Worship: Part 4 – Musing about Church Music

One of our summer blessings is to hear a melodious chorus of songbirds from a nearby forest through the cool morning air.  Have you ever wondered how songbirds learn the distinct song of their species? 

Bird scientists (ornithologists) who have studied finches tell us that each baby finch learns its song in part through tutorial lessons from the parents (often the father bird).  The baby hears its parent sing and learns to mimic back the tune until it is perfected.  Even isolated finches will still produce innate (or “isolate”) songs, suggesting that their instinct to sing is powerfully “hard-wired” into the brain.

Apparently, each bird species learns its unique song by the combination of both experience (environment) and inherited genes.  If you’d like to learn how genes (DNA) code for the hard wiring of precise “song circuits” during brain development, check out the video “How Do Birds Learn to Sing?” by clicking HERE.  

What’s even more amazing is to realize how many different species of the Animal Kingdom can produce meaningful sounds, communication, and music.  For us as humans, our language, literature, and music are all important means of defining and maintaining our identity, our heritage, and our profession of what is important to us, especially our religious faith.

We Are Wired for Music and Worship
According to God’s revelation in Scripture, humans began crafting of instruments to make music within only a few generations from Adam and Eve (Genesis 4: 21-22).  Keith and Kristyn Getty, authors of the book, Sing! (2017, B&H Publishing) write, “Throughout Scripture and through history, we see God’s people using the gift of song to praise Him, the Giver of it.”  The central core of every Bible contains 150 psalms representing songs that have inspired worshipers ever since they were penned by David and other song writers.  For example, Psalm 66 begins with an exclamation that illustrates how the human heart and mind are wired to worship God through joyful musical expression:

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!

Based on what we learn from science about God’s creation (His natural revelation); and what we read in God’s special revelation in Scripture, we can conclude that humans are “wired for worship,” and “wired to sing.”  Music is a very important part of both our individual and congregational worship.  Like each bird species that uses its unique music to affirm its identity and social connections, so music of the Christian faith has served to call sinners to repentance and to unite Christ-followers under His banner of love to worship and serve their Savior.

Although both birds and humans can produce beautiful choruses of music, humans can outdo God’s animal creatures in being disharmonious and contentious.  For many evangelical churches today, the choice of congregational music can be controversial.  Why is there tension and contention about music when it can serve so well to unite people of faith?  To begin to answer this question, let’s review what all believers in Christ have in common.

Does the Bible Prescribe Church Music?
The Bible reveals that every person is born under the curse of sin and cannot please God apart from repentance and a “new birth” through faith in Christ (John 1: 10-14; Romans 8: 5-8).  “Born again” believers are set free from the bondage to sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ.  As Christ-followers, we can fulfill God’s purposes of loving, worshiping, and serving Him.  God has given us minds, emotions, lips, and voices to declare His praises individually and corporately (e.g.  Psalm 63: 1-5).  Indeed, a wonderful result of our being created in God’s image is that we can enjoy both our music and the act of creating it.  

When we combine our creativity with our appreciation of the beauty and message of music, the depth to which music helps us identify and rehearse what we believe and how it stirs our imaginations, we can understand why we tend to defend our music preferences.¹  But can we objectively defend our worship music preferences from the Scriptures?

Neither the Scriptures nor church history precisely endorse acceptable music styles, sounds, progressions of notes, or musical instruments.  George W. Forell writes:  The customs of the church have all been established by men. There are no God-given liturgical rubrics or directives for church architecture.  None of the hymns we sing are in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit did not compose “The Old Rugged Cross.” (From: The Augsburg Confession: A Contemporary Commentary)

According to the Old Testament, God gave His “chosen people,” the Israelites, very precise instructions for every aspect of the tabernacle, and later, temple and synagogue worship.  However, the New Testament, the foundation of the Christian Church, specifies almost nothing about the architecture for worship space, order of worship, number and frequency of church services, frequency of church ordinances, or types of musical instruments and style of music.  It’s as if God ushered in His age of grace through the Body of Christ and entrusted His blood-bought, Spirit-filled worshipers to use sound judgment and inspired creativity to compose and use the music that would most honor Him and edify His people.

In the absence of a clear “biblical mandate,” we believe the choice of music for worship falls under “personal preference” and Christian liberty.  But Christian liberty does not lessen responsibility of church leaders and musicians to choose worship music that accurately and beautifully presents God’s redemptive plan and purpose for His church.  Because God intends that worship should be an integral part of our work and our recreation, we should be asking what music among all the offerings these days best undergirds our faith and service to God. 

To answer this question, it may help if we review God’s intended purpose for His Church as outlined in Acts 2: 37-47 (See Table below; click to enlarge).  From these and other Scriptures, it is clear that in order for Christ-followers to worship and serve in a way that pleases God, the Holy Spirit must be welcomed among them.  When our hearts are submitted to God and bound together by the love of Christ, the Holy Spirit is free to do His work of teaching, convicting of sin, transforming lives, and bringing unity within the Body.

The fruit of the Spirit’s work in our hearts is wonderfully described in Colossians 3: 12-17; namely, holiness, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance of each other, and beyond all of these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  Within this context of praiseworthy qualities, the Apostle Paul provides a general description of acceptable worship music in the context of the ministry of God’s Word through His Spirit:  Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (v. 16). 

