Decorative Art as Useful Art-part 5

Decorative Art as Useful Art-part 5

            While I am sounding off about worship let me also say that when worshipers are in the presence of royalty they should dress with respect.  If I was going to visit a dignitary i.e. a king, monarch or president, I would never dress in jeans and flip-flops.  Notice Isaiah’s concept of being in the presence of God in Isaiah 6:1, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”  His vision of being in the presence of God was not a stroll down the beach holding hands with God.  Rather as Isaiah recounts his vision in Isaiah 6:5,”Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” In Isaiah’s inspired vision the Lord dressed up when He entered His temple. If God dresses up in His temple, it stands to reason that we should follow His example.

             The post postmoderns have convinced many 21^st century Christians that the way to worship a high and holy God is to bring him down to our size and treat Him as though He was just “one of the boys”.  We are shamed into believing that dressing up in the presence of the almighty, eternal, omnipotent, self-existent, eternal God who is and who is the ruler of the universe is not seeker sensitive.  When Christian musicians dress with respect when they music unto God in His sanctuary, they are showing that they value their opportunity to present the very best musical offering unto God in the very best way that they can.

            God is transcendent and reachable, but He can never meet our needs if we treat Him as one who is on our level.  When I was lying flat on my back In the Operating room at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati Ohio in 1998, I needed a big God—not a buddy who was just like me! The most seeker sensitive thing that a Christian can do when musicing to a congregation of Christians and seekers is to present to all who are attending the worship service a God who is high and lifted up and whose train fills the temple!  This musician represents God to the people.  Therefore, this musician should dress as though he or she is in the presence of royalty—because he or she is saying (musicing) “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”   

Scripture for the Day

Revelation 5:11-12 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”