Perfect Worship?

0:00:01 - Speaker 1
Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture.

0:00:09 - Speaker 2
Hey, you guys, we're going to be talking about worship, what's acceptable, what's not. Who wrote the song? Who didn't? Where does it come from? Hey, what in the world is going on? Let's find out in the area of worship.

0:00:24 - Speaker 1
You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com Today. If this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us that's like saying amen or yes. Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs.

0:00:53 - Speaker 2
Hey everybody, welcome back to the podcast. This is a podcast. I cannot win. I can't win, that's okay, I don't really care about that. I just am delighted about the fact that I'm going to heaven based on the blood of Jesus Christ shed for me and you, at the cross of Christ in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, on Mount Moriah, at the top of Golgotha, all designed by God back in the book of Genesis and fulfilled in the four gospels. I love the fact that our faith is founded upon fact You've heard of that before Our faith as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Word of God, as a follower of Christ I'm not going to use the word Christian, because everybody's a Christian.

If a Mormon knocks on my door, they announce they're Christians. If a Jehovah Witness knocks on my door, they announce that they're Christians. I think if the new cultist I don't care who it is they oh, everybody's a Christian. You know I'm kind of getting away from using that term. I'm using the term now a Christ follower. And so if you're a Christ follower, you are forgiven, because Jesus died on the cross for your sins. He rose again from the dead to guarantee your justification, okay, and then he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you to make you the temple of the living God. Scripture announces and there's a day coming in this work called sanctification, when the spirit of God will have finished his work and you and I will either go to Christ at the moment of our death or the rapture will take place and we'll meet each other in the air because the job will have been completed.

Having said that, let's get down to the podcast. I cannot win. This is going to generate. I don't know if it's going to generate any more viewers than normal, but it will probably generate way more comments than normal, because everybody's coming from their own position on this one. But I have to. I have to announce something. Listen, you're hello. I have to announce something, what I'm about to share with you. I don't have any bullets in my barrel preloaded. I've got nothing preloaded. I have look within me with what I'm about to say. There is no guile. I don't have an agenda. With what I'm going to say to you. I, when you hear it, you're going to like freak, or you're going to think about it, or maybe you might even say, yeah, I'm kind of like you. I'm kind of like you.

It's the issue of worship. I assume doesn't have to be limited to but I'm assuming public worship, worship at church, for example. So here's the question that people ask, and I'll explain why I'm innocent before I am declared guilty. I am in my mid sixties and so I am a product of the Jesus people, the Jesus movement era. So, keith Green right Love song, the Way Denny Carell loved that guy. Darryl Mansfield, sweet Comfort Band, mustard Seed Faith.

Okay, 90% of you don't even know what I'm talking about, so I want you to, though, keep that in mind, because the plane field becomes level in a moment. You don't know who I'm talking about, but I don't know who you're talking about when, for example, when we do a song, either at the church I pastor, or at some gathering, or maybe I go to some stadium event, christian event, and there's a song being played, I always listen to the words to a song. Remember when we were not Christians, we sang the stupidest songs and wouldn't even know what they meant thank God, or maybe we did. But now you hear a song that you used to sing when you were in the world and it's like what a stupid song that was. But you know how we were. We didn't even know, we had zero discernment. So now, as a believer, I'm always listening to every word. And so for me if you know me, I'm a big freak about Bible doctrine. Okay, does it honor God? Let's hear this song. What are the words? Wow, that's awesome. Who's singing that song? You might be more curious than I am than who the singer is.

I personally don't care If I hear a worship song or Christian praise. I'm not a real big fan of. I'm confessing, I'm not a big fan of Christian praise music. I guess that's what it's called, right, contemporary Christian music. You know what? I just don't buy Christian albums, except I mean I love Danny Goki because he's a friend of mine. Love that kid, love them.

But outside of that, you know what? I just don't go out and buy Christian artists. I just don't have appetite for it. Sorry, I don't listen to much music. Classical type stuff, I love that stuff, but when it comes down to worship music, people will say how can you listen to that? You just I saw your lips moving, pastor Jack. You just saw your lips moving to that song. How could you dare sing that song? What? What are you talking about? It's an awesome song. Look at the words on the screen. Don't you know that that song by some people, some group? Nope, I didn't know that. This really happens in my life all the time, because A I never stop to look at who wrote that awesome song. You're going to come back and say you should look. I don't want to look, I'm not going to look. I judge the words of the song against the Bible and is it glorifying Christ. And I got to tell you if some really great super conservative Christian singer sings a stupid song that talks about I tell you what, I'm going to get in trouble, but let's just go for it, right? Who cares?

