Have you ever paused to consider what should be accomplished in a church service? What is necessary for it to be considered worship? Often tradition, our upbringing, our various biases, and our culture determine what we think worship should look like. However, God cares deeply about how we worship him. He stated, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24). Since God cares how we should worship, what is the proper way to worship?
In John 4, Jesus met the woman at the well and began proclaiming the gospel to her. In her discomfort, she tried to deflect the conversation and seized on the worship war of that day. Does true worship take place in Jerusalem or on the mountain? The Samaritans argued that worship took place in the spirit. Hence, they were justified in not going to the temple in Jerusalem. The pure-blooded Israelites argued that you had to go to the temple. Who was right? Jesus states that they were both wrong. God had dictated how they were to approach worship. That meant that the temple was necessary. However, God also said that worship must be about God and not man, and in this, Israel failed. True worship must be in spirit and truth.
If our worship is to be true, it must be Biblically proper. Since worship is to God and for God, we cannot worship however we want. Paul comments on this reality in his letter to the Colossians, “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col 2:23). There were individuals in the Colossian church that were placing extra implementations on worship. They demanded that the believers follow specific ritualistic guidelines. In response, there was another group that was allowing worship to become a free for all. Paul states that these people had ceased worshipping God and had created a self-made religion. He says very clearly that this self-made religion was of no value. It attempted to approach God the wrong way.
From the beginning, God regulated how mankind was to approach him. This has become known as the regulative principle. In other words, we can only approach God how God tells us to. If God does not instruct us to come in a certain way, we cannot approach in that way and expect God to accept our worship.
When mankind fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, God gave instructions for how man was to approach Him. We see this in the sacrifices that he made and the clothing that he prepared. However, it is not long before we see the seriousness with which God takes worship. Genesis 4 contains the well-known narrative of Cain and Abel. However, we often miss the point of the passage. They both approached God in worship. Both made a sacrifice. Abel brought the best of his flock, and Cain brought the best of his harvest. However, God rejected Cain. Why? Not because Cain’s offering was not a sacrifice. But because this was not the way that God had regulated that they came to Him. He required the blood of a lamb. And Cain chose to attempt to approach God in his own way. The result was that God rejected his sacrifice.
Later, as Israel headed towards the promised land, God gave specific instructions on worship. In fact, the first five books of the Bible served as a manual on how to approach God. As we consider the ten commandments, we are struck that the first part is about how to approach God (Ex 20:2-6). Note that God is a jealous God. This means that we must approach God on His terms. Worship is not about us. It is about God. This means that we have to worship the right one the right way. There were severe consequences if they approached God the wrong way.
Leviticus 10 contains an engaging narrative on the consequences of improper worship. As the sons of Aaron, it was Nadab and Abihu’s God-given task to lead Israel in worship. But in this chapter, we learn that they attempted to do this in their own way. They tried to approach God with incense. But note that they did not bring the incense in the way the Lord had commanded. We might say, “but they were trying to worship.” However, God is not just concerned that we worship. He is also concerned with how we worship.
The method of worship was the problem with the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. The Pharisees had hearts for God. They worshiped. But they did so in ways God did not prescribe, so God rejected their worship. Jesus lays this out very clearly in Matthew 15:1-14. The most telling verse is a quote from the prophet Isaiah that Jesus applies to the Pharisees in verse 9, “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Now we understand that the cross of Christ has placed us under Grace. The book of Galatians clearly teaches us that the law no longer binds us. Instead, we live in a state of Grace. So, we must ask, “How does Grace impact the prescriptions for worship?” This is the question we will seek to address next week.