Village Schools of the Bible

EXCELLENCE IN WORSHIP
by Max Frazier, Jr.
Part 4 in a 4 Part Series

Before we begin our study of the word "excellence" and its relationship to worship, it would be wise to take a few moments just to review some of the highlights from the previous studies on this critical subject of worship.

First, we observed that worship was a word that occurred frequently in both the Old and New Testaments, and was used most often in the active tense, therefore, being something that a person does, not something that is done for him by another. Further, we observed that the word "worship" came from an old Anglo-Saxon root that meant "worthship", the act of ascribing worth to another. In our worship we are to give praise to God for who He is, in other words, we ascribe worth to Him. We concluded by saying that worship was the active response of my heart full of love toward God telling Him how much I do love Him.

Now, we discover God desires us to ascribe worth to Him, to worship Him with excellence. The dictionary defines this word as "the fact or condition of being unusually good of its kind; of exceptional merit, virtue, etc." In Philippians 4:8, Paul reminds us that we are to give full attention to those things that can be described as being excellent. Many of the leading Christian authors have written on this subject, especially as it pertains to the believer.

Personally, I am convinced that for too long we as Christians somehow had the idea that God approved of our giving Him the "cast-offs" of our lives. If we had an old-tattered shirt - well, it went into the missionary barrel. If we had some old furniture - doesn't the youth room need another couch? It always seemed that God got what was left- from our money to our time. The message we communicated was that God is not majestic. God is mediocre. God will accept anything!

Friends, nothing could be further from the truth. God demands our best! He wants and expects to receive excellence from us! You will remember from your Old Testament studies that the only sacrifice that was acceptable to God was that of an unblemished, perfect (might I say excellent) animal. In fact, the great cry of God, as recorded through the message of the prophet Malachi was that Israel was offering to God the crippled and blind, rather than the perfect and whole (read Malachi 1:6-8).

In this final article, I would have us notice the steps we can take to begin to achieve excellence in our corporate worship experience; how our sacrifice of praise might truly be acceptable in God's sight.

Take Time for Preparation

What, do you suppose, are the most hectic hours of the week for most Christians? Monday mornings?...no! Evenings during the school year?...no! Sunday mornings?...absolutely! You know...that late party on Saturday night...the need for just five more minutes in bed...out of hot water...the roast is not thawed...someone spilled the juice...a dress or shirt needs ironing...shoes that need polish...a car that won't start. By the time we get to church for worship and sharing the expression of our love with God, we wonder if it is really worth it.

A few years ago, I clipped the following little article from Christianity Today. It was part of a regular column known simply as "Eutychus." This particular item was titled, "Go for the Gold". As you read, perhaps you will see yourself on several occasions.

With the summer Olympics nearly upon us, we'll soon be hearing about one of the most difficult tests in all of sport: the decathlon. This combination of ten track-and-field events demands speed, strength, and endurance. Only the finest dare compete.

Well, I hate to fly in the face of international athletic wisdom, but there is another tenfold event even more difficult. A recent Sunday with the grandkids reacquainted me with it.

This churchathlon begins with waking up on time. That sounds easy enough, until you subtract the hours of sleep lost Saturday night preparing a Sunday school lesson. Speed and agility are essential in the next four events: feeding the kids, bathing the kids, dressing the kids, and loading the kids into the car. Degree of difficulty increases exponentially according to the number of children involved.

If you have the determination to deposit each child in the proper Sunday school classroom - on time - you're still in the running for event number seven: teaching your own Sunday school class.

Your endurance is stretched after class when you collect the kids and seat them in the sanctuary with a minimum of talking or squabbling. Then comes the final-and ultimate-challenge: Quiet your heart to worship.

Anyone who completes that course deserves a gold medal.

Now answer truthfully: If you could do anything on a Sunday morning, what would you rather be doing? I addressed that question to a group of young people one day and their top three choices were: sleeping, going to the lakes, shopping. What was your response? Be honest now!

The psalmist had a passion for worship. He writes, in Psalm 84:2, My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Again he writes, One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple (Psalm 27:4). And who can forget these wonderful words, I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1).

Is it ever possible for us to have that same sense of anticipation? I believe we can if we properly prepare our hearts for worship. Let me share with you some simple steps you can take that will allow you to worship more effectively.

1. Don't burn the midnight oil on Saturday night.
2. Read and meditate during the week on the book or passage being taught. This will either raise questions which you will anticipate being answered or, will present positive truths that you will anticipate being reinforced.
3. Listen to some good Christian music as you rise from bed. This will help to set your heart singing.
4. Before you leave the house, pray that God would be pleased with your worship.

Friends, worship does not begin with the prelude!

Make a Sacrificial Presentation

Listen to these provocative words from King David as he negotiated with Araunah for a piece of property upon which would be built the temple. But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing"(2 Samuel 24:24). David would not think of worshiping God with something that had cost him nothing!

