THE ASSAULT ON WORSHIP

INTRODUCTION

A. Much of the change being promoted among the Lord’s church today is centered around worship

1. These changes include church music, lifting up hands, hand clapping, drama, female leadership, observing religious holidays, dedicating babies, the Lord’s Supper, Sunday night cluster groups, children’s worship, preaching style and worship environment.

2. Each of these items will be addressed in other lessons

B. One can see that a primary objective of the change agents is to renovate and restructure the worship practices of the church

DISCUSSION

A. What does the Bible say regarding acceptable worship?

1. The New Testament begins and ends with worship

a. Matthew 4:10

b. Revelation 22:9

2. At least four kinds of worship are alluded to in the New Testament

a. Ignorant worship (Acts 17:23)

b. Vain worship (Mat. 15:9)

c. Will worship (Col. 2:23)

d. Spiritual worship (Jn. 4:24)

3. Inherent in each of these kinds of worship is authority

a. Worship is either right or wrong depending on God’s will - the only right worship is authorized by God

b. Jesus emphasized this John 4:23-24

4. Correct worship possesses the:

a. Proper audience - God

1) True worshippers worship God

2) Ephesians 5:19-20

b. Proper attitude - in spirit

1) Be mentally and emotionally involved

2) Ephesians 5:19 - in your heart

3) Psalm 122:1

4) Worshipping in spirit takes real effort - unfortunately, the current climate in the church tends to treat worship as a time of entertaining the worshipper and catering to the worshipper’s wants

5) As a result many worshippers have lost the deep, reverent mindset to please God and not self

6) This lax attitude is especially evident in the change that has come over many congregations with regard to dress

a) Much of the casual clothing worn in the local church assemblies is a direct manifestation of a casual attitude toward worship

b) Worshippers are wearing casual clothing that they would not think of wearing for a wedding, a funeral, or even jury duty

c) Dress unquestionably reflects attitude and can also create attitude - Just ask the military.

c. Proper actions - in truth

1) Worship must be done:

a) Decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40)

b) Acceptably (Heb. 12:28)

2) The current assault on worship includes an attempt to dodge the clear import of the expression “in truth”

3) Some are falsely saying that “in truth” in simply a Hebraism meaning to worship sincerely and devotedly - But let’s notice…

B. God’s View on the Matter of Truth

1. God has always required essentially two facets of response to His will: the right action with the right attitude

a. John 4:24

b. Joshua 24:14

c. Ecclesiastes 12:13

d. Acts 10:35

e. Deuteronomy 10:12-13

f. Romans 1:9

2. To emphasize on dimension of obedience over another is to hamper one’s acceptance by God

3. God has not changed in His insistence upon man’s loving obedience to His instructions

a. John 14:15

b. John 15:14

c. 1 John 5:3

4. The Psalmist understood that God’s truth consisted of God’s written word

a. Psalm 119:30, 43, 142, 151, 160

b. Jesus taught the same thing

1) John 17:17

2) John 12:47-48

5. Worshipping God “in truth” is equivalent to “doing truth,” which entails “deeds” or external actions which are prescribed by God

C. Current Worship Tendencies

1. Some churches of Christ are operating on the basis of inappropriate, unbiblical objectives and goals in worship

a. Some churches have “worship committees” oR “praise teams” who apparently have no clue as what their real responsibility is: to plan and structure worship so that the focus is on God - not the worshipper

b. In keeping with the tone and tenor of our entertainment crazed culture, some in the church feel that worship ought to be entertaining

c. Can’t we see that entertaining ourselves, satisfying our own needs, reviving our interest to escape our boredom, and attempting to attract others with these manmade lure - are all simply unbiblical, cheap, inferior substitutes for simple, meaningful, spiritual worship?

2. Instead of attempting to renovate worship for our own benefit, what we need to do is cultivate our appetites for pure, New Testament worship

a. We need to stick with the simple worship behaviors dictated in Scripture

b. We need to learn to like them because they are good for us

c. If we resist them, and look for new and exciting ways to worship, we are showing a childhood rebellion - this is will worship (Col. 2:23)

3. If worship has become boring and unmeaningful to a member, so much so, that he feels the need to change churches or liven up the worship assembly with theatrics, he has a spiritual, internal problem - a heart problem

a. Repetitiveness and sameness are not inherently bad.

b. God had enjoined repetition and lack of change in many areas and expects us to keep it that way

c. Your mate expects the same!

1) Shame on the man who puts away the wife of his youth because she is getting old and she’s the same women he married 20 or thirty years ago.