Theologians believe psalms refer to songs of the Old Testament Psalter, or those derived later from the Psalms; whereas, hymns are “songs that set forth the truth about God.  Spiritual songs are neither psalms nor hymns, but provide a biblically-solid, spiritual message.  What is clear from Paul's comment and from the rest of Scripture is that we must balance our worship between the subjective expression of our thoughts to God (Psalm 18: 1-2) and the objective revelation of God to us (Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:22, 30; 32:44; Revelation 15:3; 1 Corinthians 14:15)” (From: Trinity Bible Church-Dallas).

Beyond the general Scriptural principles cited above, there appears to be no specific prescriptions from God for the style of music, instrumentation, volume, or lighting for congregational worship.  But God has given us His Holy Spirit who is our Comforter and Counselor. The Spirit of God is also the inspiration behind the abundant lyrics already provided for us in the Psalms and from noted vocalists like Moses (Exodus 15: 1-18; Deuteronomy 32:1–43), Miriam (Exodus 15: 20-21), Hannah when God allowed her to conceive (1 Samuel 2: 1-10), Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1: 36-55), some of the Apostle Paul’s writing (e.g. Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:15-20), and choruses the Apostle John heard from Heaven (Revelation 4: 8-11; 5: 9-14). 

From our brief survey of music in Scripture, we can see the important part it plays in both individual and corporate worship.  In order to bring our points together, we should now refer to what we have written earlier about worship.

Hearts and Minds to Worship
In Part 1, the first of three articles on the subject of worship, we considered how true worship ought to be an integral part of our daily lives.  Part 2 discussed how we ought to prepare for and conduct ourselves as a member of a “spiritual family” in congregational worship.  Finally, we considered how we can deal with inevitable tensions and contentions that arise (Part 3).  Our discussion from here on hinges greatly on these three articles. 

“Family Reunion”-- Hosts and Guests
In Part 2, “Value of Corporate Worship,” we compared a congregation gathered for worship to a joyous family gathering for a reunion.  Our main point was that family reunions are great if everyone does their part.  The hosts take responsibility to provide comfortable space and delicious food for the main course; food they believe will be pleasing to the most guests.  Meanwhile, each guest has the responsibility to bring a tasty covered side-dish and other assigned necessities, engage in conversation to encourage fellow guests, and express their thankfulness to the hosts. 

In the same way, God-honoring congregational worship requires thoughtful “hosts” and polite “guests.”  With respect to the worship music, the worship and song leaders serve as the “hosts” in partnership with the pastoral staff.  The “guests” are those who have come to worship, hopefully with hearts prepared beforehand to honor God, encourage the brethren, and “to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4: 2-4). 

Responsibilities of “Guests”/Worshipers
Let us consider first how we as “guests” ought to respond to the music and worship setting provided by the “hosts.”  First, we ought to pray that God will keep us from ever taking for granted the privilege of gathering with either our biological family or our spiritual family!   After all, we owe our physical lives to our family elders.  And, we owe our spiritual lives to Christ and His Spirit who called us out of spiritual darkness into the Light to be “born again” spiritually into “New Life” (2 Corinthians 4: 6; Ephesians 5: 8).  Every time we gather to worship, may our lives be sprinkled clean with Christ’s blood from known sin (Hebrews 10: 22) and ready to join with God’s people in singing and making melody with our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5: 19).” 

When Spirit-filled lives congregate and sing together songs and hymns of praise to God, individual personalities, life stories, ethnicities, and music preferences ought to be laid down at the feet of our Savior.  Individual preferences should give way to a unity of mind and spirit, all focused on God who alone is worthy of glory and honor and praise.  Even if we are not professional singers, when we join our voices to the “congregational choir” of praise, we are professing our faith, love, and devotion in word and song to one another and to God.  The following call to worship from Keith and Kristyn Getty is very convicting:

Our motivation to sing comes from so much more than ourselves-- our likes, our comfort levels, our musical tastes and preferences. Intrinsically, it's driven by the one who died and was raised. It is driven by a heartfelt desire to convey gospel truth to those of us who already know it and need to be refreshed and renewed by it--and to communicate it to those who don't yet know, but who might be drawn to Christ through seeing and hearing people who clearly mean it because of the way that they sing about it (Keith and Kristyn Getty, Sing! p. 22).

The text box below offers suggestions we have used to help prepare our minds and hearts before and during congregational worship.  We hope these will help you as we each strive make our worship more intentional, fulfilling, and God- pleasing.  Click on text box to enlarge.

One concern that we often hear voiced in opposition to contemporary songs is that they fall short of traditional hymns in providing a rich store of biblical truth and edification.  We believe this concern is justified with regard to some contemporary songs.  But the same might be said of some traditional hymns.  Nevertheless, in keeping with the suggestions above, we have asked ourselves, “Do we concentrate on the lyrics of the song in question to find Scriptural truth and respond to it?”  After all, if we were “guests” at a family reunion, wouldn’t we want to taste the “host’s” food before being critical?

May we each try harder to give careful attention to “new songs.” Allow God’s Spirit to help us find Scriptural Truth that is contained in the lyrics.  To illustrate what has been helpful to us, we are sharing below the results of our meditation on the lyrics of one of our favorite contemporary songs, “King of Kings” (Hillsong Worship).  Click on table to enlarge.

