WHAT IS TRUE WORSHIP

WHAT IS TRUE WORSHIP?

For a starting point, the people today who think their church is the one that truly worships aren’t the ones who are truly worshiping. The effect of the worship of God does not make one spiritually arrogant or having a sense of superiority over the way other churches conduct their worship services. One of the popular phrases used by churches who think they have discovered something about worship and church that none of the rest of us have, some of whom have been at it twice the years of some of the new “worship experts”, is that their church is “real people with real needs with a real message for the real issues of real life.” Say what! What does that mean? Does it mean if our church does it differently from theirs we aren’t real? I don’t think they know what it really means. They probably got it from some other “seeker friendly” “market driven” church because they think it makes them sound relevant and hip.

I read awhile back how a church got its name by going up to people at a restaurant bar, sharing several possibilities for the name of a new church, and based off the answers, some of whom may have been tipsy (slightly drunk) or completely inebriated, they determined the name of their church. And, of course the word “Real” was in the name of the church! It’s a good thing that they let the bar patrons choose from a list of names instead of suggesting names. Otherwise, their church may have been named the “I Like Beer” church or the “Drink Your Blues Away” church, and I won’t go any farther, but can you imagine naming a church, supposedly built on the Lord Jesus Christ, that way. Would Jesus do it like that? No! There is no biblical basis for it. I know they are well-meaning, and I am sure sincere individuals, who are just too concerned with relating to the world instead of reaching the world.

I must admit, a sermon Bailey Smith preached at a Real Evangelism Conference in Knoxville in March 2007 was the initial motivation behind the theme of this blog (I wrote a similar article for a church newsletter the week after attending that conference). Bro. Bailey said that we need to do away with the two most overused words today in the church worship wars, “Praise” and “Worship,” and quit referring to the music leaders as Worship Leaders. Perhaps, it would be better to use the term “Music Worship Leader.” I believe Bro. Bailey is on target when he stated that the pastor is to be the worship leader of the church and worship does not end when the congregational singing and special music are over. Preaching is worship, too, and true worship keeps the sermon the focal point where true worship of the Lord reaches its highest level in culminating with a personal response by the worship participants.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Cor. 13:14)!