Being the “music guy” at my church, it wasn’t a difficult choice for me to pick which seminar to attend in the first round. Andrew Snider, who’s on staff at the Master’s Seminary, is leading a serminar titled “A God-Entranced Worship: Infusing Your Music with a Biblical Theology of Worship.” I hope my notes may prove encouraging and/or helpful to some of our readers. My plan for the remainder of the conference is to attend the following seminars:

• Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs: The changing sound of corporate worship(Clayton Er, Bill Brandenstein)
• To Protect & Serve: An interactive forum on elder rule (Rob Iverson)
• Delivery & the Powerful Pulpit: Preaching the sermon with clarity and conviction (Alex Montoya)

For your reference, the SC folks will be making available for download notes from all the seminar sessions after April 21 at www.shepherdsconference.org (but that won’t be live!).

After opening in a word of prayer, Andy Snider welcomed attendees of the seminar, which is being held in the main worship center of Grace Church. He teaches theology at TMS, and has been involved in music ministry for his entire adult life. He and his wife (the latter being the ‘real musician’) have been involved together since they day they met. For the last 20 years, he has seen a lot, and the Lord has laid a real burden on his heart for corporate worship in the church. The goal of the seminar, in his mind, is to reflect theologically on worship in order to consider the role of music in a corporate worship setting.

The guiding principle for this reflection is “faithful worship”:

• Adheres to biblical intent for worship
• Expresses the Christian faith
• Manifests & inspires worshipers’ faith - “my faith in God grows as I express it in corporate worship”

Theology of worship is a very broad topic, so he’s going to try to take some key issues in order to help us think about music in a corporate service.

Note: How does private worship related to corporate worship? Psalm 34:1-3 refers to our “private” worship life, our devotional worship life:

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

When we gather for corporate worship, it is so the private worship can overflow into a corporate worship setting. We sense this on the first session when we sing together with thousands of other men.

There are three areas he wants to address: motivations for faithful worship, the nature (”what”) of faithful worship, and then the leadership of faithful worship.

Motivations (”why”) for faithful worship

Summary: worship is a response to God’s self-revelation. In the book Recalling the Hope of Glory, Allen Ross talks effectively about worship being a response. There are three aspects to the revelation, trinitarian in nature.

First, worship is a response to the transcendent attributes of God.

God is holy. When you consider God’s holiness, the OT & NT words for holiness refer to “separation.” Holiness speaks primarily not of ethical considerations but the fact that God is separate from the universe. Isa 57:15 speaks of God being “high and lifted up” (though especially from sin). There is God, and then there is everything else. Include in this category his omniscience, his omnipresence, the fact that he’s not bound by the universe’s limitations on power, knowledge, etc. He has no beginning, no end, he doesn’t age. This should have an effect on our worship. We come to worship a God who is separate — and yet is God with Us, the Holy One, in our midst. Also included in our consideration of His holiness is that He is sovereign (Ps 103:19). The OT system of worship, particularly sacrifices, is oriented toward the holiness of God (Lev 19:2). It had implications for people’s life and their worship. Peter brings the same verse into the NT in 1 Peter 1. In Lev. 10:3, God reminds Moses that He will be treated as holy, that He will be honored. So the holiness of God is a key motivator for our worship together as the people of God. No one song can complete any one theological aspect, but the holiness of God must be reflected in our worship as a whole.

God is love. The love of God is a pervasive theme in the Old Testament. We have a prayer in Exodus 33 that reminds us of a renewal of God’s covenant in the aftermath of the worship of the calf, etc. It culminates with Moses asking God to show His glory. But the display of His glory the next morning wasn’t bright lights, but the attributes of God (Ex. 34:6-7). Six of the seven attributes have something to do with the love of God, only the last makes reference to His judgment against sin. The idea that the OT has no reference to the love of God is misled; 8 times this passage is quoted in large part or in whole in the Old Testament from the pentateuch to the post-exilic period. When the people in the Old Covenant thought of God, this is what God wanted them to think: that he is a God of love & forgiveness. This theme is continued in the NT, stated conveniently in 1 John 4:8,16: “God is love.” These same attributes come up in Titus 3:4-7, applied to Christ, in the Greek. In this passage we see the six attributes of God’s love and the one of God’s justice shown in Christ. How does God’s love appear as a motivation of worship (Psalm 136): Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” We joke about repetitive choruses, but here in Psalm 136, we see 3 words (”his steadfast love endures forever) 26 times. God must be okay with some repetition (more later).