We imagine that if you were to meditate on these same lyrics, the Spirit might bring other Scripture verses and truths to mind.  Indeed, well written songs and hymns are marked by both the beauty of the musical score and the richness of Scriptural truths evident in the lyrics. Why not try meditating on and finding Scripture in one of your favorite contemporary praise songs or traditional hymns?  Or, you may want to continue what we started above by meditating on the lyrics of verses 3 and 4 of “King of Kings.”  We’d love to read your insights, so please send them though “Comments” below, or by e-mail. 

To listen to a video recording of  "King of Kings" as sung during worship at West Hill Baptist Church, Wooster, OH, click HERE.

Before we venture to discuss responsibilities of the “hosts” (pastoral staff and worship leaders), we should remember that the Scriptures command us to obey (Romans 13: 1-10; Hebrews 13: 17), submit (1 Peter 2:13-25), appreciate (1 Thessalonians 5: 12), highly esteem (1 Thessalonians 5: 13), and pray for (1 Timothy 2: 1-3) those in authority over you.  Hebrews 13: 17 states clearly our responsibility to pastoral leadership: 

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.  

The Apostle Paul elaborates on this command in Romans 15: 5-7 using a vocal music metaphor.  He encourages us to be of the same mind toward one another…and with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…accept one another, just as Christ accepted us to the glory of God.  What better way for a congregation to express the unity of Spirit and submission to God and to His under-shepherds than when we, “with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?”

Responsibilities of “Hosts”/Worship Leadership
We begin this final section with a reminder, if it is not obvious, that we are not experts in music, or theology, or church leadership.  So, it is with even greater fear and trembling that we conclude this article by considering the responsibilities of song and worship leaders, the “hosts” in our “family reunion.”  We do not have “all the answers.”  Nor do we want to cause disunity, but rather to promote constructive dialog that God could use to bring understanding and unity in our worship.

To begin, we should note that Hebrews 13: 17 as quoted above addresses responsibilities of both the church and its pastoral leadership.  This important Scripture provides both commands and benefits as follows:
(a)  Command to the church:  obey them that have authority over you, and submit yourselves.
(b)  Benefit to the church:   for (your pastors) watch for your souls, as they that must give account…. 
(c)  Command (implied) to pastors:  watch for [their] souls, as [you who] must give account….
(d)  Benefit to pastors (from an obedient flock): so that you may do it with joy, and not with grief….  How much more tightly could God have interwoven the responsibilities of members of the Body of Christ to their pastors and the pastors to members?   As Christ-followers, we are to submit to God and to our pastors, and pastors are to give account to God for the quality of their shepherding of our souls.

Within the above framework of accountability, what are the responsibilities of the pastor as relates particularly to the song/worship leader or to an assistant pastor who leads worship?  Obviously, congregational music must honor God and His character and His plan of redemption through Christ as we have outlined above, in “Does the Bible Prescribe Church Music?”  Music must also honor Christ, His sacrifice, death, resurrection, and promised return.  Choice of songs and hymns to accomplish these goals, coordination of themes with the message from the Scriptures, and coordination with any closing challenge or invitation will require prior communication and coordination.¹

In view of the above considerations, it is crucial that both the leadership and the church bathe the planning and execution of each worship service in prayer.  This need is obvious when we consider the wide range of musical choices available and the varied needs and preferences within the congregation.  We believe that our analogy of the “hosts” at a family reunion is helpful as pastors or worship leaders seek to discern how best to minister to their congregation as “guests.” 

Below, you will find a few questions to highlight some of the considerations that many pastors and worship leaders address as part of their ministry as shepherds to “watch over the souls” of those who have chosen to worship and serve Christ as part of their flock:¹

Congregational Preferences:  As we constitute the worship service, will we consider input from the congregation in order to understand their preferences among music styles, worship formats, and instrumentation?

Generational Consideration: Should choice of songs, instrumentation, and worship format be considerate of the varied needs and preferences of a multi-generational congregation; for example, including praise songs that stir the hearts of many younger worshipers while including timeless hymns to reinforce the faith commitments of older members?

Historical Scope: How important is it for our worship to occasionally stretch worshipers beyond the focus of "what God is doing at the moment for me" to what God has done in past church history and what He promises to do in the future, all of this through great lyrics and music?

Worship Venue: How does choice of content, music style, tune, instrumental accompaniment, volume, and lighting contribute to the worship environment and complement the pastor’s message?

Variety and Congregational Involvement: How much priority should be given to using varied formats to enhance the purposes of  worship services and provide opportunities for more and varied congregational involvement in worship—e.g. occasional special music by  soloists, choral groups, choir; or, occasionally, the congregation singing acapella?

Worship Leader(s): How can the participation of song or worship leader(s) promote active participation of the congregation in worship and focus the worshipers’ attention on Christ while discouraging the congregation from becoming passive observers who focus on the worship leader(s) and their musical skills?

New Songs: To improve congregational singing, is it worthwhile to invest time during worshipto teach new songs, explain the importance of their message, and reinforce learning with frequent repetition?

Conclusion
As we conclude our discussion of music for worship by God’s people, we should remember the reference of Proverbs 6: 6-8 to the lowly ant which (emphasis ours),
Without a commander,
without an overseer or ruler,
it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food at harvest.

