How'd I get to be so Conservative?

Let me preface what I am about to write with this obvious point: I am a sinner whom God has (and still) showered mercy upon. I approach the topic of my theological conservativism without an attitude of high-mindedness, but from one of firm conviction based on the word of God.

I am conservative based on two streams: first, my upbringing in church has been toward the conservative side. In both churches I was a member of while growing up, my pastors preached a simple gospel and were men who stood in the truth. Second, embracing the Reformed tradition has influenced me greatly. Being a "Reformed Baptist" has caused me to take the whole of Scripture seriously. For example, I've written extensively on the issue of biblical worship. I've attempted to leave behind my cultural strings as it comes to shaping the elements of worship. I have found that NT worship is simple: praise (I believe in psalm-singing exclusively with maybe some "bible songs"), prayer, preaching, and the sacraments. We can argue whether or not alms-giving was part of the NT elements of worship. Nevertheless, the elements are few and simple. They come to us from the revealed word of God---all of it. All of these elements are contained in OT worship in both Tabernacle/Temple and in Synagogue.

One thing that glares off of the pages of Scripture in OT as it pertains to the "how" and "what" of worship is that God's OT people were prohibited from innovation or bringing in elements of worship from the nations surrounding them. These are moral laws, not ceremonial. What does this mean for African American Baptists? We must destroy the "images" of some of our African-based worship practices. (Maybe I may get some naysayers on this point since I wonder if there is anyone out there reading).

How are we to apply passages such as Deut 7:5-6 and Jeremiah 19:4-5? These passage relate directly to idolatry in worshipping in the ways of other nations. The Jeremiah passage gets to the heart of what Reformed theologians call the "regulative principle of worship:" "And they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it unto my mind)." Some argue well it's not idolatry if God has not commanded against it. Wrong. This passage smacks against it.

African American Christians please take these particular verses to heart with prayer: the dancings, shoutings, and other demonstrative practices outside of biblically-revealed elements of worship are idolatrous. Let us be careful.

May God help us all.