PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

that no man could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the
throne . . . wearing white robes, and they cried out in a loud voice: salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9,10 NIV).
To carry out the command of reaching all nations, we must recognize certain church
growth principles, i.e. the homogeneous unit principles. 1 This principle recognizes the inclusive
nature of each race as reflected in their values, attitudes, perspectives and that they are different
in culture from others, but each individual from each race retains the humanness of all people,
i.e. that they are made in the image of God, "The God who made the world and everything in it . .
. He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else" (Acts 17:24, 25 NIV).
With the recognition of differences between groups, we must also recognize that there are
barriers to reaching people for Christ, from one group to another. 1 We cannot assume that the
values of American culture or Christianity will be accepted in a different culture; but rather the
values, attitudes, and culture of the American society may in fact be a hindrance to the
communication of the gospel to a different culture.
Different cultures have different values to musical instruments. In South America, the
young child grows up listening to the guitar. Each youth prizes the sound he heard growing up,
and the music that touches his heart will resonate with his inner-most being. It is the gospel sung
in the music of his heart that will call him to God. Music that is strange to the ear will be a
barrier to reaching them with salvation
Worship will follow the same cultural expression. The musical instruments of a culture
will reach people in that culture better than an instrument that is foreign to his ear. By using the
European organ in foreign cultures, we are attempting to "Westernize" them before
"Christianizing" them.
We must understand culture to understand worship. This does not mean we adapt the
gospel to their culture. The gospel never changes, and the message never changes. People must
worship from the depths of their heart, that's the place where the difference lies. What's in the
heart? Because different cultures value different items with their heart, it is the heart expression
that's different from one culture to another. So the worshipper must be born again by the blood
of Christ. The object of worship must be the Father. But each will use different language,
musical instruments, and expressions in their worship. Each will worship differently according
to the emotions of their heart.
II. DIFFERENCES OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Every believer is gifted with spiritual gifts, yet each person is different from others.
"Each man has his own gift from God, one has this gift, another has that" (I Cor. 7:7 NIV).
The sovereignty of God is behind the differences of spiritual gifts. Paul notes the way
God gives different gifts. "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit. There are
different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same
God works all of them in all men" (I Cor. 12:4-6 NIV).