We might also say, “Consider each songbird species which, without even having a song leader or worship pastor, they consistently and harmoniously sing the unique song that declares who they are (e.g. song sparrow, robin) while they offer up praises to God their Creator.” Likewise, may we as the people whom God has called out of darkness into His marvelous light realize what great debtors we are to God's grace.  In light of who we are, how can we help but sing praises to God our Savior?  

As part of our worship, may we submit ourselves respectfully to our pastor and worship leaders as those who watch out for our souls and who themselves must give account to God.  And may our regular “church family” gatherings here on Earth become more and more like a pleasing prelude to our worship and ministry in the New Heaven and New Earth.  There, many of us will sing to our Great God and Savior, maybe for the first time “on key.”  Until then, each of us ought to do our part in making our church gatherings for worship to be among the most harmonious places on this fallen Earth--both by our musical harmony and by our expressed love toward one another.

Care to Comment?
How has this article affected your thinking about music in congregational worship?  Hopefully, it is evident that we have written in a spirit of humility and with a desire for harmony--both musical and spiritual.  Because we are neither musicians nor theologians, we can use your help.  Please take time to use the “Comment” link below where in the past readers have added much to the value of an article.  Or, if you’d like to comment privately, just email to silviusj@gmail.com   Thank you for reading.

Sources:
¹ Some of the thoughts within this sentence were inspired from Sing! by Keith and Kristyn Getty. 2017, B&H Publishing.

² Song Sparrow photo used by permission, Mike Lentz Nature Photography, https://www.facebook.com/MikeLentzNaturePhotography

Celebrating and Conserving Our Freedoms

On this Fourth of July weekend, we celebrate the freedoms that our Founding Fathers secured and which many Americans defended during the past 245 years.  Several generations before 1776, the Pilgrim colonists “yearning to breathe free” had escaped religious persecution and sailed into the Western Hemisphere.  Here, they established a government based on the idea that “True Freedom” comes from loving and obeying God and loving our neighbor, not from government per se.  The framers of our U.S. Constitution were inspired by this biblical framework to create a unique “government by the people” with safeguards for our freedom of speech, freedom of worship, right of due process under the law, freedom to own property, and in all of these, the freedom to pursue happiness.  At the time of its founding, the governance of the United States of America was exceptional in the world (See HERE.).

Unrestrained Freedom
While we celebrate our freedom as Americans, we must remember that there are at least two threats to true freedom.   One is the false hope of ultimate or unrestrained freedom.  A person or a culture that desires a world of unrestrained freedom must deny the existence of objective moral standards.  According to Pastor Tim Keller (Sermon: “Uncovering Satisfaction”), great thinkers conclude that if you want perfect freedom, you have to admit life is meaningless.  Keller cites philosopher Albert Camus’s reasoning on this point:  If there is nothing beyond death, does it matter how you go down—tugging or mugging?   Unrestrained freedom on the part of one or a few can mean tyranny and even death for anyone who resists. 

Extinguishing Freedom
Therefore, a second threat to freedom is an ideology in which a relatively few individuals obtain the power to force their moral and social order upon the majority.  Most Americans today cannot imagine what it would be like to live under a tyrannical regime.   Consider the heart-rending  report of Park Yeon-me who escaped from oppression in North Korea (See HERE.).  During her TED Talk, she stated, “North Korea is an unimaginable country. There is no internet.  We are not free to sing, say, wear, or think what we want.”  Reports like Park Yeon-me’s should make us more vigilant and committed to elect leaders at all levels who love America and who are not greedy for power.

When we consider how difficult it has been for cultures throughout history to avoid extremes between unrestrained freedom and absolute tyranny, we realize that freedom is only a blessing to be celebrated when bridled by objective moral absolutes.  As the Pilgrims and Founding Fathers realized, the Judeo-Christian revelation of the Bible provides an objective truth foundation upon which moral and civil authority can be established in a nation.  Proverbs 29: 18 states,
A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order.
Happy are those who keep God's law!

Critical Theory (CT) Has Toxic Roots
The independence and freedom we are celebrating this weekend would not be possible without the biblical foundation that our Founders established for American governance.  One year ago, we raised the question, “How Firm Is Our Foundation?” (See HERE.)  At that time, we pointed to the moral decay that is undermining the fabric of America through attacks on three important “spheres of influence:” HOME, CHURCH, and GOVERNMENT.  During the months since that time, America has experienced not only the full effects of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic but also, an attack by another “virus” of sorts:  an ideology rooted in the philosophies of George W.F. Hegel and Karl Marx in the form of Critical Theory (CT) (or “Critical Race Theory,” CRT).  See HERE.

Critical theory is being introduced into business, education, government, industry, and our armed forces.  Like a virus, this ideology attaches itself to the operations of these and other institutions and propagates itself in the minds and behavior of its “hosts.”  The promise of CT is uniformity of thought and behavior, equity, and ultimately the promise of the elusive utopia.

Here, we will greatly condense Hegel’s philosophical beliefs, but hopefully you will see how CT is rooted in the soil of Marxist and Hegelian thought.  Hegel used a dialectical approach based on the notion that a thing or idea could be understood by discovering beneath its apparent unity an “underlying inner contradiction.”  When the contradiction (problem) is brought together, the resulting solution represents progress in an evolution toward a higher-level or more perfect state, or synthesis.  In other words, for each thesis, first identify the antithesis.  Then, a synthesis of the two will lead to the truth.  

