If you aren’t reading Paul Smith’s Instrument-Rated Theology, you need to be. If you didn’t read his post yesterday, you need to do so.
Knowing that some of you are too contrarian to go read Paul’s post, I’ll summarize a bit. Paul pointed out how often we judge worship by how it makes us feel. If a song stirs our emotions, we consider it to be a valid worship experience. If the song doesn’t please us, we feel that the worship was of no value. Paul notes that this subjective observation is extended to instrumental music; some consider it to be valuable (or not) because of its effect on their emotions.
He goes on to say, “I suddenly realized that all too often we use our songs and hymns to create a worship experience in our hearts, when we should be communicating to God the worship experiences that we have had all week long.” Worship shouldn’t begin in the assembly; the assembly should reflect the worship that goes on daily in our lives.
Paul went on to consider sacrifices in the Old Testament:
At what point was the ancient Israelite sacrifice actually considered worship? Was it when the carcass of the animal was burned? Was it when the throat of the animal was cut? Was it when the animal was being led up to the altar? Or was it when the farmer or shepherd walked out to his field, looked over his group of yearling sheep or bulls and selected the best, most fit animal for the offering? The actual sacrifice took place when the farmer removed that prize animal from the lot and he knew he would not have its services to strengthen his flock. Then, as he watched that animal die he could make the connection (or not) to his relationship with God. Was it a fellowship offering, a sin offering, a thank offering? The sacrifice came first – the emotion could only come as a result of the sacrifice.
Good thoughts. I carried this thinking about sacrifices a bit further. Most sacrifices didn’t end at the altar. They extended to a community meal, the table of the Lord, an “eating and drinking in the presence of the Lord.” The worshipers’ enjoyment was part of the worship.
Might that still be true today? Could our pleasure be pleasing to God, could our emotional response actually be part of what God’s after? Or are our emotional responses irrelevant to true worship?
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