One of the most drastic changes to the Church in the last century is that of worship. Things that are considered acceptable today were inappropriate one hundred years ago. Who would have thought that, in the twentieth century, people rocking out to the music of electric guitars and drum kits would be considered worship? Could anybody have guessed that churches would use smoke machines adjacent to Scripture? If this were not enough, there are even people who see crying out like an animal counts as glorifying God.(1)

These things merely serve to show how far things can go when a few changes to biblical and historical Christianity are allowed. Thinking about this, we should ask the question: are we really getting it right today? If we are, then praise the Lord (and keep worshipfully praising Him). If we are not, then we need to regain lost ground.

What is the Regulative Principle?

This discussion on worship is based on one idea: are we allowed to be creative with the Scriptures or not? If Scripture does not explicitly forbid something, do we have the freedom to be creative with it? Or, if the Scripture does not say something specifically, is it still forbidden? The regulative principle teaches that God in the Bible has laid out specific guidelines for worship which must be followed. We are not to deviate from them by adding or taking away from what has been commanded of us. Of course, there are many worship leaders who see their way of doing things as mere creative freedom. We need to determine, though, if the Scriptures give us this liberty. To understand this we will consider a few matters in history and biblical theology. If we discover that there is no freedom allowed, then we must conform to what God has told us to do.

Historical Perspective

The regulative principle has been lost by many churches today. As it fades into the distance, we cannot help but mourn for the loss of historical Christianity. Nick Needham outlines this in a chapter of the book Give Praise to God.(2) There he shows how the early Church held to a strong regulative principle. Despite this, things would soon change. The door would be opened for bigger changes down the road. Needham outlines that at the beginning there were no instruments at all in worship: “Christians did not use instruments in their worship in the second century or indeed for many centuries afterward.”(3) Today, we have full concerts claiming to be worship. This is a far cry from simply introducing an instrument to help the congregation follow a song.

Eventually, the Reformation attempted to bring correction to the Church by reviving this lost principle. There were, of course, some disagreements among the Reformers about how this principle should be applied practically. However, generally, they held to the same generalities of the regulative principle.(4) The point here is that the Reformers wanted to be biblically minded by living in full submission to the Scriptures. They may have disagreed in places and even gotten things wrong, but their hearts were for biblical truth. What a shame that we have largely lost this desire in the Church today.(5)

Theological Perspective

Having briefly surveyed history we now turn to see what biblical theology can teach us. Does the Bible prescribe this regulative principle or have we invented it in a desperate attempt to uphold tradition? The key problem is that our flesh leads us to want to worship God how we think is best, rather than studying the Scriptures to learn what worship should look like. Thinking about this subject, Ligon Duncan writes:

“When people say things like, ‘Well, I know the Bible says that, but I like to think of God as…’ they are no less idolatrous in their thinking, and thus worshiping, than was Israel at the foot of Sinai on that fateful day of spiritual adultery with the calf. In contrast to all human creativity and initiative, the Bible is to be our rule for how we worship God, because the Bible is our rule for how we are to think about God and how we worship determines whom we worship.”

Duncan is correct: we only worship God when we worship Him how He wants. Anything else is an expression of idolatry. We are worshiping a construction or even ourselves if we go away from God’s clear outlines for worship. It is, therefore, imperative that we get this subject right. Failure to do so causes us to fall into idolatry of self and false conceptions of God.

Biblical Perspective: Consequences for Going Wrong

Some of those failures can be seen in the Scriptures. First, we see the sons of Aaron playing with “strange fire.” Attempting to worship God in ways He had not commanded, these men were burned up by their sinful product (Lev. 10). Secondly, we see Achan not devoting all to God as he was commanded (Josh. 7). Achan was sentenced to death for his sin. Thirdly, we see Uzzah struck down for touching the ark when he was not supposed to (2 Sam. 6). Uzzah knew God’s regulations and decided that what he wanted to do was more important. In the New Testament, we see Ananias and Saffira also struck down for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts. 5). They were called to offer (and offering is worship) something to God in honesty and were struck down for bringing sin into the equation. There is even a report of people dying for not worshiping God properly at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:30). The biblical evidence is clear then: God deals severely with those who worship Him against His ways according to their own ideas.