God is just. I’m using the term just here on purpose instead of righteous. The justice of God encompasses both His character trait of righteousness as well as his demand for righteousness among His creatures. He is righteous in Himself and requires righteousness in others. It is just for Him to require His people to imitate His righteousness. We can see this brought forth in Romans 3:26 - “that He may be just and the justifier” - bringing together the attributes of His love and His righteousness. How is God’s justice/righteousness portrayed as a motivation for worship. Take for example Ps 35:28: “My tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.”

So we can take God’s holiness, love and justice as categories and see how these guide our worship; and not the music style, or order of service or liturgy we choose to use, no human conception or desire for fun. Our worship music must be essentially Godward. If we choose these priorities this can even take care of some of our silly disputes over style. Does this music speak of the attributes of God in such a way that people are brought to a place of worship, adoration of God.

The Redemptive Centrality of Jesus Christ

Jesus fulfills OT worship (Heb 8-10). We are told that Christ is the perfect sacrifice — once for all - for sins. He is also the perfect High priest for sinners. The uniqueness of Christ is that He is both the sacrifice itself, as well as the perfect High Priest. As the one who partook of our weaknesses in the incarnation, and offered sacrifice for sins; He intercedes for us before God. So worship culminates in the person of Christ. So our worship should be motivated by that redemptive centrality. Not only does He fulfill OT worship, but Christ dominates NT worship. Jesus is portrayed as the object of worship. But He is also displayed as the channel for worship. E.g. Heb 13: “Through [Christ], let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God…” He’s not only dominant as the object of worship, whom we worship; but He is also our access to God. We must never forget that we can gather to worship because of the cross. Our worship music must exalt the beauty of Christ. Do our worship services make Jesus appear beautiful? People should be responding in adoration to the Savior. Is He our friend? Yes. But is He just portrayed as a buddy? Or is He also portrayed as Lord and Redeemer who brings us into the presence of God. I choose the word “beauty” on purpose. Our music should not just portray the right facts, but should compel them to respond.

The Enlivening Presence of the Holy Spirit

He is the presence of God among us (we’re the sanctuary/temple of God). 1 Cor 3:16, is not referring to “me individually,” but as a group, we together are the temple of the Holy Spirit. As the temple of the Spirit, He is among us to unify and enliven our worship. There’s something qualitatively different about corporate worship. there’s a reason David said, “Magnify the Lord with me” and didn’t just stay in his room. One reason for that for us is that the Spirit is among us. Our worship music must be energized by the Spirit. It doesn’t mean we don’t plan, or just “go with the flow.” Rather, our worship music should be built upon the reality of our awareness of and dependence on the Spirit (”the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”).

The Nature (”what”) of Faithful Worship

Worship is a believer’s joyful work (as John Frame writes about). We come to give ourselves. Our worship involves an investment of ourselves. Worship is:

Sacrifice. Allen Ross helped me so much in this area. there’s a tendency to think about the sacrificial part of worship as merely a part of the Old Covenant, and is now past. But there’s a legit sense in which our worship is described as sacrifice. Understanding our worship as sacrifice is based on an understanding of Christ’s sacrifice. Christ is our once-for-all offering. His redemptive work is done, and He makes intercession for us in the presence of God. We therefore come to God in Christ just as Old Covenant believers came to God through the sacrifice of animals. The sacrifice of Christ makes worship possible. But the NT also speaks of our worship as a sacrifice of ourselves as well (Romans 12:1). Sacrifice of self is pleasing to God. Presenting our bodies as a sacrifice is worship language. It is expected that we will render this service to God. So we are to offer ourselves as sacrifices, our whole lives. We see this in Psalm 51:17 (NET) as well, “The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit - a humble spirit, O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.” And I would say that because worship is sacrificial, it is also transforming. But we have to be careful. This is not a sacrifices that appeases God (like a sin offering) but one that pleases God (like a thanks offering).

This implies that our worship music should acknowledge and confess sin. It should also rejoice in the Savior and the cross. Our music should express our joy that Christ has made the perfect sacrifice for us. It should express our commitment (”sacrifice of self”) to Christ. In life and especially when coming together with God’s people. And it should focus on fellowship with God and others. We shouldn’t forget that corporate worship is to be done “corporately.” We allow our people to come worship God as “me” coincidentally with others… but rather there should be a sense of “let us exalt His name together.”