A sacrifice is costly. To the ancient Israelites, as we have already noticed, it cost them their finest animals. To the ancient Macedonians, it cost them their finances, even though they were poor, so that they might help the struggling church in Jerusalem (read 2 Corinthians 8:1-3).

Does our worship cost anything? If you are in a choir...it costs you time and the effort to practice and to prepare. If you are on a worship team...it costs you time to practice and to prepare. If you are teaching a class...it costs you hours to pray and to prepare. But too often we just throw something together and hope that God will accept it.

Lately I have wondered why I have had that attitude. I can proclaim that Christ is Lord of my life, but when it comes to worship, I am comfortable in giving Him what is leftover. Perhaps you have acted in similar ways. Why is that? Let me share with you what I think is happening. First, I forget that worship is to be a sacrifice...a giving up of something that I hold dear to myself. In the case of worship this something is time...time to prepare my heart to meet with God. If you are like me, I usually begin to think about worship about the time the alarm goes off on Sunday morning. By then it is difficult to prepare adequately.

Secondly, I forget that worship is directed toward God and not myself. If I come to church to have my needs met, that is not worship. If I come hoping to get something that will fill a void in my life, that is not worship. Now I firmly believe that both of those things will be accomplished if we truly enter into worship. Every aspect of our worship experience must be centered around God. We should ascribe worth to God through our singing. We should ascribe value to God through our praying. We should ascribe the amazement of God through our preaching and teaching. We gather, not to be entertained, not to have our needs met, but to worship God.

We often sing that wonderful little chorus that really describes what worship is all about: Open our eyes, Lord; We want to see Jesus, To reach out and touch Him; And say that we love Him. Open our ears, Lord; and help us to listen, Open our eyes, Lord; We want to see Jesus.

Some Concluding Thoughts

Friends, through this series of articles we have seen that God wants our worship to be alive and dynamic. He also wants it to be with reverence and awe. Our worship is then completed as we walk in obedience to Him. But to experience this excellence in worship, we must be willing to pay the cost, to make that sacrifice to praise and to thank God as He desires.

Someone has written: We come to church to catch a glimpse of God and as a result to pursue Him the rest of the week. May God help us in that pursuit! May we truly learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

A Postscript

I appreciate the many comments I have received because of this series on worship. My heart grieves because we have taken that which is the crowning jewel of the Church, namely worship, and allowed it to become a tool for dissension and even division. I have not wanted to add more fuel to this controversy. I have sought for a solid biblical foundation.

That does not mean that I do not have a personal preference of a worship style. I have a passion for the great hymns of the faith, having memorized many of them; but I also have come to appreciate many of the contemporary worship songs directed toward the person of God...yes, I stand in awe of Him. I prefer the sounds of a majestic organ played with skill; but I also appreciate a blending of the various instruments in an orchestra.

A comment I heard from several concerned the volume of noise generated by some worship experiences today. Just this morning I heard one of the Christian broadcasters (I could say, a Christian disc-jockey) tell his listeners to turn up the volume on their radios for the next song. May I take a few moments to address this issue as it is so important to many. Allow me to share some reasons why I believe this is happening...please feel free to disagree with me if you will, these are only my reasons...I have no documentation for them, just observations.

1. Noise has been a prevalent part of the music of that part of society we know as "the baby busters" and "generation X". I recall taking a group of young people to a concert. Of course they wanted to get as close to the front as possible. Where did the sponsors go? As far away from the front as possible...and it was still too loud for us. When I am in a worship service that seems unduly loud, I need to look over the audience, notice its make-up, and remember that they are ministering to a generation that has included noise and loudness as part of who they are.

2. Noise can be an integral aspect of worship. One can hardly fail to notice the admonitions in the psalms to shout to the Lord, to clap hands, to sing with joy before the Lord. However, there are also those admonitions to wait quietly before the Lord. I believe there is a place for balance. There are words that demand an increased crescendo..."No condemnation now I dread, Jesus and all in Him is mine" demands that we shout that truth to the heavens; so do those words: "Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small." Yet, it is with quietness we sing, "All to Jesus I surrender." (There, I have exposed my love for the hymns).

Some closing comments about drums. In my observations these past several years in watching the transition in worship styles, perhaps no instrument has been so involved in a love-hate relationship with as many believers as has the drum. Yes, it is correct that drums are not mentioned in the Bible, but to build a case for their exclusion because of this can be difficult. Most musicologists believe that the drum was the very first instrument man developed. It was pretty simple to strike a stick against a log. It is difficult for me to imagine the orchestration recited in the psalms - cymbals of every size, strings of many varieties, horns as well - without the presence of a drum. Why do the scriptures fail to include them? Perhaps, and this is only a conjecture on my part, it is because the writers just assumed their presence.

If you would like to dialogue further with me on this topic of worship, please contact me at village@gospelcom.net. These studies will soon be available in a booklet form that will include some suggested questions suitable for a small group study. Please call the office if you would like to order one or several.

Return to The Philogian Archive Worship Introduction What Is Worship Reverence In Worship The Music Of Worship