Ending the Worship Wars

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Ending the Worship Wars</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id199.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worship: A LifeChanging Experience"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id204.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Developing a Lifestyle of Worship"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>“Ending the Worship Wars,” April 22, 2001am, Berean Bible Church </B></div> <div>      </div> <div>      The devil is happy and God is sad when believers fight and divide over minor issues. Since many churches fight over worship styles, what can we do about differences in worship styles and preferences?</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. Problem: People in churches fight over what is most important to God – Worship!</B></div> <div>      “Contemporary” and “traditional” are misunderstood terms, as though they are the only two options. What we consider to be traditional was once contemporary, and what is contemporary will one day be traditional. There are classical, country, and rap styles, which may be traditional or contemporary. The terms “contemporary” and “traditional” are not adequate to describe the complexity of the problem.</div> <div>      We have a tendency to make our cultural forms or preferences God’s “preferred way of doing things.” But there is no one right way to worship! Worship reflects the culture it comes out of. You don’t take American hymns to African Christians without some level of cultural adaptation.</div> <div>      Note the variety in worship actions in the Bible:<I> </I>“The following actions are associated with worship: kneeling and bowing down (Psalm 95:6), lifting hands (Psalm 141:2, 1 Tim 2:8, Psalm 63:4). Standing before the Lord in awe (Psalm 4:4); clapping hands (Psalm 47:1); playing instruments (Psalm 33:2, 92:3, 98:6, 144:9), shaking tambourines and playing percussion instruments (Psalm 150:4), dancing before the Lord (Psalm 150:4), bowing our hearts (Gen 24), lifting our heads and eyes (Psalm 3:3, Psalm 123:1), plus praying, praising, singing and shouting for joy (Psalm 32:11, 47:6, 59:16, 66:8, 69:30, 98:1, 100:1-2)” (David McAdam, pastor in Concord, MA, in <I>Becoming a Healthy Church</I>, Macchia, 53).</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>II. Solution: Maintain our existing unity, and exercise flexibility.</B></div> <div> A. Phil 2:1-5</div> <div> 1. Be like-minded</div> <div> 2. Look out for others</div> <div> B. Eph 4:1-6</div> <div> 1. Be flexible</div> <div> 2. Maintain the unity we already possess</div> <div>      What should be true about worship regardless of preferences and differences? Exalts God, Builds up people, Participatory, Possesses truth, Is excellent . . .</div> <div>      The <I>mission of the church overrides our preferences</I>. We must break down barriers of preference if they become a wall that prevents someone from hearing the gospel of Christ. Many churches our culturally irrelevant, and a big reason is their music. It is from the 50's and 60's. If we are going to do evangelism by asking people to come to church, we had better make sure we have taken down the non-essential walls and are communicating in ways that are understandable. It is our value of cultural relevance (see 1 Cor 14:22-25).</div> <bR> <div> <B>III. Three challenges to us:</B></div> <div> A. We must choose to participate.</div> <div> B. We must adjust our attitudes. Be willing to be stretched. Grow in appreciation for musical styles you may not prefer. You would be surprised at what you could begin to appreciate.</div> <div> C. We must get used to changing music. We can’t pick one style and stick with it forever. With new people coming to Christ, new songs will be written in new styles. Don’t expect new believers to adopt the “hymn” culture that some of us grew up with. Our music will keep changing, utilizing new music as well as the timeless older music (not all older music, contained in hymnals, is timeless; much of it is dated and we shouldn’t sing it anymore). Some songs from each generation will stay with us, most will not.</div> <bR> <div>      We must not fight over that which God holds dear to his heart. Instead, we must maintain the unity we already have in Christ and we must be flexible with one another. Recently I attended a John Maxwell conference at a black church in Hartford, CT. When the worship team was leading, it was not in a style that I prefer, or one that I found easy to adapt to, in terms of singing along. It was slow and soul-ful, and I had a hard time singing the melody to songs that I was familiar with. But I had a choice to make. I could keep quiet, I could criticize or complain inwardly, or I could participate by focusing on God in the words of the songs we were singing. Choose to worship, whether your preferential desires are being met or not.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2001, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>