What is appropriate in worship?

The short answer is that anything that honors God has a proper place in shared worship. There are no styles of music that are out of bounds. There are no forms of expression (which are appropriate for Christians to engage in publicly) that cannot be used in worship. And the old sacred/secular distinction is utter nonsense.

There is no style of music that is godly or Christian. Just because a song is sung slowly, accompanied by an organ and uses religious jargon doesn’t mean that it honors God. Nor does it mean when believers stand, wave their arms and sing at the top of their lungs that it is automatically superior to other expressions. This form can be just as dead as any other form of worship. It may provide superior cardiovascular benefits, but it doesn’t invariably honor God.

Does this mean that nothing is inappropriate in worship? Of course not. Anything that cannot be done to honor God has no place in worship. And anything that potentially could be done to honor God but is not done so that it does in fact honor God has no place in worship.

For example, it’s hard to imagine a circumstance in which a striptease could be done to honor God. But a presentation of “How Great Thou Art” which celebrates the virtuosity of the soloist more than the greatness of God is also an abomination.

There are certainly lines that must be drawn. But we’ve tended to draw them in the wrong places and over the wrong issues.

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”