CT Looks for Contradictions
Critical Theory (CT) proponents apply the Hegelian dialectic when they emphasize the apparent contradiction between the following two ideas: 
1) Thesis:  America is a rich nation.
2) Antithesis:  Many Americans are poor. 
To address this apparent contradiction, as we explained in some detail HERE, CT classifies all people into two broad categories: 
1) Oppressors
2) Oppressed

Without question, CT has served notice to the American culture that it is time we “woke up” to the fact that many of us are oppressors of other people and we ought to feel guilty.  Or, we are oppressed and ought to feel bitterness and resentment against our oppressors.   “Oppressors” are being encouraged to feel guilty enough to make restitution and even reparations for past injustices against “the oppressed”—that is to “be woke.” At the same time, the stoked-up bitterness and resentment of “the oppressed” fuels a habit of blaming others and encourages their sense of entitlement.  The result is the introduction of a toxic mix into our culture based on immutable human genetic traits, most notably skin color and gender.

Like the multiplication and spreading of a virus, CT uses a blot on America’s history; namely, past racial injustice and our continuing struggle with racial reconciliation to justify cries of “white supremacy” and to point its accusing finger at almost anything and anyone.  Individuals who are ruled guilty of racism and white supremacy must be taught (“reprogrammed”) and “persuaded” to make restitution to those whom they have oppressed.  Hegel’s dialectic between “being” and “nothing” invites us to press for a “synthesis” of “becoming” something better.

According to CT, it follows that well managed and maintained neighborhoods “look racist” and must be brought down to the level of often poorly governed, disadvantaged neighborhoods through alteration of zoning laws.  Good schools must also be guilty of institutional racism and therefore, are a contradiction to the notion of equity in education.  The list gets longer as more CT enthusiasts look for contradictions and cry foul.

CT Misses the Real Problem
Nathanael Blake, writing in The Federalist, identifies the weak underside of CT.  (He uses the term “Critical Race Theory” (CRT) often used interchangeably with CT.)  Blake acknowledges the inconsistencies and failures of our culture, but makes the case that CT, or CRT, misses the depth of the problem.  Click HERE to read.  He believes that CT correctly raises two fundamental questions:
1)  “What is wrong with the world?
2)  “How can we fix it?” 

According to Blake, CT is inadequate to answer both questions.  Therefore, if we are to challenge CT as Christians, we must answer both questions “in ways that better address racial injustice and other inequalities, past and present.”  Blake explained his opinion from his Christian perspective:  We believe our faith provides the fullest explanation of what is wrong with the world, as well as how to rectify it. Thus, even at its best, critical race theory and its ideas of systemic racism are a poor substitute for what Christians understand through the doctrine of original sin. It is not our race that makes us oppressors or oppressed, but sin—our own and that of others.

CT Is an Old Deception Repackaged
As we saw, the ideology of Critical Theory can be traced back through Marx to Hegel, but it goes back to the Garden of Eden.  Satan himself used what is now the Hegelian dialectic in his temptation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3):  start with a thesis and then suggest an apparent contradiction:
1)  Thesis:  God is good (Genesis 2: 15-16).
2)  Antithesis:  God is an oppressor (Genesis 2: 17)

In spite of the goodness of God’s creation (Genesis 1: 31) and God’s goodness in providing all of the trees of the Garden as food except one tree (Genesis 2: 16; 3: 2), Satan uncovered an apparent antithesis:  God is keeping something from you.  Therefore, He is your oppressor and you should feel oppressed.  Satan used this dialectic between “being” and “nothing” to lead Eve to suggest a solution to the problem in order to “become” something.  In Eve’s case, she saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband [Adam] with her; and he did eat (Genesis 3: 6).

Satan had accomplished his purpose.  While promising great wisdom and to “bring humans up, closer to God,” Satan instead created an infinite gulf between God and humankind.  The same gulf exists today.  Many resent and hate God for claiming to be holy and expecting us to be like Him while making it so hard to be holy as He is holy.  Like a viral pandemic, the sin nature was passed from the “first Adam” throughout all his offspring, infecting not only the behavior but the hearts and minds of everyone.  Again, Nathanael Blake describes our sin disease which lies deeper than where CT can reach:
The Christian account of sin is both more personally accusing and forgiving than critical race theory. Although Christians acknowledge that the effects of sin can linger long and even be embedded in social, legal and political systems, we know that evil originates in the darkness of our own hearts. Christianity teaches that individual guilt is prior to systemic guilt, and it therefore provides for repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation in ways that critical race theory does not.

The Gospel: God's "Synthesis"
How does the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, overcome the rottenness of individual and institutional sin that CT is so good at pointing out but so ineffective in addressing?  Perhaps another Hegelian dialectic of sorts will explain God’s redemptive plan:
1)  Thesis:  God is holy, cannot tolerate sin
2)  Antithesis:  Mankind is sinful; worthy of death

The gulf between a holy God and sinful mankind was so great that it can only be bridged through God’s redemptive plan in which He gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, who died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit… (1 Peter 3: 18).  The Apostle Paul wrote that, by the transgression of the one [Adam], death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Romans 5: 17).  And, praise God, while CT serves the purpose of Satan to undermine, accuse, and condemn us where we fail God; nevertheless, as Paul wrote, God’s law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.  But where sin increased, grace increased all the more… (Romans 5: 20).

