Principles For Worship In The Local Church

Stuart Townend

Before we begin to think about worship in the local church, it’s important for us to make sure we have a vision for the local church. Not just ‘church’ in some abstract way – your local church, the place you go to every Sunday, the bunch of people you meet with, that bunch of weird folks who make up your church. Think about them, picture them in your mind – that’s God’s plan for changing the world! Frightening, isn’t it?

Now, if you were planning to gather together a group of people to change the world, or at least the area in which you live – would you have chosen that group of people? Would you have chosen yourself? Possibly not! Yet God’s ways are different from ours!

Look at 2 Cor 4:5-11. We are jars of clay, nothing special, just lumps of dirt – with treasure inside. And this passage seems to be saying, when the pressure is on, when we’re struggling, when our weaknesses are most obvious – that’s when God shines through most.

We need to lift up our heads from the ordinary, from the day-to-day problems, to see our church through God’s eyes. For a city, a nation will be changed – not by conferences or big events – but by the local church, in weakness and humility, reaching out to its neighbours and sharing our lives with them.

So how should we approach worship in the local church. Well, unfortunately God didn’t give us an order of service in the Bible, so the debates on drums/organ, liturgy/spontaneity, Redman/Watts, will run and run. But here are three broad principles that will hopefully help to guide our thinking, preparation and practice.


WE NEED REVELATION

We need to remember that worship begins with God. The days in which we live could be described as the days of the ‘me’ generation. People say to us, ‘you may think these things in the Bible are true, but they’re not true for me. I prefer xyz etc. And the most important thing is, does it make me happy? Whatever gives me the nicest feeling, that must be the right thing.’

That’s how the world works. But we have to be careful not to bring that attitude into the church. Micah 6:8 says: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Worship needs to be focused on what God requires, not what we require or prefer.

So how do we ensure that our worship is God-focused? Well, we need to sing songs, read Scriptures and pray prayers about Him! I believe that, although we have many new songs that effectively describe our feelings as we worship, and our response to God, we need more songs that are about Him. We need more songs that declare the truth about God, about His character, His actions, as well as songs about who we are in Him.

Declaring truth in worship is very important, for a number of reasons:

First, truth brings revelation. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”. Many of the people in our churches struggle in different areas of their lives, simply because they believe lies rather than the truth. “I’m no good, God doesn’t really love me, I don’t really have everything for life and godliness”. We believe lies about us, rather than the truth that God has spoken about us. That’s why it’s important for us to be putting truth into people’s mouths, and praying it will come as revelation to their hearts.

So is speaking and singing truth about willpower, about trying to convince ourselves of something? Not at all. But in Romans, Paul makes it clear that there is a battle for our minds. Our hearts are dead to sin but alive to righteousness; our flesh is still not regenerated; but our minds are being renewed (Rom 12) – it’s a daily exercise. We have a new way of thinking. Look at the number of times Paul says “for we know…” “count yourselves dead to sin…” “I consider…” “ for I am convinced…” We remind ourselves of these things BECAUSE THEY ARE TRUE.

Second, declaring truth equips us for life. People tend to leave church at the end of Sunday singing the songs, not reciting the sermon! I suspect more people learn their theology through songs than through sermons or books. We have a responsibility to feed people with truth that will equip them to live each with truth built into them.

So truth is important in our church worship. But it’s not enough to fill our minds with good things. We still need the power of the Holy Spirit to give these things life-changing power in our hearts. Some people have all the biblical knowledge in the world, but their hearts are still hard towards what God wants to do.


WE NEED TO RESPOND

This is the other side to our worship. We need to focus away from ourselves and on to God, but as we see these wonderful truths, our response is to be in wholehearted worship, and an offering of our lives to Him. Jesus said that God’s worshippers must worship in spirit and truth. We need the Holy Spirit to lead us – He is the true worship leader, who leads us into all truth.

But the word that Jesus uses, “truth”, is interesting. Although it does refer to correctness, accuracy, it also means “truthfulness” or “honesty”. In other words, what goes on on the outside needs to be reflected in what is going on on the inside – and vice versa. Just going through the motions of singing, lifting hands, dancing, etc, is not enough, if our hearts are not engaged with God (Is 29:13, quoted in Mt 15:8). But at the same time, if our hearts are filled with joy and adoration, it is part of our worship to use our bodies to express it. What is in the heart must be expressed in the outward actions.

So how can we cultivate more expression in our congregation? First, by example. There’s something about seeing someone expressing their worship that inspires other people. Similarly, people on stage who look bored or detached (even if they’re not) can inhibit others.

We can also release people into being more expressive by giving them permission to do it. Some people are afraid of what others might think, but as you encourage them from the front, that give them the freedom to step out. But don’t focus on the action – focus on the goodness of God.

WE NEED TO ENCOUNTER

So we need to begin with God, not ourselves. And we need to respond in an honest, expressive way to God and His goodness. But as we worship, God is active, and as we give ourselves to Him, He has His own plans and purposes that He wants to fulfil among us. He wants to speak to us, to change us, to have fellowship with us.

We need to cultivate hearts that are ready to change, ready to be moulded and shaped by the loving hands of God as we offer ourselves wholeheartedly in worship.

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