… even if it can involve it.
Originally published by the same author at Medium.com
A typical North American church in Norfolk, Virginia, "doing music" as the typical North American act of worship.
One of my greatest doctrinal concerns about fellow New Testament believers today here in the United States of America is the perpetual presumption that any use of the word "worship" literally means "singing 'worshipful' songs". Musicians with the volunteer or paid role of the church minstrel are formally recognized as "worship leaders" or "worship pastors". Entire congregations who are bringing their offerings, volunteering, teaching the Word, helping the needy, and spending time in prayer, and otherwise demonstrating selfless love of God, will stop what they are doing and say, "let's enter into worship". This verbiage of "entering into worship" or "doing worship" is universally (in this culture) understood to mean one thing: run to the musical instruments, dim the lights, and do music.
This is more dangerous than it is an innocent sidetracking of semantics, and not because there is something wrong with music, because there isn't anything wrong with music. Let me make myself very clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong, and much that is good, in bringing sincere expressions of adoration and praise to God, even worshiping God, in song and music. The concern that I have regarding this word "worship" is that the true meaning of this term is vitally important to the faith but is utterly and completely destroyed - not innocently lost in translation but deliberately obfuscated by perpetuated habits and an often idolatrous culture.
Search: worship
Perform a Bible-wide search for the word "worship" at BibleGateway.com.
I reviewed the list of 254 uses of the word English-translated word "worship" in the Bible with the NIV translation, and among all of them I counted exactly three (3) uses of the English-translated word "worship" that are used in the literary context of music. That's a 3/254 ratio, or 1.2%, of any Biblical affirmation that the words "worship" and "music" were hand-in-hand in literary context.
One of these, 2 Chronicles 29:27–28, reads as follows:
2 Chronicles 29:27–28 (NIV)
27 Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.
Notice that the musicians were doing music, while everyone else was in worship. While this is a beautiful mental photograph of heartfelt, sincere expressions of focused love of God, the association of "worship" with "music" appears to be unique and coincidental because there are multiple other references to the term "worship" in 1 & 2 Chronicles that have no explicit musical context, although some of them do involve idolatry. For example,
1 Chronicles 16:29
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
2 Chronicles 7:18–20
18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.'
19 "But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
It would seem that the term "worship" means something different here, such as to express focused, devoted attention, love, and submission.
The second case where the word "worship" is used in contextual conjunction with music is in Daniel where idolatry is demanded on behalf of King Nebuchadnezzar and his statue.
Daniel 3:4–6
Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
Music is being used here to denote a signal to worship an idol. "Worship" here is not the act of singing or performing said music.
The third case where the word "worship" is used near any reference to music is in Psalm 100:2.
Psalm 100:2
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
This scripture verse makes two distinct instructions that compliment each other but are not necessarily the same thing.
Out of all these 254 uses of the English translated term, not one of them equates worship with "sing songs of adoration to God" or anything related to music. Examples include,
Genesis 22:5
He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Exodus 3:12
And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
Exodus 8:1
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
Deuteronomy 29:26
They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them.
Most traditional cultures would know what to do mentally with the word "worship" with any other subject. It may be imagined to be any number of different things including
- praying,
- beholding,
- contemplating,
- yes, singing and dancing in celebration, but most importantly,
- obeying and
- heeding and
- honoring
There was never any monopoly on the word "worship" for singing, particularly given other objects of idolatry. When was the last time anyone assumed that an Old Testament reference to someone worshipping a false god meant that the idol was "sung to"? Certainly that would be a form of worship, but it is not the default assumption most of us make. Why, then, do we make this assumption today with God?
Don't get me wrong, we are (frequently) instructed to praise God in song.
Colossians 3:16
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Ephesians 5:18–20
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But nowhere in these New Testament scriptures instructing us to make music is the suggestion that this is "worship".
In many cases of scripture, literally bowing down on one's knees to humbly submit to and express surrender and adoration in speech (prayer) is involved.
Genesis 24:26
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord.
Genesis 24:48
I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road.
Exodus 4:31
They believed.
And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Exodus 34:8
Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.
Matthew 2:10–12
10 When they [the magi from the east] saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child [Jesus] with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 4:8–10
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
Revelation 22:8–9
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!"
Bowing down. When was the last time you saw any church "worship leader" literally bow down to God in leading the rest of the congregation in worship?
The danger in calling music "worship" is that the proper meaning of the word "worship" is lost and so easily replaced with entertainment and emotional expressions solely through music.
The clearest and indeed the only instructions and definition in the New Testament about the activity of "worship" point away from entertainment and distractions and towards the substance of disciplined focus, pursuing truth, and acts of obedience.
These instructions are found in John 4:24 and Romans 12:1–2.
John 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."
Notice it does not say, "God is a music fan, and his worshipers must worship in song and in harmony," not that there's anything wrong it with that, and not that there cannot be found worship in Spirit and in truth while engaging in music, but observe it for what it is required to be, not for how we've been pre-packaging it.
Romans 12: 1–2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.
As New Testament believers, this is what the act of "worship" is really all about. It's about being fully and completely surrendered to the in-dwelling spirit of God, by being holy and striving to please Him, being different from the world which loves idolatrous things like worshipping music itself. Indeed, music itself has become an idol in the American church. Rather than being a tool to signal a time of focus upon and prayer to God, music itself has become the subject of our focus.
I enjoy music. I enjoy "worshipful" music. I believe that one can truly worship God in song, and those who "do music" best often do indeed worship. I am not against such things. But I don't think that music is the best packaging for worship. Kneeling in submission is better. Prayer is better. Reading and obeying the Bible is better. Caring for others is better.
A real worship leader drops the mic.
When I was a teenager and in my 20s I tried to "lead worship", meaning I used to play the guitar and sing, and I thought that the role meant to usher people into God's presence, but the whole process felt so vain and spotlight-oriented. So ultimately my whole Christian life I have always had a problem with the term "worship leader" as well as the using the term "worship" as an activity to mean something music-related. The term should not even be associated with music - it should be associated with demonstrating selfless love of God. The term "worship leader" should also not be a term anyone should entitle himself with, but at the same time this should be a term we should all be striving to do.
Strive to be a worship leader by demonstrating sincerely loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.