The Principal “Worship War”

Much has been said over the past decade concerning supposed “worship wars” in our churches. Whatever this term is intended to mean (and it is certainly far from clear) it has had a devastating impact on the lives of many church bodies. Often, these so-called “worship wars” pit those who advocate a more traditional style of worship against those who prefer a more contemporary style. In many cases, this debate is characterized by the replacement of a choir with a praise team and the putting aside of hymnals in favor of a note-free screen with words. On the flip side, a vibrant time of singing is sometimes substituted for dead liturgy and a parsimonious resistance to change. So, who is right and what does the Bible have to say concerning these “worship wars”?

Though it does not speak directly to the exact form or style that our corporate worship services should take, the Bible is far from silent on the topic of worship. For his part, Satan undoubtedly relishes the inordinate concern with styles of worship in our churches. It is this misplaced attention given to instruments played and melodies sung that allows him to surreptitiously blind our eyes to the principal worship war addressed in the Bible, namely, the war between God and Satan. This principal worship war, waged throughout the script of the Bible, has existed since the beginning of time and continues today. The Lord's statement to the serpent in the garden upon Adam's sin, “he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel (Gen 3:15),” was not merely a slap on the hand—it was a call to battle! And it is this call to battle that reminds us that where Adam failed in his God-given role as vice-regent of God's creation, one came as the “firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29)—exemplifying true humanity created in the image of God—who defeated the “cosmic powers of this present darkness” (Eph 6:12) on the cross and who will ultimately crush the serpent's head (Gen 3:15) on that final day of judgment (Rev 20:7-15).

Fence-sitting is not an option for the believer. He or she is either worshiping the God of heaven or the god of this world. Consider, for instance, God’s directive to Paul in Acts 26:17b-18: “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (ESV). Other verses in Scripture (Col 1:13; 2 Tim 2:24-26) attest that those not worshiping Christ are, in actuality, under the dominion of darkness and doing the very will of Satan! In light of these passages, the burgeoning question presented in Scripture seems to center around who we are worshiping and in what manner we are worshiping rather than how or where we choose to engage in worship.

As Christians, we are prone to forget that our battle is not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12). We battle a power which was once good, rebelled, and now fights against the forces of good. We are engaged in a civil war and are living in, what C. S. Lewis appropriately describes as, “enemy-occupied territory” [C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: Harper: San Francisco, 2001), 45-46]. We would do well to envision ourselves in such a state. Perhaps then we would stop wasting our time on the trivialities of stylistic worship, focusing instead on the penultimate “worship war” of the age.

Chris Bosson
Berachah Bible Church