Yesterday the pastor preached on Ezra 6:1-6 (as part of his series on the book of Ezra). As we read through these verses together, I noticed something that was stated at least four times in these six verses. And I began to think, This must be important.
First, a quick summary of the passage. The people who had returned to Judah gathered together in Jerusalem, re-built the altar and began offering sacrifices to the Lord.
Now for what I noticed:
2 Then stood up Jeshua…and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written,
and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated
What I noticed was that everything they did was based on as it is written. They were restoring the worship of God. So they went to the Bible to see what they were supposed to do, when, and how. They weren’t making things up. They weren’t being innovative. They weren’t cutting edge. They weren’t trying to be culturally relevant. They were interested in only one thing, What does God say about how He wants us to worship Him?
And it got me to thinking again about something that is dear to my heart. Regulative or normative?
What?? What in the world am I talking about?
It saddens me deeply that many evangelicals today don’t seem to have an interest in making sure their worship is biblically based. I still remember attending churches who dedicated a portion of their bulletin to explaining the biblical precedence for what they were doing: “This is why we sing, shout, have music, lift our hands, clap our hands” etc. In many contemporary churches, who knows why they do what they do?
Which brings me back to regulative and normative:
“The regulative principle of worship is a teaching … on…public worship. The substance of the doctrine… is that only those elements that are instituted or appointed by command or example or which can be deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture are permissible in worship, and that whatever is not commanded or cannot be deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture is prohibited.
The regulative principle is often contrasted with the normative principle of worship which teaches that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permitted in worship, as long as it is agreeable to the peace and unity of the Church.” *
I believe we should start with the regulative principle. That is, we should search the Scriptures to find what God says He wants us to do in our worship of Him. And whatever it is He calls for, we should by no means not have that in our worship service! The pastoral epistles are a good place to start. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and sent these letters so that he would know how to conduct himself in the house of God. Among the many instructions Paul gives, he says
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty…I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
The most important thing he mentions is a vigorous prayer life. This is in church, as a church. When we come together before God, it is to pray. Then he mentions the public reading of the Word. Third, the preaching of this Word (exhortation, doctrinal teaching, reproving and rebuking). Any worship service that lacks these things is less than God wants.
Elsewhere we learn about other acceptable, approved, and expected elements such as the Lord’s Supper, giving, singing. Have you ever noticed that the New Testament does not contain a single word about praise teams? Choirs? Special music? light shows? Or buildings for that matter? Does this mean they are wrong? No. But, at the very least it means they are not top priority with God.
This brings me to the normative principle. I believe the regulative principle is the place to start – What does God command? But that it is too restrictive. The Bible gives us commands and principles and freedom. For example, When do we meet? We know we meet on Sunday, but what time on Sunday? Since there is no command to meet on Tuesday or Wednesday, would it be wrong to have a prayer meeting or Bible study on those days? What about the public reading of the Word? There is no command concerning which book to begin with, or how many verses at one time should be read. Can we have special services to celebrate the birth and resurrection of the Lord? There is no order of service offered in the New Testament, can our order of service be different than yours?
Yes! We have freedom in the Spirit. But this freedom does not negate the need to be concerned with the as it is written. There are elements of worship that God has commanded in His Word, and we need to have them in our worship service. In the record of God, it needs to be written of our worship, “They did…as it is written.” And we do not want it written of us, “They offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.”
* I got this definition from Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment