How we worship God matters. Too often we do not give much thought to how we worship the King of Kings. This not only applies to the music we use during worship but our attitude during worship. We live in a society that has rapidly progressed towards more towards evil and all the devil’s narcotics and we need to be aware of the tactics of the devil. Given what we read in Ezekiel 28 we can conclude one of Satans roles before he fell was to led worship at the throne of God. One of Satan’s ways of reaching people is through music. You can’t really argue with that statement when you look at the average secular song. Furthermore, Satan has also infiltrated the arena of what is labeled as Christian music.
When I was young in the faith I would just about listen to anything that had the label Christian on it. As I grew in faith and became more mature in the Word of God my eyes were opened to how Satan is deceiving people through what is considered popular Christian music. Too often many deem a good worship song based on how it makes us feel, just like we would a secular song. This is a very dangerous way to approach worship, and worship is something God takes very seriously.
There is a very clear Biblical example of unauthorized worship in the Bible. We have the account of Nadab and Abihu, who brought strange incense before God and were burned to death with the fire of God. Leviticus 10:1-2 (ESV) says, “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”.
Nadab and Abihu brought strange fire before God, they used incense He had not authorized to the altar. Nadab and Abihu brought their own innovation before the altar instead of bringing in what God had already ordained. How often has the church at large today brought in innovation that is not based in the Bible for the sake of increasing numbers? Far too often is the answer, just look at the seeker-friendly movement.
Some people might argue, “well I don’t see the big deal that was in the Old Testament”. Hebrews 12:29 (AMP) tells us, “for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.”. This is in a New Testament context, under the New Covenant. I am convicted that this is even more serious under the better covenant we are in. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament, and that is something we need to set straight in the church. If we are under a better covenant then worship ought to be taken even more seriously than in the Old Testament.
I see so many Christians who follow worship bands that might sound like they have good music but if you look at the people in these bands singing the music, their lifestyle and even what they believe about major issues do not line up with the Word of God. I don’t even need to mention names, because you do not have to look too far. I am not saying every one of them is bad, however, a large sum of what is popular today have fallen to worldly things and are approving of things that go against the Word of God. When we sing their songs, we are essentially endorsing them. I don’t want to go with worship songs just because they are trendy or make me feel good, I want to go with songs that glorify God according to His Word.
Jesus told us in John 4:24 (ESV), “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”. Additionally, 1 Chronicles 16:29 (ESV) says, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;”. We need to realize how Holy our God is and how righteous He is. At the same time, we need to realize how all of us are totally deprived and have fallen short to sin. The cross of Jesus Christ does not reveal to us how valuable we are to Him, but it reveals to us how wicked our original sin nature is that it took the death of God’s only Son to pay the price. That ought to make us serious about praising, worshiping, and glorifying His name.