The debate within the Adventist church over contemporary worship styles has been going on since the 1980s. The real issue of worship, however, resolves itself around the true character of the God we worship. Is our god “Baal” whose worship caters to self-pleasure; or, the God who reveals Himself in self-denial and the divine-human sacrifice on the cross?
This was ancient Israel’s dilemma as well as ours. All the spiritual confusion started when they called God “lord”—Baal. Then they brought in “contemporary” worship. It was “ecumenical.” It was good “outreach” to secular people. The Israelites liked it.
Ancient Baal worship was the worship of “self” disguised as the worship of God. It resulted in lawless behavior. Jeremiah pointedly asked: “Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not?” (7:9). Here is the unconscious sin.
The “watchman” is to sound the contemporary alarm.
All sorts of enslaving addictions arise out of the worship of “self”: alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, infidelity, hatred, backbiting, evil-surmising, sharp-dealing, apathy, etc. When God’s people lose their agape-love in exchange for eros-kind of faith motivated by self-interest, there is no end to the sins that can arise out of worshiping such a false god. The worship of “self”-idols is a violation of the first commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3).
What is the cure for worshipping our sin-addictions? The only cure for worshipping false idols is an understanding of the true character of God. “God is love”—agape (1 John 4:8). But one cannot understand love unless he “sees” how God has revealed Himself at the cross.
The “good news” dynamic about God’s character is illustrated by the prophet Isaiah’s experience when he wandered into the Temple one day. He thought himself fitted for “ministry” until he heard the words, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts,” and saw “the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:3). The character of God is holy-agape. Here is a “good news” 1888 concept. Isaiah saw God revealed at the cross by going into the Temple. This revelation fills the “whole earth.”
Isaiah declared: “Woe is me! For I am undone” (vs. 5). The closer he came to God the more he abhorred himself and his unchristlike character. Said Isaiah, “My heart is polluted in contrast with the righteousness of Christ.” Isaiah could never have written his 53rd chapter about the cross of Christ unless he had experienced that self-abasement early on in chapter 6.
Worship that is not cross-centered descends into entertainment, which appeals to the ego. When the forms and rituals of worship are not offered by “faith which works by love” (Gal. 5:6), then it is heathenism.