Charismatic Worship
Is Charismatic worship biblical? The Bible tells us that true worship must be "in spirit and truth" (JOH 4:24). In other words, firstly, a worshipper must be born-again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit before he can really worship "in spirit" (JOH 3:3 "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God") because only such a person can worship God "in spirit," rather than "in outward form" only. In true worship, the spiritual part of a born-again Christian is moved - in awe, in gratitude, in anticipation - by God's presence and promises. Since God is a Spirit (JOH 4:24) who can see the spirit of man, He demands spiritual worship. False religions are satisfied with outward forms of worship since idols are dead and blind, and worship is performed for men to see.
Secondly, true worship must be "in truth," ie, according to God's teachings in the Bible (JOH 17:17). In other words, we cannot worship God in the way we like but in the way that He has commanded. Obviously, God has commanded a way of worship, otherwise Jesus would not have said that we must worship Him "in truth." Instead He would have said that as long as we worship "in spirit" (ie, sincerely in our spirits), it would not matter how we worshipped.
Much of Charismatic worship mimics the style of the world, eg. worldly music, worldly dancing, swaying, clapping, disorder and noise. Often it is difficult to differentiate the sound from a Charismatic church from that of a night club or disco. This type of worship produces outward forms of excitement, fun, pleasure and energy but little moving in man's deepest part, ie, in his spirit. On the contrary, there is a deep sense of emptiness in his spirit when the worship ends.
The Bible tells us: "be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (ROM 12:2). In other words, we should not use worldly methods that produce mere outward superficial forms, but we should use godly methods that stir up our spirits with deep lasting thoughts of God.
In false religions, priests chant mournfully on behalf of the worshippers, or the people sing "joyfully" with the help of strong rhythmical music. Christians are the only worshippers who sing joyfully - primarily motivated by the thoughts of the words that they sing. We can do so because God has "put a new song in our mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD" (PSA 40:3). This "new song"of "praise unto our God" which comes from the depths of our souls is so different from the body-shaking rhythm-generated singing of pagans that "many shall see it" (ie, many shall notice the difference), "and fear" (ie, reverence, honour) the God that we praise, "and shall trust in the LORD."
Since God has given us the "new song of praise unto our God" that attracts true seekers of God, why should we use worldly music that attracts a worldly crowd?
What characterizes Charismatic worship music? : We have learned in our recent series on Christian Music that music is made up of three basic components, namely, melody, harmony and rhythm. A music composer is first inspired by pleasant or lofty thoughts to compose the melody. For example, when he reads a beautiful poem about God's mercy that matches his own experiences of God, he is inspired to pen a melody for that poem. His spirit is involved in writing the melody.
After he has penned the melody, he needs to "add flesh" to the melody with the necessary harmony (ie, alto, tenor, bass). His intellect is involved with this aspect of composition.
His composition is also given a rhythm (or pulse) - which is the part that causes bodily movement. This is the part of music associated with the body.
The most important part of music is its melody, ie, the "spiritual" part. This is the part of music that most people remember. It is the part of music that carries the message of the lyrics. For example, a "peaceful" tune will emphasize the message about a gentle and caring God. The next important part of music is its harmony. This is the part of a piece of music that trained musicians recognize and appreciate. Untrained listeners are generally unable to dissect and analyze the harmony. This is the "intellectual" part of music. Lastly, rhythm completes the piece of music. Rhythm causes the body to respond. This is the "physical" part of music.
A balanced man is one who is firstly spiritual, then intellectual and lastly physical. Similarly, a balanced piece of music is one in which the melody is dominant over harmony, which is more important than the rhythm. Like the amount of salt in food, there should only be "pinch of rhythm" in good music. If true worship must be "in spirit" then good Christian music must be primarily melodic, because it is the melody that most helps our spirit to worship by emphasizing the meaning of the lyrics of the song.
The main musical instrument in Charismatic worship (and rock music) is the drum-set or other rhythm instrument (eg. rhythm guitar). Therefore, rhythm dominates most Charismatic music. The strong rhythm generates bodily movement - stamping of feet, clapping of hands, swaying of bodies, pumping of hips - which automatically dampens spiritual and intellectual activities. Outwardly, there is much movement, excitement and fun, but inwardly in the spirit and mind there is little or no activity. This creates the kind of physical worship that is found in most false religions but is the very opposite of true worship "in spirit and truth."
What kind of musical instruments should be used in church? : Psalm 150 called on the Israelites to praise God with all types of musical instruments. This does not mean that they could use any type of musical instrument in the Temple. However, whenever they played an instrument or danced (eg. at festivals, or weddings), they were to glorify God. The message of this psalm is that we should glorify God in every possible way (1CO 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God").
Temple worship was carefully controlled. The only musical instruments approved for Temple worship were the harp, the psaltery, the cymbals and the trumpet (1CH 16:4-6, 25:1, 2CH 29:25-27, EZR 3:10, NEH 12:27,36) and no other instruments were allowed in Temple worship.
Tambourines were used especially in the fields during festive occasions (PSA 81:2-3), or during victory celebrations of Jewish troops returning from battle (EXO 15:20, JUD 11:34, 1SA 18:6, 2SA 6:5, PSA 68:25).
While the Bible does not specify what instruments should be used for church services, we must be careful to choose appropriate instruments that will glorify God, will not produce carnal worship and will not stumble worshippers (eg. using an instrument that is generally associated with ungodly musicians).
Should Christians dance in church? :PSA 149:3 and PSA 150:4 are often used to justify dancing in church. Folk dancing was part of Jewish life. (Please note the difference between wholesome folk dancing where there is no contact between opposite sexes and modern dancing where there is intimate contact.) They danced in thanksgiving for a good harvest and for victory in war. These two verses simply teach the principle of glorifying God in whatever we do. Jews never danced in the Temple!
Some Charismatics claim we should dance in church because King David also danced. It is true that he danced when the Ark was recovered from the Philistines (2SA 7:14-16). It was only natural for him to dance joyously on such a joyous occasion. As far as is recorded in the Bible, this was the only occasion that David danced. In fact it was so unusual for him to dance, that it embarrassed his wife greatly (2SA 7:16). When the Ark was brought into the Tabernacle, David stopped dancing and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings (2SA 7:17).
Should we clap, wave and lift up our hands in church? : Psalm 47:1 exhorts God's people to clap their hands, whenever Israel gained a victory over their enemies. However, Jews never clapped their hands in the Temple. While it is good to express our thanksgiving in many different ways, we must be careful to do the right thing in the right place and at the right time.
Leviticus 7:30 is used by some to support the practice of waving hands in church. However, a careful reading of the passage (LEV 7:28-31) reveals that the priests held in their hands the breast of the sacrificial animal, and waved it as an offering to God. Charismatic waving of hands is different - it is usually a part of the swaying of their bodies in reaction to the music.
Psalms often speak of the lifting up of hands in worship (PSA 63:4, 119:48, 134:2, 141:2). Jews lifted up their hands to the waist level with palms facing heavenwards. The open palms symbolize purity (PSA 24:4) and expectancy. Charismatic lifting up of hands has more to do with bodily movement than purity and expectancy.