Should We Have Worship Leaders (revised)?

Update (11/2/2010): After realizing today that my blog comments were enabled but I wasn't being notified about them, I came across Bob Kauflin himself commenting on my post about Should We Have Worship Leaders?  I was surprised, since I've only told a few people I was doing a blog; I'm guessing some Google tools are behind him finding this post.  Regardless, I am grateful for him taking the time to interact with my thoughts, such as they are, and his kind tone in doing so.

Anyway, I went back and re-read Chapter 6 in Worship Matters several times.  I have revised some things I said previously and have rewritten my conclusion, because I don't feel that I did his presentation justice.  In addition, I realized some of my criticism has more to do with what I observe about how worship is practiced in contemporary American churches, rather than what Bob was saying in his book, and I didn't make that clear enough.  I look forward to finishing the book soon, once things slow down a bit at work and home.

Revision of original: In his book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin argues that we should have worship leaders.   I've been reading his book off and on during the past month or so.  The first few chapters were thought-provoking and helpful in terms of what worship is and our attitude as we approach worship--specifically on Sundays, since giving God glory (worship) takes place outside of the church assembled.  But as he turns to the concept of worship leaders, I still have some reservations about the role of a worship leader.

From chapter 6, "What Does a Worship Leader Do?":

We can glean some important principles from Old Testament Levites....But we can't transfer everything they did then to what we do now.

A few paragraphs later:

Second, the most important worship leader is Jesus. He reveals God to us and through his perfect sacrifice provided the only way into the Father's presence (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:19-22). 

We can't do what only Jesus does.

And a little further on:

Humanly speaking, the pastor is the worship leader.  He is the one responsible before God for the corporate worship of the church (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

In light of these reasons, which are obviously not exhaustive, is there a biblically based role for a non-pastoral worship leader?  Kauflin states that "teaching and leading roles are pastoral in nature"; therefore, in Sovereign Grace churches, worship leaders are men.  At the end of the chapter, he outlines his definition of a worship leader, which is very good.

In contrast, many contemporary American churches are led in worship by a man, woman, or group whose primary qualification seems to be musical ability, especially vocally or with the guitar.  If worship is a central aspect of the service, shouldn't the most essential qualifications be theological training and spiritual maturity?  When they aren't, the result seems to be a prioritization of performance and entertainment, rather than a focus on God and how to rightly approach Him, with prayer and reverence and awe (John 4:24; Hebrews 12:28-29).  Worship in these cases typically follows what's been happening for a while or else what people like.

I'm glad that Worship Matters urges those who lead in worship to think more biblically about the issues involved. In the absence of biblical precedent for much of what the church today does in worship, we need to step back and consider whether we do what we do out of habit, convenience, or preference, or because we are convinced that it is the best way to glorify God.

Our Place in God's Plan

Much of the conflict and wasted effort throughout church history has resulted from failing to understand the difference between God's overarching plan for history and our place in that plan.

Definition

What is God's plan?  There are various ways of putting it, but a simple definition could be: To glorify Himself by setting apart a people for Himself and conquering His enemies to reign finally and eternally over all His creation.

Categories
 
What was Israel's place in God's plan?  God set apart Israel as a family (of Jacob), then a theocracy (Judges 2:16 - mediated through the judges), then as a theocratic kingdom (2 Samuel 7:26 - mediated through Saul and later David's family line).  Israel's primary obligation was to follow the Law given to Moses, and to serve as the one ethnicity through whom God's influence in the world would be mediated.  Israel failed, both in following the Law and in serving as a light to the Gentiles.

What is the church's place in God's plan today?  God set apart the church from the day of Pentecost as a real yet intangible grouping of those called out by regeneration and faith in the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17), from among every nation (Revelation 5:9), composed into local assemblies (Romans 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:2, etc) .  Her mission is to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, by making disciples who make disciples, instructing them in the teachings of God, then establishing more local churches which follow the corporate commands given in the New Testament (e.g. Hebrews 10:24-25).

What is the individual Christian's place in God's plan today?  Essentially, after believing in the gospel (Romans 10:8-10), his place is to obey the commands of God that were given generally to humanity (e.g. Genesis 1:28-30) or to New Testament believers individually (e.g. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7).

There are other categories which precede the above (Adam; the patriarchs) or come after (the Millennial Kingdom, the eternal state), but I want to focus on the three highlighted above.

Issues

The church is not an extension of or a replacement to the nation of Israel.  Confusing the two usually results in misapplying promises or assuming things that are similar are identical.

For example, Israel received promises of physical health and material wealth.  If applied to the church, these promises can easily be twisted into a "health and wealth" gospel.  Or, circumcision has some similarities to baptism, but assuming they are the same thing results in the error of infant baptism, despite no Scriptural evidence for the practice.

God has given some responsibilities to the local church as a gathered assembly; others were given to individual members in the local church, as participants in humanity as a whole.  Confusing the two results in the church becoming distracted from her primary mandate of establishing and grounding churches.

