Doxology and Theology

How the Gospel Forms the Worship Leader

Matt Boswell, Matt Boswell

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781433679773
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

Many in the church see worship leading and theological processing at opposite ends of a big room. Theology is considered the business of pastors and professors, while worship is the business of musicians and rock stars. But a new wave of young worship leaders is hungry for something different, the desire to think not just pragmatically (sound, charts, guitars) but theologically (the gospel, justice, pastoral ministry) about worship. Likewise, pastors and churches increasingly desire to be led by thoughtful worship leaders who combine doxology and theology. Doxology and Theology is a resource by worship leaders for worship leaders that clearly articulates how these two pieces join together. Contributions from eleven respected worship leaders around the country including Matt Papa (Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham), Aaron Keyes (Grace Church, Atlanta), Michael Bleecker (The Village Church, Dallas), and Zac Hicks (Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, Denver) unite worship with themes of mission, disciple-making, the Word of God, the Trinity, family, and more.

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Doxology, Theology,
and the Mission of God

Matt Boswell, Providence Church
(Frisco, Texas)

In many ways I was a Pharisee from birth. I continually validated myself by my progress in knowing and retaining information about God, the Scripture, and the nature of man. I grew up the son of a Southern Baptist pastor, with a deep love for the Word of God. I went to state finals in Bible drill, and in Sunday school, I typically beat the other kids to the answers.

Nevertheless, as I approached adulthood, when I heard the word “theology,” I increasingly felt second-class. More and more, it seemed my knowledge of God was not as developed or as informed as other men. Perhaps theology is for “real pastors,” while lyrics and melodies are for worship leaders. Maybe preaching pastors and professors have the corner on deep truth, while worship leaders are relegated to the shallow waters of elementary learning.

I was wrong.

Theology is not intended for the elite, but for all of God’s people. One of the promises of the new covenant is that God would write His law upon our hearts. Hebrews 10:16 says, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.” We are able know God because He has revealed Himself to us.

In the late twentieth century, between the rise of the praise and worship movement and the dawn of the seeker sensitive church, the modern expression of the worship leader was birthed. Shaped by influential songwriters, and later by Christian pop stars, the song leaders of churches went through a tremendous reformation. While there are both positive and negative aspects of these developments, there remains great confusion over the role of the worship leader: Are we pastors who sing, or artists who pastor? What does our theology say about the role of worship, and specifically the worship leader?

After talking with friends about this around the country, it became clear that there was a longing in the church for theological worshippers, with a blazing passion for truth and the glory of God. Worship should not to be driven by pragmatism, but informed by the Word of God. There must be a marriage between theology and doxology. Worship leaders are called to be men who pursue and practice biblical worship, and call their churches to the same. Or, as Psalm 96 puts it, there are to be five marks of the worship of the church.

Five Marks of the Worship of the Church

The worship of the church is God-centered.

Psalm 96 is a microcosm of some crucial perspectives Scripture gives us. This psalm was originally written for the covenant people of God for the entry of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (1 Chron. 16). This psalm shapes doxology, theology, the worship leader, and the mission of the church.

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples! (vv. 1–3)

We find in these verses six imperatives commanded by God, through the psalmist. There are three calls to “sing to the Lord,” and one call each to “bless his name,” “tell of his salvation from day to day,” and “declare his glory among the nations.” The psalm itself is modeling this worshipful response for us as the people of God. In the commands to sing, what kind of singing is called for? Who should be singing? What types of songs are decreed? The church’s worship should be marked by a God-centered, Trinitarian, gospel emphasis.

What kind of singing is called for? “Sing to the Lord,” we see, is commanded. When the church is gathered together in the name of God, only singing which glorifies Him is appropriate. We don’t sing corporately because it was our idea. We sing because it was God’s idea for His people. Since it is God who has commanded us to sing, it is God who will also determine what kind of songs we will sing. We are to sing to Him and for Him. Our songs are not meant to be entertainment, or a distraction from God. As God’s people, the primary content of our songs are “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

Our worship should express more of what God has done for us, and less of what we will do for Him. The worship leader is often tasked with choosing the songs to be sung in church, so this should be done with great intentionality and care. Mark Dever and Paul Alexander give this advice to pastors and worship leaders: “As the main teaching pastor (or worship leader), it is your responsibility to shepherd the congregation into the green pastures of God-centered, gospel-centered songs, and away from the arid plains of theological vacuity, meditations on human experience, and emotional frenzy.”1 Weightlessness is a result of deficient theological perspectives—from preaching to singing, when we develop primarily a man-centered view of worship (anthropocentric) rather than a God-centered view of worship (theocentric).

My proposal here is not that addressing the needs of man is irrelevant. My aim is to propose that as we call the attention of our congregations first to God and His revelation, then man’s needs will be addressed as well. Edification of the church, evangelism, and disciple-making are all benefits of God-centered worship. What we see modeled in this psalm is a God-centered view of worship that then edifies hearers by reminding them of salvation (v. 2), while also producing an evangelistic effect (vv. 10–14).

