“How was
the worship at your church?”
“Oh, it was
awesome! The worship team was amazing!”
“Wonderful…how
was your personal worship experience?”
“Very
powerful indeed; the worship leader is certainly anointed!”
Ask any
young person about their worship experience, and I am so sure that a vast majority
of them would, innately, refer worship to singing in the church. In today’s
church parlance, singing means worship and worship refers to singing.
Thus the
dilution of “worship” raises its ugly hood in the church. This then is one of
the many problems prevalent in the church today!
Glorified Music &
Marginalized Worship
There are
churches that do not allocate more than 10 minutes for preaching or the exposition
of the Word of God. Scripture reading would never exceed 5 minutes, even on a
day when long passage(s) are read! But their singing would go on and on for
more than 30 minutes. Why this imbalance?
A pertinent
point emerges to the forefront when the local church glorifies the music ministry
more than the other ministries. When preeminence is bestowed upon singing, and
when music ministry is glorified beyond conceivable proportions, at least a few
of the other equally important ministries in the church tend to be ignored or
marginalized.
A glaring
example would be the absence of the ministry of Christian apologetics (offering
a rational defense for the Christian faith) in the churches today. Apologetics
would generally be a non-existent ministry in your church, and a good number of
church leaders tend to think that apologetics refers to offering an apology for
the Christian faith!
Dr. William
Lane Craig speaks of this malady in the local church, albeit from the
perspective of the church ignoring the need of a seeking mind, which leads to
an intellectual impoverishment of a sincerely-questioning-Christian-mind, “I
think the church is really failing these kids. Rather than provide them
training in the defense of Christianity’s truth, we focus on emotional worship
experiences, felt needs, and entertainment. It’s no wonder they become sitting
ducks for that teacher or professor who rationally takes aim at their faith.”1
I am not
saying that the music ministry is eating up other ministries. But I am indeed claiming
that the churches are ignoring equally pertinent ministries, such as the
ministry of Christian Apologetics. This is a sad existential occurrence because
the church leadership invests all its efforts only into a few ministries.
When
churches ignore the ministry of Christian apologetics, and when apologetics is
not intricately woven into the fabric of your church ministry, your church
would be grossly ineffective to answer the questions of a seeking Christian or
a non-Christian. Some pastors even have the audacity to claim that the
questioning mind is a stupid mind. Little do they realize that they are the
stupid one, for not having an answer for the hope that they have in Christ (cf.
1 Peter 3:15).
Why do
churches ignore the ministry of Christian apologetics?
“The great
revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries brought with them an emphasis on quick
conversion of individuals to Christianity without sufficient attention to
instruction in biblical doctrine. The
Christian life became more about the experience than the intellectual assent to
the teachings of Christ and the apostles.
Without intellectual grounding, many Christians fell prey to the rising
philosophical views alleging that only empirical evidence can support truth
claims. Higher criticism began to cast
doubt on the inerrancy of the Scriptures.
Darwinism challenged Christian teachings on the origins of man. The evangelical church largely responded to
these challenges by abandoning rational inquiry altogether. Philosophy, as a whole, became rejected by
the fundamentalists, who stood by the truth of the Scripture. Mainstream denominations, on the other hand,
accepted modern philosophy and rejected the inerrancy of Scripture, viewing it
as a spiritual guidebook only, not propositional truth. Instead of engaging the secularists, the
fundamentalists retreated to the margins of society. As a result, the church has largely adopted a
blind-faith position regarding the knowledge of spiritual truth. Rather than faith being seen as a response to
reasoned evidence of the truth of Christianity’s claims, it has become contrary
to reason altogether. It amounts to believing
despite all the evidence. Ultimately, the absence of apologetics in the church
has to do with intellectual laziness, which is sometimes made a virtue in the
name of “faith.” The effects of
anti-intellectualism in the church have been disastrous,”2 says an
article in Carm.org.
Ignoring
the ministry of apologetics is synonymous to ignoring the intellectual needs of
the young people. When pertinent ministries are consciously ignored by the
local church, the worship experience is meticulously diluted.
True & Effective Worship
Every
mature believer understands that worship in the church includes singing.
Singing praise and worship songs are as important and pertinent as the reading
of the Scripture, preaching of the Word, offertory, and even the announcements.
Everything that happens during the worship service is an act of worship.
True
worship does not merely refer to singing, “The apostle Paul described true
worship perfectly in Romans 12:1-2: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable
to God which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to
this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove
what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable, or well pleasing
and perfect.”...in the passage is a description of the manner of our worship:
“present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” Presenting our bodies means
giving to God all of ourselves. The reference to our bodies here means all our
human faculties, all of our humanness—our hearts, minds, hands, thoughts,
attitudes—are to be presented to God. In other words, we are to give up control
of these things and turn them over to Him, just as a literal sacrifice was
given totally to God on the altar. But how? Again, the passage is clear: “by
the renewing of your mind.” We renew our minds daily by cleansing them of the
world’s “wisdom” and replacing it with true wisdom that comes from God. We
worship Him with our renewed and cleansed minds, not with our emotions.
Emotions are wonderful things, but unless they are shaped by a mind saturated
in Truth, they can be destructive, out-of-control forces. Where the mind goes,
the will follows, and so do the emotions. First Corinthians 2:16 tells us we
have “the mind of Christ,” not the emotions of Christ.
There is
only one way to renew our minds, and that is by the Word of God. It is the
truth, the knowledge of the Word of God, which is to say the knowledge of the
mercies of God, and we’re back where we began. To know the truth, to believe
the truth, to hold convictions about the truth, and to love the truth will
naturally result in true spiritual worship. It is conviction followed by
affection, affection that is a response to truth, not to any external stimuli,
including music. Music as such has nothing to do with worship. Music can’t
produce worship, although it certainly can produce emotion. Music is not the
origin of worship, but it can be the expression of it. Do not look to music to
induce your worship; look to music as simply an expression of that which is induced
by a heart that is rapt by the mercies of God, obedient to His commands.
True
worship is God-centered worship. People tend to get caught up in where they
should worship, what music they should sing in worship, and how their worship
looks to other people. Focusing on these things misses the point. Jesus tells
us that true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
This means we worship from the heart and the way God has designed. Worship can
include praying, reading God's Word with an open heart, singing, participating
in communion, and serving others. It is not limited to one act, but is done
properly when the heart and attitude of the person are in the right place.”3
Conclusion
Ask
yourself this question today. Does your church excessively glorify its music
ministry? Does this excessive glorification hurt the other ministries of your
church?
Is there a
ministry of Christian apologetics in your church? If not, why?
May all our
faculties be sensitive to hear and follow God’s voice, now and always.
Endnotes:
1William Lane Craig, On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision, (Colorado
Springs: David C. Cook, 2010), 20.
2https://carm.org/apologetics-in-church
3https://www.gotquestions.org/true-worship.html
Websites cited were last accessed on 11th October
2017.
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