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“I mean… It’s their culture. That’s what they do.”
I had a conversation with a couple folks a while back that was centered around worship experiences that would lie outside of one’s “norm.” We traded stories on unique ways of ordering the service, along with some of the more “crazy” experiences that we’ve observed or have been part of.
These conversations come up every so often, and some of those “crazy” experiences I’ve directly observed over the years are:
A man bellowing, “AUGHHHHHHHH!” at the top of his lungs during a song—one of those “big moment” worship tunes where everyone is “giving it all they got.”
A man shouting, “YES LORD!” during the sermon, about every 5–10 seconds for a duration of about 20 minutes, with the pastor repeatedly calling for the man to sit and be still.
The reaction in those conversations is often chuckling and the shaking of heads, but the response of, “It’s their culture,” made me sigh inwardly.
It’s because I don’t see “culture” as an excuse for disorder. Still—culture informs unique expressions that CAN be valid, in the sense of what is right, true, good, and “beautiful.”
So the question is this: Where does culture fit in our individual and collective expression in worship, especially in a corporate service?
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What Makes Worship Acceptable?
Alright—let’s look to the Bible to set the ground work in defining “acceptable worship”:
Worship must be truthful: Rather than simply being an emotional experience, worship must be rooted in the truth of God’s Word. Sincerity is part of the equation of one’s heart posture toward the Lord, but sincerity must be informed with objectivity. That objectivity looks toward what God has defined to actually be true. A Scripture that comes to mind is John 4:23–24, where “true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth.”
Worship must be God-centered: Oftentimes, we misplace God as our object of worship, and instead, we prioritize our expression and experience as the focal point. If our worship rightly honors God, then the intensity of our feelings comes secondary. We don’t need to feel strongly in order to validate our worship before God, especially in light of what verses like Romans 12:1–2, Colossians 3:16–17, and 1 Corinthians 10:31 teach us, where worship is understood as a lifestyle with God’s Word richly dwelling within us, thus shaping us and our forms of corporate/cultural expressions.
Worship must edify the body of believers: When we come together for a mutual, corporate expression, we collectively bear responsibility toward edifying each other. Paul addresses this in verses like 1 Corinthians 14:12, 26 and Ephesians 4:11–16, where our actions, words, and spiritual gifts are used within a boundary of edification for the church. Individual expression is only valid insofar that it meets the criteria for positive edification.
Worship must be orderly: Within that boundary of edification, it’s necessary to assume that worship must be orderly in order to be edifying. However, one culture’s view of what is “orderly” differs from another. So, this doesn’t exclude things like spontaneity from a worship service, but neither does it endorse completely unrestrained utterances and movements that would otherwise negatively affect the edification we’re mutually called to uphold. In other words, expression is given a proper place within Scriptural bounds, especially in a worship service.
Worship must be characterized by love: The most extraordinary expression in worship can be meaningless if love is left out of the equation. To put it another way, there must be an act of love present in the individual and collective expression of worship. Ask these questions: How is the worship “loving?” Is it accessible to the majority? Is it broadly understandable? Is it helpful, or is it distracting? Where is personal preference elevated above the needs of the body?
Worship must be reverent: This is where we misunderstand what constitutes “reverence” and its subsequent expressions. Reverence isn’t simply “solemnity”; it’s actually a posture of awe, joy, humility, thankfulness, and respect of God’s holiness. Given the broad spectrum of characteristics, our reverence can be expressed with exuberance, or it can be reserved and introspective. Hebrews 12:28–29 and Psalm 96:1–9 are helpful passages that call us to come unto God with reverence, multi-faceted in its expression that directly relates to God’s character, deeds, and holiness.
Assorting Expressions Through Biblical Principles
Another consideration in the conversation around culture and worship is how we are view cultural expression in a three-fold assortment:
What Scripture requires.
What Scriptures permits.
What Scripture prohibits.
And here’s the thing: Broader categories outweigh individual acts in these assortments.
Requirements: truth, love, edification, reverence, and order.
Permissions: musical styles, bodily expressions, emotional intensity, instruments, posture, and culturally specific forms of celebration.
Prohibitions: disorder that undermines edification, false teaching, self-exaltation, and conduct that disregards the church's responsibility to one another.
For example, the shouting I mentioned earlier, on its own face-value, is not inherently wrong. But was it edifying? From my observation in both of those instances, one case was hardly perturbing to the people gathered (but for me, it was distracting), but the other required gentle, yet firm calls to order by the pastor, with multiple uneasy glances from the congregation extended toward the shouting man.
This is where it’s important to understand that a cultural form of expression might in fact be permissible (shouting/loud singing) but its particular application is not (disrupting the service at the expense of the focus of the rest of the body).
It’s through these assortments that we can use a rubric that helps us evaluate where our cultural practices fit within acceptable worship, or where they are found to be outside of the boundaries.
The Cultural Assessment Rubric
This guide is super simple, and it should discussed in varying contexts between your church leaders, the teams that you lead, and the congregation at large.
The following gives an “evaluation” followed by a “guiding question”:
Truth: Does this expression communicate or support what is biblically true?
Purpose: Does it direct attention toward God?
Edification: Does it build up the gathered body?
Order: Does it respect the appropriate flow and participation of corporate worship?
Love: Does it consider the needs and participation of others?
Reverence: Is it fitting for the character and worth of the God being worshiped?
Fruit: Does it cultivate spiritual maturity, unity, and faithful participation?
When applying this rubric, you need to be aware of some distinctions:
Just because something is unfamiliar doesn’t mean it’s inappropriate.
Just because something is familiar doesn’t mean it’s fine.
Just because something is emotionally intense (or lack thereof) doesn’t define its authenticity.
Sometimes, You Gotta Roll With It
In the end, pastors, worship leaders, teams, and the congregation itself are all called to a collective stewardship that must remember:
Unity in worship doesn’t equate to uniformity in expression.
True, there is a sense of grounded-ness we must meet, but how we express those essential truths can be guided through properly bound means. There will be times where folks disagree, and those disagreements must be worked out through a proper evaluation and consideration of how the church at large is shifting in her service styles, elements, circumstances, and presentations.
At my home church, collective expression has changed A LOT over the years, and it’s a reflection of the cultural values and the pursuance of biblical truth that has guided us to where we are today. In the past, our services were characterized by higher physical animations, vocal interjections, and spontaneity in musical style. Nowadays, it follows more familiar patterns and a lesser emphasis on extreme expressions. Some of that has to do with the conviction of our leaders, teams, and the members at large, but much of it also has to do with personalities and backgrounds of the people that make up our church. Along the way, there have been debates, conversations, experiments, and explorations, with concessions, breakthroughs, and discoveries that have led us to our current ways of expressing adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication to God.
Understanding the fluidity of values and priorities has been key in maintaining a tab on the cultural and spiritual fabric of our church.
As you consider your aspirations, objections, and goals for worship at your own church, take some time to filter your practices through Scripture, applying the rubric above as a helpful tool, but most of all, cover these meditations in PRAYER.
In other words, go to God to receive illumination of His truth through the person and power of His Holy Spirit. Do this on your own, and then bring it together with your leaders, team, and other church members. That way, everything is aligned in expectations, desires, and convictions, all under the authority and guidance of God Himself.
Be blessed 👊✌️
Derek is the founder and director of Worship Strategies and is also Creative Ministries Director Faith Family Church in Fayette, MO. Outside of ministry, he is active as a musician and entrepreneur. He is married to his wife Kaitlynn, and they have two beautiful daughters.
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