As Christians in this world we must live in the very presence of sin all around us. We must also live with the reality that sin dwells in us. I wish I would never sin now that I am in Christ, but Christ and the apostles teach us that we do. This is why the doctrine of justification is so vital, and Luther called it the article by which the Church rises or falls. Without justification, Christians are left to attempt to earn our salvation. This is impossible. Without justification, all will go to hell. Thank God that by the merits of Christ all believers are justified.
In light of this, I'm referring to the day-to-day struggle with indwelling sin, two psalms come to my mind immediately. As I have stated over and over again, the psalms are for singing not only for reading. Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 come to my mind. Since I began to sing psalms in my devotional life, I've sung Psalm 51 the most. The gospel is there; forgiveness through the gospel is there. The assurance of a sinner's salvation is there.
As I ruminated on this today, I said to myself: "Can we do better?" What I meant is that we can write nothing better that gets at the heart of our sinful condition and the remedy provided by God through Christ. Psalm 51 is sufficient if read, and it is sufficient when sung and prayed. This is why I love to sing the psalms, and this is why I believe we should sing the psalms to the exclusion of all humanly written and devised compositions. We can do no better; it is no contest. The Holy Spirit is God Almighty, and he inspired David, Asaph, Moses, and other psalmists and prophets to write spiritual songs. God has given us these to praise him with, to pray, and to learn of our conditions. If we believe in the sufficiency of Scripture we must believe that the psalms are sufficient for our praise of God. Oh, would the words of the Holy Spirit rest upon our lips as we praise our God! Think about it: is Charles Tindlay greater than the Spirit? Is Thomas Dorsey? Alex Bradford, Andre Crouch, Donald Lawrence, etc.? These gospel song writers are fallible and subject to error. What the Spirit has written is inerrant. Every word is pure; the doctrine is perfect. Perfect praise available to the imperfect.
Pray and sing with me: "God, be merciful to me, On Thy grace I rest my plea; Plenteous in compassion Thou, Blot out my transgression now; Wash me, make me pure within, Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin."
Friday, December 18, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Calvin, Singing, and African American Praise Service
Very few African American Baptists realize how indebted we are to Calvin and the Protestant Reformation for many of our cherished beliefs. Those who know a little about Calvin have a narrow view of him, and see him as overly cerebral, stuffy, cold, and too intellectual. On the surface Calvin's Institutes, seems to be monstrous and too heady for the average Joe or Jane Christian. Not so. It is full of sharp intellect, yes; but also Calvin's personal winsomeness shines.
One aspect of Calvin's theology that is often overlooked is his theology of worship. Obviously Calvin is consumed with the doctrine of God in the Institutes, and his theology of worship emanates from this. Two things are important to consider regarding Calvin's theology of worship: first, God is sovereign and must be worshiped; and second, God commands how he is to be worshiped. Within this, reverence and humility in worship is a necessity and commanded as I wrote of last week.
With this stated, Calvin's remarks on singing reflect the above mentioned emphases. In Book 3 Chapter 20, Section 32, Calvin states that singing must "be tempered to that gravity which is fitting in the sight of God and the angels" because singing helps us to pray. Elsewhere, Calvin would assert that singing is a second type of prayer. Anyone would say that there is a humility and reverence inherent in prayer; therefore, Calvin recognizes that such should mark singing since it is a type of prayer.
If such would be applied in African American church circles, a great reform would occur. This reform would dismantle much of the performances characteristic of singing in African American churches. Some may argue that it is our culture to sing with such bravado and passion, but is it biblical? No Christian would argue that zeal and emotion should be left out of our corporate praises, but it is wrapped up in reverence and humility. Paul commands Christians to sing with the spirit and the mind. This assumes a type of sobreity in praise, and also a type of moderation. That's the key. Moderation. Calvin states, "when this moderation is maintained, it is without any doubt a most holy and salutary practice." Is this cultural? No, it is biblical. It is worthy of following and applying in African American worship.
One aspect of Calvin's theology that is often overlooked is his theology of worship. Obviously Calvin is consumed with the doctrine of God in the Institutes, and his theology of worship emanates from this. Two things are important to consider regarding Calvin's theology of worship: first, God is sovereign and must be worshiped; and second, God commands how he is to be worshiped. Within this, reverence and humility in worship is a necessity and commanded as I wrote of last week.
With this stated, Calvin's remarks on singing reflect the above mentioned emphases. In Book 3 Chapter 20, Section 32, Calvin states that singing must "be tempered to that gravity which is fitting in the sight of God and the angels" because singing helps us to pray. Elsewhere, Calvin would assert that singing is a second type of prayer. Anyone would say that there is a humility and reverence inherent in prayer; therefore, Calvin recognizes that such should mark singing since it is a type of prayer.
If such would be applied in African American church circles, a great reform would occur. This reform would dismantle much of the performances characteristic of singing in African American churches. Some may argue that it is our culture to sing with such bravado and passion, but is it biblical? No Christian would argue that zeal and emotion should be left out of our corporate praises, but it is wrapped up in reverence and humility. Paul commands Christians to sing with the spirit and the mind. This assumes a type of sobreity in praise, and also a type of moderation. That's the key. Moderation. Calvin states, "when this moderation is maintained, it is without any doubt a most holy and salutary practice." Is this cultural? No, it is biblical. It is worthy of following and applying in African American worship.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Return to Reverence
On the Lord's Day I attended a United Reformed Church in the Grand Rapids area, and the pastor preached on the second commandment articulated in the Heidelberg Catechism. For those unfamiliar with Reformed confessions, the Heidelberg Catechism is confessed by churches of the Dutch Reformed family---Reformed Church in America, Christian Reformed Church, and the United Reformed Church among others. The biblical passage used by the pastor was Hebrews 12:25-29. Verse 28 has struck me since I became Reformed. It reads: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."
I know I've commented on this issue before, but I feel the need to re-iterate one thing. First, when discussion of worship in an African American context takes place there lacks discussion of what pleases God in our worship and what God requires. This verse clearly teaches the how of our worship, and this regardless of what ethnicity we are. Reverence and godly fear must pervade every aspect of our worship. Reverence refers to a sense of awe---an awe that results in a type of humility before God. Our praying should have this quality, our singing, our reading of the Scriptures, and our preaching. The music should be reverent, not upbeat but not sorrowful. We can rejoice while remaining reverent. We should do as the psalmist sings in Psalm 2 "rejoice with trembling."
I'm sorry to say that worhip in African American churches have little reverence. Often what I see is that man is the audience, not God. The emotionalism, the histrionics, the performances, etc. Are these reverent? Oh, God; give thy people a fresh sense of thy holiness when they gather to worship thee.
I know I've commented on this issue before, but I feel the need to re-iterate one thing. First, when discussion of worship in an African American context takes place there lacks discussion of what pleases God in our worship and what God requires. This verse clearly teaches the how of our worship, and this regardless of what ethnicity we are. Reverence and godly fear must pervade every aspect of our worship. Reverence refers to a sense of awe---an awe that results in a type of humility before God. Our praying should have this quality, our singing, our reading of the Scriptures, and our preaching. The music should be reverent, not upbeat but not sorrowful. We can rejoice while remaining reverent. We should do as the psalmist sings in Psalm 2 "rejoice with trembling."
I'm sorry to say that worhip in African American churches have little reverence. Often what I see is that man is the audience, not God. The emotionalism, the histrionics, the performances, etc. Are these reverent? Oh, God; give thy people a fresh sense of thy holiness when they gather to worship thee.
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