There was a song years ago, decades ago, called I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God, I'm a friend of God, I'm a friend of God. It's like oh, will you shut up about that song. It was so stupid. If you looked at the words, he's like um, his friend, he's my friend, it's just shy of having a big, you know purple dinosaur walk around singing it. It was like what the heck? It didn't make any sense to me and so I don't know who wrote it. Maybe you wrote it. I'm sorry, it was just dumb. It's a dumb song.

But when somebody comes along and says, um, uh, the song that says, do you hear, do you, do you see or do you hear the spirit of moving, or something we do, who sings that song, something, something? We respond by saying what's his name? Chris Tomlin. So Chris Tomlin sings that song, says whatever the words, is the spirit here among us, he is, he is. I don't know Chris Tomlin. I think I met him two or three times at an event. I don't know him. Uh, is he still walking with God? I don't know, but the words to the song, biblically, are tight.

All right, so I'm going to sing it. Well, what about? Um, what about this Hill song song? Well, I don't know about the what? I don't know who did songs, what songs? Oh, it's this song. So let's play real life stuff here right now. Oh, what, wait? So you're saying Hill song wrote this song that was just sung. Yeah, those are great words. Yeah, but Hill song wrote it, or I'm making this up, people. So bear with me. Cut a big slice of grace here.

What other pastor is stupid enough to take this topic on? Um, what? Who are the big guys? Who are the worship big deals, bethel elevation Hill song. Is that it Okay? So those guys don't you know they were, I don't know. Well, pastor, you should know.

Wait, are the words honoring and glorifying to God. Am I entering into the presence of God? Because it's doctrinally accurate. See, because I don't spend the time to find out who wrote the song. I look at the content of the English language used in the song, I judge it against my Bible and I conclude that's an awesome song. I'm going to sing it, oh. But if you knew the lady who sang? I don't know her and I don't want to know her. My conscience is clear and clean before God and I make that song a prayer to him in worship, okay, and I have total liberty and freedom in Christ to worship him. Because I don't know what you know about that song, okay.

Now if you know something about a song that bothers you, then you can't sing it. You can't sing it, you, but don't go tell your friend that they can't sing it. The Bible says that's not a good thing to do. You're imposing your conscience. If it's bad doctrine, let's all not sing it. Are you with me? Everybody? If it's bad doctrine, let's all not sing it. But if you know, the woman who sings that song slept with Rocky. Listen, you just turn that off, you get away from that song. But watch what happens. Watch how this goes south real quick.

Don't turn to your friend, who's completely innocent about that incredibly well-written song, and don't say to them did you know that three years ago she slept with Rocky? Guess what you just did? You just perpetuated a sin, you gossiped, you slandered and then you just abused the conscience of your friend. That's at least four sins that you just committed to make yourself feel better. Zip your lip, don't sing the song, and if your friend is blessed by that song and they don't know anything about it, then you keep that silent. This is a personal conviction. Personally, your conscience has got to be free when you worship. That's why you might say well, look at you endorsing ignorance as a bliss. Hey, you know what? There's a lot of truth to that. If I'm going to go in for brain surgery, the last thing I'm going to do is go on YouTube to find out what they're going to do to me. I don't want to know, because if I know, I'm not going to show up in the morning for brain surgery.

Okay, when it comes to worship if there's a song. What if there's a song that's played by our worship group and you really love it but you hate me? And then you find out that's such a great song, man, I really entered into God's presence on that song. Who wrote that song? And it says Jack in the Box wrote this song. You'd say I hate that guy. Now what are you going to do with this song? You see, you can't sing the song anymore because now your conscience is shaken up. It's not, it's like you're not clean anymore. So again, this happens to me all the time. We will be worshiping and we're having a great time, and then after service, it's funny because we worship before we teach the word. I personally think we should always teach the word and then worship, but we have a tradition in this Western world of ours Be that as it may.

So people will come up to me and the first thing they say is that song. We sang the third one. Did you know that that's a hill song, elevate Bethel song? I didn't know that you should. You got to go tell them, tell them not to sing in a third service. Okay, well, that ain't going to happen. What God has just told you is that you can't handle that song. You know something about it and you need to honor your conscience before the Lord. If it doesn't sit well with you, don't sing it. But you can't.

