Posts Tagged ‘regulative principle’

5 May

Worship #5: Where to From Here?

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity, Doctrine, Worship. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

I promised in my last article to write about the apparent short comings on the ‘Baptist Confession of Faith’s’ section on worship, however, the more I have been looking at it and comparing it to other creeds I feel that I would be making a mountain out of a mole hill. The real issue still lies in other places…

I think that a tradition, whether it is 500, 100 or 10 years old, suffers from the same problem; We start with Scripture, but eventually put our final authority in our own traditions or views.  This may be one of the reasons why we have such a hard time figuring out what God wants us to do when we worship.

Every generation of the church is responsible to weigh its tradition and practice against the final authority of God’s word, and to be honest God has not been as specific in this area as some might prefer. The bible doesn’t give an order of service that applies to all cultures at all times. Similarly the Bible commands us to respect one another, but in African culture respect is shown by not looking someone in the eye when talking, in European culture, one should maintain a degree of eye contact, so just as the way respect is shown varies in those two cultures, it will also vary in the way worship is preformed. For example the Old Testament is full of choirs, musicians, processions, priests, robes, annual celebrations and instrument praise; but how relevant are these things since the New Testament doesn’t even mention them? Should we come before God with singing, dancing and instruments like Psalm 149? Or are those things now forbidden in the New Testament command to worship God ‘with reverence and awe’ (Hebrews 12:28)?

I find so ironic, that some of my own reformed brothers would use the ‘regulative principle’ to forbid instruments in Church along with hymns and spiritual songs… and then only sing unaccompanied Psalms which constantly mentions instruments, dancing and the like? AT the same time my Charismatic friends would sing about the holiness of God and His majesty, and then treat worship in a cavalier, superficial and sentimentalist way.

Some Christians think God has said nothing about worship, but the need for me to refute this thinking is useless now since if anyone has read the bible in even a superficial way they will see the folly of this thinking (I pray). God hasn’t told us everything, but He certainly hasn’t been silent on the topic.

PRINCIPLES FOR FORM

I would like to at this point suggest the guiding principles for how the ‘form’ of worship should be decided upon and evaluated. (It is helpful at this point to have read my article on the varies parts of worship). What principles guide, not the ‘elements’ or ‘circumstances’ of worship, but the ‘form’?

  1. Do what God clearly commands (regulative principle without the exclusivity part)
  2. Don’t do what God clearly forbids (Normative principle)
  3. Use SCRIPTURAL wisdom for everything else

We need to recognize that God has not given us a prescribed order of service that defines biblical worship. However we must seek to faithfully apply biblical principles and examples.

Furthermore, we must grasp the vital role that faith plays in corporate worship. Thus we never want ‘our way’ of doing things to replace vibrant real trust in the finished work of Christ to make our worship acceptable.

The next few blogs will be on how I think these principles should be applied in around 9 different tensions (I hope to make these blogs on worship more regular than once a week as we climb to the crescendo now). I also intent of shortly releasing a questionnaire that I trust will cause us to evaluate if indeed we are applying certain principles in our church.

For the growth and maturity of the Church as we all strive for the unity of the faith.

28 Apr

Worship #4: The Regulative Principle at Work… But Where?

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity, Doctrine, Religion, Worship. Tagged: , , , , , .

In my last article on worship I went into detail to explain what the ‘regulative principle’ is, I also spent some time breaking worship up into its various parts, namely: Elements, form and circumstances.

Today I would like to look at how these two things meet, in other words what interplay is there between the ‘regulative principle’ and the various parts of worship? If you have no idea what I mean by the parts of worship I have listed, or what I mean by the ‘regulative principle’ I strongly recommend you read the previous post on worship before continuing with this one.

The big question that I think often goes unasked in our everyday churches is, “Does the ‘Regulative Principle’ apply to all the parts of worship, or only to some of them?” It is my opinion that it is an incorrect application of the ‘RP’ that is behind much ‘unhealthy’ worship in churches.

-          Circumstances -

The Baptist Confession of Faith which in line with all generally with the other historic creed says the following about the circumstances of worship (Chapter 22:6):

Under the Gospel, neither prayer nor any other aspect of religious worship is tied to, or made more acceptable by, any place in which it is preformed, or towards which it is directed(1). God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and truth(2)… (1. John 4:21; 2. Mal 1:11; 1 Tim 2:8; John 4:23-24)

I think it is clear from the confession that the ‘circumstances’ of worship is irrelevant. A church is a church whether it meets under a tree or in a building or even in a Cathedral.

-          Elements -

With regards to elements, I think chapter 22:5 makes reference, but instead of calling it ‘elements’ calls it ‘parts’. It then goes on to mention all the elements which Scripture explicitly state must be in worship:

1)      Reading of Scripture

2)      Preaching and hearing of the Word

3)      Teaching and admonishing of one another

4)      Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs

5)      Baptism

6)      The Lord’s Supper

The first chapter affirms again the main idea of the ‘regulative principle’ when is says, “He (God) may not be worshipped … by any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures (22:1)”

I agree with this, I must since my conscience is captive to God’s Word. I will not have smoke things shaking in my church to show how our prayers rise to heaven, I will not have icons or crucifixes for worshippers to fix their focus on (22:1 uses this as an example of what it means). These are the acceptable methods we use to Glorify God in worship (note that ‘announcements’ are considered as part since natural light tells us we need them).

