Religion, Worship and the Bible

Before Constantine became the Roman Emperor in 306 AD, there were very few local church buildings. Christians met in each other’s homes. In times of persecution, they had to be very discrete; loud singing was not possible. Christianity became officially recognised in 312 AD but was not made the official religion of the Roman Empire until the edicts of Theodosius in 380 and 381 AD. During Constantine’s reign he simultaneously supported and built both pagan temples and Christian churches. He gradually transferred his responsibilities as the head of the pagan priesthood to the bishop of Rome. However, it was many years before the ultimate title of head of pagan religion, Pontifex Maximus, was transferred to the pope. Subsequent popes have all inherited this title.

When Christianity became the official faith of the Roman Empire, everything changed. Ancient temples were often transformed into churches and heathen rituals and customs were ‘Christianised’. The names of Christian ‘saints’ replaced the names of pagan gods both as patrons of cities and as beings to pray to. Pagan festivals became Christian holy days or ‘holidays’. The Roman ‘Lupercalia’ and the ‘feast of the purification of Isis’ became the ‘Feast of the Nativity’. The festival of ‘Saturna’ became ‘Christmas’ and an ancient festival of the dead became ‘All Souls Day’. The festival on behalf of the European Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess, Eostre, which occurred in early spring (Eosturmonap was the equivalent to our month of April), was transformed into the Christian festival of Easter. The name remained, but the meaning changed. Even the headgear of the priests of Poseidon, which had the appearance of an open mouth of a fish on top of the priests head, was transformed into the bishops’ mitre. The secular Roman Emperor had been advised by a team of senior advisors or privy councillors. These were the ‘hinges’ by which the state was governed. The Latin for ‘hinge’ is ‘cardinalis’. When the Bishop of Rome became head of the Holy Roman Empire, he took on this system and was advised by a team of ‘cardinals’. Before Christianity was recognised Christians were persecuted largely because they refused to accept and worship the pagan deities. Subsequently Christians who refused to accept the doctrines of the established church in Rome were persecuted by the church itself.

The churches took over many of the practices of the pagan temples. Their altars, used for sacrifices or the offering of blood to the gods, were used to re-enact the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. The name ‘altar’ remained and the doctrine of the mass was established.

The robed choirs of the pagan temples became robed choirs of the churches, except they now had crosses embroidered on their robes. The use of robes remained unchanged. The pagan priests’ clothing was also Christianised, but they remained to distinguish the clergy from the ordinary Christians. Pagan priests were set apart from the lay public and so Christian priests clung to that same elite distinction. Even the services kept the same form with singing, formal prayers and choirs, yet were again Christianised.

It is easy to understand why the Christian leaders did this. The transition from pagan to Christian practice was thus smoother and therefore better tolerated by the public.

However, there was a downside. It meant that many of the distinctive Christian doctrines that we have preserved in the New Testament became blurred. Thus, the use of the word ‘altar’ in churches is misleading as there are no more sacrifices to offer. Our salvation has been won, once and for all, by the death of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. If we have made a life-long personal commitment to him, we are saved and eternally secure.

“But now he has appeared once for all, at the end of the age, to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26

“But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God . . . by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:12-14

This is important as the Roman Catholic doctrine of the mass perpetuates the false belief that Christ’s sacrifice can be repeated and it is therefore essential to keep doing this to ensure a continuing forgiveness. This undermines the Bible teaching that we are saved, once and for all, through our faith in Christ who died, once and for all, for us. Our religious practices have no role to play in our salvation.

Even the word ‘priest’ has entered the church from Jewish and pagan practices. In the New Testament there is no such elite group within the church. All Christians are now priests, commissioned to be God’s representatives among the people in the world.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father . . .” 1 Peter 2:5-6

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God . . .” 1 Peter 2:9

In the New Testament churches were led by ‘elders’ or ‘presbyters’ whose function is to teach the church and generally lead. These are, however, ordinary Christians whose salvation and leadership skills are simply gifts of God. Those in full time Christian work are not inherently different to those who serve Christ in secular posts. The distinction between the ‘religious’ and the laity is not a Biblical one.

When Martin Luther was a lad, he was very impressed by a painting of many people swimming painfully across a wide expanse of water towards a distant shore. This shore was heaven. In a boat besides the swimmers there was a group of the ‘religious’, represented by the pope, priests, monks and nuns. One, just one, of the monks was concerned about the swimmers, and he was encouraging them to keep going. Such a strong dichotomy is repulsive to New Testament teaching.