For example, the local church is instructed to observe the Lord's Supper as a memorial to his atoning death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).  An individual church member cannot legitimately observe that ordinance apart from the assembly.  Other commands of a similar nature include the "one another" passages, focused primarily on ministry in the church gathered (Hebrews 10:24-25).  On the other hand, the individual church member is commanded to submit to government (Romans 13:1-7).  Though local churches should also be law-abiding, that command is not intended primarily for the church as a whole but individuals in the church.

Summary

Regarding Israel and the church, we must avoid the error of supersessionism.  The church is not a continuation of Israel nor a replacement for Israel.

Regarding the local church and the individual member of the church, we must avoid confusing corporate and individual responsibilities.  There are "two kingdoms"¹; though they overlap, in that the individual Christian participates in both, they are not identical.  We must be careful to obey God's commands both for the church as a whole and for individual members in day to day life.


¹ For more information, please consult Dr. Mark Snoeberger's excellent session notes from the 2010 Mid-America 
Conference on Preaching, which was themed Church, Kingdom, Mission.  His notes may be found here.

Psalm 18:5-19 and Descriptive Imagery

In Psalm 18:5-19, David is describing in a vivid fashion the nature of God's deliverance in a specific circumstance.  Most likely, this was rescuing David from Saul, based on the ancient but not inspired title/description at the beginning of the Psalm. 

This passage raised a particular issue in my mind.  In the Psalms, or poetic sections of the Bible, often we don't let poetic imagery be just imagery.   One school of interpretation tends to seek for hidden meaning or symbolism.  Another tends to force passages like these into a newspaper-type description of a historical event, or at least wish it were.

So, I think we need to remember that it is possible and legitimate to portray God by means of descriptive language (Psalm 18:7-15) even in the context of a specific historical event: delivering David (Psalm 18:16-19).  Even David's explanation of how God rescued him is picturesque ("out of many waters", verse 16) without being literalistic (David was obviously not drowning in water, but overwhelmed by the opposition of his enemies).

To sum up, imagery is a valid and useful aspect of language.  We should not seek for hidden references to other parts of the Bible (assuming this passage somehow foretells an event in Revelation, though there are similarities), extract minute details from their context ("the cherub here represents..."), or tone down the imagery to make the section merely into a statement or list of facts ("David called on God who delivered him"). 

Truth can be portrayed in beautiful phrases as well as concise assertions.

Tasting Words

Job 12:11 is a fascinating verse.

Should We Have Worship Leaders?

In his book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin argues that we should have worship leaders.   I've been reading his book off and on during the past month or so.  The first few chapters were thought-provoking and helpful in terms of what worship is and our attitude as we approach worship--specifically on Sundays, since giving God glory (worship) takes place outside of the church assembled.  But as he turns to the concept of worship leaders, I find his argument a little shaky.
From chapter 6, "What Does a Worship Leader Do?":

We can glean some important principles from Old Testament Levites....But we can't transfer everything they did then to what we do now.

A few paragraphs later:

Second, the most important worship leader is Jesus. He reveals God to us and through his perfect sacrifice provided the only way into the Father's presence (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:19-22). 

We can't do what only Jesus does.

And a little further on:

Humanly speaking, the pastor is the worship leader.  He is the one responsible before God for the corporate worship of the church (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

In light of these reasons, which are obviously not exhaustive, is there a biblically based role for a non-pastoral worship leader?  Kauflin seems to think so.  His argument appears to go something like, "There's not a lot of biblical precedent, but since we do this, here's how why should do it."  But on what basis?

It's hard to see how the role of "worship leader" flows out of biblical principles.  Especially when "worship leader" means the stereotypical guy (or girl) whose primary qualification is ability to play the guitar, rather than pastoral qualities or theological training.  Should such a person lead in a central aspect of the gathered church's Sunday activities?

Perhaps the problem is that the role of worship leader, like the function of Sunday School, is practiced from habit rather than biblical principle, and in the absence of biblical principles, almost anything goes.  We need to take a long, careful look at how we do worship, specifically the musical aspects, and who we designate to lead in those activities.

What Would You Do If You Had a Million Dollars?

You probably will.

Finding a Bargain: Idolatry or Time Well Spent?

Tim Challies has an excellent post on the subject of frugality here. 

I think he hits the main issues admirably. 

1) The heart motivation: Why am I pinching pennies or trying to be frugal?  Is it because I am constantly worried about never having enough?  Is it because I want to have more to meet both my own needs and those around me?  What is my goal?


2) The question of greed: This is related to our motivation. This one is more difficult and will vary in application, but what relevance does the principle of the gleaner have today?  God didn't want the farmers to pick up every last stalk of grain from their fields.  Do I take advantage of another person's financial distress?  Craigslist comes to mind; in some cases I know I could talk a person's price down on some item, but perhaps they do actually need the money.

3) The question of pride:  Again, this is related to motivation.  Why do I look for good deals?  So I can boast about them to someone else?  If so, I'm probably trying to be frugal for the wrong reasons.

4) The question of time: Can I better use this time elsewhere?  If God has given me enough to buy a particular item for $10, can I justify deal shopping to find it for $8?  How long will it take me to do that?

We must be wise stewards of the resources God has given to us.  At the same time, "finding a deal" can become a form of idolatry or an obsession that takes us away from time with our family or in serving those around us.  So we need to think about our motivations and how we spend our time.