As far back as eternity past and all the way through the Bible until we see a picture of heaven, we see that music plays a significant part in the way we worship God.

In John 4 Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman. He tells her unequivocally here that worship is not a matter of time or place; it’s not even a matter of style, but he gets to the heart, the essence of worship. “The hour is coming when the true worshippers will worship the Father in both spirit and in truth for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” We have to worship God in truth, but it must also be prompted and led by the Holy Spirit of God. The only acceptable worship is that which He leads. Jesus never mentioned songs…never mentioned music…never talked about drama, dance, or the arts. I don’t think Jesus was for them or against them, but left it all out so we might see the essence of worship.

First Chronicles 16.29 –
1. Give to the Lord to the glory due His name.
2. Bring an offering and come before Him.
3. O worship the Lord in the beauty of His Holiness.

True worship involves all that we are – spirit, soul, and body. Worship was always meant to be multi-sensory and to not block out any of our senses. Everything that God created has function, but it also has aesthetic beauty (Genesis 1 & 2). Even the very material with which the tabernacle was constructed was to communicate a specific image held in the mind of God. The shapes, colors, textures, and smells brought the participant into awareness of the creative capacity of almighty God. The worship of God has been multi-sensory since the beginning and will be to the end. Day and night they never stop saying:
“ Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. …They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:8b-11)

We cannot even comprehend with the natural mind what He has prepared for us. All this was something tangible to hold onto for the future glory that is to be revealed. It is to give us a sense of mystery of the divine. Martin Luther said that God gave us five senses through which to worship him and it would be sheer ingratitude for us to use any less.

Our culture needs to fit who we are – the people who come here and the people we’re trying to reach – all the while maintaining reverence and joy. We lean towards the contemporary model because that’s who we’ve been. Our contemporary music means that it’s of today…it’s fresh. In Psalms several places, God tells us to sing a new song. In heaven, we will continually sing new songs to the Lord; we’re just practicing now. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord (Psalm 150). Clap your hands, all you people (Psalm 47). Shout to God with a voice of triumph. Lifting our hands is a way of releasing things to God (Psalm 141). The use of drama and dance are artistic ways that God has given to us and through which we can also use to express our worship of Him.

We still want to make sure we do everything with reverence, modesty, honor, and authenticity. We also use hymns that were also born out of experience with God and link us to Christians who have gone before us. Those hymns also have passed the test of time.

The church was born to worship God. We don’t want to argue over style. We need to follow the worship leader with us as the performers and God as the audience of One. The chief aim of man is to worship God and to enjoy Him forever. Everything else is secondary.