Questions About Worship

by Toby Baxley
This article was an email response to one of the young men in our youth ministry.

What are some things that are misunderstood about worship, either just our church or Christians in general? 

• Some things that are misunderstood about worship in general are that:
  • Worship is Sunday at 10:30 (or whatever time a particular congregation meets) and has no bearing on the rest of life. 
  • Worship only happens when the church is gathered. We can only worship at a particular place and time. 
  • Worship is only the musical portion of the service
• Worship is all of life; every moment of every day is worship. The question is not if we're worshiping, the question is what or whom we are worshiping at any given moment. I grew up in a church and church culture in which what happened on Sunday morning had no bearing on the rest of my life. No one I knew read the Bible or even prayed outside of church. Our head football coach was an usher and his wife played the organ. Outside of church, he was a mean old cuss with a foul mouth.
  

What are some key verses/passages to help understand Biblical worship?

In support of my previous answer 

• 1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
• John 4:20-24 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 
• Ephesians 5:18-20 do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
• 1 Corinthians 14:40 all things should be done decently and in order.
  

Are there any forms of worship/worship music that you would consider to be too far from Biblical worship?

• If everything is to be done (1) to the glory of God, and (2) decently and in order, we have to be careful not to play "fast and loose" with the things of God. God does care how He is worshiped. As a result, any forms of worship that bring silliness into the church gathering is too far. Humor is ok, but silliness is humor for its own sake. There's a time and place for that, but the Lord's Day assembly is not that. 
• Any "worship" that is self-exalting is too far from biblical worship. Songs that exalt our feelings toward God, songs that make empty promises, etc
• Worship music that seeks only to stir emotions musically instead of with rich theological truth are too far from Biblical worship. I've heard this referred to as "soaking music", as if you're soaking in the Spirit, when really you're just being whipped into a frenzy or a trance. We want our worship to be emotional, but emotions are the caboose of the train, not the engine.
  

Would you consider listening to worship music daily as essential to being a Christian?

• I wouldn't say that it is essential. I don't listen to worship music daily. Given what I said above, much of what passes for worship music is just emotional manipulation, meant to give some sort of dopamine release without actually stirring religious affections based on the gospel.
• Singing and meditating on deep theological truths in song can be a great way to feed your soul. You just have to be discerning about what you're allowing to speak into your life. A lie or even a half-truth set to a catchy melody can be very dangerous.
  

Why is our worship at KBC so different to that of other churches?

• I would follow up with a question to you: In your opinion, HOW is our worship at KBC so different to that of other churches? What do you notice here that you don't see elsewhere?
• This one is more difficult to answer because I don't have a vast amount of experience with how other churches are singing. Here is my desire for KBC:
  • Our worship is Word-centered. We want to sing the Word, pray the Word, and preach the Word. The Bible is everything we need for life and godliness so we want our gathered worship to reflect that.
  • Our worship singing is not only vertical (to God), but also horizontal (about God to others). Looking again at the Ephesians 5 passage above, I want our singing to be a tool we use to preach the gospel to our forgetful souls and our forgetful neighbors in the pews. I want our singing to bolster not only our own faith, but also our brother's and sister's faith as they hear us singing. Not everyone who comes through the door has a song in their heart because of hardship, pain, areas of unbelief, etc. I would desire that, through our singing, we can hold up a friend's tired arms and lift up their tired head (borrowing an allusion from Exodus 17:10-12 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.)
• CS Lewis once said, “There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes.” Two things can be true at the same time. Our worship can be serious as well as happy and wondrous.
  

What is the reason for raising hands during worship?

• It's biblical (1 Timothy 2:8) but not required
• It's a way to respond physically in worship (along with clapping, kneeling, shouting)
  

What is your process for choosing worship songs? 

• At a macro level (the overall repertoire), I try to choose songs for KBC that:
  • Accurately reflect the nature and character of God. There are some popular songs that reflect God in a way that He is not reflected in Scripture. The Church doesn't need kitsch or novelty. The church needs an accurate description of God's nature and character. The Church needs songs that present God as the Everlasting Creator, Sustainer. He is a good Father, with whom there is no shadow caused by unfaithfulness. He is always faithful and we can trust Him in all things because He works all things for our good and His glory. We don't want or need songs that introduce novel theologies or gospel speculation. Even in our singing, we want to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).
  • Are universally applicable. Many of the artist songs on Christian radio that have infiltrated the repertoire of many congregations are not appropriate for congregational singing. Many of them are personal testimony songs and that is fine if one person is singing and all the others are just listening. If the words of a congregational song are not true for everyone, then that is not a congregational song. If not everyone (speaking in terms of believers in Christ) can identify with the words to a song, then what you have is a solo testimony song and not a song that should be sung by the congregation.
  • Are fantastic to sing. The purpose of congregational singing is just that...singing. We are here to participate, not spectate. Just as discipleship is not an individual sport, it’s also not a spectator sport. 
• At a micro level (week-to-week), it's a little less rigid and structured. If I have done my due diligence at the macro level, the micro level takes care of itself.
  • I try to support the sermon somehow with one or more songs that interact with the big picture of the sermon.
  • Sometimes the songs are around a central theme, sometimes they are around one song.
  • I try to start with a big view of God and then narrow it down in focus the more songs we sing.
    • Could be God > Man > Christ > Response
    • Could be God > One particular attribute > Gospel > Response