On this Fourth of July weekend, we hope you can celebrate your freedoms with us—freedom as Americans on our nation’s birthday, and freedom in Christ purchased for us at great price.  God’s Word identifies the great antithesis to Him and His creation; namely, sin.  The Scripture also calls us to confess the sin in our hearts (Ephesians 2: 8-9), and receive God’s forgiveness, redemption, and regeneration so that we can experience true freedom.  This is not unbridled freedom, but the freedom that comes from above through obedience to God’s two great commandments (Luke 10: 25-28):  to love God with all of our being, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  When we obey these two greatest commandments, we are enabled to love ourselves in proper balance with love for our neighbor as we abide in Christ who is working toward the “great synthesis” in which one God will be worshiped by one people regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or gender; a people for His own possession who have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2: 9).

Nathanael Blake summarizes our task well as a people celebrating our true freedom in the midst of an imprisoned world in which we are called to be salt and light:   Law and culture almost always need some reform, but the work of racial justice begins, not with systemic critique, but with love based on the recognition that we are all children of God. This truth, rather than the racial suspicion and even essentialism encouraged by critical race theory, best enables us to identify and remedy injustice. The fight against critical race theory is therefore necessary to create space for the development of genuine love and justice.

Care to Comment?
How has this article affected your thinking about your freedoms—political and spiritual?  
Has it helped you understand critical theory (CT) any better?  
Is there an error in our thinking, or a missing point that you would like to add?   

Often, readers who take time to use the “Comment” link below add much to the value of an article.  Or, if you’d like to comment privately, just email to silviusj@gmail.com   Thanks for reading. 

Worship: Part 3 – Tensions and Contentions

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through Him all things were made,
and without Him nothing was made
that has been made.
In Him was life,
and that life was the light of men. 
The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
                                       -- (John 1: 1-5)

With these inspiring and worshipful words, the Apostle John exalts Jesus Christ as the Eternal God, and Creator.  Yet even in his worshipful introduction, John alludes to a spiritual warfare.   The “Light of Truth revealed by the written Word and Jesus Christ, the Living Word (v. 14), is being opposed by the “Darkness.”

Today, the world is becoming spiritually darker and darker.  Like the beautiful flowers of our Prickly Pear Cactus that are surrounded by sharp spines which wasps and bees must avoid; so, God’s creation in all its beauty and wonder still bears the marks of God’s curse of sin.  Like the visiting bees and wasps, we must move carefully to avoid sharp pricks in a creation governed by Satan, the enemy of our souls.   Yet as John promised, the Light of Truth still shines, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1: 5).  God is still calling Christ-followers to worship and serve Him as lights” in the midst of a spiritually dark world.  But what does it mean to worship God as He desires-- in spirit and in truth?

Part 1 on the subject of Worship was entitled “A Wider View of Worship.”  Beyond “Sunday worship,” God invites our worship to be interwoven with our work, recreation, and rest as a “sweet-smelling aroma” from our lives to Him. 

Part 2 addressed the “Value of Corporate Worship” and ways we should prepare ourselves to respond to God’s ‘Call to Worship.”  But, in reality, and as we noted from the reference to “light” and “darkness,” our individual and corporate worship is often threatened by “tensions and contentions.”  Why is this true, and how should we respond?

As certain as we engage in work and worship, we will experience pain, tensions, and contentions.  According to God’s Word, we all have a sin nature.  We tend to protect our own self-interest when we face spiritual attacks from
(1) our flesh (“carnal mind,” Romans 8: 5-8),
(2) the world’s way of thinking (1 John 2: 15), and
(3) Satan and his minions (demons) (Romans 7: 7-25, Ephesians 6: 12). 

Freedom to Worship
But there is good news for those who have responded to God’s call to salvation in Christ.  (See “Steps to Peace with God.”)  According to Romans 8: 1-2, and 9, the governing principle (law) of a life redeemed by God and ruled by His Spirit sets us free from the governing principle (law) of sin and death. 

Jesus Christ took our place, suffered the penalty of our sin, and satisfied the wrath of God’s judgment (Romans 8: 1-4).  Born again, Christ-followers are set free from the penalty of sin which is death (eternal separation from God; Romans 6: 23).  But, like unregenerate sinners, born again sinners still have natural bodies and carnal minds that are prone to sin (Romans 8: 5-8).  Therefore, freedom from the power of sin is a promise only possible when Christ-followers practice the spiritual disciplines of (1) private prayer, (2) regular private time in God’s Word, (3) regular corporate worship and fellowship with others of like faith, and (4) stewardship of our time, talents, and treasures for the sake of Christ and His kingdom (See Ephesians 6: 10-18 and Hebrews 10: 22-25).  Christ’s disciples recognize the need to practice these spiritual disciplines if we want to stand firm against spiritual attacks from the world, the flesh, and the devil.  One day when we are with Christ, we will be free from the presence of sin.  More about that later.