We see in the text that we are to sing new songs. The church has been given a song to sing. Our song is a song of salvation. As the people of God we are meant to be continually writing new songs that confess the tenets of our faith in fresh, creative, and meaningful ways. However, new songs are not an end in themselves. The “new song” we sing is informed by the “old song,” and looks with anticipation toward the new song we will sing in heaven (Rev. 5:8–10).2

As worship leaders, songs are a constant part of our ministry. It is vital for the worship leader to learn from the songs of church history, and to be informed by the men and women of God who have penned the hymnals of the church. Through the lens of the past, and with an eye to the future, we find the place of our songwriting.

Who is to sing this new song? “All the earth” is beckoned to sing the praises of God, and to bless His name. We do not worship in isolation, drawing a circle around ourselves and imagining it’s just “me and God.” Corporate worship in the church serves as a rich time for people to practice Colossians 3:16, as we teach one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Far too often the singing of modern churches is focused more on the sound of the instruments than on the sound of gathered voices raised in proclaiming the worship of God.

The worship of the church is biblically formed.

Worship leaders ought to come to lead the people of God with a guitar in one hand, a Bible in the other, and know how to use each weapon well. We are a people formed by the word of God, and it is His Word that calls us to worship. The only element needed for congregational worship to occur is God’s Word laid open in the midst of His people. We see a fascinating overtone in this passage about the character and nature of God, in that it calls us to Trinitarian singing. Three times the psalmist calls us to sing to the Lord. Immediately we can’t help but suppose that there is method to the refrain and intentionality in the redundancy. Charles Spurgeon, the great Puritan pastor, comes to our aid, “Thrice is the name of the Lord repeated, and not without meaning. The sacred fire of adoration only burns with vehement flame where the Trinity is believed in and beloved.”3 With the psalmist’s words, and Spurgeon’s passionate exposition, we are reminded we are a people who worship the Father through the Son, by the Spirit. Far too often we overlook the importance of this fact. Apart from the revelation and initiation of the Trinity, worship is impossible. Without the wisdom of the Father, the work of the Son, and the presence of the Spirit, we cannot worship God.

We don’t pursue theology as an end in itself. To do so would be the pursuit of knowledge rather than the pursuit of God. There is a grave difference between knowing about God and knowing God. John Piper elaborates, “If we just know Him in our minds, we’re not doing anything different than the devil. The devil is one of the most theological, orthodox beings in the universe. He just hates what he knows about God.”4 Oftentimes, in matters of theological discussion our tendency is aimed at information, and we forget that our final objective should be communion with God.

The chief end of theology is doxology.

Theology shapes doxology. Christian worship is built upon, shaped by, and saturated with Scripture. Our doxology is informed by divine revelation. For the worship leader, our beliefs and convictions about God are what serve as the foundation for worship. A love for the Word of God is a primary requirement. Without a vivid belief in the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Word of God, our services (and our lives) will never find the rhythm of worship. The rhythm of worship is revelation and response: our beliefs about God’s revelation dictate our response.

Worship leaders lead the people of God in the worship of God. Above all things, we ought to be men who pursue growing in the grace and knowledge of God through immersion in the Scriptures. Theology is not reserved for academia and people in ivory towers. Theology is for us. Worship leaders need to be theologians, letting our theology inform our song choices, the liturgy we write, the choice of Scripture to read. If we don’t carefully consider who God is and who we are as His people, our services will be flippant and clumsy. What we believe about God surely shapes our worship of Him. Toward this end, John Piper says, “Worship serves doxology.”5

The worship of the church is gospel-wrought.

Theology informs doxology. Doxology without theology is an impossibility. If we knew nothing of God, His greatness, His holiness, His goodness, His gospel, we would have no reason to worship Him. If we don’t believe in the substitutionary death of a sinless Christ, we have no reason to worship Him. If we have no understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, we forsake His role in illuminating truth and leading man. It is vital for worship leaders to have a robust and growing theology. Apart from the revelation of God, worship does not exist. Without a deep and growing understanding of biblical truth, our worship will be uninformed and weightless. Infused with Scripture, however, the worship of God will be vibrant and filled with gravitas. It will be gospel-soaked and powerful.

What type of songs are decreed? The songs decreed by Psalm 96 are telling of His salvation, declaring His glory, and declaring His marvelous works. The role and responsibility of the worship leader is to both remember the gospel and to remind others of the gospel. When gospel-reminding becomes common in the culture of our churches, we will be a people who are rooted and grounded firmly in our identity.

One of our church members recently sent me a text before his work day that said: “I want to encourage you with the gospel. God made you, the all-powerful and all-knowing and all-sovereign God, created you in His image. Yet by Adam’s sin...

Table of contents

• Doxology and Theology
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Notes