On Worship

I became a Christian in 1987 and when you become a Christian, a whole world suddenly opens up to you, as if a veil has been peeled back from your eyes. You begin to learn and words that once had no meaning, become very, very important.

Looking back, I consider myself very lucky that the church I was attending at the time, regularly gave a definition of what worship is and what was expected from me, the worshiper. The pastor spoke of the reverence that must, absolutely must, be present when we worship. Of how Jesus spoke in John 4 of how we must worship in spirit and truth. And of how He quotes Isaiah saying how people are worshipping in vain because their worship is outward only. This pastor was passionate about trying to keep worship as our way of showing God the respect He deserves, and you could see his heart break when it was treated as the time to socialize with your friends before the message started. He spoke boldly and I always appreciated that he did. He gave his expectations and created a culture that gave us the Biblical examples of how to conduct ourselves before God.

Over the years, I have seen some churches give the worship time its appropriate reverence and I have seen some churches truly seem to use it as filler before the message. And I wonder why, since Jesus Himself spoke of the Holiness of worship, why more pastors aren’t bold and why they don’t teach on its reverence?

I attended a church with some friends this past November and was truly awed by how they conducted their service. The service started at 4:30 on a Saturday evening. When we arrived at 4:15, the parking lot was full, but the foyer was empty. I didn’t see anyone really milling around, which I thought was kind of strange. Then we walked into the sanctuary. It was packed. So packed in fact, we had a hard time finding three seats together. Fifteen minutes before service even started! When 4:30 arrived, the lights went way down, the worship band walked out and heads were bowed. There was no ‘hey, how you doing church?’ or ‘let’s pray’. There were no lights spotlighting the band. One of them said a prayer and then they began to worship. The screens on the sides of the stage showed only the words of the songs we were singing, not the faces of the band. They played three or four songs and then the Pastor walked out and began his message.

So what awed me about this service? First, the worship portion and the message portion were not separated; they flowed from one to the other. Most of the time, there is a gap between the ‘music’ and the ‘message’ where announcements are given, we are told to greet one another, or sometimes a video is shown. None of these are bad things, but I liked that as I sang praises and my heart became full, I could take that right into hearing and learning God’s word. There was nothing to distract me away from why I was there; I worshiped God with my mouth and now I could continue to worship by hearing His word.

Second, the doors to the sanctuary were closed after the first song. If you were not in your seat, tough luck. If you did enter during the first song, you were escorted to an empty seat in the back by an usher so as not to disturb anyone. If you arrived after the first song, you were escorted to another room that had the service on big screens. Now, one of the things I struggle with in worship is the people who stream in during this time. When worship starts at the church I attend now, the place is sparse. By the end of worship, it is fairly full. So, all these people have come in during worship. And they talk. And they walk by you, even in your eyes are closed. They talk to their friends. They laugh. They walk to the front of the church, then turn around and look back for a seat. They talk. And it is all very, very distracting. And disrespectful to the God they are coming to see. I get the feeling some of these people want to make an entrance or want to be seen. This past Sunday, the row I sat in (which was four rows from the front) had bulletins on the seats to save them, so you know the people were there on time. But, in they walked, laughing and talking halfway through the first song. They seemed to make a show of hugging each other and discussing who should sit next to whom and once they got settled and actually started to sing, all their hands shot up in the air, a sign of praise. They continued to talk during the entire worship and I was completely distracted. 

The third thing I appreciated was that the lights went way down and that the screens only had the words on them. The lights stay on during our worship, well they dim them a little bit, so I close my eyes and try to make myself as small as possible. Worship to me is personal and private and I don’t like the idea that someone else can see me. I bow my head and put my hands in my pockets and sing softly, trying to block out the distractions. When the lights went down and the music started at this other church, I was free to praise Him without any bit of self-consciousness or distractions at all. I found that my hand was in the air, something I never do, and my voice was loud. And on a song I did not know, I was so very thankful that I didn’t see the worship bands faces on the screens. I’ve never understood why most churches put the worship band on the screen as well as the words to the songs. I don’t want to see them worship, any more than I want to be seen. And it almost feels as if I am singing to them, and I’m certainly not. I couldn’t pick any of the worship singers from this church out of a line-up and to me, that’s the way it should be.

And that is the other thing I really appreciated…the band itself. They did not tell me to clap, or sing it out, or stand up, or sit down, (we stood the whole time) or make some noise, or any of the other things most worship leaders tell you to do. And they didn’t do the thing that drives me absolutely crazy…they didn’t tell me the next line before they sang it. (Why do worship leaders do that? The words are on the screen…why are you telling me the line I’m about to sing?) The key here is; this band was worshiping as well. They were not performing. They understood that it is not their job to tell me how to worship. They understood it is not their job to get me ready to hear the word. They understood it is not their job to do a comedy routine or make us laugh or tell a funny anecdote. They expected us to worship. Period. They expected us to be ready. They expected us to sing our praises to the Lord; they just happened to be leading us by playing instruments and singing. They understood perfectly that it is the Holy Spirit that conducts worship and they provided an atmosphere where He could really move.

This church had it right. There was a culture that expected you to be there on time, to be ready to worship, to be ready to hear the word, to be expectant. It was sad to me that this isn’t normal among churches. As churches become bigger and they try and accommodate and please everyone, they seem to be moving God right out of the sanctuary. Why is it perfectly acceptable to stroll in late to church? Why is it perfectly acceptable to talk right up until message? Whom are we serving? Ourselves or God?