Christian Worship That’s Not Very Christian

Before addressing what should drive our corporate worship services, I think it might be helpful to mention some things that should not drive them. It is oftentimes helpful to gain a clearer understanding of what something is by contrasting it with what it is not.

For Christian worship services, the center and climax and focus and object of everything we do should be Christ. If we emphasize anything or anyone else, we run the risk of either missing the point or leading our people into idolatry. The consequences of both are significant.

Consider the kinds of services that are not Christ-centered:

 

• Man-centered services. If we design our gatherings according to what our people desire, then we should not call them “worship services.” Members’ Meetings or Club Events would be more accurate.
• Denomination-centered services. Baptists, presbyterians, and the rest should not gather to exalt their heritage, but to exalt Christ. Independent churches should not praise their detachment from historical organizations, they should praise Christ. Here’s a test: Does a visitor leave your service possessing a greater understanding of your confessional association or uniqueness, or the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do your members take greater pride in your history or your Savior-King?
• Experience-centered services. Knowing God is an incomparable daily experience. It is unthinkable that a person could comprehend Christ, love Christ, and desire to worship Christ without being viscerally moved. But the emotional response must always be the response, not the reason. We should not attend a service in order to experience something, but to express something—the wonder and majesty of the Lord Jesus. If anything, His experience should be our goal. We want Him to receive glory and honor and praise from us. It’s all about Him.
• Music-centered services. Music is a tool of worship; it is not worship. There is a danger in calling a group of musicians “the worship team” and a prominent vocalist a “the worship leader.” People may begin to equate singing with worship so that you have a worship time, preaching time, praying time, and so on. Strictly speaking, all of it is worship. Music is simply a means of worship. When either the musicians or the congregation becomes more occupied with the style of music than its Subject, the service has ceased being Christian.
• Entertainment-centered services. We talk about “entertaining guests” in our home. We try to make the time enjoyable, make them feel welcome, cause them to be glad they came. We like them to be amused, to laugh, to have fun. We may even want them to leave encouraged and happy. All of those things are appropriate goals for casual get-togethers with friends. But they are inappropriate for a worship service. The Lord’s Day assembly is not for entertainment but for edification. Joy should derive from the gospel. People should be glad because their hearts have been filled with God’s grace in Jesus Christ. There is an excitement about attending a professional football game. And there is an excitement about hearing of our Savior’s atoning death and resurrection. They are each appropriate in their place, but they should not be the same kind of excitement. And we should not try to create the former kind when gathering to ponder the latter.

I will look at some of the New Testament principles for Christ-centered services in my next post.

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