Biblical Principles of Unacceptable Worship

Yes most of the ten commandments are given in the negative.

 

This is 1 of 2 sacred cows of modern Evangelicalism that is destroying the Church.

My wife sometimes gets annoyed because I will refuse to sing parts of songs or entire songs during service.

There's one song that goes something like "Is God X?" then you respond "He is" then "Is God Y?" "He is"

I abhor that one because who are we to determine if God is just/holy/good/etc? By what standard do we determine it? God is perfect and His judgement is perfect and God says that He is just/holy/good. We don't get to determine if God is just/holy/good. God determines and our job is to kneel.

Modern Christian music is comprised of effeminate songs for sissy men that like Boyfriend Jesus and wear skinny jeans to look cute. I want to follow the Lord into battle, punch some demons in the face, wrestle with evil and settle some frontiers. I don't want to feel His embrace against my skin and I don't want Him to hold me like some fairy princess.

God made men to run off respect and women to run off love. Quit shoving love into every modern Christian song. Stick some respect in them for the men. Unfortunately sacred cow #2 of Evangelicalism is women, so don't hold yer breath.

 

What do you mean when you say, "Sacred cow #2 of Evangelicalism is women"?

 

I am very grateful that I am in a church where we do not sing "effeminate songs."

 

I mean that on Fathers day the sermon is "Fathers need to be better fathers and this country is falling apart because of a lack of fathers!". I would agree with this.

While on Mothers day the sermon is "Oh, thank heavens for the mothers. The mothers are great and amazing and there's no love like a mother's love". The message here needs to be women submitting to their husbands if the preacher wants to be fair and consistent. There's an entire lack of modern Church teaching of women submitting to their husbands, which is rampant today just as much as faithless fathers.

Most modern Evangelicals like to call it "servant leadership" or "mutual submission". You will not find either of those in the Bible. The family is made up of the wife submitting to her husband's lordship over the house and family who is himself to submit to and imitate Christ up to and including His sacrifice if necessary. Abraham was lord over his family. Abraham was not a "servant leader" to his family. The wife does not have equal authority to the husband on any family matter, although the husband ought to be deferent to her as it concerns "the home" as per Proverbs 31 and ought to consider her input in all decisions.

Yet if you say all of the above, which is directly out of the Bible, in a modern "Evangelical Church" most folks will recoil and hiss like vampyres amongst garlic. Why? Because the feminism in our culture has seeped into the cracks of many modern Churches under the guise of "egalitarianism".

I don't know that this entirely fits under the thread here, and I don't want to hijack it, so we can continue this on another thread if you have any questions or thoughts.

I fit with Doug Wilson on this fairly well:

 

Genesis 4 provides the earliest inspired record of unacceptable worship:

Genesis 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

The text says that God did not have respect for Cain and his offering. Interpreters differ about why Cain and his worship was unacceptable:

1. He was an unbeliever

2. He brought the wrong offering
a. Of the ground (which God had previously cursed)?
b. Without blood?
c. Not offering the best that he had?
d. Offering something that God did not specify that He would accept?

Another consideration is the divine revelation that Cain was of the devil (1 John 3:12).

What should we learn about unacceptable worship from God's rejection of Cain and his offering?

 

Yeah but most of those "men" have tattoos. That should give credibility, unless they tie a sweater around their neck or something.

 

Interesting that man looks upon outward appearances, but God the heart!

 

Altars of Hewn Stone(s) and Unacceptable Worship

Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

God revealed to the Israelites that any stone altars that they (or anyone else) would ever make that used any hewn stones would be polluted altars. Regardless of any and all other considerations, all worship offered on any such altar was unacceptable worship.

What else does this revelation teach us by way of principle about unacceptable worship?