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Bro. Turner:
 What
constitutes scriptural worship? Can one "worship” at
home? M.M.
Reply:
"Worship"
denotes an attitude of the heart, whereby one looks up to God
praising and recognizing one's dependence upon Him. Yes, I
believe one can "worship" at home, alone in the woods,
or flying a jet plane. But this cannot be done with a heart that
ignores God's instructions concerning our collective
responsibilities. Reread that last sentence! Our public worship
would be greatly improved if we better recognized the individual
nature and requirements of worshiping "in spirit and in
truth."
Precepts,
examples, and inferences teach us that the early Christians sang
praises, prayed, edified one-another, gave of their means, and
partook of the Lord's Supper when they were gathered together
publicly. This does not, however, warrant a "five
item" definition of "worship" (are we worshiping
on Wednesday night, in the absence of the Lord's Supper?); nor
does it mean that merely "doing" five items
constitutes acceptable worship.
In
1 Sam. 15: we read that Saul ignored God's instruction
concerning slaying all the Amalekites and their flocks —
saving some of the animals "to sacrifice unto
Jehovah." Samuel said, "to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Now
sacrifice had been commanded — but the mere "doing"
was not what God wanted. In Isa. 1:11-15 the prophet calls
Israel's elaborate and extensive formal
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worship "vain oblations."'
David said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a
broken and a contrite heart. 0 God, thou wilt not despise"
(Ps. 51:17).
Jesus
taught the same thing. One may not acceptably worship, anywhere,
in the absence of a sincere effort to serve God acceptably in
all matters (Matt. 5:23-24). The most meticulous attention to
details in worship "service" are useless unless we
attend to weightier matters, as judgment, mercy, and faith
(Matt.23: 23). Note that Jesus does not say, "If
your heart is right the small things do not matter." Such
is a complete perversion of the passage. He says, "these
ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
Worship
begins with an attitude of heart, without which no
conduct is acceptable. But this attitude includes respect
for God's instructions. While God abhorred the offering of a
fatted lamb, when the heart was not right; the offering of a pig
(an unclean and forbidden animal) could not be accepted, no
matter how "spiritual" one thought himself to be. In
the New Testament saints are taught to "sing" praises
to God (1 Cor. 14:15; Heb. 2:12) and no amount of self-assumed
piety or imagined "right attitude" can make playing a
mechanical instrument acceptable. One who ignores God's
instructions does not have the right attitude — period.
Formalism
cannot be overcome with new forms, mood music, dim lights, or
other mechanical devices. Formalism will disappear only when we
learn to sincerely worship our God.
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