WHERE'S THE PRAISE?
Searching The Church For God-Centered Worship*

To use Christian worship for any purpose other than the glorification of God is to abuse it. God expects a church to meet for divine worship without ulterior motives. Worship is not convened so that church budgets can be pledged, volunteers for ministry enlisted, programs promoted, attendance goals met, or personal problems solved. Authentic worship takes place only in order to honor God--He is the Object and Subject of our worship.

Worship is about God, not about us. It focuses on Him. It doesnÂ’t focus on us--or "me". It's not about evangelizing the lost or becoming "seeker friendly." (If used that way, both evangelism and worship are destroyed.) God is first. God is Pre-eminent. He invites us to "come up" into His presence and adore Him as our mighty God. This means worship must be evaluated by how it lifts up God, not how it makes us feel. It's not a time for us to be entertained nor to "express" ourselves. Too many either become spectators or make spectacles of themselves. Individualism is running rampant in the evangelical worldÂ…especially in charismatic worship. It is evidenced by the plague of the overuse of the pronoun "I" in our praises. An abundance of popular choruses are dominated by what "I" will do for God or how "I" can or will praise Him, (in some indeterminate future,) or what He will do for "me"Â…"or else." One popular chorus even acknowledges, "It's all about you Jesus," and "I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it," and "I'm coming back to the heart of worship," but then it never really does. I wonder if God is thinking, "OK, quit telling me about your praise and how you're going to do it-- and actually do it!" (Note: Telling God about our intention to praise Him or how we will praise Him is not the same as praising Him.)

We love to "praise" our praise and "worship" our worshipÂ…especially our ability to do so. Because of our culture's idolizing of singing and music, these two have a much too dominant place in our services. The proclamation and reading of God's Word (even in "Word" churches) and the Sacraments have been made secondary, pushed aside or even eliminated! We have plenty of time for music and singing, but we put a clock on the preaching of the Word! And if by chance we do get around to it, the people are so worn out that they can't pay attention to the message.

If we do partake of the Lord's Supper once a month, we think we're in danger of pushing it into the realm of "tradition" and "dead routine," ("dead routine" in truth, is an incongruity rather than a redundancy, as some would claim.) It's amazing that we never tire of the routine of meals and sleep each day. The only reason scriptural routine and tradition would become dead is because of dead heads and dead hearts. Maybe that's why the church seems to be weak, sick, and is falling asleep (dead or dying).

In the charismatic world in particular, it has also come to the point where spontaneity is equated with "spiritual" and anything that is planned or routine is "fleshly" or even "dead." Written prayers seem to be frowned upon…the attitude tends to be "How could there be any life in those?" Yet inane praise choruses from an over-head projector or on a big screen are seen as "innovative" and "refreshing." Also, the church is sinking further and further into what C.S. Lewis called "chronological snobbery." Chronological snobbery is the arrogant notion that the ideas of our own day are better than the ideas of a bygone day…just because the ideas are in our day. Chronological snobbery feels that things are truer (or better) simply because they are newer. It is irrational, naïve and slightly disrespectful. If a praise chorus is older than a year, it is considered out of sorts with the "flow of God." (Note: Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. )

Corporate worship is NOT about intimacy either. It's a community effort. We are NOT striving to "make out" with God in the corporate setting. Intimacy isÂ…wellÂ…intimateÂ…it's for the prayer closet at home. How would it make you feel if a husband and wife in a church service started "making out" and kissing and caressing each other amorously? Most of us would shout, "Please! Get a room!" It's not appropriate in that setting. But this is where folks make spectacles of themselves and the attention is on them instead of on God. (Of course the "spectator" could be just as culpable too for being distracted, but that's another article.) It is not a time for individualized expression to the point of isolating and separating oneself from the congregation by doing something "different." But then I'm sure some charismatic would say, "Well look what David did when he danced before the LordÂ…he made a spectacle of himself." Yes he did, but keep in mind he was the LEADER and the only reason he became a spectacle was because the others remained spectatorsÂ…or at least his critics did. Also, he was trying to implement something new and bring the praise of God to his generation.