Proclamation. Worship is proclamation. I would love to stop and tlak about how worship in th OT involves proclamation. When Abraham leaves Haran, we are told that he gathered up his servants & possessions, and “all those he acquired.” The most prominent Jewish commentator translates this as “the souls that he had won.” Probably people who saw Abraham worshiping, and joined him in worshiping! There’s a proclamation element prior to Moses. We can talk about how the Lord’s table is a proclamation of His death until He comes!

Revelation informs worship. The word of Christ dwelling richly among us is to inform our worship music (Col 3:16). Not just richly dwelling “among me” but “among us.” Since revelation informs worship, public reading and exposition drive worship. Biblical content provides truth to which worshipers respond — not just emotional response! The content, the text of our songs is what we are to respond to. If the Word of Christ - the gospel - is richly dwelling among us, what are we responding to? The message of truth. Col. 3:16 continues about “teaching and admonishing one another.” this shows us that worship is a way of learning. Worship music is related to this learning. There’s some debate on the grammar here, but it’s clear that the music is related to the learning that’s supposed to take place in our corporate worship gatherings. But it needs to be said that this kind of learning is not exactly the same as preaching & teaching, or even discipleship counseling. As a child I did not learn the facts of the gospel through a song. My pastor, teachers, parents taught me. But as I sang songs about the gospel, I began to ponder it. The music functions to slow me down to think about these words. As a result, a certain kind of learning takes place. Learning theology is not about stocking the bookshelves of your mind with true propositions. If your heart is not affected by the truths that you learn, you have not learned it. You really don’t know it! Worship music is a way of helping to apply (learn!) these truths to our lives. When we leave a service, it’s not the text of the sermon that’s usually ringing in our ears, but the music. Music appeals to our will. It’s also one way of evangelism (1 Cor 14:24-25). It’s certainly true that the church itself is composed of those who have placed faith in Christ, but Lord willing there are those who are among us not yet part of our church; it’s very important that unbelievers be able to decipher what’s going on in your midst, so that they can fall to their knees and confess Christ as Lord. So worship music is a way of learning, esp. related to our will.

The implication here is that our worship music must focus on Biblical truths. It must also communicate content clearly; better a repetitive clear song than a flowery song that people don’t understand. This is an area we have to take care of, esp. with older hymns with beautiful texts. Lest people fail to connect with the meaning, no matter how rich they are. Our worship music must also draw believers to believe truth. Not just instructing in the sense of explanation, but expanding our application and our embrace of Biblical truths. I hope in your worship life you encounter songs, even old ones, that cause you to pause and say, “You know, I’ve never really thought about that text.” And God uses it to change you even though you’ve been singing it for years. As an example, “Like a River Glorious,” though “perfect” it increases; just last fall, the peace of God portrayed in that song came to me in a fresh way. This is one reason new songs, or re-arrangements of old songs, are so important. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is a terrific hymn, but it never gets around to why the cross happened. So remember, worship is proclamation.

Celebration. Worship is a celebration; not that we’re just duty-bound to sing about Biblical truth. Worship is a response of joy! Joyful celebration is pervasive in apostolic ministry, and is systemic to the Christian faith (Romans 14:7). Joy is key! We could talk about tendency to separate “joy” and “happiness.” Study the concept of joy in either OT or NT, and you will find words that refer to happiness that you can’t hide. There’s an element to Biblical joy that can only be described as happiness, and particularly in our worship assemblies. We are gathering as those who can be happy about Jesus and what’s He’s done and doing even in the midst of suffering. Worship music can be overly somber or restrictive.

But celebration should also be reverent. The fear of God is real to true worshipers (Heb. 12:28-29). Our worship gatherings of being reverent people, which protects us from being trite.

Because worship is celebration, our worship music should give expression to joy arising from redemptive realities. And it should also inspire awe and humility. And it should draw us to an elevated expression. A couple of years ago, he passed a church sign that listed services and said, “Casual worship: 6pm.” Casual worship — nothing could sum up better one of the key problems of the contemporary church. It’s “casual.” “Come and hang out with Jesus for a while.” The closeness we have with God the Father is a humbling closeness. But none of this dependent on any musical style! This can be accomplished with many different styles.

The Leadership of Faithful Worship

Worship is a communal activity.

