The Gospel According to U2, Part Three

I want to now start evaluating the "U2 worship service" biblically. On one hand, I enjoyed seeing the Cooneys again and spending time with them. I'm also a fan of U2's music, owning most of their music from the 80's on CD (after Achtung Baby, they took their music in directions that don't overlap with my musical tastes). But on the other hand, while it was an interesting talk, the service as a whole was definitely different than what I was used to.

The real question here, which doesn't seem to get much attention these days in seeker-sensitive churches, is this: Do we or God determine how we worship God? If church is more than just a social gathering, if we really believe that it is an assembly of believers gathered to ascribe worth to God through words and deeds, then we need to think through these questions. First of all, we're aware that the heart attitude in worship matters. We try hard to stay away from some kind of Pharisaical adherence to external forms that are devoid of any internal love for God and obedient faith. But sometimes we have a tendency to swing the pendulum too far the other direction and neglect the external words and deeds that we should speak and perform because of our internal faith, hope, and love. A proper biblical view will recognize the importance of both.

So the question needs to be asked: Do we or God determine how we worship God? In the Old Testament, it was clear. There were many specific directions about many elaborate sacrifices and ceremonies that the Israelites had to do in order to worship God properly, and they were commanded to do no more or less than what God had commanded. When they disobeyed the consequences were sometimes deadly (Leviticus 10:1-3). But there is no book of Leviticus in the New Testament, no book of detailed instructions for how to conduct our Sunday morning worship services. If God doesn't tell us in the New Testament how to worship him, then we are free to worship him however we see fit. But if God does tell us in the New Testament how to worship him, then we should obey him and worship him according to his word.

The New Testament is not silent on the question of how to worship God. There are examples in Acts as well as a number of passages in the epistles that deal with Christian worship. And if God has told us in his Word how he desires to be worshiped, then it is our duty as his worshipers to conduct our services of worship to him in a manner consistent with his instructions. The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith states this principle in the first paragraph of chapter 22: "The light of nature shows that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and doth good to all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in and served, with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures." The English Puritans who drafted this confession included one particularly insightful phrase, "nor the suggestions of Satan." When we worship God in a manner that he has not prescribed in the Scriptures, we may unwittingly be acting as pawns of Satan in his rebellion against God.

This principle is known as the regulative principle of worship, since our worship of God is regulated by God. When discussing the regulative principle, we can distinguish between elements and circumstances (if we want to go more in depth, we can also introduce forms and rubrics, but at that point we're stepping beyond my ability to discuss this intelligently, so I'll try to keep this simple). Elements of worship are those actions that make up worship. They're what makes worship worship; without them you don't have worship. Circumstances (and the aforementioned forms and rubrics) have to do with how the elements of worship are carried out. These have to do with the time and location of the service, the seating arrangement, the particular words used in a prayer, and with whether we stand or sit or kneel at various times, for example. In all of these areas, we need to follow the general principles set forth in Scripture ("Let all things be done for building up" (1 Corinthians 14:26); "All things should be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40); "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24); "Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe" (Hebrews 12:28)). Many of the circumstances of worship are based on culture and tradition, and it is up to the leaders of each particular congregation to make wise decisions in these areas.

However, taking this back to where it all started (evaluating the "U2 worship service" in Texas), I'd like to focus on the elements of worship, to see what elements of worship were included in the service and which ones were left out. The 1689 LBCF lists a number of elements in chapter 22, paragraph 5: "The reading of the Scriptures, preaching and hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord; as also the administration of baptism, and the Lord's Supper, are all parts of religious worship of God..." One can also make a biblical case for the inclusion of prayer and the collection of offerings as two more elements of worship. But beyond that, there really aren't any other elements explicitly prescribed in the New Testament. I'd like to address these elements next one or two at a time, and see how the "U2 worship service" measured up.