Is Worship a War?

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/modern-worship-music-wars

A friend of mine recently posted this article from Relevant Magazine.
 
In a nutshell, it talks about how the "war on worship" has died down from being a debate on whether we should sing the Old Hymns or Modern Worship music, to simply a subtle barrage of nit-picky complaints.  Miller describes them, "The volume is either too loud, or not loud enough. The lighting is either too bright or not bright enough; too showy or too bland." etc.

His main point is that we should not look at church or worship as something that must meet our preferential standards, but rather we should approach worship based on the truth of who God is.

Indeed, it is a mark of maturity when one can overcome the technicalities of the music (lighting, volume, style, etc.) and just worship God for who He is.

As his final statement, he describes worship as war, "So the next time you go to church and the music is too loud, or the leader is singing that song you don’t like, go to war. Fight against the sin at work within yourself. Fight against consumerism and disunity. Fight for a grateful heart. Fight for the truth to captivate you in a way music never could. Fight to stand in awe of a mighty God who rescued you and graciously sings over you.  Fight the true war of worship."

Beautiful words.  Yet I feel it only touches the surface of what is really going on.  I have concluded that there are two deeper issues at work on this subject.

Miller hit on part of the first issue.  He mentioned personal pride [nothing is ever good enough for me].  He says we must fight against it.  But saying that is like taking a pain-killer when you are sick: you're only treating a symptom.  The deeper issue is self-condemnation.  It is almost always masked as pride (the other extreme of the same problem would be false humility: always thinking too lowly of oneself.  Both pride and false humility can co-exist in one person).  The answer comes from how we view God and knowing the truth of how He views us.

Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus".  God does not condemn us, nor does he choose to love us based on our "good" behavior.  He simply loves us.  He simply accepts us for who we are.  But often we tend to feel that our relationship with Him is dependent on our behavior.  It's easy to do since we associate our human relationships with Him (especially our parental ones).  We may have been created in His image, but He is God and not man (Hosea 11:9), and the metaphor breaks down on so many levels.  Human relationships help us to understand God, but they are so limited in that respect.  When you truly understand the nature of your oneness with God, condemnation disappears.  Then the "nothing is good enough for me" mentality also begins to disappear.

The second problem is the wrong or misleading theology communicated by worship music.  Going back to the age-old Hymns vs. Modern music debate, if you read through a hymnbook, you'll find that hymns are choc-full of deep and rich theology.  The bulk of today's worship music is all about our experience, and feeling God. For the most part, it lacks the juicy truth.  Good and true theology always leads to the deepest worship, and I think that our beloved hymn singers can feel that.  They just can't always pinpoint what exactly is bothering them so they point to the music, or the lights, or the look on the worshiper's face.

I do this all the time.  Something bothers me and so I feel off, but I can't put my finger on it because it's a subconscious thought, so I try to describe it by pointing at surface things.  Usually my heart knows what's off before my mind does.  Until I've really stopped and analyzed (or prayed about) the source of my disturbed feelings, I can only guess what is wrong.  I have talked to many elders who still feel that the hymns are the best because of the truth that is expressed within them, even though they have accepted the new style of worship.

Let's face it, a lot of our worship music (I say "our" because I am in the "modern music" generation) is focused on our desires and our actions and our commitment to God.  We find ourselves singing things like, "I will worship you," and "I have decided to follow Jesus" (I know that last one is a hymn.  Some hymns fall under this category), "I just want to be where you are"... all beautiful expressions.  But when the focus is always on us, we've missed the point.  We start to get into this mode of striving.  "I will do this," and "I will do that" or, "purify me," and, "draw me close to you,".  Then there's the ever famous, "Here I am to worship".  Me, myself, and I!  Don't get me wrong, I love to sing these on occasion.  But I am kinda tired of worship being a time of self-reflection, looking at myself and all my failures and trying so hard, making all kinds of promises to make my life pleasing to God.  We get so focused on our desire to be righteous.  Martin Luther called this the "Idol of the Will"

Don't even get me started on the songs that ask God (or the Holy Spirit) to "come", or that welcome Him into His own house.  Would you invite your dad to his own house as if he didn't own it already?  Furthermore, God owns me.  Why would I have to continuously invite The Holy Spirit into my soul, one for whom He has already paid for with His blood?!  I don't invite my husband into our house because it's OUR house!  Okay, I have to step off of that soapbox...  Simply read my earlier blogs for more on this because I constantly talk about it.  It drives me insane.  Every other opening worship song is this long, drawn out plea for God's presence to "come into this place".  It's as though people have no idea that the Bible says He's always with us (actually, He lives IN us).  I used to sing this stuff all the time (and still do out of respect for worship leaders and Christians around me).  I've finally realized the futility of it.  (I am stepping down for real this time)... But the truth is when we finally "feel" His presence, it's not that He suddenly entered the room, it's that we finally came to an awareness of His presence... gah... okay, stepping down...

Ironically, when the theology of the worship is right, people are pulled out of their prideful nitpicking anyway.  Some people may be just that stubborn, but let me tell you, even here at North Central, the biggest response in worship always comes from a song full of good theology.

I have been taught that worship is a lifestyle.  But it is more than that; more than a series of life choices towards righteousness or a relationship with God.  I now believe worship is a revelation.  Only through a revelation of who God is will true, deep worship result.  This revelation comes from the Holy Spirit Himself.

And if it is a revelation, it is not a fight.  If it is a war, it is not worship.  We need only ask for new revelation.

When you know who He is, you can't help but be in awe.  Then you will see that He is irresistible, trustworthy, loving, gracious, wise, hilarious, beautiful, interesting, witty, smart, dynamic, fun, caring, considerate, and interested in your well-being.  You'll see that He is utterly in love with you.  And you will see that He accepts you; all of you.  Knowing these things, and I mean truly knowing them, causes worship to happen at random (gotta love those moments of laughter, rolling on the couch at home).

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!" (Psalms 139:17)

We can talk about fixing our attitudes and our behavior, but that will only have us running in circles.  Those are surface issues; symptoms, if you will.  The truth is what we need.  And the truth will set us free.