Most Christians would agree that Scripture should guide our worship. But what does that look like in our weekly church services? Practical questions immediately arise about how sola Scriptura should be used to regulate worship.

Someone may point out that no less than Charles Spurgeon used the regulative principle to rule out the use of any musical instruments in worship. Spurgeon refused to allow an organ in the Metropolitan Tabernacle because he believed there was no biblical warrant for instrumental music in Christian worship. Some Christians today continue oppose instrumental music on the same grounds.

But at Grace Community Church, we employ instruments of all kinds, from trumpet and harp to loud cymbals. We find in Psalm 150 clear biblical warrant for instrumental music in worship.

Obviously, not all who affirm the soundness of the regulative principle necessarily agree in every detail about how it should be applied. Some point to such differences in matters of practice to suggest that the whole regulative principle is untenable. William Cunningham noted that critics of the principle often try to debunk it by resorting to the tactic of reductio ad absurdum:

Those who dislike this principle, from whatever cause, usually try to run us into difficulties by putting a very stringent construction upon it, and thereby giving it an appearance of absurdity. [But] the principle must be interpreted and explained in the exercise of common sense…Difficulties and differences of opinion may arise about details, even when sound judgment and common sense are brought to bear upon the interpretation and application of the principle; but this affords no ground for denying or doubting the truth or soundness of the principle itself. ^[1] William Cunningham, The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1989 reprint), 32.

Cunningham acknowledged that the regulative principle is often employed in arguing against things that may seem relatively unimportant, such as “rites and ceremonies, vestments and organs, crossings, kneelings, bowings,” and other trappings of formal worship. Because of that, Cunningham said, “some men seem to think that it partakes of the intrinsic littleness of things.” ^[2] William Cunningham, The Reformers and the Theolgoy of the Reformation (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1989 reprint), 35.  Many therefore conclude that those who advocate the regulative principle do so because they actually enjoy fighting over small matters.

Certainly no one should take delight in disputes over minor points. And it is undoubtedly true that the regulative principle has occasionally been misused in that way. An obsession with applying any principle down to the smallest details can easily become a destructive form of legalism.

But the principle of sola Scriptura as it applies to worship is nevertheless worth defending fiercely. The principle itself is by no means trivial. After all, failure to adhere to the biblical prescription for worship is the very thing that plunged the church into the darkness and idolatry of the Middle Ages. I have no interest in igniting a debate about musical instruments versus a cappella singing, hymns versus exclusive psalmody, choirs and soloists versus congregational singing, or other questions regarding music style. If there are those who want to use the regulative principle as a springboard for endless debates about such questions (or even more incidental matters), please leave me out. The issues that spark my concern about contemporary worship are far larger than that. They go to the very heart of what it means to worship in spirit and in truth.

My concern is this: The contemporary church’s abandonment of sola Scriptura as the regulative principle has opened the church to some of the grossest imaginable abuses— including virtually a carnival sideshow atmosphere. Even the broadest, most liberal application of the regulative principle would have a corrective effect on such abuses.

Consider for a moment what would happen to corporate worship if the contemporary church took sola Scriptura seriously. Four biblical guidelines for worship immediately come to mind. These have fallen into a state of tragic neglect. Recovering them would surely bring about a new Reformation in the modern church’s worship

Preach the Word

In corporate worship, the preaching of the Word should take first place. All New Testament instructions to pastors center on these words of Paul to Timothy: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). Elsewhere, Paul summed up his advice to the young pastor, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). Clearly, the ministry of the Word was at the heart of Timothy’s pastoral responsibilities.

In the New Testament church, the activities of the believing community were totally devoted to “the apostles’” teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). The preaching of the Word was the centerpiece of every worship service. Paul once preached to a congregation until midnight (Acts 20:7–8). The ministry of the Word was such a crucial part of church life that before any man could qualify to serve as an elder, he had to prove himself skilled in teaching the Word (cf. 1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:24; Titus 1:9).

The apostle Paul characterized his own calling this way: “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God” (Colossians 1:25). You can be sure that preaching was the predominant feature in every worship service he took part in.

Many people see preaching and worship as two distinct aspects of the church service, as if preaching has nothing to do with worship and vice versa. But that is an erroneous concept. The ministry of the Word is the platform on which all genuine worship is built. In Between Two Worlds, John Stott says it well:

Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced.^[3] John R.W. Stott, Between Two Worlds (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 82.

Preaching is an irreplaceable aspect of all corporate worship. In fact, the whole church service should revolve around the ministry of the Word. Everything else is either preparatory to, or a response to, the message from Scripture.

When drama, music, comedy, or other activities are allowed to usurp the preaching of the Word, true worship inevitably suffers. And when preaching is subjugated to pomp and circumstance, that also hinders real worship. A “worship” service without the ministry of the Word is of questionable value. Moreover, a “church” where the Word of God is not regularly and faithfully preached is no true church.

Only when the Word of God receives proper reverence will our worship be acceptable to God.

Next time, we’ll look at three more biblical guidelines for worship.

(Adapted from Worship: The Ultimate Priority)