Charnock wounds — again

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4:24 NKJV).

The Lord draws me back to difficult reading, this time the third discourse in The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock. He discusses the idea of God being spirit.

God is not corporeal, no mixture of matter, not a visible substance nor a bodily form. This is about the divine nature and the reason God desires spiritual worship. Charnock points out that He is Spirit and therefore cannot be satisfied with animal sacrifices, lovely temples, even the noise of music. They were once appointed, but now that Messiah has come, we worship in a way more suitable to the being of God.

He also says spiritual worship is a must, a necessity. While the gestures of the body are helps for our worship and declarations of our spiritual acts, God excludes all of that if that is all it is. He wants worship that comes out of the new life kindled in us by the Spirit of God.

In today’s church, much emphasis is on worship style as it relates to music. If Charnock is correct, and external observances have never been the issue with God, then the music is not an issue with God either. He is listening to my spirit. (For a person who cannot sing very well, this is a relief!) But what am I saying in my heart? “The music is too loud” or “This is the best music” instead of “God, with all that I am — I worship You.”

I’ve refused to get into any wrangling over worship music, but must admit if the praise team is so loud that I cannot hear the words, or one of them is sloppily dressed, or the person next to me is talking instead of singing, I am distracted. Worship is a heart thing, and as Charnock says, the externals are only aids and declarations of our spiritual intentions. Instead of looking at the other guy, what does it say about me when I allow their seeming failures to worship (at least in the same way I do) to interfere with my worship? Does not that make what I do just as shallow as what I think they are doing?

This is why I had to put Charnock aside for a month. His words cut to the heart.