basis, in daily life.
Let the cows get out, and see how you can shout and lift your hands!
So, you DO have it in you!
Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful NOISE unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
Psalm 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
Psalm 47:1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
Psalm 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psalm 150:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
If you've got breath, you owe it to your God, to give Him the loudest, highest praise you can.
Don't give your cows (or the ball game) more than you give God.
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