I was reading about instrumental worship in the Bible today, I ran across a few sources that were pretty contradictory to how most churches are. One of them,(this one)said a few interesting things, here's one:
God separates direct worship from all other things done by His children. All that we do in life must be done to His glory, but direct worship is a uniquely special activity, governed by special rules and guidelines. We shall see in what follows that the Old Testament speaks of at least eight kinds of instrument in common use by the people of those days, and all were permitted in private, social and civic life. However, only four of these were permitted in direct worship in the house of God. It is immensely important to be aware of this.
I read it and at first was like, "yeah, there is definitely a difference between living one's life as worship and setting aside a specific time to solely worship God". I'm not saying that we can't offer our lives as fragrant offerings- we're supposed to do that already. But there is certainly a difference between playing hockey, or painting, or playing a violin, or entering a spelling bee for the glory of God, as worship, and flat out worshiping God- no multi-tasking way of worshiping, but purely giving glory and thanks back to God. After that line I got a bit suspicious though- only 4 instruments are to be used in worship????
I kept reading and the scholar went on to make this point;
The Lord wants modesty and simplicity, not entertainment, show, noise, unnecessary diversity of instrument, or human ostentation.
Wow! It made me wonder if you have ever been to a church where the worship service just seemed like a concert? I definitely have, and the music was great sure- but should that be what is drawing people in? Shouldn't worship be something else, something more? An extended electric guitar solo, or any impressive instrumental solo, can distract me from the worship and set my mind to thinking if I will ever be able to play that well, my focus on God is slightly muddled.
I love worship music, but I've never looked at it from this way, so I wanted to see a different perspective, and this was very different from most churches. So maybe the Orthodox have a few things right with their worship. Also, I just learned today that in ancient times the preacher/teacher would sit and the listeners would stand. That'd definitely cut down on the sleeping in church; hmmm, another thing the Orthodox do. Maybe this is a step to thinking outside my own denominational box.
Friday, January 8, 2010
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