Twinkle, Twinkle Little Theology
.jpg)
The story is told of a pastor who, after attending a conference out of town, was flying on a plane back home. Since it had been a busy week, the pastor was fervently working on the plane writing out notes for next Sunday’s sermon.
The man seated next to him was eyeing him with curiosity. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him and he asked the pastor, “I hate to disturb you, but what in the world are you working on?”
The pastor introduced himself, explained his profession and told the man that he was working on his sermon for Sunday.
“Ah, religion,” said the man. “I don’t like to get all caught up in the in’s and out’s and complexities of religion. I like to keep it simple. The Golden Rule, that’s my religion.”
“I see,” said the pastor. “And what do you do?”
“I’m an astronomer,” the man said. “I teach at the university.”
“Ah, astronomy,” said the pastor. “I don’t like to get all caught up in the in’s and out’s and complexities of astronomy...
Twinkle, twinkle little star, that’s my astronomy.” [1]
We might be amused by that story because we know that astronomy is enormously complex, and reducing it to a child’s song is ridiculous. But the pastor’s point is well taken, isn’t it? If the planets and stars are complex, how much more is the God who created them?
And yet, far too many people—including many Christians—approach this God with little more than a “Twinkle, Twinkle little star” theology of worship. In effect we say, “It matters that we worship God, not how we worship Him.”
And so we say things like...
- “I like the preaching, but what really helps me is the worship”
- “I don’t need the church to worship God”
- “Worship is between me and God”
- “I don’t feel in a worshipful mood right now”
- “The only thing that matters in worship is that we’re sincere”
Comments like these reveal just how much we need a book like God’s Word to instruct our worship.
[1] As told in Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made (Wheaton: Crossway, 2006), 940.