Does it really matter how we worship? - Joey Ferrell

This week, Kristie and I are at a lectureship in Branson, MO. On the way here from our home, I had several hours to think about an article. At first, as we passed through rural Tennessee and Missouri, some of the “brands” of church buildings caught my eyes and thoughts. I have heard of many of the ones that were seen, but there were some new ones I had not…and I thought that would be an interesting exploration for an article. However, after hearing a very educational lesson during the lectures by Dave Miller, this topic seems much more pressing at this time.

We all should want to worship God. There are enough verses in the Bible to signify the importance, command, inference, and desires of God Himself for us to see that He indeed wants us to worship Him and Him alone! Even in the early days of man, God desired sacrifice - a part of worship. In the days of Noah, Moses, Elijah and the prophets, He described and desired worship. He expected His children to worship Him in the form, fashion, and example as is described throughout.

Think about the tabernacle. The intricacy of design for this particular time in history in which God was to be worshiped. Their were clear instructions from God regarding how and what to use to build it. Then you move to the temple. There were certain items that had to be used in the worship in the temple. While we do not have those types of definitive ideas about our “buildings” and places of worship today, we still have to understand that there is an element that God still designs worship in His own way!

Think about the story in John 4. Jesus meets the woman at the well. They have a discussion. She states that they worshiped in the traditions of their forefathers, but what does Jesus say? Take a look:

“The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.””

(John 4:19–24)

Jesus said that “all” would worship the way of the Father and not the ways of tradition. It isn’t about the place, or even the various items that we may add through tradition (that are not opposed to the commands of God), but it would be the way God wanted worship that would be accepted!

Fast forward a few decades and guess what happens…we start to see things stray from what God’s design and desire are. Look at what Paul addresses in the letter to the church at Colossi regarding some of the “self-willed” worship that was happening:

“These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

(Colossians 2:23)

Did you see that? The phrase “self-imposed religion” comes up. Who imposed? SELF. Not God, not Jesus, not even the Apostles in the “Apostles’ Doctrine” as is stated as viable in the book of Acts. Self…men and women deciding what is best for them…emotions…feel-good…lifting-up…praises of men. What a shame!

And, here we are, some almost 2,000 years later and what a mess we might see today. Think of the self-imposed items of the day:

• hand-clapping

• waving of arms

• praise teams

• instrumental music

• unauthorized leadership roles (women, non-Christians)

• statues or other idol types of devices taking “center-stage”

This list could go on and on with the variants of what man has decided that he knows better what God wants than what God knows it would seem. Why? Because it makes them feel good. It helps draw a crowd. It doesn’t offend people. It is what “everybody else” is doing. Yet, it is NOT what God has designed.

When Jesus told the Samaritan woman that worship would be in spirit and in truth, He was not saying it would be spirited to help aid truth. He said IN Spirit and IN Truth. We have no right to speak on behalf of God to add these types of things to our worship to “make us feel good!”

The idea comes up often about Nadab and Abihu submitting unauthorized fire as an example of adding to the worship of God…and rightly so. These men were told how to get the fire, what type of fire, and what to do with it…and they ignored God. Why? Maybe it was inconvenient to get what was required…maybe it was quicker…maybe they felt like it didn’t really matter. Boy were they wrong!

Worship to God matters. It matters when we do it, how we do it, and what we do it with.Let’s be men and women of God and respect His authority and not our own desires. Souls will be in the same punishment as Nadab and Abihu for their disobedience to God. Let’s put aside the “feel-good” ideas and just worship God the way He wants.

To paraphrase something that Dave Miller said - “If someone is bored with the worship designed by God in the Bible, the problem is with the person and not the Bible!”

You can view this lesson by Dave Miller that was delivered at the 8th annual Show Me State Lectures here.

"Go to church or the devil will get ya!" - Joey Ferrell

*Disclaimer: I do not own this sign or this image. It was found on the internet with dozens of others taken on I-65 North just outside of Montgomery Alabama.

Go to church or the devil will get ya! Well….sort of. I remember passing this sign probably 10-11 years ago coming back from a family trip to Florida. We were on I-65 north just outside of Montgomery. We had stopped at this sweets store that had a pink cow…yes, a real pink cow (It closed a few years afterwards) and had been laughing about that for miles…and then…there it was! I was like “WOW, did you see that sign?”

The sign was originally placed at this locaton by a local “Christian and Patriot” businessman using a metal devil from a former gas station in Prattville according to an article also found on the internet. It was toppled in a storm in 2016 and remained down until 2019 when it made a new appearance. It still stands today with the sons of the creator maintaining it. It catches a lot of attention and has been shared on social media sites for years.

Enough about the sign though…let’s get to the message! Let’s dissect it a bit:

“Go to church” - the world sees this as a valid statement. Even those in the church will use the phrase often. I am just as guilty in tradition as most others are too. But, we need to think about this a bit. We ARE the church. Certainly, we go to be WITH the church, and the semantics of the phrase can certainly make sense thinking about it that way.
In Acts 2, the Bible says that about 3,000 were added to “the church” and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine - and it said that they met daily from house to house.

Throughout Acts, we see the church growing because they were hearing the truth and being added to the church…and then they would go AS the church.

When Paul instructed Timothy and Titus, and others, they were told to go TO the church in different areas, and of course, John records the words of Jesus TO the churches in Asia, each identified geographically.

So…in reality, we go WITH the church, TO the church and semantically TO church.

But what is there about “going to church” that will keep the devil from getting you? Well, nothing really…or almost nothing…with the wrong attitude at least. Hebrews 10:19-25 gives us a very good reasoning why we should come together. Ephesians 4 talks about the varying roles of those in the church and how the function of the teaching of the church is to increase growth, edify the saints, and strengthen our faith.

So, how does that keep the devil from getting you? Well, it doesn’t, but it does make it much harder as you are surrounded by like-minded people that care about your soul when you are with the saints of the church. In the book of Job, the devil was said to have been going to and fro across the earth. He is seeking those who he can devour, so how do we stop him from getting us? We increase our faith, we draw near to God, we flee from the devil, and what better way to do that than to be with the church?

While it is true that many feel that technology has opened new doors in “going to church,” but truly, there is nothing like being with the saints, worshiping, singing, praying together, communing, getting and giving handshakes and hugs, crying with one another, rejoicing with one another and lifting one another up as is described in Hebrews 10.

Maybe you or someone you know needs a little encouragement….let me invite you to “go to church” and find that encouragement. These are our people. They love you and me. They need you and me. And we need them!

Go to church…..or the devil will get you!