Worship is for God instead of for me.
Most Christians, when asked who worship is for, will quickly say of course worship is for God. However if we dig a little deeper, a different answer may arise. Worship oftentimes becomes about the worshiper, not the One being worshiped. This second entry in my “Reimagine Worship” series will help bring the real object of worship into focus.
Why do you attend worship?
Through the years I have asked people why they attend a worship service at their church. Some responses have been:
- “It’s just what I do on Sunday morning.”
- “I like sitting with my friends from youth group.”
- “My mom/dad/wife made me come.”
- “I need my weekly pick-me-up.”
- “I look forward to meeting with God with my church family.”
The answers fall into 2 categories- worship is for me, something I need or I do for myself or someone close to me, or worship is for God. That last answer is the best one (although #1 is good too, Sunday worship is a good habit to develop). Gathering to worship God with our church family should indeed be the high point of our week. This answer touches on the communal nature of corporate worship—that it’s not just about “me and God,” but it’s about “us and God” (which we’ll explore in a couple weeks). But too often we attend worship because we want to get something. I need more joy. I want more peace. I like to talk to my friends. I often walk through the doors still focusing on myself. If I seek a particular experience maybe I’ll get it and maybe I won’t. But if I seek to encounter the Living God in worship I will almost certainly experience what he wants me to experience, and that is where true transformation occurs.
Our culture encourages individuality
Face it, we live in a consumeristic, narcissistic, self-centered culture. Almost everything we do centers around “my” wants, needs, and preferences. Whether scrolling through our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snap Chat feeds, we are always evaluating whether we will look at a particular story or pass it by. I have to admit when I’m watching American Idol I begin to sound like Simon Cowell, and can be very critical of each singer. So often we bring these preferences into the worship service. How often have worship planners heard the following:
- “I didn’t really like that new song. Don’t do that one again”
- “How come we do so many new songs? I can’t keep up with them all.”
- “How come we do the same songs over and over? I’m bored with them.”
- “Why does that person lead so much? Their voice irritates me.”
- “Why do we sing so many hymns? They’re hard to sing”
- “Why don’t we sing more hymns? They have great theology.”
These statements reveal the self-centered nature of the one speaking. They come to worship wanting their desires and preferences met.
Many modern worship songs center on the individual’s experience with God. While a song may mention what God or Jesus has done or who he is, when we look closer at the lyrics, the song may really be about how I feel about what God has done for me. As an exercise, examine the lyrics of the songs you sang on Sunday and identify the main subject of the song. How many I’s, me’s, and my’s are in the song? While there is certainly a place in a service for a song that centers on my experience of God, most of what a church needs is to center their communal attention on who God is—his attributes and character.
In all the reading I did for my doctoral degree at the Institute for Worship Studies, one quote by Marva Dawn has stayed with me: “The content of our worship music and preaching must proclaim primarily the splendor of God, rather than our feelings about him.”[1] Feelings can vary from person to person, but God’s character does not change. That does not negate one’s feelings, but they are simply not as important as the God we worship whose glory arouses those feelings in the first place. After all, your experience of God (or a songwriter’s experience) may be very different than mine.
So what do we do?
For worship planners and leaders it is crucial that we use the 75 minutes we have on Sunday to combat the self-centered culture our people live in all week. The first few minutes are absolutely critical as we help people transition from an individual “out there” to part of the community “in here.” The focus of our calls to worship, our songs, prayers, and sermons must point to who God is, not how we feel about him. While there is a place for personal response and reflection, keep the focus on the Savior. For those sitting in the seats, prepare your hearts to meet with the living God. Be aware of his presence in the room, of the holy space you are entering, of how he is moving not just in you but among everyone gathered. If the songs center on the first person singular, keep your focus on the character of God the song points out. It takes effort. You can’t just sit back and expect worship to happen automatically. Trust the Holy Spirit to move you and your church.
Remember . . . worship is for God, not for you.
[1] Marva Dawn, “Worship to Form a Missional Community,” Direction 28, no.2 (Fall 1999): 139-52, accessed July 19, 2021. https://directionjournal.org/28/2/worship-to-form-missional-community.html.
