An Advocation for God-Centred Worship

One of the great stories of the bible that I am drawn to is the story of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10. They were the eldest sons of Aaron, meaning they were priests of Israel, but they were very much bad ones at that. Their crime against God, beyond potential intoxication, was that they had took censers, put fire in them and incense and then offered an “unauthorized fire” or “strange fire” to God. God then consumes them with fire and they die. The reason this story draws so much of my attention is that growing up in the church, I always asked the question of “why?” Why do we do the things the way we do them? Why do we sing the songs that we sing? Why does our worship, look the way it does? Having become a pastor, these questions have only deepened over the past 12 years in ministry. And having studied both the biblical basis and teaching on worship, and the cultural norms of contemporary Christian worship, my fear is that our worship has become anthropocentric (human-centred). The reason I say this is many, too many for this article, but it primarily shows itself in what we teach, what we sing, and what we do in worship. If worship is for God and not for us primarily, all elements of our worship ought to be centred to Him.

                Now the rebuttal I often get on this is that God sees the heart. That nothing we do can ever be perfect. I agree with these statements but God’s ability to look at our hearts is no excuse for us to not be diligent in our efforts in worshiping Him rightly. We long for the day we are all in His embrace worshiping our God forever, don’t we? Then our worship now matters because it speaks to our posture before our God. It also models worship for generations to come. Growing up in the church, I walked away disappointed from church worship because it didn’t stir my emotions, it didn’t make me feel any certain way and I wasn’t stimulated. But that’s not what worship is about, because it isn’t about me. It is about God and what should ultimately stir me is me giving Him what He desires in the way He wants it. Just like when I find that perfect gift for my wife, it brings great joy to her and then to me.

                My appeal to you brothers and sisters, pastors of churches and leaders of congregations, is to not be negligent as Nadab and Abihu were. Instead, let us be men and women of God’s Word, for it is the greatest instructor of God’s desires and His will. What better way to centre our worship on God than to draw our focus to His revealed will in His Word? The great Puritan theologian John Owen once said, “God never allowed the will of the creature to decide how best to worship God. Worshipping God in ways not appointed by him is severely forbidden.” What we teach, what we sing, what we pray and what we do in the assembly of God’s people for the worship of God simply matters. The story of Nadab and Abihu, and even Cain and Abel, tell us that yes, the heart of the worshiper is seen by God, but the true worshiper seeks to honour God in ways that He longs to be honoured. The bible is our greatest tool for centering our worship of Him on Him. God bless.