A REGULATED WORSHIP
Deuteronomy 12: 1-32
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
I would guess that one of the least understood and most castigated standard
that we as Reformers would unfurl in the face of worldly opposition is our
beloved concept of a regulated worship. Not many congregations or
denominations even have a handbook on The Directory for the Worship of God,
and not many that do, have more than a casual acquaintance with the
contents. Far too often an emotional high, or even a sing yourself silly
attitude dominates what passes for the worship of the awesome, all powerful
Creator of this His universe. And those few traditionalists who have not
modernized the weekly worship experience are viewed as spiritual cave men
who ought to be dancing in the aisles! More and more the worship
experience is being advertised as a celebration with a down home party
attitude that would have fit right into the Israelite experience with the
golden calf that Aaron once built.
Certainly, we know that Aaron as high priest was sincere and he was even
forgiven for catering to the emotional whims of the people. However,
remember the Great God of Heaven was not amused and had not Moses pleaded
for their lives, the foolish gaiety of their celebration would have led to
their final destruction. At least in quieter, saner moments most sincere
Christians understand that whatever we do in thought, word and deed must be
done to and for the far far greater glory of our heavenly Father. And to
that end very many evangelicals will agree to not do anything in worship
that they know God would not like. Their regulative principle focuses upon
being certain what God might actually forbid.
But, since many of their favorite celebration activities are not actually
forbidden, they can have their
Certainly the early Christians understood the necessity to tear down the
pagan temples, and to destroy and bury the sculpted idols from which Christ
delivered them. A lot of art historians have never forgiven the new-born
Christians who cleansed their communities from such idols. Even the
Reformational trend to whitewash the church walls and replace the
resplendent images of stained glass Windows is misunderstood. After all,
those works of art were seen as meaningful educational tools in their time
for the unlearned peasants of the dark ages.
So to were the high priestly rituals understood to cleanse man anew from
the worldly pollution of just living and learning in God's world. The
spiritual objection that all sane christians must have in this regard is
the human tendency to lift the created order to an uneasy equality with
the Creator Himself. To understand this let me give you this example.
During a frightful blizzard in our area some common thieves stole the
stained glass windows of a rural church building. Very many Christians
were upset, some wept openly that such a crime could even be considered.
Now, I wonder if those who wept and gritted their teeth had ever felt the
same emotions for the fact that Jesus Christ died for their sins? If you
take the worldly reaction to the destruction of pagan art and ask them if
they feel the same rage for the crucifixion of Christ, their answer will
tell you more about them than they themselves realize.
Within the last few years, an artistic display was vandalized at a Reformed
Christian college. The conservative culprit was decried for imposing his
limited understanding of the second commandment upon the college community.
In the same way, the council for the National Endowment of the Arts
deplores any limitation on their subsidy of blasphemy in the name of art
which is seen as a higher and better good. In much the same way the
religious bookstores in this country get very defensive when anyone
questions their kitsche display of jesus junk, because that stuff usually
provides two-thirds of their income! FREEDOM to interpret the second
commandment is the most strident problem challenging the evangelical church
in our day and time! What right do any of us have to even whisper, perhaps
we ought to worship the God of heaven in ways that He has clearly told us
pleases Him? This forgotten concept is what we mean today by the
regulative principle for worship.
Our passage in Deuteronomy has more than just historical notes in it. We
see in the first three verses that what the early Christian community did
in cleansing their communities from idols was done within God's revealed
will. So let the artistic community worship
In verses four to seven we may understand that our worship must be apart
from the world.
In verses eight to fourteen we are instructed In verse thirty-one of this chapter the Lord's people of all ages are
carefully warned not to If we would imitate the worldly worship as Israel once did before the
golden calf we should not be surprised that God would refuse to hear us or
bless us. And if we want to play games with the regulative principle so
that we can order our worship to suit ourselves we should not be surprised
where we eventually end up. Let us close by considering the commandment in
verse thirty-two:
"You must not worship the Lord your God in their way".
We
must not borrow worldly themes, ideas, habits or practices to reimage the
very bride of Christ: His own Church. Earlier this summer I visited
another religious organization and was horrified to see practices more
appropriate to devil worship incorporated into what was supposed to have
been a Christian context.
"You are not to do as we do
here today, everyone as he sees fit".
There is a certain literal
limitation here in this text even as there are in many other places as
well. Verse thirteen is also instructive as well, there are places to
which God's people are commanded to go to give Him the worship in Spirit
and in Truth that He desires. Certainly we see in the rest of this chapter
that he is compassionate in allowing a wider geographic application than we
might have thought possible. Yet, that very part of the slaughtered
animals that might ordinarily be burnt before Him is to poured out onto the
ground. Later on a symbolic portion may be taken to the place of sacrifice
which He will announce.
"worship the Lord your God in their way, because in
worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord
hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices
to their gods."
A few years ago I read a liberal publication which
admonished the readers that their covenantal responsibilities included
limiting their families by means of abortion. Strange and pagan gods
indeed have been brought into the "christian" Church in our day and age!
"See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or
take away from it."
This is a proper understanding of the regulative
principle used in the first century churches and again since the
Reformation. And this is a proper understanding of the second commandment
and its application in our spiritual worship of the one and only Triune
God. May the Lord bless us through the worship that we bring to Him and
may we always be careful not to bring strange fire into His sanctuary as we
honor and praise Him for the great gift of salvation given to us in and
through Jesus Christ.
-
Amen.
Resources Used:
Douma J. The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life.
Green, James B. A Harmony of the Westminster Presbyterian Standards.
(PCA) The Confession of Faith: The Shorter Catechism.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 132049 -- Columbus, OH 43213-8049
WSC051a 21 September 97
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