It is so easy for pagan or secular traditions to infiltrate the practices of all denominations, whether old or new. Sometimes they can be beneficial, easing the transition to a Christian way of thinking but they can also have a downside. Some evangelical churches have adopted techniques and practices that are derived from the secular world in order to draw people in. Christians can take up the sword, just as Peter did in the garden of Gethsemane, thinking that God’s ambitions will be achieved by such means, forgetting both the Bible’s teaching and lessons from history. What a disaster the Crusades were for the advancement of the gospel in the world. Television evangelists and healers can manipulate people by using emotional techniques and twist the truth by giving false promises of healing or prosperity in order to have a following. All such bubbles will eventually burst when God’s truth is known but they cause great harm to the true gospel.

What is worship?

Another false doctrine that has persisted through the acceptance of pagan practices is the idea that God is worshipped by our involvement in religious services and practices. In many churches, the weekly service, when Christians come together, is even called ‘the time of worship’. This again reflects pagan ideas. They went to their temples to worship their gods but then went outside to live much as they pleased.

In the Old Testament the obligatory temple rituals and sacrifices were a symbol to remind the people of God’s exclusive holiness. It was intended that this should lead to people living holy lives in the world. Furthermore the Old Testament tabernacle and temple rituals taught that God could be approached through the sacrifice of an unblemished animal. This sacrifice symbolised people’s sins being taken by a perfect substitute. Clearly, the sacrifice of a sheep could not, of itself, put people right with God. These symbols all looked forwards to the coming of Jesus Christ, who was to be the ultimate sacrifice for all sin. Jesus Christ alone has made God approachable. People in Old Testament times could only be saved through the future sacrifice of Christ; today we can only saved by the past sacrifice of Christ.

Even the Old Testament prophets had to remind people that outward religion, however theologically correct, could not make man acceptable to God without peoples’ hearts being set on living as God wanted. The prophet Amos reminded God’s people that their services, offerings and singing did not impress the Lord whatsoever. He wrote,

“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.” Amos 5:21-24

King David recognised this same truth,

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:16-17

Even the Old Testament teaches that the worship God requires is holy living.

“Worship the Lord in the splendour of holiness.” Psalm 96:9

An alternative translation which is preferred in the New International Translation of the Bible (NIV) reads,

“Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness.” Psalm 96:9

No human being can be holy enough for God; we can only be acceptable to God when we are resting on the holiness of the Lord Jesus, with whom we must be intimately linked. I am accepted by God because Christ’s righteousness has been credited to me. It is not my righteousness but his that gains me acceptance by God.

In the New Testament this truth is emphasised again and again.

“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17

Pagan religion teaches that to be right with god, people must enter god’s association through an initiation rite and then live according to their rules. When the final judgment comes, it is their hope that their lives will be considered good enough but there can be no certainty. This is the very antithesis of the Christian gospel. The gospel teaches that no man can be good enough but, if we are followers of God’s Son, then it is His righteousness that will be our passport to heaven. Such a relationship with Jesus will inevitably lead to changed lives that will focus on living to please him.

“If any-one is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

The key to being accepted by God is a personal relationship with Jesus. At a recent conference, an ordained minister suggested that God can be worshipped through beautiful buildings and the beauty of a well-designed liturgy and fine singing. Nowhere in the New Testament can such ideas be found. Inspiring buildings and awesome services may satisfy us and can even remind us of the great God who made us, but they are not in themselves worship. They can even have an emotional impact on us, but an emotional high is not worship. The Bible is clear that worship is the response of a person’s heart to God and is seen by the way they live obediently, seven days a week. The words ‘worship’ and ‘discipleship’ are synonymous in New Testament thinking.

Jesus explained to a woman of Samaria that he was God’s Messiah and that commitment to him was the way to worship God. He rejected the idea that religious services were, of themselves, worship.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24

Paul makes the same point that it is how we live in response to our faith that is real worship,

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to god – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1

James also warns us about the sort of religion God appreciates,

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:26-27

In New Testament teaching, the temples of the church are the Christians. Paul writes,

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God . . . therefore honour God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

God made the world and gave us the ability to appreciate beauty in all its realms. However the beauty God really appreciates is the beauty of a person truly committed to him, who is living as his representative. Such beauty of character is achievable by all people, whatever their status in life. Peter discussed the role of wives in these terms,

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. Instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.” 1 Peter 3:3-5

Some churches emphasise the beauty of their buildings, the gold decor of their ‘altars’ and the expensive robes of their priests. This is a residue from the practices of the old pagan temples; they are certainly not New Testament emphases.

There is only one place in the New Testament where ‘worship’ is a corporate event.

“While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabus and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed . . .” Acts 13:2

Even here, the repeated association with fasting suggests this was a prolonged period of seeking the Lord’s will and not a church service.

