Homegrown Praise - Show Me Worship and I'll Show You Belief!

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Music Workshop

This Music Workshop article was submitted by Clay Davis,
Worship and Arts Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church.

Show Me Worship, and I'll Show You Belief!

By Clay Davis

An Ancient Phrase with Modern Relevance

On a dreary Sunday morning just a few months ago, I scurried up to the platform with the song list and a nagging sense that I had failed to properly plan for the service. This is not a rare occurrence for those of us who find little time throughout the week to plan for the Sunday event. Nevertheless, this particular Sunday morning the Holy Spirit convicted me and sent me on a journey to find God's will for the ministry of worship planning. I do not claim to have attained, neither have I apprehended, but I will share with you what I believe to be fundamental to proper worship service planning.

I was attending a worship conference several weeks ago when I ran across a Latin phrase that intrigued me: lex orandi, lex credendi. In its most basic sense, it means, "the rule of prayer is the rule of faith." From a worship standpoint, it may be interpreted, "the way we worship is the way we believe." This phrase reveals the natural relationship between worship and doctrine. Worship influences doctrine and vice versa. A good treatment of this principle is found in Geoffrey Wainright's Doxology. Wainright puts it this way, "…the law of our faith must establish the way we worship...[so] that, the whole liturgy contains the faith, in as much as it is a public profession of the faith of the church." In laymen's terms, our worship services should reflect and include all parts of our belief system. Our worship should not only accent and reinforce our doctrine, but our doctrine should influence and dictate our worship.

Worship: the Reflection of our Beliefs

Worship is a reflection of our belief system, and we can evaluate to what extent our worship supports our fundamental doctrines by asking ourselves the following questions:

If we only celebrate Holy Communion once every several months, are we not expressing a lack of priority on the remembrance of Christ's redemptive work?
If we overemphasize high praise, do we not neglect the significance of intimate worship, and vice versa?
If the majority of our music choices fall within a narrow range of musical styles, do we not selfishly place our own biases above the musical needs of the church body?
If we do not practice Water Baptism on a regular basis, could it be said that we do not consider Water Baptism to be the necessary subsequent profession of the New Birth?
If we do not allow for times of silence and meditation in our services, do we not irreverently bridle the tongue of God? He will not compete with our noise.
In this visually based society in which we live, should we not restore the arts to their proper place in the worship of the church?
If we emphasize any one part of the Godhead over another, do we not display our insensitivity to the proper treatment of the Trinity? A Trinitarian balance must be observed in our worship.

There is always room for individuality, and no two churches will have the same personality. Individual style is negotiable -- the content of worship is not. The layout of the worship service can be varied; however, what is included should be carefully, prayerfully, and biblically considered. Dr. Robert Webber's Planning Blended Worship is an excellent source of ideas and philosophies for worship service planning.

As worship leaders, we are faced with the challenge of overcoming some bad habits when it comes to service planning. Many times we come into a service unprepared and place it under the guise of Holy Spirit leadership. I am a strong advocate for spontaneity, but when we fail to do our part in planning our worship services, we undoubtedly will leave large doctrinal gaps in our liturgies. A prioritized doctrinal code must be established from which we can properly plan for worship.

In these last days, teachers of false doctrines will rise up and deceive even the elect (Matthew 24). It is fitting, then, to place a high priority on basic doctrinal teachings and reinforce them within the worship context. With strong winds of revival blowing, there will also be counterfeit moves that will not be readily detected. In I John 4:1, the writer warns us, "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God." Therefore, it is our duty to do everything in our power to teach the church sound doctrine and to train them to accurately and effectively express their faith.

For too long we have taken a lackadaisical approach to planning our worship services. Our two-fold pattern of worship -- sing a few songs and hear a sermon -- is not sufficient to establish our churches in the faith (Acts 16:5). We must find creative and effective ways to communicate our doctrine through our worship. Worship services should be designed so that church visitors can recognize the values and beliefs of the church after participation in just a few worship services.

The lex orandi, lex credendi principle is fundamental in reaching toward proper planning for our worship services. The law of our faith must establish the way we worship, and our worship should accurately reflect our belief system. As worship leaders, we must form a doctrinal code that will properly dictate to us what should be included in our services. However, once we come up with a plan for the service, we must not forget to surrender it to the Holy Spirit and let God have His way!

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