That is not to say that God strikes down immediately all those who go against His ways. The disciples found a man casting out demons who was outside of proper authority. Jesus made it clear that, though he was misguided here, he was on their side (Mk. 9:38-41). Neither was Cain struck down for not providing the right sacrifice to God (Gen. 4). Today, non-believers and poorly taught believers who claim to worship God only through their feelings are not struck down. It is important to know that consequences come with sin though. Who knows if God will continue to show them mercy? It is concerning to think that many people, who think they are worshiping God around the world, are dancing on the edge of this possibility.

It is important to highlight that there are genuine believers around the world who may be misguided on this principle. I know a variety of people in different contexts who, while they are mistaken in their theology of worship, are working hard to honor Christ while working at their sanctification. We cannot throw out the baby with the bath water. We can only highlight the dangers and beg people to consider the gravity of this matter.

I write in the hope that we will all evaluate our hearts and discern if we are being biblical or not. That is not to say that all who fail to uphold the Regulative Principle are lost or imminently facing consequences. There are surely churches that have missed this mark, yet are filled with authentic believers. We all (especially those of us who hold to the Regulative Principle) need to learn to join together to study this subject, reach out in love, and work out together exactly what worship should be. Where there are true believers, we should be able and willing to do this.

While instruments were used in some of the Psalms, there is no evidence of a concert-like mentality. The Bible calls us to fear God. In fact, those who fail to do so sometimes have a shortened life (Prov. 10:27; 19:23). We must remember that when we come before Him, we are coming before the sovereign God of the universe. He could undo our existence in less time than it takes to blink. He is holy and demands to be treated as holy by those who would worship Him (Deut. 10:12; 1 Chron. 16:25). Reverential fear is, therefore, not an option: it is a command. Dancing around on a stage clearly does not model this attitude.(6) Reverence to God should humble us. Dancing on stage only draws attention to ourselves.

Further to this reverential fear, the Bible specifically mentions a regulative principle. In Hebrews 9:1 we read: “Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.” We see this as we read through the Old Testament. God was very specific about how the people were to act and build the objects used in worship. Hebrews 9 is mostly dedicated to expounding on that before leading the reader to see Christ in the midst and conclusion of it.

This is not to say that all regulations on worship are over, but that in the fulfillment of the law, Christ is seen in His glory as the One who sacrificed Himself once and for all. The place of worship was formerly the Temple, but He now calls Himself this Temple (Jn. 2:19). Under this light, we must follow Him under true submission to His Lordship and worship Him as He would have us worship. John saw Him as:

One like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” (Rev. 1:13-16).

John says that this vision caused him to fall down as though dead. The glory of God is devastating, is it not? All we can do is bow our knees in humble adoration and reverential fear (Ps. 95:6). Ask yourself, then; does our modern concert-like, praise band attitude towards worship fit the biblical model of reverence and fearing the Lord?

Worship Today and the Regulative Principle

When we look at modern worship, do we see the fear of God or the love of man? Do we see the reverential outlook of people who know that there are consequences for doing wrong? Do we see men and women who have forsaken themselves in worship and made it all about God? Is the Church biblical, theological, and historical in her understanding of this matter? Such expressions in worship are, lamentably, lacking in the Church today.

Regrettably, worship has become about emotional subjectivity in many churches today. No longer do people want to look for biblically saturated lyrics to reflect on the wonders of God. Instead, man-centered lyrics such as Oceans are popular; focusing on man, rather than the glory of God.(7) More interesting to them is a church with a great praise band than a place of unified fellowship. That is not to say that churches cannot be mistaken here and right elsewhere. There are churches that practice expository preaching while missing the mark on the Regulative Principle. Just because somebody gets this wrong does not throw them out of fellowship with those who do. Unfortunately, the discussions are interrupted today, because people do not want to take part in the “worship wars.” We should be willing to discuss these things, discussing our disagreements in truth and love. Such does not entail warfare, but loving and unified believers working together to discern the truth in unity.