2) Likewise, shame on the Christian who puts away the simply worship of the New Testament church because it is the same old things

d. Just because an action is the same and predictable, that action need not necessarily be boring - that depends on the attitude of the individual

e. Manipulating external gadgets and gimmickry will not revive a genuine, heartfelt attitude of worship

CONCLUSION

A. Worship has come under attack by the change agents

B. We must not fall prey to these voices who wish to resist or soften the instructions of God

C. May God help us to worship Him in accordance with His revealed will!

THE CHANGE MOVEMENT #5

Lifting Up Hands/Hand Clapping

INTRODUCTION ©

A. One of the latest fads making the rounds in some churches of Christ is the practice of holding up one's arms and swaying in worship assembly ©

B. This practice is surely symptomatic of the restless dissatisfaction with the status quo and the contemporary push to brand previous interpretations of Scripture as “tradition” in order to fashion religious practice according to one’s own desire ©

1. Isaiah 30:9-10 ©

2. 2 Timothy 4:3

C. Nevertheless, what do the Scriptures teach regarding lifting up one’s arms in worship ©

DISCUSSION

A. LIFTING UP HANDS

1. Biblical Prayer Postures

a. It is true that the lifting up of hands was a prayer posture used in the Bible (along with six others) ©

1) Kneeling (with head bowed, arms raised, knees on the ground under the body with the forehead touching the ground)

2) Standing (with head bowed, with eyes uplifted, with arms raised),

3) Lying face down on the ground ©

b. Today the lifting up of hands comes more from following fads rather than serious Bible study.

2. While various prayer postures are mentioned in passing in the Bible, the overwhelming emphasis is clearly on the attitude and thought of the one praying

a. The posture of prayer appears to be of minimal concern and essentially optional ©

b. Prayer postures should flow naturally from a sincere heart uncorrupted by ulterior motives ©

3. Worship practices in the New Testament is clearly and conspicuously free from any external ritual and pomp ©

a. In worship God has not allowed any elements that are potentially self-serving and designed to impress the participants rather than focus on God

b. As a matter of fact, Jesus criticized the religious leaders of His day for their persistent attention to external display, appearances, show and hype. ©

1) Matthew 6:5 ©

2) Matthew 23:5-7, 25-30 ©

4. Many try to use 1 Timothy 2:8 as their authority for the lifting of hands. ©

a. This is actually a figure of speech known as metonymy in which the writer substitutes an association word for what is actually meant ©

b. In this case a posture of prayer is mentioned for prayer itself - Today, we might says "let us bow our heads" ©

1) A comparable situation is seen with regard to the “holy kiss” (Rom. 16:16)

2) Paul is not enjoining the act of kissing upon the church

3) He is simply regulating what is already being practiced culturally, by insisting that the act must be kept holy ©

c. Paul is stressing the necessity of public prayers ushering from holy lives. ©

d. Notice also that Paul enjoins the males of the congregation to do the lifting up of hands (i.e., the leading of prayers)

5. If one lifts up hands as a prayer posture, ask:

a. Does he do it at home also?

b. Do you do it only while praying?

c. Do you sway while lifting up your arms?

d. Do you lift up your arms because you think past generations were cold and lifeless?

e. Do you feel you can pray acceptably without lifting up hands?

6. Another change that has made its way into the worship assembly is the act of… ©

D. HANDCLAPPING ©

1. Handclapping as musical accompaniment ©

a. This is clearly unscriptural on the grounds that it is parallel to a mechanical device that might be used to supplement vocal music.

b. The clapping hands or the of snapping fingers, are logically equivalent to the use of mechanical instruments of music

c. Clapping our hands along with the music is no different than beating a tambourine, beating on a piano, or fingering a guitar. ©

d. Handclapping is a non-vocal "natural" instrumental, while playing the piano or blowing a trumpet is a non-vocal mechanical instrumental - both are unauthorized because God demands vocal verbal articulation in music only in worship ©

e. Ephesians 5:19 ©

1) The Law of Exclusion

2) This also rules out any non-lyrical sounds ©

2. Handclapping as applause

a. In many places the congregation is drawn into applause following baptisms, sermons, and other worship activities. ©

b. The proponents of handclapping as applause say it is just the modern way of saying Amen. ©

c. Notice how handclapping is used in American culture: ©

1) The primary function of applause is to indicate personal approval of a performance (football, actors, musicians) ©

2) Another function of applause is the showing of recognition of a performer - we express our appreciation for their skill ©

3) Another function of handclapping is an expression of excitement ©

4) A fourth function of applause is to manifest courtesy. ©

d. How "amen" used in the Old Testament ©

1) Our English word "amen" is a transliteration of a Hebrew word which mean "firm" - it is a term meaning "certain and true"

2) The Israelites would say "amen" in order to confirm or identify themselves with a particular verbal declaration - it would also be used to affirm that a statement was certain, valid and binding. ©

3) The Septuagint often translated the Hebrew word for "amen" as genwitw, meaning "may it be" - signifies what is true ©

4) "Amen" had essentially two uses in the Old Testament: ©

a) It signified the individual's acceptance of a statement (e.g. Num. 5:22) ©

b) Indicates truthfulness - this statement is true (1 Kgs. 1:36) ©

e. How "amen" is used in the New Testament ©

1) Found 126 times ©

2) It affirms that a statement is certain, true, and reliable ©

3) To say "amen" was to confirm the binding nature of those truths. ©

4) Jesus often said, "Verily, verily" or "truly, truly" ©

f. Applause in our society is a response to an entertaining performance - focused on the performer

1) If handclapping is authorized - then so would be the giving of a "high-five"

2) Why not do the "wave" ©

g. Amen focuses on the message rather than the one giving the message ©

CONCLUSION

A. We must have authority for all that we do in worship ©

B. Colossians 3:17