Getting Back to the Heart of Worship

A friend of mine recently posted an article on Facebook written by Michael Livingstone called The Heresy of Worshiptainment.  An article which caught my eye and spoke to my heart, a heart already grief stricken over the direction of many churches in America today...

The following is an excerpt from that article:

"The great heresy of the church today is that we think we’re in the entertainment business. A.W. Tozer believed this to be true back in the 1950s and 60s. Church members “want to be entertained while they are edified.” He said that in 1962. Tozer grieved, even then, that it was “scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction was God.”*

More recently, David Platt has asked, “What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? 

What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? 

Would His Word still be enough for his people to come together?” David Platt

Would it be enough?

Tozer got it right: “Heresy of method may be as deadly as heresy of message.”

HALLOWEDNESS, NOT SHALLOWNESS

Like Tozer, we should be concerned that so many people in our churches want to be entertained while they worship. We should be concerned when we no longer recognize the difference between the two. And we should be concerned by the growing belief that adding more entertainment value to worship is necessary for the church to accomplish its mission.

I may stand alone, but it grieves me when I see worship services characterized more by props, performances, and pep rally atmospheres than by any 

sense of divine sacredness; and hallowedness giving way to shallowness."

Mike Livingstone

I experienced first-hand a statement that put feet to the quote above that there is a "growing belief that adding more entertainment value to worship is necessary for the church to accomplish its mission."

An impassioned plea for today's youth, given by a youth leader.  Clearly this person has a tremendous heart for teens.  His desire to reach them for Christ was incredibly admirable.   The youth leader spoke about methods for bringing teens into church, specifically types of music.  He shared about a family who would not allow their child to attend the evening youth group because of concerns for the type of music...  I sensed that he could see where this family was coming from, but in desperation the youth leader exclaimed, "But we have to do whatever it takes to get them to come to church!"

But at what cost?...

The first time I attended adult Bible study, which happened to be the same night as Youth Group, I entered the church doors, the loud heavy bass sounds filled the space, mainstream music playing loudly; multicolored lights swirling around on the walls.  I wondered to myself, had I entered a church or a nightclub!

Yes, eventually the mainstream music was replaced with a praise band singing worship songs.  Yes, the Word of God was shared, but are the church leaders trusting in that very Word of God to do what it says it will do?

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. 

Isaiah 55:10-11

It doesn't seem so...

Instead, trust is being placed in the method of entertainment rather than God's Word to "get them" to come.  Sadly, this misplaced trust is being played out in more and more churches in America today...

Yesterday, I was reading Exodus 31 about keeping the Sabbath.  The following verses spoke to my heart about the true intent and sacrificial mindset of Worship:

...Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you  {set you apart}. 

You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.

Exodus 31:13-14

Are church services today conducted in a manner {set apart} from mainstream life?  Sadly, not so much anymore.  Instead, more and more church services are conforming to the world.

“That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors.” 

― Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Much of the book of Exodus is devoted to the carefully laid plans of the Lord to ensure purity and sacrificial offering when approaching the altar of God, from utensils to clothing.

Indeed, we have been purified by Christ through His precious blood.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, 

that we may receive mercy and find grace...

Hebrews 4:16

But that doesn't mean that we turn the altar of God into what we want rather than a place to offer our sacrificial worship.

 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

Romans 12:1-2a

Sunday mornings may be a struggle for many to set aside time to intentionally go to church.  There could be a million things that need to get done; a desire to sleep in; a beautiful day outside, but we make that sacrifice for our Lord and Savior who sacrificed His life so that we would be set free from the punishment of sin and death to live in eternity with Him forever.  We set apart time on the Sabbath to sit under the teaching of His Word and to Worship Him.

One of the definitions Merriam-Webster gives for the word sacrifice is "the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone"

It seems there is no desire to sacrifice for the sake of learning and knowing God's Word. To endure sound teaching...

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

2 Timothy 4:3

Instead churches are feeling the need to make worship services as painless as possible using multimedia presentations, productions, music lacking Biblical content that is me-focused, and short sermons that avoid offense.  

When we offer sacrifices to the Lord of the things we don’t want or does not cost us, it does speak worship, but it speaks worship of ourselves rather than worship of the Lord.

Scott Kircher

Anecdotally, I have actually heard people say the following:  sitting under a sermon longer than a half hour is arduous and difficult for people to focus on; a turn off to those who are seeking; sermons should never speak on offensive subjects; doctrine is legalistic, and no longer necessary.  We just need to love on people.

I fear, then, that the church is loving and entertaining people right into hell.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,

 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

Is this really true worship??

Worship must be vital and real in the heart, and worship must rest on a true perception of God. There must be spirit and there must be truth. . . . Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half-full) of artificial admirers . . . . On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.  

John Piper

The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24

I don't want to be misunderstood that this blog post is a criticism of different worship styles, praise songs vs. hymns.

I am just sharing a heart that is grieved to see so many churches trying to please those whom they are seeking and those believers sitting in the pews with a worship style that is razzle dazzle. A misconception that "worshiptainment" will make people want to come to church...  

...when it is God's Word alone whose power attracts.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:17

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, 

piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and 

discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

The modern church today needs to get back to the heart of worship.

Back to the Heart of Worship

Matt Redman

When the music fades

and all is stripped away

and I simply come.

Longing just to bring

something that’s of worth

that will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring You more than a song,

for a song in itself

is not what You have required.

You search much deeper within,

through the way things appear,

You’re looking into my heart.

I’m coming back to the heart of worship

and it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it

when it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

We are the church... 

A heart change toward Worship begins with us...

"Take this reminder with you as you ready your heart and roll up to your next corporate worship gathering. The externals do matter, but they are not the essence. They need not rule the day.

Whether your corporate context is wonderfully conducive to what moves you most, or grates against all your personal preferences, the heart of worship need not be hindered — because the heart of worship is the heart.

At bottom, it’s not what we do (or don’t do) with our hands (or what someone else is doing or not doing), but what we do with our hearts and minds — because of the One who has captured our hearts and minds. Worship is in spirit and in truth."

David Mathis

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