Singing, praise and even dance are mentioned enthusiastically in Scripture, especially in the book of Psalms. However, this is always a response to the nature of God and the undeserved relationship we have been given. In pagan religious services, singing and dance were used to whisk up an emotional feeling about their god. It is common to have a manufactured joy or excitement that comes from the group atmosphere or the rhythmic music. In contrast, in Christian meetings the joy expressed should be a genuine heartfelt response to who the Lord is and what he has done for us. So in a Christian meeting, one person may be truly praising God, whilst his neighbour is just having a good time. Only when a person is focused on the Lord and is expressing love for him, that singing, dance or prayer can be included within a Biblical definition of worship. Worship is whole-life recognition of the ‘worth-ship’ of our Lord and Saviour.

What are New Testament Churches to emphasise?

Jesus’ main ministry was teaching people the word of God. His apostles’ main ministry was likewise teaching people the Word of God. When three thousand people were converted after Peter’s Pentecostal sermon, they joined the church. They met every day in the court of Gentiles in the temple of Jerusalem, where they ‘devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching . . .’ Yet today many churches no longer have this emphasis on teaching and training.

The danger is that the pastors can take their eyes off their main purpose - to teach the word of God and to model Christ. It is easy to be so swamped by pastoral matters, social concerns, leading services and political issues that the teaching of God’s Word takes second or third place. Jesus faced similar pressures to make other matters the priority. Larger and larger numbers of people were coming to him to be healed. He was getting literally ‘crowded out’. What was he to do?

“That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed. The whole town gathered at the door and Jesus healed many . . .

Very early the next morning, while it was still dark Jesus . . . went off to a solitary place where he prayed. . . . ‘Everyone is looking for you!’

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come. So he travelled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.” Mark 1:33-38

Jesus clearly prayed about this conflict of interests and decided he must make time for his prime purpose, the proclamation of God’s Word. Are we superior to Jesus? Do we know better than him?

In the book of Acts we read that the apostles were becoming overwhelmed with too much to do. They were giving talks, preparing talks and dealing with political issues as well as caring for church members and their problems. What was their solution? It was to appoint young, able, godly men to do the administration, so that they could be free to continue the really important work of teaching the word of God to all people.

“It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God.” Acts 6:2

Isn’t it strange that, in many churches, the opposite solution is accepted? Experienced gospel men are put into administrative roles as bishops, whilst the younger and less experienced do much of the teaching! Church leaders should never be primarily administrators, they should be seen as models of the Christian life and teachers of the Word.

The prime purpose of church meetings should be to ensure that peoples’ minds are fed through Bible teaching. This should be the primary reason Christians meet together. In many churches in the world this is no longer the case. It appears as if people come together primarily to sing or dance or somehow have an emotional experience of the presence of God. Church services can become a form of escapism from the harsh realities of life. Football supporters have found another form of escapism, as have those attending vibrant pop festivals. To enjoy such experiences is not wrong but even in a Christian context they are not worship. Some pastors, particularly those seen on American religious television, encourage the false belief that having heightened emotional feelings about God, is worship. Consequently, they help people have emotional experiences through loud, excited rhetoric and loud, rhythmic music.

In contrast, when large crowds of people came to Jesus he spent his time with them teaching. Whenever Peter and Paul met with people, they taught them the Word of God. That was their urgent priority. Do we share their emphasis?

Jesus’ priority

For Jesus, the Bible was God’s word to all people and its authority should never be doubted. Satan’s first attack on Adam was for him to question the authority of God’s word and it has remained the chief temptation ever since.

“Did God really say . . .”

Satan then goes on to deny the truth of what God had said,

“You will not surely die . . .” Genesis 3:1-4

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness by questioning what God had just said at his baptism,

“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22

Satan began,

“If you are the Son of God, . . .” Luke 4:3

Jesus was tempted to achieve his goal through satisfying physical needs (turning stones to bread), through compromise with worldly ways (‘I will give you all their authority and splendour . . . if you will worship me) and through the spectacular and miraculous (‘If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here). To each of these very real temptations Jesus replied,

“It is written . . , It is written . . , It is written . . .” Luke 4:4,8,10

For Jesus, the Scriptures were not to be tampered with or taken out of context, since they are the Word of God. Jesus said,

“Scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35

He recognised that the authors of Scripture were inspired by God himself.

“David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared . . .” Mark 12:36

After his resurrection, Jesus emphasised the importance of the message of Scripture.

“Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written . . .’ ” Luke 24:47

Jesus was very clear that he had come to proclaim the Word of God. Thus when he was giving his last talk to his disciples before his crucifixion, he kept emphasising this point.

The Holy Spirit has been given to convince people to accept the message Jesus gave to the world,

“. . . in regard to sin, because men do not believe me, . . .” John 16:10

The Holy Spirit will guide God’s people to God’s truth.

“I have much more to say to you . . . But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” John 16:12-14

The Holy Spirit has been given to the church for this very purpose, to facilitate the proclamation of God’s unchanging truth to the world, that Jesus ‘came from God’ (John 16:30). This truth is contained in the Scriptures.

