What Does God Think of Your Church’s Worship?

In an episode of the TV series The Office, one of the characters (Phyllis) reveals to two other characters (Jim and Pam) what she’s planning to give them as a wedding gift—a “romantic birdhouse mailbox.” If you’ve seen the episode, I bet you laughed. It’s a funny line because it’s a horrible idea. Jim and Pam had a wedding registry, and, via that registry, they told everyone exactly what they wanted. A birdhouse mailbox was not on their list!

Now, as someone who has given more than a few wedding presents (by way of my thoughtful and productive wife . . . Proverbs 31:27), I praise God for wedding registries. No guess work, and guaranteed satisfaction for the ones you’re trying to bless. Praise God, right?

Enter the regulative principle of worship. That term may sound complicated, but it basically means that God’s Word tells God’s people how to worship him. Let’s tease that out a bit.

1. There Are Kinds of Worship That God Doesn’t Want

This is why we’ve got stories in the Bible where God rejects certain types of worship. Just think about his displeasure with Cain in Genesis 4: “And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (v. 4–5). Or remember how God responds when the idolatrous Israelites planned a feast to be held in “Yahweh’s” honor in Exodus 32. He says, “They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them (v. 8). Or consider how he reacts when Nadab and Abihu offer him “unauthorized fire, which he had not commanded” in Leviticus 10: “And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (v. 2).

There are kinds of worship that God doesn’t want, which is why the author of Hebrews can tell Christians to “offer God acceptable (as opposed to ‘unacceptable’) worship” (Heb. 12:28).

2. Our Own Instincts About How to Worship God Are Often Wrong

I bet Cain thought his offering was good enough. Israel and Nadab/Abihu probably thought theirs was too. Certainly none of them were expecting God to be so displeased that he would threaten them with death! But their instincts about how to worship God were wrong and they should have been suspicious of them from the start.

How about yours? It’s easy for us to think that our sensibilities line up with God’s sensibilities, isn’t it? If we like something, then he must like that thing, too. But just think about how often you’re surprised when someone you know well disagrees with you on some particular value judgment. I remember once going house shopping with my wife. After leaving one house, I noted how great the backyard was. She responded, “Are you serious? That backyard was horrible!” We had both been standing in the exact same backyard ten minutes before, and I was sure it was a great backyard. She was sure of the opposite. And we were both surprised by the other’s judgment! You’ve probably had something similar happen.

If my wife and I, as close as we are, can come to totally different conclusions, how much more likely is it that we would come to a different conclusion than God on how to best worship him?

The Psalmists writes, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9). What this means is, to quote Terry Johnson, “We are not competent to devise God-honoring worship” (Reformed Worship, p. 27).

3. God Has Told Us Exactly How to Worship Him

Isaiah teaches us that God created us for the purpose of glorifying him (Isa. 43:7). Jesus says the Father is “seeking” people to worship him correctly (John 4:23). But he knows that we’ll mess it up if we’re left on our own. So it’s no surprise the Lord tells us how he wants us to worship him. And where does he tell us? In his Word! Like Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16–17, the Scriptures “equip us for every good work,” which includes our worship.

Conclusion

So, there are kinds of worship that God doesn’t approve of and our own instincts on how to worship him are often wrong. That’s why he has told us how to worship him.

What’s all of this have to do with the idea of a wedding registry? Well, when it comes to our corporate worship of the Lord, he has “registered” for gifts! Of course, the Lord doesn’t need anything from us, but he has told us the exact gifts he’d like us to bring which will “bless” him. What are these Sunday morning gifts the Lord has registered for? He tells us most clearly in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians. As Ligon Duncan helpfully summarizes: “Read the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, and see the Bible (in the Lord’s Supper and baptism).” When it comes to corporate worship, God intends for us to not add to the registry (see Deuteronomy 12:32)!

So, brother pastor, this coming Sunday when your church is gathered, don’t go “off the registry” to bring the Lord an insightful skit or a poignant movie clip or an interpretive dance. Our Triune God has registered for Bible-reading, Bible-preaching, prayer, congregational singing, and the celebration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper . . . so bring him what he asked for!