The Pastor’s Example. You may or may not be the worship leader in your church, but I challenge you to be the lead worshiper in your church! If you are shepherding a flock, your church’s worship will never rise beyond your personal example. There’s a good chance you all believe the right things. But what we need is not necessarily better theology, but better leadership. The pastor(s) must lead in worship by engaging in worship. Don’t go over your notes during the worship music. You get engaged, and your people will see it and follow.

The Pastor’s Exhortation. Music is not warm-up. Teach (yourself & the congregation) on the purposes of worship! If we had a gathering of people who just wanted to worship God, they might not be so concerned about what instruments are on stage. We also need to shepherd “weaker brothers” who are overly concerned about styles. We need to be concerned that a particular sound won’t cause them to sin; we need to shepherd them beyond that. We have so many more important things to talk about than style. There’s always going to be a line beyond responding and disrupting, and we have to deal with that. Note we’re not trying to invoke a particular response (clapping, “amens”, etc.). But we want folks to feel free to respond. Have you ever stood in the back and watched people sing about great and glorious truths, but people are just singing with no life at all? Something’s wrong.

The Pastor’s Evaluation. Disciple your worship leaders. Are you involved in worship leaders’ lives? Leading music is a pastoral function. It’s part of our function as shepherds to ensure that the ministry is executed, but we also have to oversee it. We also have to ask, are we doing all things for edification (1 Cor 14:26) and decently and in order (v. 40). “In order” means not chaotic and perceptible.

We need to ask the right questions. Like, how can we get our people to have a fuller appreciation of music for God’s glory. We can go on and on about one style or another being associated with a lifestyle. Let’s instead shepherd folks to gain a better appreciation of the gift of music as a vehicle for worshiping God. “How do I shepherd my people toward fuller worship.” Also, handle Scripture correctly. Make sure we don’t read texts on worldliness as meaning that certain music styles are out! Shepherd people toward a passion for faithful worship that is driven by redemptive realities, that understand God is, and as a means for engaging with those realities.

Other areas affected by worship theology: special music, instrumental music, use of technology, “order of service” and use of liturgy.

Q&A

Snider then opened it up for questions from the seminar attendees.

“What are the limits for corporate worship?” Our music must convey the realities of God clearly, and it must not be chaotic. Music must keep us together. I have a hard time thinking about how rap could be used in a corporate worship setting. Regardless of what you think of rap “music” (his emphasis), it couldn’t keep us together, because most of us can’t rap! There are other styles, extreme rock & roll (e.g. speed metal), which are ill-suited for corporate settings. There are songs we can sing on our own that just don’t work. One question is, is it “singable” — can people catch onto.

“In revelation informs worship, should our worship set be before the preaching, or after?” How many have been in a service where music was not done until after the sermon. Consider an experiment, where you begin the service with a sermon, to show that worship is a response to revelation.

“Special music?” We’re at a church in L.A., entertainment culture. I’m sensitive that we have brothers from other cultures here. You have your own cultural considerations. Here in the U.S. we are in an entertainment culture. I challenge you to think carefully about how you position special music in your worship service. Is it a sacrifice of praise, proclaiming Biblical truth, celebrating the redemptive realities of the cross, drawing attention to the one we worship? It’s tougher than you think. I never want people to think about “what an amazing song” they heard if they don’t go on about how it blessed their soul! The biggest blessing is when someone comes up after I’ve been involved and say, “You know, that one line is something I’ve never thought about.”

“How to introduce new arrangements of old hymns to a congregation?” There are differences of opinions. My suggestion is that you introduce a hymn with a new arrangement, to show you can sing great words to different music than you are accustomed do. We do new arrangements in Crossroads all time. Sometimes they add a new refrain. It makes you stop & think about the words, if you can get past the fleshly response of, “That’s supposed to be with an orchestra.” If you can get people in a right theology of worship, they can get past it to deeper worship. Examples include Chris Tomlin or David Crowder (”O For a Thousand Tongues”). Also you can introduce really good new stuff, like the stuff from the Gettys.

“Can you provide insight on how to help a musically talented leader on what is easy for a congregation to sing?” Sometimes it’s trial and error. A key aspect of replacing debates about style is to apply the principle that we prefer one another. We need to take the principle of deferring to one another into our corporate worship setting, putting aside the many different personal musical preferences so that we can come together to worship! This is a job for shepherds to help encourage their churches in this way.