So far we have seen that the regulative principle does not apply to the ‘circumstances’ of worship, but clearly it does apply to the ‘elements’ of worship. Which leads me to my next question…?

-          Form –

Does the regulative principle apply to the ‘form’ of worship? It is my opinion that it does not, but rather that the ‘form’ calls for an application of Biblical wisdom (Col 3:16) and ‘natural light’. If we were to apply the regulative principle in its strictest sense to ‘form’ (meaning not doing anything in a way not explicitly said in the New Testament) we would have no lecterns, pulpits or stages, the shortest sermon in church would have to be 50min minimum (based on book of Hebrews), seating would be an issue since we have no idea of where or in which direction people should sit, furthermore, the use of projectors/overheads would be very questionable. I realize I am being facetious, and an argument from inconsistency of those who hold to the principle is not an argument against it.

I think in ‘form’ we need to apply a variety of Biblical principles as well as the wisdom God has so given men to be able to make the elements most conducive to their purpose, namely worshipping God, or to put it another way, to declare the worthiness of God in ALL His attributes.

Conclusion

I trust that again you have found this helpful and stimulating as we think on this issue together. Next week I will address the issue where I feel the Baptist Confession of Faith falls short, as mentioned in my last post, since it ties in closely with the kind of wisdom I am talking about with regards to form.

21 Apr

Worship #3: A Principle to Know

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity, Doctrine, Worship. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Worship is an intricate and difficult subject to address, hence the huge debate about it. I think it may be helpful at this stage to break it up into its different components before moving forward

Worship is made up of three things, the elements, forms and circumstances. Let me explain what I mean by each one.

Elements of worship are those things which are done in public worship: ie. Prayer, singing, preaching, offering, benediction, announcements, reading of Scripture, etc

Form: is how the elements are put into practice or action: E.g. Preaching with a pedestal, lectern, pulpit, free-standing; Reading of Scripture from KJV or NKJV, Long or short passages, both Testaments or only one. Order service is conducted in: Announcements first or song first etc

Circumstances: The circumstances of worship are the setting you find yourself worshipping in, eg. under a tree, in a prison, in a house, in a church building.

By understanding what Scripture teaches on each one of the above components I think it will be possible for us to make much headway in trying to grasp Biblical worship in our current environment.

THE KEY PRINCIPLE:

A key principle in godly worship is known as the ‘regulative principle’. It is the opinion of this author, along with the historic creeds of the faith that this principle is ‘crucial’ in understanding worship. Many of the current discussions on worship which commits the error of ‘forgetting history’ lose out on this key principle and thus end up in a flurry of debate which is unnecessary.

Briefly stated the regulative principle is as follows:

“The light of Nature shews that there is a God, who hath Lordship, and Soveraigntye    over all; is just, good, and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the Heart, and all the Soul, (a.) and with all the Might. But the acceptable way of Worshipping the true God, is (b.) instituted by himself; and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be Worshipped according to the imaginations, and devices of Men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or (c.) any other way, not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. a. Jeremiah 10:7; Mark 12:33 b. Deuteronomy 12:32
c. Exodus 20:4-6 (1689 London Baptist Confession, Chapter 22:1)”

Essentially the regulative principle says that only those things which God has explicitly stated should be practised in worship. This is opposed to the ‘normative principle’ of the Anglicans and Lutherans which says that only those things which Scripture forbids should be prohibited. Based on the above statement from the Baptist Confession of Faith I would have to disagree with the ‘Normative principle’. On another note it would be interesting to do a study of where those churches that espouse the ‘normative principle’ find themselves today, I dare say in the clutches of Liberalism, however, this is not an argument against it, Scripture is our rule of Faith.

Regulative Principle Normative Principle
Only do that which Scripture Commands Do anything so long as Scripture does not forbid it

The Confession goes on in Chapter 22:5 to delineate accurately just what elements the regulative principle allows in worship based on Scripture:

“The (q.) reading of the Scriptures, Preaching, and (r.) hearing the word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs, singing with grace in our Hearts to (s.) the Lord; as also the Administration (t.) of Baptism, and (u.) the Lords Supper are all parts of Religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with   understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover solemn humiliation (x.) with fastings; and thanksgiving upon (y.) special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious manner.”

q. 1 Timothy 4:13 r. 2 Timothy 4:2; Luke 8:18 s. Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19
t. Matthew 28:19-20 u. 1 Corinthians 11:26 x. Esther 4:16; Joel 2:12
y. Exodus 15:1-27; Psalm 107:1-43

Let me say at this point that I do not think this Confession has grasped all that must be said about worship, and I believe that what it has left out is telling…

I hope that you have found this week’s blog entry on worship informative. Please do take the time to think about it as next week I wish to engage with these concepts in a practical way.

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