Daniel 3: Worship is More Than Form.

Worship is a popular word in the church today. Everyone is trying to improve their “worship experience”. This often includes better music, more instruments, and more advanced technical support. We try to get a dramatic element into our church services by employing these and other musical elements because we now know that music is powerful in the way that it bypasses so much of our intellect and speaks directly to our hearts. It is almost as though the church has made a thoughtful decision to employ music for the purpose of bypassing the brain, ignoring the intellect. This obviously isn’t true of all churches but you cannot deny that our focus is more on worship and worship music than it is on holy living.

In Chapter 3 of Daniel, it is hard to miss the significance of a pagan king setting up his nest version of god and then commanding all who are present to bow down and worship when they hear the music. He had it down, didn’t he? He had a full orchestra with all of those instruments. He had a huge crowd gathered and it must have been an awesome sight to see such a great crowd bowing in response to all of the worship music that was being played that day. I wonder how moved Daniel and his friends were at the sight and sound of the event.

2 Timothy 3 speaks of what things will be like “in the last days.” In verse 5, we hear that people (in the last days) will have “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” This “form of godliness” can take a lot of forms and many have been eloquently spoken of by preachers over the years. As the church continues to change with the times, it is important that we examine its practices in light of the truth of Scripture to be certain that we are embracing true godliness and not merely a form of it. Is our worship the kind of worship that Jesus said we should participate in? Are we worshipping in spirit and in truth? Or, are we merely mimicking in body what we believe to be true worship, leaving out both the spirit of worship and the truth of worship?

Some will respond by claiming that I have taken an Old Testament passage out of context and have applied it wrongly to today’s church. Looking again to 2 Timothy, we find in chapter 3 that, “16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (KJV) We cannot exclude any portion of Scripture from our study of God and His ways if we would truly learn of Him and if we would genuinely draw close to Him in worship. In Daniel 3, we see a clear example of false worship against which Daniel and his friends stood, fearlessly.

Thought: It should not be our desire that worship be dry and dull, devoid of emotion. However, we also need to avoid using manipulative techniques to generate emotion that is devoid of the spirit of repentance and humility before a holy God. We should not use any technique that encourages us to come boldly before this Almighty Creator in an unholy condition which He cannot accept. That is failing to worship in truth and we have been commanded to worship in both spirit and truth. No false teaching or false, manipulative techniques to bring men and women to worship.

What we do need is the pure, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ to bring the hearts of men and women to a place of repentance so that their hearts and their minds can be prepared by the Holy Spirit of God for the act of worship. Unless we are prepared to confess our sin and repent of it, we have no business coming before God with any other request. Once our hearts are changed and cleansed, we are commanded to come before Him with thanksgiving, with a heart filled with worship. It is only when we come before Him in the way that He has prescribed that we will know His forgiveness, experience His love, and enjoy the peace that only He can give.

By His grace, there is more to come….