IsaiahSix.org

Reading this article brought to mind an issue I’ve pondered from time to time and haven’t really come to a final understanding of. The issue is one of using a “style” of worship as a means of growing a church.

On one hand there is the one and only aim of worship: the glory of God. On the other hand is the issue of allowing congregation members to worship in a “language” with which they are familiar. I’m not talking about spoken language; I’m talking about the languages of musical style, technology, artistic expression, etc. There is no secret in the fact that the different generations in America speak largely different “languages” when it comes to these areas. In the past (and currently), we learned and served in age-based groups such as classes and departments and worshiped as one large group. Reggie McNeal hypothesizes that in the future the opposite will be the norm; we will learn and serve in multi-generational networks and will worship in age-based networks.

A few years ago I was allowed to review a pre-print version of a document that was the result of a year-long discussion on the future ministry direction of a church. In one of the areas within this document, the suggestion was made to offer a variety of worship opportunities to reach a maximum number of people. I suggested at the time (and still do) that worship isn’t intended to “reach” people. Worship of the one true God can only be given by those who have responded to His call to be His children. Worship is intended solely to glorify God and recount His saving acts and respond to His revelation of Himself. Which means, by the way, that worship is largely not an evangelistic event. I say it is “largely” not an evangelistic event because some people may very well come to know Christ as a result of being in a worship service and witnessing believers in true worship, but we do not plan for that to be the focus of the service.

As worship leaders plan worship gatherings, we must take into account those believers who will be present. What are their backgrounds? What are their life experiences? And, yes, to some degree, what are the ages that might be present? The answers to these questions will dictate to some degree or another what forms of worship are included in a service. For example, if the background of a congregation largely centers around the Great Depression and World War II, then using the latest music from Sovereign Grace probably (notice I said probably—not definitely) isn’t going to allow the congregation to offer worship in a way with which they are familiar. If, however, the congregation is made up of college students, using only an organ and old hymns with archaic language isn’t going to work well.

Here’s the premise I’m trying to get across: it must mean something to the worshipers in order for them to be able to offer it in worship. We’ve seen what offering something of little value to the worshiper can do. Cain was banished from Eden; Jesus turned over merchant tables at the Temple. That which means nothing to us is of no value as a sacrifice before God. Going through the motions doesn’t count and God is a jealous God; He will not share His glory with anything or anyone else. Nor should He have to.

There is a grave danger in this whole discussion, though: the danger of a consumer minded mentality when it comes to worship. Yes, we must allow worshipers to offer worship in a language or context with which they are familiar and which means something to them. And we can and should stretch their abilities and comfort levels in these areas—teach them a new language, to extend the metaphor. But, we also must be careful not to produce an atmosphere where all we plan in a worship service are things the congregation will like simply because they will like them. When I plan worship, I take no heed of what I think the congregation will like or not; that doesn’t even enter my mind.

Getting back to the article I referenced above, the tone of the article (and to be fair to the church this may not be their fault) is one of a consumerist mindset. If churches grow by changing their style of worship and the focus remains on the glory of God and not on the resultant growth, more power to them. If, however, we’re concerned with giving people what they will like, we have abdicated our calling and we have forsaken the glory of God.