Having provided background on “spiritual warfare,” we can understand more clearly why our tensions, contentions, and pain can affect our worship.  The connection between these and worshiping God is very direct.  According to the Bible, “worship” involves sincere acknowledgment of God’s worthiness and holiness expressed in solemn reverence toward Him in spirit and in truth.  Specifically, worship of Jehovah God, Yahweh, acknowledges and demonstrates our faith that He is the only true God (First Commandment, Exodus 20: 3) and that Yahweh alone is worthy of our adoration and obedience (Second Commandment, Exodus 20: 4-6).  However, when Christ-followers individually and corporately worship God, they can immediately become targets of the spiritual attacks described above.

Facing Spiritual Opposition
Satan is a hateful adversary of both God and every one of God’s children (1 Peter 5: 8).  He deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).  Ever since then, Satan and fellow fallen angels continue to lie, accuse, and deceive Adam’s descendants (John 8: 44).  According to Ezekiel 28: 14 (NLT), here’s how God addressed Satan,
I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian.
You had access to the holy mountain of God
and walked among the stones of fire.

But, although he was a glorious angelic being, Satan was unsatisfied and unwilling to submit in service to God.  His boastful claim is recorded in Isaiah 14: 14:
'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.'
 
Isaiah 14: 15-16 records God’s rebuke of Satan, or Lucifer (2 Corinthians 11: 14, ‘angel of light’) and His pronouncement of Satan’s eventual doom:
Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,
to the recesses of the pit.

Given the hatred of God by our Adversary, we can understand how Satan, the ‘Prince of the power of the air,” becomes outraged when we worship God.  Although we are saved from the penalty of sin, we must still battle against the power of sin.  The Apostle Paul, reminded first century Christians, …we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6: 12).   

The Apostle Paul warns that our real enemy is spiritual, powerful, wicked, and institutionalized.  How then should Christ-followers worship in a world where we are bound to face pain from spiritual tensions and contentions?

Tensions and Contentions
We will divide spiritual tensions into various categories even though attacks may come simultaneously from more than one category.  We hope you will identify those which create tension, contention, and pain in your life; and then, respond by practicing the spiritual disciplines noted above.

An Obvious Tension: “Sabbath”
According to Genesis 3: 1-5, the Serpent tempted Adam and Eve to ask, “Is God really good, or is He withholding something better from us?”  Ever since that time, we’ve been asking the same question.  Is God really good?

For example, does God really expect me to keep a commandment like resting from work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20: 8-11)?  How we respond to God’s call to regular “Sabbath rest” is a great indicator of whether we love God (John 14: 21) and truly believe God is good and that He cares about us.  As you read this, you can probably feel the tension between keeping God’s laws out of a sense of duty versus keeping God’s commands out of a desire to be pleasing to Him and to receive the blessings God has for those who follow Him.

Herein lies one of the tensions that Christ-followers face. The world system of thought and practice suggests that one day a week is wasted if we don’t use it to advance ourselves and our society.  Granted, it is true that for some to observe Sabbath, many others must be at work as merchants, attendants, utility workers, medical professionals, first responders, and many more.  But God simply asks us to follow His example of setting aside a day or parts of several days each week to rest and be renewed in mind, body, and spirit.  Let’s look deeper into what God has in mind in His Sabbath command by asking some personal questions.

Do I love God with all my heart and soul and strength, and with all my mind (Luke 10: 27)?  Do I really believe God created me, knows me, loves me, and knows what is best for me?  How can I honestly know the answer to these questions unless God gives me opportunities to demonstrate it by the choices I make?  If my answer is “yes,” then I ought to believe God has much to offer me when I set aside a day or the equivalent time each week for worship, spiritual refreshment, and rest.  And, when I “taste and see that the Lord is good,” I become even more willing to resist the pressure to stay in the “fast lane” for one “extra day” of the week so I can “get more done.”

When we “keep Sabbath” at least in principle, consider also that “Sabbath blessings” can accompany us like a pleasant fragrance into other dimensions of our lives.  For example, we may begin to insert “mini-Sabbath rests” into free times during our busy weekday schedule.  Here, we invite God into our private thoughts and reflections on His Word.  Conversations with our Father in Heaven can be sweet as we listen to a praise or worship song, recite and meditate on passages from His Word, and respond to God in prayer.  The spiritual fruit of abiding in Him more consistently can impact how we think and face the pressures and tensions outside of those times.  And, we may find ourselves having less and less tension between a legalistic “Sabbath keeping” and more and more of a desire for fellowship with our Heavenly Father who loves for us to walk with Him.

Tensions between “Seen and Unseen”
In spite of how we observe the Sabbath principle, our day-to-day priorities and efforts to “stay ahead” or “make a living” often compete with eternal purposes and promises of God.  Consider the “Tensions Arising from Competing Priorities” listed in the adjacent table.  Note that we are not suggesting one alternative is “bad” or that the two cannot be balanced when our choices are well grounded from a biblical perspective.  Yet, these contrasts point to some of the real tensions that surround us regularly.  The question is, “How will we respond?”

Tensions from a Culture in Turmoil
Our Western culture has become increasingly divergent from a Judeo-Christian foundation.  Historically, this biblical foundation has been the basis for the belief in objective truth and moral accountability to God which in turn have contributed to the advancement of science and techology, and government by the people.  Unfortunately, as a result of moral decline and the deterioration of the family, dysfunction in the evangelical church, and loss of quality of our educational systems, an increasing proportion of the citizenry has become ignorant of our history and opposed to Judeo-Christian beliefs.  Christianity has become a minority counterculture in which followers are increasingly encountering tensions and even pain and death when they take a stand for their faith.



