A couple clarifications regarding theology, worship, and music

There has been quite a bit of talk recently here, on Facebook, and at Sharperiron about my assertion that,

“there is no direct impact of Reformed Theology itself on worship theology or practice. Historically there have been both conservative and progressive Calvinists, Arminians, Dispensationalists, and Covenant Theologians, and there is nothing inherent in these theological convictions that leads to a particular worship philosophy.”

Quite a few people are disagreeing, insisting that theology does indeed have a significant impact upon one’s worship.

I actually agree with that, so let me make a few clarifications about the original intent of what I said:

1. My primary reason for saying what I said was to speak against those who insist that Reformed theology or just Calvinism leads to the adoption of CCM in worship. I’ve heard this kind of argumentation on quite a few occasions, and I was simply insisting in that post that the Reformed theology of Piper, SGM, and Grudem has nothing to do with the fact that the use pop music in their worship.
2. So perhaps what I should have said is, “there is no direct impact of Reformed Theology itself on what styles of music you choose for worship. That would have been much clearer. In fact, I’ve gone back and revised the original post to reflect this.
3. I do strongly believe that one’s theology affects his worship philosophy. In fact, I agree with one commenter who argued that the Reformed Theology of these men leads to their God-centered approach to worship. Absolutely.
4. Will all of that in mind, it is also important to note that sometimes one’s stated theology actually is contradicted by the philosophical and methodological decisions they make. In other words, one’s theology absolutely should influence their worship, and it often does influence their worship, but unfortunately this is not always the case.
5. UPDATE: I should also define what I mean by Reformed Theology. It could mean an entire overarching theological framework that includes soteriology, theology proper, hermeneutics, worship (Regulative Principle), and a whole lot of other issue. In that case I think it would most certain affect style, liturgy, etc. But the way I’m using it is in the more common, more simplistic way of referring only to soteriology (Calvinism) and hermeneutic (covenant theology). These two positions, in my opinion, won’t necessarily affect music style choices.
6. UPDATE 2: I also think that when you add continuationism to anything, it seems to override what might normally flow from certain theological positions. Even the Sovereign Grace guys themselves admit that the mix of Reformed Theology with continuationism is a bit unusual. So while it is true that Reformed folks are normally restrained and modest, a continuationist theology would override that and lead them to be more externally demonstrative, for lack of a better term.

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• Defining Soteriological and Hermeneutical Positions (1)