Article - Should We “Modernize” Sunday Worship?
Man continues to be the object of his own worship as he follows the desires of his heart (examples: Leviticus 10:1-3; Matthew 15:7-9; John 4:19-24). He reasons that “traditional” worship is old, stale, boring and Spirit-less and that changing to a “contemporary” form of worship would attract more youth and visitors. As a result, a growing number of churches have added the following to their Sunday “worship experience”: Special singing praise teams, solos, duets, choirs, drama groups, hand-clapping, lifting high one’s hands, baby dedications, women leading worship, giving personal testimonies, etc. Consider these Biblical observations: (1) We are not to follow our will but God’s will as we worship Him, Matthew 7:21-23; (2) labeling worship “traditional” instead of “scriptural” is a sinful attempt to redirect our attention toward something that “sounds good” rather than something that is authorized by Jesus in the New Testament, Matthew 28:18; (3) a sinful spirit/attitude begins to see God’s way of worship as getting old and desperately needing man’s innovations to keep worship fresh; whereas a righteous spirit/attitude continues to grow, renew and refresh as he engages in the same acts of worship every Sunday, Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 14:34-35; 16:1-2; Ephesians 5:19; (4) “Contemporary” worship eventually becomes routine, “traditional” and in constant need of change; whereas the New Testament acts of worship stay new as they stay the same, John 4:23-24; (5) While adding to God’s worship may cause the worshipper to “feel” more “into” the worship and “closer” to God, Jesus says such a worshipper’s heart is far from God and his worship is useless, Matthew 15:7-9. Do you desire new worship or New Testament worship?
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