T. Allen Burr Ministries

The original article was adapted for print in PMG newspapers in Southwest Indiana and Southeast Illinois. This is a revisitation of the topic.

“It is a most invaluable part of that blessed ‘liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free,’ that in his worship different forms and usages may
without offence be allowed, provided the substance of the Faith be kept
entire.”

Preface, Book of Common Prayer

For this week’s newspaper article, I revisited the blog post I wrote concerning the believer-centric nature of worship. My feelings concerning this remain the same as they did back in February. Worship should be about who God is. Worship is derived from an Anglo Saxon term meaning to pay someone what they’re due. Today, however, it refers to paying divine honor to God. It was defined by Evelyn Underhill as “the response of the creature to the Eternal.”

Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, has a wonderful podcast episode on worship. It’s part of the Episcopal Church’s Way of Love teaching. One thing he said that stuck out to me was this:

“The whole worship experience is ingeniously designed to de-center myself and recenter my life on Christ.”

Bishop Michael Curry

Worship is supposed to be about honoring God, showing reverence for Him. The focus should be, must be on Him. Displacing Him for a moment displaces our hearts. The revivalist John Wesley once said, “Have an eye to God in every word you sing.” In every word that we sing, our hearts and minds should be focused on God. I could belabor the same points I made in February, but I’ll spare us all. My key thought is this: The issue here is multifaceted, but lyrics have meaning. Even though these songs mention God, they’re more focused on what He causes to happen or—and this is worse—paying homage to Him with only a few lines while focusing on the believer’s experience.

The words we sing have meaning and are important. The manner in which we do is no different. The manner in which we choose to worship communicates meaning and holds some importance. The Reformed theologian R.C. Sproul once said:

“The worship to which we are called in our renewed state is far too important to be left to personal preferences, to whims, or to marketing strategies. It is the pleasing of God that is at the heart of worship. Therefore, our worship must be informed at every point by the Word of God as we seek God’s own instructions for worship that is pleasing to Him.”

Worship is far too important for us to submit to the whims and preferences of the world. Worship is too important for us to give in to what’s trendy or marketable. The Apostle Paul told the Romans that they were not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of their minds. It is disheartening that, in scanning through radio stations, it is nearly impossible to discern what stations are playing Christian music. The music being played is almost entirely undiscernible from the music being produced by the world. It’s painful, almost physically so. Worship should not look like a concert; worship should not feel or appear like anything the world has to offer.

The preface to the Book of Common Prayer tells us that the most invaluable part of the freedom Christ granted unto us is that, in worshipping Him, different forms and usages of worship are permitted, provided the substance of the Faith be kept in its entirety. So yes, worship looks and will continue to look differently for everyone, but we must be cautious in how worship is engaged in and presented. As I said, worship is far too important for us to submit to the whims and preferences of the world. Worship is designed to de-center the self and recenter the believer’s mind and life on Christ. Worship should not be conformational but transformational. Believers should enter in, offer up their worship, and leave changed.

I’ll end this post the same way I ended the post back in February: But what do you think? Has worship become too believer-centric?