- Get link
- Other Apps
By Elizabeth Prata
"Pumped" "Juiced" "Excited" "Amped"
The above are words by pastors you read on Facebook or Twitter or Church Web pages who try to artificially intensify an upcoming Sunday/Good Friday/Easter church service. Not everything is a party.
In fact, the commands in the Bible for how to live and how to worship use words that declare the opposite. We are called to be holy, sober-minded, dignified, reverent, self-controlled, and more.
Not that we don't get excited for worship, or that we shouldn't declare our heightened emotions at a wedding or an Easter service or a conference or a Choir performance etc. But to use juvenile language to constantly artificially promote reverent services is well, juvenile. It's especially silly language if coming from 40 and 50 year olds. Church services are not a circus, a performance, a festival, or a sports game, but using the same language that mimics those other more fleshly pursuits diminishes the dignity of a church service.
See how the juvenile excitement language is used for a car giveaway, a movie release, a grocery store opening, a hockey game, and a....worship service?
The Bible says we are to prepare for services this way:
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13).
The phrase "set" your hope indicates an intentionality of action for living and for worshiping. That intentionality should include a sober-mindedness (meaning, no silliness). It's a sober-minded decision to reverently consider and declare the wonders of our Savior.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; (1 Chronicles 16:29)
I listened to a fascinating Q&A conversation between Dr. Austin Duncan and Dr. John MacArthur on ecclesiology, the study of the church. It's here.
Duncan asked MacArthur why he programs his Sunday services the way he does, the order of what occurs and if it has always been that way. MacArthur replied that when he came to Grace Community Church 50 years ago, the order of service had been different, but he instituted this order for certain reverential and particular reasons.
Invocational prayer, sometimes aloud led by a pastor, sometimes silent..
Reason: Refocus the congregation's attention from fellowship to the Lord for worship.
Series of songs
This is also a call to worship, now for the purpose of bringing people to the presence of the Lord. The congregation "sings our salvation joys back to Him." Singing songs that extol His grace and mercy and salvation. Again focuses attention to the Lord and giving Him glory.
Read scripture
Reason: To hear from Him. We hear from Him through His word. MacArthur reads a lengthy portion. Scripture carries divine power. It is read carefully and soberly.
Choral Prayer
Reason: To ask the Lord, please receive our worship and our praise. Now it's a united community prepared to hear the words of the scripture.
MacArthur now acts as priest, bringing the congregation into the presence of the Lord in communion
Brief intro visitors, announcements
Reason: Because, lol, "this is still real life."
Offering
Giving is part of worship
Song
Reason: More expressions of our praise
Sermon, 1 hour
Now the pastor switches from acting as priest bringing the people to the Lord, to prophet bringing the Lord to the people, through His word.
Song or benediction
MacArthur emphasized that of course this not the only way to conduct a service, but it seems to him to be a good and dignified way that honors the Lord.
He also said that there is a cultural issue involved in how people approach church services. Increasingly, he said he has observed that people in their entire lives have never attended a sober event. They don't know how to act. They simply don't know how to act. They don't know how to be serious when the event or the situation calls for dignity or seriousness. But church services need to "have a loftiness and a dignity," he said.
Secondly, pastors who pander to this hyper-casualness fail to teach how to BE sober-minded and dignified to a generation that desperately needs it. As MacArthur said in the Q&A, if you can't get them to sit there for an hour and a half without some sort of frivolity, they aren't going to go through life pursuing holiness.
An undisciplined mind will succumb to the world, fizzle in its walk, and short-circuit its sanctification. That's why being "pumped" for church services is far from the same as one who soberly prepares, contemplates, and rigorously disciplines their mind to receive truth- and reject sin.
Are we soldiers on a mission? Or are we puerile party goers so "pumped" that we can't tell the difference in how to behave in a church service or a frat party?
"Pumped" "Juiced" "Excited" "Amped"
The above are words by pastors you read on Facebook or Twitter or Church Web pages who try to artificially intensify an upcoming Sunday/Good Friday/Easter church service. Not everything is a party.
In fact, the commands in the Bible for how to live and how to worship use words that declare the opposite. We are called to be holy, sober-minded, dignified, reverent, self-controlled, and more.
Not that we don't get excited for worship, or that we shouldn't declare our heightened emotions at a wedding or an Easter service or a conference or a Choir performance etc. But to use juvenile language to constantly artificially promote reverent services is well, juvenile. It's especially silly language if coming from 40 and 50 year olds. Church services are not a circus, a performance, a festival, or a sports game, but using the same language that mimics those other more fleshly pursuits diminishes the dignity of a church service.
See how the juvenile excitement language is used for a car giveaway, a movie release, a grocery store opening, a hockey game, and a....worship service?
The Bible says we are to prepare for services this way:
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13).
The phrase "set" your hope indicates an intentionality of action for living and for worshiping. That intentionality should include a sober-mindedness (meaning, no silliness). It's a sober-minded decision to reverently consider and declare the wonders of our Savior.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; (1 Chronicles 16:29)
I listened to a fascinating Q&A conversation between Dr. Austin Duncan and Dr. John MacArthur on ecclesiology, the study of the church. It's here.
Duncan asked MacArthur why he programs his Sunday services the way he does, the order of what occurs and if it has always been that way. MacArthur replied that when he came to Grace Community Church 50 years ago, the order of service had been different, but he instituted this order for certain reverential and particular reasons.
Invocational prayer, sometimes aloud led by a pastor, sometimes silent..
Reason: Refocus the congregation's attention from fellowship to the Lord for worship.
