“Jesus is the glory of our worship in death” (Bob Kauflin, supported by the following quote):
If it were possible for a created soul fully (I mean, up to the full measure conceivable in a finite being) to “appreciate,” that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme bliss. (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms)
This post will consist of a few bits of critique of Bob Kauflin’s notes from his address “THE WORSHIP LEADER AND JESUS CHRIST” at the Doxology and Theology conference in Frisco, TX, and the Christian Musicians Summit in Seattle, WA. Please know, before I begin, that I have great respect for Bob Kauflin’s songwriting, his heart and sincerity of devotion.
Kauflin’s first assertion:
“The God of the Bible is Triune, Father, Son, and Spirit”
I prefer to say, for example, that the God of the Bible is almighty, majestic, and beyond description. Just He is only sort-of “He,” He is only sort-of “three.” (He actually transcends gender; He also transcends number, and this “triunity” is more a human formulation than a biblical one.)
Kauflin follows up with this:
“We worship all three persons of the Trinity as God.”
While he is correct for a large number of Christian worshippers today, I have found no biblical example of worship of the Spirit per se.
He continues,
“We can’t simply interchange the names of the Father, Son, and Spirit in our songs, or necessarily say the same things to each one.”
And in this, Kauflin is right on. Next, he comments,
“The Father is delighted and glorified when we honor his Son.”
The proof-text which follows is “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’” (Lk. 9:35) Logically speaking, I would have to agree that the Father is delighted when we honor Jesus, but I don’t know that there is a biblical passage or principle from which I can draw this. In reading the gospel accounts of this event, one could not necessarily infer worship from the Father’s message. Moreover, honor, as Kauflin exhorts, might or might not come with hearing. What the texts say is that the Father said to listen to the Son; the intent might have included worship, but probably dealt more directly with hearing Jesus over the prophets “seen” at the transfiguration, and/or hearing Jesus’ teaching, in general.
Kauflin’s second major section begins with the statement “Jesus is the leader of our worship.” Hmm. Conceptually, Jesus is central, but to suggest that “He is the leader of our worship” in these times is tantamount to projecting a PowerPoint slide of a Photoshopped Jesus of Galilee, holding a microphone and playing a Roland RD-600 digital piano. ’Nuff said.
“It’s not our perfect offerings that make our worship pleasing to God, but the perfect Christ.”
Yes, Bob, you are so right on this one.
“Our worship is made one by Jesus.”
I’m not sure what this means, even in the context of Kauflin’s notes. The use of Ephesians 2:14-16 (“For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility . . .”) is contextless and doesn’t really illuminate anything since most of us aren’t dealing directly with Jewish and Gentile division these days.
Kauflin does share some worthwhile lists — all apt expressions that draw us to Jesus:
The person of Jesus (Heb. 1:1-4; Col. 1:15-19)
1. Radiance of the glory of God
2. exact imprint of God’s nature
3. image of the invisible God
4. superior to angels
5. firstborn of all creation
6. has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
7. heir of all things
8. existed before all things
9. head of the church
10. fully God, fully man
11. King of kings, Lord of lords
The works of Jesus
1. created all things
2. upholds the universe by his word, took on flesh
3. obeyed his Father perfectly
4. made purification for sins
5. became sin for us
6. absorbed God’s wrath in our place
7. rose from the dead
8. ascended to his Father’s right hand
9. intercedes for his people
10. is coming back to destroy death, mete out justice, and live with his bride forever
MIscellaneous Kauflin thoughts and quotations:
We need to find, write, and sing more songs that spell out who Jesus is and what He has done (“In Christ Alone,” “Glorious Day,” “It is Finished,” “The Perfect Wisdom of Our God,” “Glorious Christ”).
Jesus should be bigger in our minds and hearts after we meet to sing his praise.
We need to help our people move beyond catch phrases and Christianese to think deeply about the glory of Christ.
And finally, a quote Kauflin shared from one Sinclair Ferguson:
“The evangelical orientation is inward and subjective. We are far better at looking inward than we are looking outward. We need to expend our energies admiring, exploring, expositing, and extolling Jesus Christ.”
Thank you, Bob Kauflin, for helping us think (and rethink) biblical, Christ-centered worship. Not everything you say is on target or justifiable from a biblical standpoint, but your sincere devotion is unquestioned.
In his blog (archive now unavailable, but referred to on another blog), Bob Kauflin commented on the popular “Above All,” written by Paul Baloche, giving an example of how he (Bob) responds to people who want him to use it in worship:
“There are a number of things about this song I really like. The melody is enjoyable to sing and easy to remember. It does a great job emphasizing God’s sovereign rule over all, and focusing on the sacrifice of Christ. The poetic images are engaging and the harmonic progression is creative.
But two parts bother me, both near the end of the song. The first is the line “you took the fall.” It seems like an understated way of describing what Jesus did. Not wrong, but not the best.
The other problem is the line, “and thought of me above all.” I have no question that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20). But he didn’t think of me “above all.” Jesus went to the cross to satisfy God’s righteous judgment against a sinful humanity. He thought of his Father’s holiness, justice, and glory above all. It may seem like a theological nuance, but it’s the difference between our faith being man-centered and God-centered. I don’t think that’s what the writers intended, but I think it could cause some confusion in people’s minds. Besides, I think we have other songs that better articulate Jesus died for because he loved us and for his Father’s glory. But, thanks for suggesting it, and please let me know if you have any other thoughts!”
In the grand scheme, there are a lot worse things than singing “you took the fall” to Jesus. While this expression (like “When the roll is called up yonder” and “there’s an all-seeing eye watching you”) may strike me as chincy, I’d rather have someone somewhat shallowly sing that than not to sing anything that honors Jesus at all.
