Worship God's Way

When you think of worship, not in the general way of offering our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1), but of what you do in our worship services on the Lord's Day, what do you think of?

Do you think of what type of music it is that we prefer? Are you grateful that you go to the type of church that does music the way you want, so that you can feel free to express yourself freely?

We often think seriously about who we worship, but not how we worship. You are either worshiping the Triune God revealed in Scripture, of you are worshiping an idol. Even if you worship the Triune God revealed in Scripture, you can be sure that in your everyday life, you are still bowing your heart to idols.

But God not only cares about who we worship, but how. That is why the First Commandment, dealing with who (no other gods before me), is immediately by the Second Commandment, dealing with how (no graven images). We often miss the point of that Second Commandment. A graven image was a means by which man worshiped God on man's own terms. It harkens back to the leaves with which Adam and Eve attempted to cover themselves, or the fruits of the field that self-righteous Cain offered to God. Sinners attempt to come to God on their own terms, and inevitably, God disapproves. God cares about how He's worshiped, or to put it another way, our holy God cares about how sinners relate to Him.

This is why God consumes Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, with fire in Leviticus 10. It is not simply a matter of disobeying God by offering unauthorized fire upon His altar, but by violating His commandment to worship Him upon His own terms. After destroying Nadab and Abihu, God reminded Aaron, "Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified" (Leviticus 10:3).

That is why those in the Reformed tradition of the Christian faith speak of the "Regulative Principle of Worship" (or, the RPW). We believe the Christian is free from a good many things (the guilt of sin, condemnation, non-biblical binding of conscience, etc) and that the Christian is free to do a good many things (i.e., approach the throne of grace with boldness and confidence). But we do not believe that the Christian is free to worship God just however he wants.

Consider it this way--my wife would not approve of my expressing my love to her however I want, without regard for her preferences. This is why the whole Five Love Languages thing became so popular--people often express and understand love differently. I could bring flowers to my wife every day, but if flowers don't mean much to her, but acts of service do, am I truly loving my wife with those flowers? Nope.

God lays down certain broad principles for His worship. It is to be on the Lord's Day (Sunday) and the reading and preaching of the Word is the central part of His worship (Acts 2; Rom. 10; 2 Tim. 4). The preaching of the Word should naturally have Christ as its focal point (Luke 24; all of Hebrews). There should be baptism and the Lord's Supper (Matt. 28; 1 Cor. 11), songs of praise (Col. 2), and prayer (1 Tim. 2). Beyond some of these broad principles, God doesn't really get down in the weeds. He doesn't tell us what time of the day to have worship services, nor the instrumentation for our singing.

But the lover of our souls cares about how we relate to Him. It is thus the responsibility of the officers of the Church to sanctify His Name as they call His people to worship, ultimately with the wonderful goal of seeing God's Name glorified by His people.

And worshiping on God's terms should naturally change the way in which we approach our weekly worship services. We go, not with the thought of what will bring us pleasure, but what will bring Him pleasure. As C.S. Lewis pointed out in Surprised by Joy, we will never find joy if it is joy we pursue. When we pursue the God of glory, it is then that we will find our enjoyment in Him.

The final, joyful note concerning God's worship is this: Though we will never worship God in Spirit and truth as we ought, we worship through a Savior who worshiped God perfectly in our place. Instead of trembling, sinful hands carrying insufficient sacrifices before a holy God, Christ, with unblemished hands, made Himself the sacrifice and was consumed in our place (Heb. 10).

So we approach God in worship, not with fear and trembling, but with gratitude. Let us then get over ourselves and love our God in the way He manner in which He chooses. When His name is sanctified (set apart), it will also be glorified. And in His glory, we will find our greatest joy.