We have listed several “Tensions from a Culture in Turmoil” (see above) to illustrate a range of contemporary challenges.  Very likely, you can relate to at least some of these.  Maybe you can recall the tension and even emotional pain that accompanied your experiences.  Thankfully, there is clear biblical instruction for how to engage with a hostile person or culture.  The Apostle Peter instructs us to do the following (1 Peter 3: 15-17):
(1)  BE HOLY: “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”
(2)  “BE READY“ to make a defense” when asked about your hope
(3)  BE POLITE: answer “with gentleness and reverence”
(4)  BE HONEST: “keep a good conscience” to avoid slander
(5)  BE WILLING to “suffer for doing right” than wrong

As our culture becomes increasingly opposed to the testimony of the Gospel of Christ, believers must become more practiced in applying the spiritual disciplines we have noted above.  Christ-followers who integrate worship into their busy lives as described in Part 1, “

A Wider View of Worship,”  and understand the “Value of Corporate Worship,” as described in Part 2 of this series on “Worship,” will be the most effective ambassadors for the Life Christ offers to our increasingly hostile world.

Tensions from within the Church
Surely, with access to biblical instruction in Christian conduct, Christian believers ought to find corporate gatherings a welcome relief from the tensions and contentions of our secular world.  But this is not always true.  As we noted above, every Christ-follower is continually beset with a natural body and a carnal mind that is prone to sin (Romans 8: 5-8).  What’s more, when the Adversary of God and of every believer sees us gather for corporate worship, study, and fellowship, he is eager to create discord to undermine and destroy the body of believers.

It is painful for us to list some of the sources of tensions and contentions that commonly arise within churches today.  However, just as in our complex and dangerous world today, our defense against our spiritual enemy will not be effective if we fail to identify him.   As we noted earlier, our spiritual enemy is Satan who creates tensions and contentions within our culture and within our individual God-given desires.

When local churches lose sight of their God-inspired, Spirit-empowered mission as described in Acts 2 and as we discussed in “Worship: Part 2 – Value of Corporate Worship,” then tensions and contentions can easily arise over mishandling of doctrinal issues or distractions over personal preferences.  Below is a short list of “Tensions within the Church” that are not uncommon today.  If you are a regular church-attender and many of these are unfamiliar to you, praise the Lord. 

Our list is short but it will be sufficient to illustrate our point.  Sadly, one of the major sources of the tension and contention in churches today is not a new one; namely, the choice of music deemed suitable for worship.  Astute readers of this series will realize that we have been repeatedly delaying this topic since the end of Part 1.  However, we believe God's Spirt has been pressing us to consider the wider context of what it means to worship both individually and corporately in a world of great tensions and contentions.  Please keep these in mind when you move on to Part 4, "Musing about Church Music." Music often is a major cause of tension and contention in churches today.

“Good” from Tensions and Contentions
No one should deny that Christ followers who are resisting attacks from the flesh, the world, and the devil will face tensions and contentions.  But, like the beauty of cactus flowers in the midst of thorns, there is much good that can come from these trials.  James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, wrote what seems like shocking words to persecuted Christians scattered throughout the world:
Dear brothers and sisters,
when troubles of any kind come your way,
consider it an opportunity for great joy.
                                                -- James 1: 2 (NLT)

Really? Is James really saying there is “Great joy” in the midst of trials?  How can this be?  James continues with God’s answer:
For you know that when your faith is tested,
your endurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow,
for when your endurance is fully developed,
you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
                                                -- James 1: 3-4 (NLT)

The Epistle of James is an “instruction manual” on how to be victorious over the pain, tensions, and contentions of the natural world.  James addressed both his immediate 1^st century readers living under persecution and all of us as disciples of Jesus today.  If you know the challenges of being prideful, or double-minded, or “loose tongued,” or impure in your thought life, or covetous; then, you know first-hand the weight of the tensions and contentions that come from the flesh, the world, and the forces of evil beyond flesh and blood.  Thankfully, the Epistle of James addresses each of these and more with practical answers.

Glyn Evans, in his devotional book, “Daily with the King” (Moody, 1989), writes (June 8):  The pain that comes to us in following Christ is the pain of change.  It is the change from living naturally to living spiritually.  It comes, as Blaise Pascal says, from the ungodliness that is still left in us.  The greater our resistance to this change, the greater our pain will be.  Evans adds that, only in Heaven will there be “no more pain” because every will has been brought into complete harmony with God’s will; thus, the tension of wills, which is the source of pain, will be gone.

Complete freedom for Christ-followers from the presence of sin will only be possible when we are with Christ in Glory where God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21: 1-4).  But meanwhile, as Jesus promised, In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16: 33).

Care to Comment?
How has this article affected your thinking about spiritual challenges or spiritual battles?  Is there an error in our thinking, or a missing point that you would like to add?   Often, readers who take time to use the “Comment” link below add much to the value of an article.  Or, if you’d like to comment privately, just email to silviusj@gmail.com   Thank you for reading.