If we are committed to a biblical outlook on our lives, we will seek to be biblical about worship. We will study every aspect of our worship and look at Scripture to see if it all fits the regulative principle. What is lacking in your worship? What have you added? What is biblical and what is false? Take time to think and reflect on this. The consequences of this will affect our souls if we bury this truth under our own desires to satisfy our emotions.

As we consider this, it is important to think about what the Bible actually commands of us. We should be humbly ready to admit that the Bible does not provide us with a direct breakdown of all the details in a true formality. There are, however, some principles we can glean through a systematic study of the New Testament.

First, we are to have order in our worship (1 Cor. 12:33; 40). There is no room for making it up as we go or being chaotic about worship. We must do things orderly with good, Spirit-led planning and preparation. Secondly, our worship should be practiced and properly prepared by those God has called to lead (1 Chron. 25:7). We are approaching the Lord God in all His glory. We should put in our best effort to do things right and provide the finest work possible for Him in corporate worship. That means each church member should prepare his/her heart before worship. As Puritan, Jeremiah Burroughs, wrote: “The God whom we come to worship is a great and glorious God, and, having to deal with such an infinite, glorious, dreadful Majesty, it is fitting that we should make preparations when we come nigh unto Him.”(8) Thirdly, we should worship in Spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23-24). We should be informed of the truth, reflecting and meditating on it, which, in turn, will fuel our worship properly. This means a dedication to studying the truth, which the Spirit will use to lead us in worship. Finally, we will prescribe all things that come under the banner of worship (and submit all things that are not). We will preach (or listen to preaching) (2 Tim. 4:2), sing (Eph. 5:29), publicly read Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13), and pray (1 Thess. 5:16-18) as we are commanded. This involves all of life, not just on Sunday (Rom. 12:1). It begins in the outliving of each believer and is beautifully expressed in congregational unity during Sunday worship. All of this pulls together to form the biblical model of how we should worship God. We need church leaders who realize this and work to make their churches biblical. Likewise, we need church members who are willing to be taught these truths. Are we amongst these people?

If we truly adore Jesus like many modern songs like to state, then we will be willing to make this analysis. If we truly believe that God is love, we will juxtapose that against His justice as we worship Him. If we truly believe that the Holy Spirit works in us, we will seek to worship in Spirit and truth (Jn. 4:24). That means understanding what we are supposed to bring to the table and what we are to leave behind. The regulative principle may be a fading theological concept, but we must take the time to study and reinvigorate it in the Church. Are you willing to do this for the sake of your soul and the progress of Christ’s Church?

Footnotes:

1. This was practiced during the Toronto blessing; see this video.

2. Needham, N. R. “Worship Through the Ages,” in Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship. Ed. Ryken. P. H, Thomas. D. W. H, Duncan. J. L. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing. Philipsburg: NJ. (2011).

3. Needham, 378.

4. Needham outlines that Luther and Zwingli did not agree, for example. Luther was happy with the way Catholic worship progressed and was content to leave it that way. Zwingli, on the other hand, wanted to clearly define New Testament regulations in worship.

5. “Nick Needham’s essay “Worship Through the Ages” (Give Praise to God) is an excellent source of information on the history of worship. Likewise, "Worship” by Hughs Oliphant Old is a brilliant resource to study this matter further.

6. See this video from the popular worship band, Jesus Culture.

7. Repeatedly we hear “I” and “me” in this song. While there is a note that seems to desire praising God, the song itself is clearly focused on the worshiper and not God Himself.

8. Burroughs. J. Gospel Worship: Worship Worthy of God. Ed. Kistler. D. Reformation Heritage Books. Grand Rapids. MI. (1990). 52.