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:: Liturgy is a style, not a doctrine. ::

Just so we are clear, “liturgy” is our WORK in the worship of God (liturgaiea). It is what we do in worship and, intimately what we SHOULD do in proper worship.

Liturgy is not a “style”.

We worship Him in our hearts, in spirit and in truth. It is not what we do outwardly but inwardly.

Liturgy means different things to different people. Scripture is our only foundation for the proper worship of God.

John MacArthur says that "biblical worship--worship in spirit and truth--is a constant attitude. It's a persistent inclination of your heart and mind toward the majesty and glory of the Lord ... a nonstop activity that is borne out in faithful praise, prayer, service, and study of God's Word."

What constitutes true worship, by John MacArthur

PHIL: All right, back to the issue of style, and now we’re talking about style in a broader context than just musical style. Some people would say because worship is our praise offered to God, it always should be...there should always be a formal element to it. And some would even say worship is best when it is highly formal, even liturgical. Others say no, worship can be totally informal. Whatever makes me comfortable makes me worship best. Where do you fall on that spectrum?

JOHN: I don’t think we have a clear-cut confining mandate in Scripture about that. I don’t think the Bible limits us to liturgical high church kind of worship. I think probably the early church was very informal. I don’t think there were any organs in the early church going from house to house. I don’t think there was ever an intention that it would be anything other than speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing, make melody to the Lord in your heart. There’s a whole lot of variety in just psalms, hymns, spiritual songs and singing and making melody in your heart to start with before the Lord. So I don’t think there’s any way that we should unnecessarily limit that. I think music can be informal and simple and it can also be lofty and exalted and big. You know, we can have an orchestra or it can come down to a beautiful acappella. Some of the most beautiful music in the world is acappella music and many, many beautiful pieces written in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, acappella pieces are just magnificent pieces of music, harmonies and beautiful music. Very different than huge orchestrations of great music or big organs or things like that. I just don’t think the Bible puts any limits on it.

Contemporary Worship, Civil War in the Church, Phil Johnson and John MacArthur Q&A