I love movie theater popcorn. There is
just something about it that makes it taste amazing. I’m not even really a
popcorn fan, truth be told, but movie theater popcorn is one of my favorite
foods. I’ll even disclose a little secret… Sometimes I’ll suggest a movie for a
date night with Trista (my wife), not because I want to watch a movie, but
because I want movie theater popcorn. That’s right, I said it! I go to the
movies not for the movie (the main attraction) but for the popcorn.
The same can be said sometimes for
Christians when it comes to worship. Now just so we are clear, worship is a
word used to describe a lot of things. (For a comprehensive definition of the
word “worship” and its Biblical meaning and usage, check out the Eerdmans Bible
Dictionary. It is a great resource.) I will use the word worship in this blog
post to talk about what is referred to as corporate worship or a church
service.
When God first saved me, I was 23 years
old. I can remember going that year to some sort of massive retreat for
Christians. It was held in a packed auditorium and everyone was passionately
pouring out their heart in worship to our great God. I can remember thinking;
worship should always be like this. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that
was a dangerous thought. Don’t get me wrong; my heart was in the right place. I
could feel the presence of God and I never wanted to experience worship without
that again. That is a very right and Biblical thought. However, the thoughts
that I had about my little, less than passionate, 50-100 member country
church’s worship service after that retreat were less than kind, right, or
Biblical.
Please know, before I launch into the
teaching point in this blog that I am not pointing the finger at BCC
specifically. I can honestly say that my experience being a pastor on staff
here has been the best. Trista and I have felt loved and supported, however, this
is an issue that exists everywhere, even here. Please know that my intention,
if this is a struggle for you, is not to condemn, but to lovingly point out a
“blind spot” that you may not be aware of. After all that is what good pastors
and good community should do for one another. So, onward…
If you ask someone to describe his or
her perfect worship service almost every Christian on this planet would tell
you something different. Especially since most churches are multi-generational
(many different generations attend), the music that people enjoy listening to
can range from rap and hip-hop, to bluegrass or polka. This can make selecting
songs that can engage a church somewhat difficult. Yet for me as a worship
pastor, this is not the thing that challenges/scares me the most. What scares
me the most is that people can come into a worship service with a preconceived
idea of what worship should be like, and they feel as though they cannot
worship if what happens in the service doesn’t line up with their idea of what
worship should be. Please understand that there are some WRONG ways to do
worship, however, the Bible gets to dictate that, not us. I am horrified at the
notion that many of us may be coming to a worship service with an idea (or
sometimes a better description might be a graven image) of what the experience of God ought to be like, and expect the
music to simulate that experience in us. It could be a piano and organ or an
electric guitar and drums—either can create a God experience that may not have
any of God in it at all. But people will feel like they’ve worshipped because
its what they want. Could it be possible that in our consumerist-culture that
we are actually worshiping worship rather than the only One who is worthy of
our worship? Could it be possible that we, as Christians, can create an
emotionally gratifying experience within ourselves, a.k.a. a counterfeit worship
experience? 2 Corinthians 3 talks about a people whose hearts were hardened to
true worship because they expected that salvation/worship should be one way
(through the Law), and they refused to change or bend even when God Himself
showed up through Christ and showed them a better way (grace through Christ).
And as verse 17 says, true worship of the true and living Christ invites God’s
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty indeed!
If we want to experience true life-giving
worship at BCC, we must never start being concerned with the inferior matters
such as style, instrumentation, order of service, etc. We must concern
ourselves with connecting in gratitude and passionate worship of our risen
Savior, Jesus Christ. I am just as guilty as the next person of trying to make
my worship experience about lesser things, but it is exactly like to going to
the movies only for the popcorn. The popcorn is good, but it is not the main
attraction. Our worship service is great but let us never be a people who are
guilty of forgetting the wondrous cross and Prince of glory, the God man Jesus
who died on that cross so that we could have life, liberty, and a right
relationship with God. That is so much better than movie theater popcorn!
Brett Best
Worship Pastor
