Subscription Lists
The Way
by Kevin Pauley
"Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and there call out this word: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds, and I will allow you to live in this place. Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD. Instead, if you really change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, if you no longer oppress the alien, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.” – Jeremiah 7:2-7 HCSB
[1] There is an old joke about the difference between hymns and praise and worship choruses. Apparently, a farmer was trying to explain the difference between the two types of music to his wife. He said, “If I was to sing a praise chorus it would go like ‘Oh, Martha, Martha, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the cows, cows, COWS are in the corn!’ But if I was to say the same thing in a hymn it would go ‘Yea, those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight broke free from their shackles, their warm pens eschewed. Then goaded by minions of darkness and night they all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.’”
That joke is so old that we’re not sure whether to laugh or cringe when we hear it. However, I think that its antiquity is largely due to the fact that humans have not changed in the last several millennia. Even the prophet Jeremiah struggled with the mindless repetition that characterizes many praise choruses. He said the people were in the Temple chanting, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.” What did it get for them? Nothing.
It was not that God preferred hymns by Fanny Crosby. The problem lay in the fact that while they proclaimed on the Sabbath that they belonged to the Temple of Yahweh M’Kadesh, the Lord Who Makes Holy, they were spending the rest of the week living like the children of Satan.
God’s favorite music is whatever style from classic hymns to Jars of Clay is sung by righteous and holy people. The best sacrifice we can make to Him is not a bigger sound system but a changed life. Justice, integrity, ethical living and compassionate mercy create music to rival the heavenly hosts’ praise band.
So, let’s spend a little less time and effort on the “worship wars” and a little more on the “yetzer hara war”[2], if you please.
[1] Handel Choir of Baltimore
[2] War on the negative impulse to sin
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "The Way" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.