Has our Culture become an Idol?

Big question. I'll make this point short though. I have noticed African American Christians (I can't speak for European-Americans, or other hyphenated Americans) have a rather chauvinistic view when it comes to church and worship culture. I have been criticized for teaching my little one psalms set to "European" tunes. I had to think: is this a sin? At the same time, we have sung a psalm set to an African tune. Go figure.

Does the communion of the saints mean that ethnic groups remain segregated and worship in cultural ways nullifying the commandments of God? Can we draw from reverent and appropriate tunes from the global church?

If churches reformed their worship to the elements we see in NT, maybe the cultural questions and chauvinism will fade away.

Worship that is a Covenantal Dialogue

For readers who are African American Baptist or outside of the Reformed tradition, the title of this blog entry may sound strange, or may seem as though I'm referring to the traditional "call and response" mode of worship in traditional African American Baptist worship. What I am referring to is an ordered way of liturgy. In the annals of this blog, I've written about liturgy so I'll refrain from warming cold soup this time. What is behind this worship principle is the covenant. The Church is a covenant community and worship is covenantal. God greets us, we respond through praise and prayer, and God speaks to us (Scripture read and preached). This is biblical call and response.

I want to focus on the response. We respond in prayer and praise as a covenant community, a community of priests. This is why I believe the Scriptures teach that worship song is congregational, not choir or soloist alone. In African American Baptist churches, the choir has near top-billing. While the choir does its thing, the congregation has an option to sing with the choir (granted if it is a song known), or just to clap and stand and encourage. In this we have a bifurcated priesthood.

Oh, would African American church return (yes, I said return) to congregational singing. That would mean going back to singing psalms and doctrinally correct hymns. Return, my people, return.

Regulative Principle is Biblical

A friend of mine told me that his pastor upon learning that we coming here to Grand Rapids to study and worship told him "to watch out for that regulative principle." The pastor is a Calvinist, and offers words of warning about the regulative principle. In my estimation, to be a Calvinist is to hold to the regulative principle. In posts long ago, I made the case (convincingly, I pray) that historic Baptists do hold to the regulative principle in agreement with the Calvinistic wing of the Reformation.

Yesterday as I thought about defending the practice of congregational psalm-singing using the NT I re-read portions of 1 Corinthians 14. To refresh some memories, the regulative principle asserts that God must be worship according to his commands; we must worship God within the confines he has set. In NT we see Jesus and his apostles regulating worship. Jesus regulates the Sabbath Day, and he renders the Passover obsolete by insitutionalizing the Lord's Table that points to him. Paul in Corinthians regulates the worship practices of the Corinthians. Note in this chapter that Paul approves of the singing that took place at the Church of Corinth. He approves of psalm-singing. He deems psalm-singing a part of New Covenant worship never to be neglected. Also note that he mentions no other type of singing. The Church at Corinth practiced exclusive psalm-singing.

For those who rail against exclusive psalm-singing, would you substitute coffee for the fruit of the vine at the Lord's Table? Would you substitute good Christian literature for reading the Scriptures in corporate worship? Why not? We know that there are clear commands behind our rituals in worship, and we have no liberty to do as we please. This is all the regulative principle argues. Is this something to be warned about? Or is it something to be joyful about?