Jesus then prayed. He saw that his work of preaching God’s message about how people may enter God’s kingdom through faith in himself, was nearly complete. He was now to become the means of forgiveness by dying on that cross. He prayed,

“Now this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” John 17:3-4

Jesus is clear that the passing on of God’s message was essential. His followers can only live through understanding and obeying what God said. God has taught us that forgiveness and power only comes through a personal relationship with his Son.

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They are yours; and you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” John 17:6

“I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.” John 17:7

Jesus recognised that the Scriptures were God’s word to the world. Referring particularly to his disciples, he prayed,

“None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” John 17:12

It is this message from God that the church is to pass on, but it is this message that will be so divisive.

“I have given them your word and the world has hated them.” John 17:14

Helen Berhane was a young divorced mother living in Eritrea, which was controlled by the ‘Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation Front’, an aggressive Communist organisation. This regime hated Christians. Helen was in her twenties and had become a Christian; she was a singer but also taught the bible in small groups. She was arrested by the authorities and incarcerated in a primitive prison consisting of many rusty containers. She was beaten repeatedly, her torturers insisting that she deny Christ. This brutal treatment continued for over two years, yet she wrote in her prison,

“Sometimes I cannot believe this is my life. These four metal walls, all of us corralled like cattle, the pain, the hunger, the fear. All because of my belief in God . . . a God I am forbidden to worship. I think back to the question I have been asked many times over my months in prison,

“Is your faith worth this, Helen?”

As the guards continue their rounds, I whisper the answer,

“Yes.”

Jesus prays that, in spite of the opposition, the church will stay faithful to God’s truth and keep proclaiming it to the world. The church is never to be a ‘holy huddle’, but must be out in the world as God’s messengers, proclaiming and living by God’s truth.

“My prayer is not that you will take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:16-18

There can be no misunderstanding. The church is primarily here to pass on God’s message or word to all people. It is no coincidence that Jesus was called ‘The Word’ - he is the church’s message.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” John 17:20

There have been many attempts to unify Christian denominations. It is a worthy aspiration but the only basis can be the acceptance of God’s word as the ultimate authority and the need to share the message of salvation through faith in Christ.

“May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23

After Jesus’ resurrection he walked with Cleopas and his companion to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem. They did not recognise him but talked about his own life and death. Jesus rebukes them because they did not understand what the Scriptures said about him.

“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:25-27

Later that day he met up with his disciples who were ‘startled and frightened’ to see him alive. Jesus explained to them,

“‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written . . .” Luke 24:45-46

If Jesus’ priority was to help people understand the Scriptures, shouldn’t this remain the priority of the church today?

Paul’s Priority

Bible teaching has historically been the emphasis of the church. Paul wrote to the Roman church about the advantage Jews had in being trusted with the Scriptures,

“They have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Romans 3:2

Paul gave to Timothy, shortly before his execution, this telling summary of what his life’s work should be about.

“14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Paul established the church in Ephesus by teaching, first in the synagogue and, when that was no longer available, in a hired school hall - the Hall of Tyranus. When Paul wrote to Timothy, who was helping to establish the young church in Ephesus, he again emphasised that teaching was to be his main function; both by his example and by what he said.

“ . . . but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. . . Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:12-16

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul is just as emphatic about the need for Scripture to be preached and taught.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Early Church

In the first century, Clement of Rome referred to the Scriptures as,

“ . . . true utterances of the Holy Spirit.”

In the second century, Athenagoras argued,

“God moved in the mouths of the prophets as if they were musical instruments.”

Augustine wrote,

“The authors of Scripture are free from error.”

This is in stark contrast to some modern religious leaders. Thus Steve Chalke, who used to be a Bible believing evangelical, has now argued that the Bible contains,

“ . . . numerous discrepancies, errors and downright contradictions,” as well as “oppressive and discriminatory measures.”i

“The idea that . . . it is ‘infallible’ or even ‘inerrant’ – in any popular understanding of these words – is extremely misleading.”

“In truth, there is nothing in the biblical texts that is beyond debate and questioning.”

“Rather, in my view they (the Scriptures) are . . . written by fallible human beings whose work bears the hallmarks of the limitations and preconceptions of the times and cultures they lived in.”ii

How can Steve Chalke and his organisation, ‘Oasis’, remain in the Evangelical Alliance organisation, when this exists to unite evangelical groups?

The church, like the Lord Jesus is primarily here to teach people God’s word. The Lord is clear that the goal is a united, loving obedience to God and his word. It is too easy to enjoy religion and not do God’s will.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

Churches must prioritise the teaching of God’s word.

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:50

Christian leaders must be clear and must be strong. The church is primarily here to teach people God’s word and we must insist on this.

BVP

i www.oasisuk.org/theology resources

ii Steve Chalke ‘Have we misread the bible?’ in Christianity March 2014 p. 32-37