Culture Matters

Worship Culture matters, In order to faithfully lead others to worship Jesus, we want to be intentional in the culture of worship we are teaching, practicing, and inviting others into.

Culture is the way in which we live together. It’s how we think about things, it defines our posture, and it motivates our engagement. How we lead others can directly impact and influence how they worship Jesus. It’s the environment in which we grow, the garden that we cultivate.

We learn very quickly in the garden of Eden that God calls People to shape culture, and in turn, that culture shapes people (Genesis 1:28, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:42-47). We see this through the life of Jesus and how he would give direction, clarity, and freedom to others in how they worship him. Most obviously in John 4, when the Samaritan woman at the well asks Jesus how and where to worship.

She says, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus teaches us that worship—in its purest form—is a direct response to the truth, beauty, and goodness of God with heart (desire and action), mind (thought and intention), and soul (spirit or entire being). Worship is holistic in nature and as we grow in spiritual maturity we should also grow in our ability and freedom to worship God in heart, mind, and soul, in spirit and truth. Worship is both already and not yet, it is our sanctification, meaning God is at work in us making us look more like him—and—our eternal glorification when all of creation culminates in the eternal praise of King Jesus. It’s what we are learning now—and—what we will do for all of eternity. It’s easy to see our immaturity in other ways, but we often don’t think about how our worship of God needs to also mature. So the culture of worship we shape matters, our hope is that God would build us up as true worshipers who are free and empowered to glorify Christ in both spirit and truth.

True Soil for True Worship

So, let’s talk about what it looks like to cultivate true worship. There are certain fruits and postures that true worship produces and requires of us according to the scriptures (see here), so we want to make sure that there is good soil for our worship to grow, or true soil for true worship. True soil starts with an open heart towards the Lord. Remember, we need God to worship God. If we want to grow in our worship, we can’t start with a hard heart, or “stiff neck” like Stephen calls it in Acts 7. Some of worship will come naturally to you—based on personality, past experiences, and giftings—but some will require discipline and sacrifice in order to grow and see new experiences with the Lord and freedom in worship. We all gravitate towards certain expressions of worship, we’ve all thought or said at some point when confronted with another expression, “I just don’t worship that way.” There are certain times in our worship together that if we are all honest, we have hesitancy to engage in a specific way, or even a disdain towards how others might be engaging in worship. Whether that’s hands raised or in our pockets, dancing or sitting, singing or meditating, praying silently or shouting praise to the Lord. At its worst, this becomes self-righteousness where we view one form of worship more holy than the next. An example being that we might think that meditating on the truth of the lyrics is more holy than dancing down the aisle in response to the truth, or vice versa. But that’s not biblical at all. Without knowing it, if we aren’t careful, we can begin to worship “how” we worship, rather than “who” we worship!

We all have a little bit of hesitancy or guardedness in our worship, many times for a legitimate reason, but I love this quote from Rich Mullins that challenges us to consider what might actually be going on underneath the surface. He says it this way:

“Our rigidness (or fear of being moved), does not reflect our holiness. It only reflects that we have not yet been so freed by the grace of God, that we truly believe that nothing can separate us from him.” - Rich Mullins

This doesn’t mean that we aren’t Christian or loving Jesus if we’re hesitant to respond in worship in a specific way, he is trying to communicate that our rigidness in worship, our guarded heart, our cynicism, isn’t a mark of holiness to boast in, but a warning that maybe, we aren’t yet fully free. But that’s okay, that’s what Christ is for. We know this is true of other areas in our lives where we are still not free, so why not in worship?

If this is true, what is this “rigidness” that we feel? Why are we so protective of the ways in which we worship and how it looks in our church?

