Acts 15:5
"But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees...
On Sunday, preaching on our corporate worship experience, a point was made about personal preferences. Yesterday, I commented that the worship service has been an always-evolving thing depending upon context--historical, political, sociological, etc. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the varying degrees of differences between the worship practices of others, as long as they are biblical and the integrity of the Gospel is upheld. Many of our practices in corporate worship are driven by preferences, whether you are traditional OR contemporary.
The problem with preferences is not that we enjoy them. Personal preferences are not sinful in and of themselves. Personal preferences are sinful when we begin to worship the preferences! If it's not a certain way we don't like it. "If it's not the way we've always done it, well that's just not the way church ought to be." Why not? Is it unbiblical? Is it faithful to the Gospel. Or is it just not what you prefer?
You see, when we exalt our preferences to such a place, we are really saying, "Unless you do it like this, you are not as Godly." "Unless we do these certain things, it's not quite as holy." "Unless you look more like me, you are not quite as pleasing to God."
It's possible to be a believer and be a Pharisee at the same time! Jesus spent His whole ministry preaching against the Pharisees! Let's be careful not to allow our traditions and preferences to replace authentic worship. You can choose to live a life of worship or not...it's really up to you. But remember this: corporate worship serves a two-fold purpose--edification and evangelism. Don't allow your preferences to interfere with that...whether you like it loud or like it on the organ or like it from the hymnbook or like it in shorts or in a suit. All of us must stay true to the word, true to one another, and true to the world! Don't be a Christian Pharisee.