Series of songs
This is also a call to worship, now for the purpose of bringing people to the presence of the Lord. The congregation "sings our salvation joys back to Him." Singing songs that extol His grace and mercy and salvation. Again focuses attention to the Lord and giving Him glory.
Read scripture
Reason: To hear from Him. We hear from Him through His word. MacArthur reads a lengthy portion. Scripture carries divine power. It is read carefully and soberly.
Choral Prayer
Reason: To ask the Lord, please receive our worship and our praise. Now it's a united community prepared to hear the words of the scripture.
MacArthur now acts as priest, bringing the congregation into the presence of the Lord in communion
Brief intro visitors, announcements
Reason: Because, lol, "this is still real life."
Offering
Giving is part of worship
Song
Reason: More expressions of our praise
Sermon, 1 hour
Now the pastor switches from acting as priest bringing the people to the Lord, to prophet bringing the Lord to the people, through His word.
Song or benediction
MacArthur emphasized that of course this not the only way to conduct a service, but it seems to him to be a good and dignified way that honors the Lord.
He also said that there is a cultural issue involved in how people approach church services. Increasingly, he said he has observed that people in their entire lives have never attended a sober event. They don't know how to act. They simply don't know how to act. They don't know how to be serious when the event or the situation calls for dignity or seriousness. But church services need to "have a loftiness and a dignity," he said.
"Seriousness, sober-mindedness,and dignity is something this generation desperately needs. This hyper-casual generation...the manifest irresponsibility they demonstrate in life by the way they dress and the way they act shows a lack of discipline. They may be able to discipline themselves at the gym, but they have a very difficult time disciplining their minds." ~John MacArthurNow, that is the crux of the matter right there. I'm not a fuddy duddy, complaining for kids to get off my lawn and to bring back only 'traditional' services. There are two issues, one I've mentioned: a lack of sober-mindedness in the way so many church leaders and congregants approach their services. What they say (i.e. 'pumped'), how they dress, and how they act displays a lack of dignity, and thus reverence, in worshiping the Holy God.
Secondly, pastors who pander to this hyper-casualness fail to teach how to BE sober-minded and dignified to a generation that desperately needs it. As MacArthur said in the Q&A, if you can't get them to sit there for an hour and a half without some sort of frivolity, they aren't going to go through life pursuing holiness.
An undisciplined mind will succumb to the world, fizzle in its walk, and short-circuit its sanctification. That's why being "pumped" for church services is far from the same as one who soberly prepares, contemplates, and rigorously disciplines their mind to receive truth- and reject sin.
Are we soldiers on a mission? Or are we puerile party goers so "pumped" that we can't tell the difference in how to behave in a church service or a frat party?
I could not agree with you more Elizabeth. Thank you for setting the record straight.
ReplyDeleteRick
NW GA
This was excellent. I used to think that a worldly church service meant that particular church was mostly filled with unbelievers, but lately I've begun to wonder if this really is the condition of the believing church. Hard to imagine. One benefit of having the Lord's Supper every week and having the brothers in the meeting taking part in the Lord's Supper by leading in prayer, calling out hymns and/or sharing something from the Word (all of which are about the Lord Jesus), as the Spirit leads, is that as a rule we come to the Lord's Supper every week prepared in our spirits to worship, and it is the first meeting, before our time of fellowship with one another even. I love that.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, Elizabeth. The frivolity and outright irreverence in Church is alarming. Especially by those who call themselves shepherds. What are they shepherding? Middle-schoolers to Six Flags? I love John MacArthurs order for worship. I would disagree only with breaking focus on the Lord for announcements. I agree with John Piper on this one: " Can we not give the Lord 2 hours of unbroken devotion?" - No announcements. No turning and greeting one another in the middle of worship. Theres plenty of other times and ways of doing those things.
ReplyDeleteBruce
Thanks Grace To you, for your thoughts. I agree, it's hard to imagine a church being filled with unbelievers. Even in the first cenury they had that problem. Jesus whose eyes are like fire and can see intot he heart, charged the church at Srdis with being dead! With only "a few"among you who have not soiled their clothes. (Rev 3:1,4).
ReplyDeleteHi Bruce, thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree with you, there are lots of ways to order a worship. If the pastor is good (meaning: Jesus focused) he will order it in ways that extol him and trun the people to Him in heaven. There's latitude for that... but not for forsaking the Lord in exaltation. Antics have no place in a pulpit, yet sadly we see much too much of that.
Hi Elizabeth, I have a read a few of your posts in the past. I am not in disagreement with you at all about the hypercasual approach displayed in 'churches' these days. We are to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling Ps 2.11
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am wondering whether you have seen the website thewatchmanwakes.org doing an exposure on John Macarthur himself, his past, his connections with freemasonry, his college and his church, etc. I find it particularly worrisome the Camp Regen information, granted the details are from about 2014. I would be interested in your comments. Regards....
My comments are these: John MacArthur is as solid as they come.
DeleteFor that reason, there are wingnut detractors who latch on to things that either didn't happen or are so out of context that they are not to be believed, and hammer him relentlessly. Many times he or Phil Johnson have explained. Yet these people persist in lies and anger.
John MacArthur is one of this century's greats, on an equal par with Spurgeon in terms of quantity and quality of solid output. I've followed him since about 2009, have listened to hundreds of his sermons going back to 1969, own and read his commentary series, and have read numerous of his books. There isn't any false doctrine that I have found nor any moral personal life issues to worry about.
Look to any other pastor, including Sproul and Piper, and try to find as spotless a record either with doctrine or family/personal issues. You won't find any pastor who has served in thepublic eye for over 50 years with a clean a record.
You can rest easy if you choose to read or listen to John MacArthur.
I won't pass along any further of these lies and slander, so this is the end of the conversation, OK? :)