It ultimately comes down to the fact that we don’t like being vulnerable. To worship is to be vulnerable. To worship is to subject yourself completely to that in which you love. It’s to stand in an ocean and let the tide push and pull. To let wave after wave come crashing over you. When God calls us to worship him, he is calling us into an ocean of glory and grace. Yet, many of us are satisfied to just get our feet wet, but to worship God the way that we are intended—in spirit and truth—it requires us to be vulnerable, to be led, to be taught, to be shaped, to receive all God has for us. And so we want to create a safe place where we can all grow in our worship of Jesus. Experiencing more and more of all that God has for us, in the full range of emotion and expression that God has given us. True soil for True Worship.

The good news for us is that Christ is leading us in worship (Hebrews 2:12), and he knows this vulnerability all too well (Hebrews 4:15). We know this because he subjected himself to the ones he loved. He was pushed and pulled by our sorrow and grief (Isaiah 53:4-5), and the violent waves of God’s judgment crashed over him (Romans 3:25-26), even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8). And that, that is what we fear. We fear being completely subjected to God in our worship of him. Sometimes it’s fear of man and what others might think of us, but sometimes we fear punishment or condemnation from God. Many of us have been shaped in certain worship cultures that worshiping God with sin, weakness, or doubt is a mark of hypocrisy, so we either fake it and worship like nothing is wrong or we don’t worship at all. We’ve adopted a sort-of “dignified” way in which we worship that is safe against judgment, either from God or from others. We see worship as a controlled act for the “already mature” and don’t consider it for the “not yet.”

What we’re really missing is the hypocrisy of theologically claiming Christ to be worthy of our praise, that he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the alpha and the omega, the source of our salvation, and yet be practically unengaged, unimpressed, and unchanged in our worship of him, unwilling to be filled with the Spirit in song (Ephesians 5:18), or moved to dance, bow our own knees, or lift our hands and voice to praise him.

As Jesus once said, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

The idea of worshiping God only when we have it all together is a lie. We don’t worship God because we are holy, but because he is. In fact, it’s through our worship of Jesus, that he actually makes us more holy (2 Corinthians 3:18). I’m not talking about worshiping God, “while your hearts are far from him,” like the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8, I’m talking about worshiping God as a means to draw near to him.

1 John 4 says that it’s only through the perfect love of God that we can truly be free. And get this, even with our hesitancy, even with our broken worship, because of Christ, instead of judgment and God’s wrath crashing over us, it’s the waves of God’s mercy. Instead of a spirit of fear, it’s the Spirit of God that pushes and pulls us in the tides of God’s goodness, into deeper wells of his grace, into more dependence on his righteousness instead of our own, it’s the very Spirit of God we are resisting in worship, and he will not give up until we find ourselves in the wild and holy freedom of God’s love. Free to no longer stand on our own strength, no longer fight for our own survival, no longer chase our own glory, but truly free, filled with the Spirit, completely and utterly swept away by the glory and grace of Jesus. True Soil for true worship.

Another element that God has given to grow us in our worship is each other. In scripture the majority of texts around worshiping God are communal in nature, and though worship is also an individual sacrifice, it is not helpful to see worship as an individual preference of posture. As in all disciplines, the discipline of worship is for the purpose of both God’s glory and our good. Sometimes, worshiping God may feel like losing yourself—but only in the broken sense—we actually gain a complete and truer self through surrender in worship of God. In typical gospel fashion, even worshiping God is a paradox. We surrender ourselves to the Lord and find freedom for our soul. We give ourselves to him, he gives himself to us. Worship binds and unites our hearts together and to his. One of the questions I get the most (and one I have to ask myself a lot), is “What do I do when I don’t feel like worshiping?” For all of us there are times we don’t feel like singing, or don’t feel like meditating on scripture, or don’t feel like praying, let alone dancing, or kneeling, or lifting our hands, or shouting for joy. We should be honest in our worship of God, but here’s the thing, when we begin our quest to be true worshipers of God, and we start off by saying, “how do I be true to myself in this moment,” we will never arrive as true worshipers. We have already decided that worshiping ourselves is more important than worshiping Jesus. We have forgotten our neighbor, our brothers and sisters. We have forgotten the power of worship to proclaim the gospel, push back darkness, and plant gospel seeds that plant deep and holy roots in our soul and the souls around us.

