Worship Wars:
Part I
Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary?
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor…..Live in harmony with one another. …live peaceably with all….Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:9-21
War is a horrible term if you truly think about it. People die, friendships are torn, blood is shed, and people are never the same afterwards. When we think about war on the national level, it is necessary for our freedoms and others freedoms. However when we think of war in more a localized way, it is almost never a necessity, yet a travesty. Think about localized wars that you have seen in your lifetime: family wars, city wars, political wars, and even church wars. When we think about war in a localized sense it is always brutal, and many times, in the end, everyone loses.
In my brevity of a lifetime, I have seen what I consider one of the sickest, most despicable, and immature wars the modern church has ever seen. Worship Wars. Even the name is demoralizing. I believe that music is Satan’s greatest tool in the church today – it has split churches, divided bodies into two services, causes an uncountable number of fights, and causes “Christians” to destroy each other with hurtful words, acts, and deeds. Why is there such a hatred and passion connected with the tunes that go along with the text in churches? Why is there such a rebellion against what is new and such a disconnect and removal from what is old?
I have many questions and very few answers in regarding this topic. This topic is one that I wrestle with day in and day out and keeps me from sleeping many nights. God has called me to lead His people in the Worship of Him. God has called me to lead His people, in unity, as the church, to worship Him. Our greatest call as a Christian is to Love God first and foremost, and to love others as we love ourselves (Matt 22:36-40). There is much selfishness in the church today. Those who truly follow Christ will love others as they love themselves. The reason that there are worship wars are present in our churches are because of selfishness on both parties and an unwillingness to come together in unity for the sake of the cross.
One of the greatest pastors and theologians of our days, I am convinced, is John Piper. John Piper is famous for saying, “God is most Glorified when we are most satisfied in Him”. Creation has One Purpose. The Glory of God. If we truly desire to glorify God, then what do we find satification in? If we find satification in pews, hymnals, chairs, tv screens, coffee bars, a certain translation of the bible, attire, ect., then God is not Glorified in our church or in our lives. We must repent of our traditions and religion (whether they be of traditional baptist or contemporary baptist), and find our satisification in Christ alone or else we will die in our tradition. “Are we going to die in our religion, or are we going to die in our devotion?” This is a question the church has had to face throughout all of its history and we face it again today. Will we war over personal preferences at the expense of disobeying the second greatest commandment and not glorifying God? I truly pray the answer is, “no”.
Is God Glorified in the continual battle of traditional vs. contemporary?
No, Satan is. God desires unity in His church.
Sources: http://www.desiringgod.org; http://www.brookhills.org;
