Worship and Culture: Art's Influence and Culture Teachings on Worship

Worship and Culture:
What can other cultures teach us about worship
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Worship is defined as the adoration to an individual shows towards something or someone by holding it in high esteem. It involves giving a place or someone utmost honor in all the undertakings that one engages. The Bible gives an in-depth explanation of how believers should worship and worship in its numerous scriptures talking about worship. In the Bible, believers must worship God and only him to bring honor, obedience, and submission to him. In the early days, a man's worship involved sacrifice to God through animal slaughtering and blood-shedding to bring sin atonement. This kind of sacrifice looked ahead to Messiah's coming and became an ultimate sacrifice to obedience to God and love by offering oneself.
But Paul describes worship in another way by saying, "Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship."1 This effectively says that humans are no longer under bondage to the law by bringing animal blood as a worship form or for our sins. This is because Jesus has already sacrificed himself for our sins by paying the death price and made a blood sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, our worship form is to bring ourselves, our own lives, as a living sacrifice to God which is holy and pleasing to him. We can define worship as giving God the best he has offered to you.[Brooks, Samantha K. "FANatics (1 – 23)]
On the other hand, culture is a universal term relating to the social traits and norms or dos and don'ts in human societies today. It encompasses beliefs, arts, laws, capabilities, customs, habits, and knowledge. They are the characteristic features of day-to-day existence every day among people in a particular place or time. This essay will focus on worship and music and how they both influence worship.[Burrows, William R., and R. Daniel Shaw, eds. Traditional Ritual as Christian Worship:Dangerous Syncretism Or Necessary Hybridity?.] []
How art influences worship
Music is one way people worship God in our daily lives and its role in biblical. According to Exodus 15, the Israelites sang after escaping Egypt and crossing the Red sea as it was part of their formal worship in the temple and tabernacle. It is through singing, whether in joy or sorrow that believers raise their voice to God. Art plays a critical role in believers' live today, both in church and outside, through televisions, radios, and other means. In contemporary society, art has many reflections on how people live today9.
Art or music is God's gift and part of the created order ever since it was incepted when the morning stars sang together and the heavenly beings shouted for joy. Human music participates in the music of creation, and it pinpoints order, beauty and diversifies God's creation. The critical part of music is the humans' voice which consummates God's creation. It is through singing that Christians portray their faith in God and evokes powerful emotions. Repetitive and straightforward art like praise choruses and chants are critical to worship and can move individuals to prayer and praise.
Moreover, music connects believers with God in unique ways by establishing direct connections with God in a way that sermons don't. It is through singing that people awaken their hearts and the collective heart of the body of Christ. It is part of Christian worship as God created human beings to communicate with the depths of their spirits. In addition, it allows for the expression of love to God according to Deuteronomy, which says love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul together. Worshipping through music changes and transforms us and inclines our hearts to God in ways other forms cannot. When humans sing, they devote their selves to God, and something Godly happens to them.
Furthermore, art fulfills God's commandment as, via scripture, we are commanded to sing. We are commanded by God to sing praises to the Lord and to sing in his presence. This call is affirmed in the New Testament. "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for all to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," Paul encouraged the Ephesians. Singing is an essential component of who we are and who God intended us to be. We're all wired differently. We all have different talents, strengths, and musical preferences. The Bible encourages us to seek out music that will cause our hearts to sing and connect with God. Art from Kings College Cambridge, Kirk Franklin's gospel prayers, jazz settings of the Eucharist, or any variety of genres may affect us. Our hearts will rejoice as we listen to music that honors God. Worship occurs when our hearts hum. We are changed on the inside when we dedicate all we are to worship praise.
When people adorate their Lord and Savior in words and pictures formed by cultural concepts, emotions, and beliefs, it is by their native customs that they convey their faith in God. Our culture is also how we perceive and form the voice of God. When he appears to us in a way we perceive, we know the force of God. As he talks in a dialect we see, we can reply to his accent. God is determined by our society, definitely not, but our Lord in the Incarnation chooses to communicate for him.2[Fang, Kecheng. "Turning a communist party leader into an internet meme]
We should not be shocked that culture affects the rituals of worship of the people of God. The Biblical record shows several examples of the Israelites who are far from the ideals of worship God gave them and who, instead, follow people's ways in the local community around them. How many times have Israelites worshiped Baal and followed the detestable actions of the citizens of the tribes around?3 How many times did local cultural rituals imitating groves and God's alters have to be demolished? Even the biblical record shows the influence of society on adoration.[Chandler, Diane J. "African American spirituality (159 – 181)]
Culture is also accountable for manipulating our interpretation and comprehension of God, just as God in any native culture can and should speak; the culture can control biblical practices by influencing them culturally rather than biblically. Several cultural forms have been adopted and form part of traditional Christian worship from different cultures. We don't think much about the use of pulpits, robes, choir-robes, high platforms, and pictures of Jesus and His followers, but these are all cultural and not biblical types that can mold and even misrepresent our image of God4. The different modes of worship have various teachings in various cultures, whether positive or negative.
Fine culture teachings on worship
In fine culture, the positive potential includes preserving what could be called the 'life of the mind.' Fine culture is more likely to introduce the commitment to rigid thinking and clear thinking into the flow of society than folk culture. It's more likely that the intellect would not atrophy than folk culture. In the first place, because it belongs to God, it ordered that we love it with our hearts. In another place, we will lose the generations to come if we have intellectually unbelievable expressions of faith or surrender our minds to the secular world.5[Getty, Keith, and Kristyn Getty. Sing!: How worship transforms your life, family, and church. B&H Publishing Group, 2017.]
Further, the very principles of reality and beauty as rational values, based on our Absolute God, can be maintained by a fine community. People's society/Folk culture still tries to enhance what works. It is realistic and does not evaluate its success concerning objective, absolute values, but generally concerning its broad appeal and practical application. A rhythm of a drummer rather than a m...