My friend, Jeremy Smith puts it this way, in doing this, “we are turning inward rather than looking to God - worship becomes a tool for self-discovery rather than a holy communion, conversation, and celebration of God.”

This doesn’t mean we fake or ignore where we are at, it just means that it’s from that very place that we go to God in worship, why? Because of who he is! We worship Jesus, because of who he is and what he calls us to, not because of who we are, but because of who he is. Remember John 4:24, because “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth.”

In Psalm 103, we see that sometimes we need to command our own soul to "bless the LORD." In this Psalm, David is not letting current circumstances affect his reframing of mind and heart towards God in worship.

\This is our true soil for true worship, open hearts and open eyes, true to God and one another, because ultimately, God is worthy of all of us and all we have. All of creation sings his praise, and it’s all according to the glory due his name.

The Culture of Worship at Paradox

Alright, so we’ve learned that the culture of worship matters, and that we need true soil for true worship, but what does this kind of worship culture actually look like? Remember:

Culture is the way in which we live together. It’s how we think about things, it’s how we define our posture, and it’s what motivates our engagement with God and each other. How we lead others, the culture we create will directly impact and influence how the church worships Jesus. It’s the environment in which we will grow, the garden that we have been called to cultivate.

It would be easier to start with personal preferences and what we would like to see worship at Paradox look like, but what does God say worship looks like? What if God doesn’t just call us to worship him, but wants to teach us “how” to worship him? All throughout scripture, it’s evident that responding to God in worship together, does look like something, there is clear tangible evidence of true worship when the people of God gather. There are many experiences and encounters with God that lead us to worship, but I want to highlight a few consistent characteristics of what worshiping God looks like according to his Word. So, how does God describe a culture of worship? These are the three consistent themes that we see in scripture, that seem to mark a culture of true worship:

Worship is Spirit-led
Worship is Gospel-Driven
Worship is Joy-Filled

First, Worship is Spirit-led.

This shouldn’t surprise us. It is by the power of the Spirit that we worship God, are transformed by God, and encourage others to worship God. We need God to worship God.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:23-24
be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart - Ephesians 5:18
…worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh - Philippians 3:3
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” - Galatians 4:6
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. - Romans 8:14
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. - 1 Corinthians 12:3
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other… If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.- Galatians 5:16-17

We need God to worship God. The Spirit of God is our only hope to thwart any selfish ambition or self-glorification. When we are Spirit-led, we are led to give praise to the glory of God and encouragement to the people of God. If we are led by our flesh, worship quickly becomes about us, but when we are led by the Spirit, our worship is centered on Christ, his kingdom, and his people. To Worship, is to be Spirit-led.

So, how does this play out in what we do? We keep our eyes and hearts open, looking and listening for what God is doing. We are present with him and one another, confident and flexible in our plans and abilities so that we can be interruptible and keep in step with the Holy Spirit as he moves. In our planning and preparation, we seek help, direction, insight, inspiration, wisdom, and creativity in the Spirit. In worship, we are attentive to the Spirit of God at work among us, and we respond to the Spirit’s leading to encourage, exhort, create, adapt, support, prophesy, dance, shout, clap, pray with or intercede for the church as we are led by the Spirit. We are Spirit-led in all we do, that all may sing.

