This past week I received an e-mail message from an individual inquiring whether our church emphasized worship through the arts. In response, I asked her to explain from Scripture what she meant. I pointed out two particular errors in what she was seeking. First, God forbids the use of any form of visual aid as an object or means of worship, Exodus 20:4. Second, nowhere in Scripture do we find any model given for using drama, plays, or other performance arts to communicate the Gospel message. The pattern is set forth in Acts 2:41.42. Worship is hearing the Gospel faithfully preached, identifying with Christ in believer's baptism, continuing under the teaching of the doctrine of the Gospel, fellowshipping with those who believe the truth, communing together, and seeking the Lord in prayer.
Fallen man has always sought to contemporize worship, marking it with new ideas and ways. Adam and Eve tried it and ushered in the condemnation of the world. Cain tried it and was condemned to die as a vagabond and reprobate. Israel tried it and perished. The moneychangers in the temple did it and were chased out by the Lord. Many reject the truth today, following new thoughts that reflect the freethinking of our day.
For the believer, there is only ONE way to worship God. That is "in spirit and in truth," John 4:24. It is by faith in the Christ of Scripture, whom the Spirit reveals to the heart, without recourse to any other means than the Word, Romans 10:17. The God ordained means of worship and communicating the truth is the preaching of the Gospel, 1 Corinthians 1:17,18. The message is Jesus Christ and Him crucified! This message cannot be understood through entertaining performance, but by faithfully preaching it. A sinner must learn how God's justice is satisfied through the righteousness and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how His work is applied to the sinner, that he might be justified before God, Romans 3:23-26.
Such truth cannot be learned by drama, musicals, visual aids, or multi-media. It is God taught, through His Word, by His Spirit, in the hearts of His elect, whom Christ has redeemed.