And remember everybody, the big assumption is it's doctrinally accurate, which causes me to come down to I think might be our last push on this. I Heard somebody tell me once that song we just sang. They talked about Lord. I'm going from memory now. Lord you know, bring your fire down upon us, bring you, send your fire. Okay, the moment you say to me, send your fire down upon the offering, oh God, I immediately think of the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus. I Think of the priest offering up a lamb or an ox as a burnt offering. When and the fire of God comes down and consumes the offering. That's what I'm thinking about and I'm wondering why is this person so upset? Because they later Tell me oh, I'm from at one of those groups. And when they say fire, they mean this Wow, that's weird. I agree with you, really weird. Or when they say Send your spirit down, they mean this, really, I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me. So don't sing that song of a violator conscience. I got who, I got let's. I got news for you. That's not. I never knew that. I didn't know that. That's what they did to the English language. You see, they took a word about sending your spirit down upon us and they say yeah, you know what? When that happens, you've got gold dust all over your head and money starts coming out of your ears and you know, you got like beams of light shooting forth from your fingers. That's insane. I didn't know that. But it sure is a good, awesome worship song.

I'm gonna continue to sing it because I don't believe in any of that stupid stuff. I'm gonna. I'm gonna keep it sanctified to God. Why? For a lot of reasons, but one of them is I am not Gonna let anyone rob me of my native tongue, my, my English language, to assign meaning to words that are different than what they were given. I'm not gonna let somebody some cook nut Redefine a worship song in its English language, meaning to give it new words of meaning. Nope, I'm gonna take the English language back, if that's what they're doing, and I'm gonna sing how great thou art with all of my heart. I'm gonna sing the old, rugged cross with all that I've got, and when I I don't, I don't. I gotta tell you I am.

So the songs that we sing here at church I Can't even tell you the names of those songs and I don't even know who wrote them. I Don't care as long as they're doctrinally accurate. You may be having a hard time with what I'm saying right now, and I told you that this was going to be a podcast I can't win, but I didn't set out to win it. I just addressed a topic that everybody's talking about. But I got to tell you a friend, I'm as innocent as the day is long on this one. If it is a Christ centered, biblically accurate song, I Don't care if the Pope wrote it. I, I I'm making it my own.

See, that's the heart of worship. Watch this. Jesus loves me. You know this, I know, for the Bible tells me so Little ones. Do him belong? Is that worship? That's ridiculous. When you go to a worship service and you're like, you're like uh-uh, and you think, oh, what's up there Looks like there's antennas in the ceiling. Why does that person wear their hair like that? The whole time your mouth is moving to the song you never worshiped. But if you are worshiping, you are focused on what you're saying because it's supposed to come from your heart and you make it. You're offering to God, even though there's 3,000 people sitting there. Each individual is to make that song, their worship to God. That is required of you and me to do the next time we worship, in private or in public. Did you know that? So we could point fingers at a lot of people. That guy's shorts I mean his t-shirts too long at the neck. His pants are too tight. His shoes are too expensive.

Look, let God judge those guys in the end, man, I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. They could probably say to me that this Hawaiian shirt looks stupid. I didn't think about that before putting it on, because I don't care. I like it. This is my shirt when I worship and the song says I enter into your courts with praise and into your presence with thanksgiving. I make it my own. Did you know that Bozo wrote that song? Don't care about Bozo, don't plan on meeting Bozo, don't want to hear anymore about Bozo. I am worshiping the Lord.

Friends and family of the Christian church, in some areas we're going to have to suffer with one another until we get to heaven, because if you try to find a perfect church with the perfect pastor and the perfect worship team and the perfect songs, you will never go to church. You'll be all by yourself, sinning against God because you have violated Hebrews 10, 25 and you have decided to forsake the assembling. Together we need to grow some skin, tough skin, and we need to stop being gossips and to stop whining. And if your conscience is being violated, don't participate. If your conscience is being violated, find a new church. If your conscience is being violated, it might be that you have to bite your lip and exercise some grace and get through that one song, because it's the only song and the repertoire at your church. All the other songs you love, but that one song drives you nuts. When that song comes on, just go somewhere else. It's really easy for you to go somewhere else because it's hard for you Listen when we pray and we worship. It's easy for us to check out and go to La La Land Just until heaven comes. You're going to have to work through that. This is super practical stuff. I feel as though I sat down with someone right now privately, because this is exactly what I've said to people privately You're going to have to be the judge of your own conscience and your own heart. Number one the Bible must be the judge of that song. It's got to be doctrinally accurate, based upon Scripture and its meaning. Think about that. So listen until next time.

God bless you guys and subscribe if you care to. We'd love to have you do that. Share with others. You can always go to jackkipps.com for more content of all kinds of sorts teaching and podcast and everything, and some links to print material and all. But, as always, you guys were really, really big on being authentic about our faith because Jesus is alive and real. He's coming back real soon. Get ready. But we believe that here at Real Life, that it's time for you to live out publicly, to live out what you believe in. It's time for each and every one of us to live real life always. So God bless you guys, until next time.

0:22:26 - Speaker 1
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