Songs are more than filler. Since songs have bona fide thought-content, their messages should be examined. It’s not that we must comb through every syllable of every song judgmentally, yet care exercised over the thrust of the message could result in better-founded theological understandings among us all. When I subsist on expressions that call more attention to God than to me, my faith is more healthy.
Several years ago, in a state not too far away, I was ahead of my time.
I planned a series of what are now thought of as “worship sets” for an experiential group that was relatively open-minded and very open-hearted. The planning took many hours (and many cassette tapes, since few had CD burners at the time), but it was some very exciting spirit-time spent. The actual doing was over in a couple of hours, and it was sometimes not as exciting or fulfilling as the planning for me, but it was worship nonetheless, and as such, it was valuable for all of the participants, including me.
No one was doing this kind of thing then in our group of churches, save this small group of “Contemporary Music Worship Session” friends. Few were even listening to Christian radio, and although one or two in the group were more hip than I and would sometimes pass along songs to me for consideration for the next set, I was feeling like a trail-blazing leader ahead of my time.
On more than one occasion, a sincere soul approached me, in a vaguely concerned vein, expressing that somehow we were doing things we shouldn’t be doing, or that we should be less comfortable doing, or at least that we shouldn’t be doing yet. Ironically, these two sisters I call to mind are now beyond me in terms of what they accept and do on a regular basis. Way back when, they were living in their time, and I was living in “another time and another place” (thanks for the phrasing, Brent Lamb and Sandy Patti). These sisters were a little uncomfortable doing something out of their comfort zone, but, to their credit, they allowed themselves to be stretched. (I’m having trouble describing all this; I realize that I’m mixing the conceptual and chronological, i.e., that I’m trying to express ideas and feelings in terms of living outside one’s own time.) Now, my general sense is that these ladies are existing more “in their time and place,” whereas I am not.
Back to the worship sessions this group was experiencing together…. I would prepare the “practice tapes” and distribute them. I made a point of randomizing the order, so that the gathered worship session had an element of newness. After having internalized the messages of the songs over a period of weeks, via cassette tape in homes and cars, 10-15 of us in this group would meet in a living room and sing, pray, and bask in each other’s and God’s presence. One of the worship sets was themed around the second coming; in an over-verbal outburst of parousiac passion, I called it “Expecting His Coming: Longing To See His Face.” Nevermind that these days I shy away from the expression “His face” because it receives only rare mention in the scriptures, and more, because of ubiquitous, gratuitous rhymes with “grace” … this was a well-intentioned, relatively well-founded, albeit emotion-driven set of songs and meditations that included
I was, like, this “new music guru” in my small circle. OK, not a guru — just a champion of the new expressions I was hearing. I had one foot in my then-current situation, and the other, in another time, another place: I was interacting regularly with churches and believers of other types, and I was sometimes suspended betwixt two or more worlds. Some of this duality caused me angst, but mostly, it was a time of joy, purpose, and vibrant worship.
Regardless of the surrounding encouraging presence of relatively like-minded friends and the relative state of inspiration that ensued, I can remember kneeling in my living room and begging Jesus to come back. Although the clock might have said 8:14 on a Friday night in November of 1996 or 1998 or whenever it was, and although it was a time and place filled with spiritual comfort and affirmation on all sides, I was — God be praised for dwelling in my heart to this extent! — more interested in being with Him spiritually and eternally than in any creature comforts or human affirmations. Elusive, humanly positive feelings that might arise within were not merely taking a “back seat” then; I was in another vehicle, on another continent.
Several years ago, in a state not too far away, I was ahead of my time. Now, I’m not.
These days, I don’t often think as worshipfully of the second coming. I don’t worship as often, period. My faith is in a different phase now. I’m not proud of this, and I’m not necessarily feeling guilty about it, either. I’m just acknowledging it.
Today, though, after losing a little sleep last night after a very discouraging Wednesday, I hear a faint, wistful voice, tucked far away inside, begging Jesus again. I don’t have the same expressions within me that I had 12 or 15 years ago, when the group met to worship in my home through verbalizations like “Longing To See His Face.”
These days, it’s more of a desperate, earthly dissatisfaction and restlessness that causes me to long, somehow, for the Messiah’s final return. My memory is reasonably good for past things that are important, but my longing for promised, glorious future is dull. Without effort as I wrote this morning, I even remembered the name of the songwriter of “Another Time, Another Place,” not to mention reliving fairly well the feelings I had, years ago, while worshipping on an occasion or six. But I am unable, now, to recapture those feelings or any that are very much like them. I long to long. I yearn to yearn. But I cannot seem to do either in a direct sense. Those feelings were in another time, and I’m now “ahead” of that.
Yes, many years ago, in Delaware, I was ahead of my time. Now, I’m not. I’m not basking. I’m just abiding. Or maybe trudging. Sometimes, in some places, this is all we can do for a while.
~ ~ ~
Postscript I understand that in centuries past, the cry of the Christian heart (and voice!) was marana tha (yes, two words). Come back, LORD. Perhaps this practice has been overstated for the sake of “Christian” gimmickry and the marketing of Christian paraphernalia these days, but it’s inspiring nonetheless, and it seems to be biblical (2Tim 4:6-8; Rev. 22:17,20; and maybe Acts 7:56 relates, too).
I still like the marana tha idea, but I can’t at this point in time utter it with feeling. Uttering it with well-founded faith may be better, in the long run. I do feel a disconnected yearning — a yearning to be able, once again, to yearn.