Second, Worship is Gospel-Driven: We are compelled by the word and work of God to both worship him and testify to others about him. Consider what is highlighted in scripture as the motivation and subject matter of our worship, both the word of God and the works of God.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:16
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:23-24
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. - John 17:17
O give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name; make known his doings among the peoples. - 1 Chronicles 16:8
Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! - Psalm 150:1-2
I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. - Psalm 59:16
“…for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” - Acts 4:20
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

When we encounter the good news of Jesus, we can’t help but worship him and we can’t help but “speak of what we have seen and heard,” We worship in both Spirit and Truth, because when we are led by the Spirit, we are led to glorify Christ! These are not at odds with one another, but in fact, they affirm one another. It is the Spirit of God that shows us the glory and love of God in Christ, and then leads us to worship him and testify to him in spirit and truth. We love, because he first loved us! It is the very word and work of Jesus that has saved us and will keep us to the end (1 Timothy of 4:5). It’s the very work and work of Christ that is our source of life (John 6:56-57). Our power (Romans 1:16), our strength, our hope is in the word of God (Psalm 130:5), we are nourished by the word of God (Matthew 4:4), we are known and convicted by the word of God (Hebrews 4:12), we are shaped and formed by the word of God (Romans 12:2), we are counseled by the word of God (Psalm 119:24), and by the very word of God, we can know God (John 5:39). Any other motive will not satisfy or remain. It is the gospel that drives our worship and witness, to the glory of God and the good of his kingdom.

So, how does this play out in what we do? Firstly, we believe that the word and work of God is sufficient for all we need for salvation, life, and godliness. And in believing this, we are moved by the word and work of God to worship Christ and lead others to worship him. Our songs, prayers, encouragements, and exhortations are both fueled and filled with the good news of Christ and his kingdom. We look for ways to highlight and respond to the word and work of Jesus. We are Gospel-Driven in all we do, that all may sing!

Third, Worship is Joy-Filled: When we worship God, there is an expectancy, an experience, and an expression of joy, a heart of rejoicing—in all things, for in his presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forever more, and worship is all about the presence of God with his people. Throughout the life and ministry of Jesus we see that everything he has done and said are for two key reasons, the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2) and that his joy would be in us, and that our joy would be full (John 15:11).

Did you know that the words, “joy,” “rejoice,” or “joyful” appear a total of 430 times in scripture, compared with “happy” or “happiness,” which appear only ten times. Joy is what our heart is after, happiness is fleeting. Joy is hope felt. It’s the holy consummation of relief and the position of gratitude. Rejoice! Again I say Rejoice! I like to think of “Rejoice,” as “receiving joy.” Even in the depths of despair, joy is the well that is readily found in Jesus. To be joy-filled is to delight in our dependence on Christ. To be Joy-filled is to praise God in the act of trading sorrow for his joy. It is something we can expect in the presence of God, something we will experience in the presence of God, and something we can express in the presence of God. We get joy, God gets praise. What started in joy in the garden, will end with the fullness of joy in a city, and when we cultivate the kingdom of God, we cultivate joy.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! - Psalm 95:2
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:1-5
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. - Philippians 4:4
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. - Psalm 16:11
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - 1 Peter 1:8-9
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. - Hebrews 3: 17-18

So, how does this play out in what we do? We are genuinely joyful people to be around. Not because we have it all together, but because we are Spirit-led, meaning we are dependent on God, and Gospel-Driven, meaning we are freed by God, there is a genuine joy of the Lord that we can live out of at all times. Even in moments where we are not “feeling” it or are going through something difficult, we look to Christ together, lay it before him, and lead from a deep-rooted joy found in him. We lead and serve through the joy of the Lord, because we know that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).” So whether from joy or for joy, we exalt Christ together in all we do, that all may sing.

In the opening scene of the movie, “High Fidelity,” John Cusack’s character, Rob Gordon poses a question, “Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” This is at the crux of our question here, and ultimately teaches us why we can sing and serve both “for joy,” and from joy.” Sometimes our joy in Christ will lead us to worship, other times it’s through worship that Christ will lead us to joy!

When we have a Culture of Worship that is Spirit-led, Gospel Driven, and Joy-filled, it frees us up to be shepherded, assured, and encouraged by God when we come together. Unashamed and bold before the Lord in our worship, not hesitant, not cynical, but expectant and expressive, many parts, but one body, openly engaged with God and one another, for his glory and our good, that all may sing.