The entertainment mind-set is also becoming a issue…our culture is hooked on it. It is evident when people attend worship for "what 'I' will get out of it." My favorite response to them is, "Well, we're not worshiping you!" (--thanks to Marva Dawn.) In such an approach, God is not the center of worship; we are! Or worse yet…"I am." Such worship does not promote a time and place for God to confront us, for us to be with God in a set-apart and faithful way. Don't misunderstand, the result (not to be confused with the "why" or motive) of spiritual and true worship will be that God will change us, transform us, fashion our character after His holiness — but only if we worship God and not ourselves. That is, if we attend our services for the love and honoring of God. As R.C. Sproul Jr. has said, "We have embraced the 'critic-hood' of all believers." (We miss the power of the Gospel and the preaching of God's Word because we come to it as we would some form of entertainment.) "We come to judge, rather than to be judged. The gospel will not convict as long as we stand above it." Again, spiritual and true worship will form character, it will foster community and it will foil the enemy, but these are the results! They cannot be the motive nor the focus. Let's keep Matthew 6:33 as the guide.

Another aspect of the worship of God is that it is not only a "heart matter" but also a "mind matter." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thyÂ…mind." Trouble is, as one author (Marva Dawn) puts it, we've "dumbed down" our services (and songs) so much to reach the lost, we've lost the reached. "There is a pronounced resentment on the part of many in the church against knowledge that is beyond (what they perceive as) their capacity or familiarity. The yearning and crying for simplicity all too often results in a 'watering down' of doctrine that leaves people theologically depraved and deformed." (--thanks to R.J. Rushdoony.) Encouragement also has it's place, but you can only live so long on cheer-leading. Far too many don't desire to, and don't see a need for, study and stretching their intellect. "But I don't want to have to think on Sunday morningÂ…it hurts my head!" WellÂ…it's supposed to. It's discipline, and no discipline seems pleasant at the time. Sad to say we all too often want to "check" our brains at the door, have no demands placed upon us and relax in church!

WHAT THEN, SHOULD WE DO?
Some Suggestions

Restore Mystery
Our praises\songs need to be full of the ATTRIBUTES and ACTIONS of God. His Triune nature and His character need to be the focus. HE must be the Object and Subject of our worship. Our praise needs to tell of the transcendence of God and not only of His immanence. Yes, He is indeed 'in' us and 'with' us, but He is also Bigger than the universeÂ…He is Creator GOD and not some heavenly 'buddy' or 'genie' that we can manipulate. Eternal. Immortal. Invisible. Incomprehensible. These are good words. (I challenge you to pull out the most popular songs that are used today and see how many of them actually pass this criteria.)

Restore Community
When we address Him in corporate worship, it needs to be predominantly as "we" and NOT " I." When we do speak of His faithfulness and His promises toward His people, the majority of the time it needs to be towards "us" and not "me." This desperately needs to happen to correct the over-emphasis on individualism...especially in "Rugged Individual-minded" American churches.

The use of the scripture and scriptural ideas about God put to music should make a comeback or pehaps even an initial inroad. Some of the PsalmsÂ…and hymns and spiritual songs are useful here too. (See Eph. 5:19 Â…keeping in mind the context is CORPORATE.)

Restore Orthodoxy
We need to keep in mind that praise is simply another form of prayer, and if we wouldn't "pray" the lyrics of a song, (is it scriptually\theologically sound?) then we shouldn't be singing them either! Musical style seems to take precedence in the choice of what is used in services rather than the content of what is sung. Let's keep the progress of style and at the same time upgrade our lyrics too.

Let's avoid becoming chronological snobs by recognizing that we have 2000 years of Church history to stand upon and propel us into the future. Those who have gone before us have left a wealth of Biblically and Theologically sifted material and it would be a shame to not utilize it.

*Although Theologically speaking "Worship" is a much broader term, in this article I am primarily referring to the corporate gathering on the Lord's Day, and more specifically the portion devoted to singing and music. And I do this because far too many evangelicals and charismatics have reduced worship to singing and music.