The topic of my devotional this morning may bring a little uncomfort to the reader, I know it makes me uncomfortable to write about it. And, please rest assured I am not trying to outright offend anyone, but if that happens to be the case maybe it is for a reason. Sometimes when we are offended or uncomfortable it means that Christ is trying to convict us of an inner problem that needs to be resolved or mended. So, let’s buckle down together and face some conviction together.
I have been a minister of the Gospel now for more than 10 years, and I have had a wide variety of conversations with various forms of Christians in that time. One of the conversations I have had numerous times is reasons why people join and reasons why people leave the church. Now, to summarize all of those talks would take an encyclopedia, much less a devotional article. So let’s focus on one particular topic today, the topic of worship.
Several times in my ministry people have shared with me that the worship in the church was not meeting their spiritual needs. A common phrase that most pastors (if not all) have heard is; “Preacher, that service just didn’t do anything for me this morning.” There have been numerous times in which people have come up to me and recommended changes that would be sure to fix everything about the service! What fascinates me is their recommendations usually have little to do with the spiritual aspect of worship and everything to do with the aesthetic part of worship. Suggestions such as, “we need to have a praise band, or, we don’t need a praise band!” Maybe, “we need more contemporary worship, or, we need more traditional worship!” And, “the sermon is too long, or, the sermon is too short!” Ok, even I’ll admit that I’ve never had someone say that my sermons were too short, but I have heard the other ones in all of the churches I have ever served. And I can promise you that all other pastors have heard similar things as well.
Let’s acknowledge a universal fact, each and every one of us has their particular form of worship and church structure that makes us comfortable. That’s fine, but it does not make your preferred form of worship the ONLY form of worship. To treat other forms of worship with contempt is to insult the very diverse nature in which cultures and peoples around the world worship Christ. What is even worse, and more dangerous, is sitting in worship and focusing more on what is wrong or what you dislike. Rather than focusing on where the Holy Spirit is moving.
Rev. Billy Graham once said, “Worship isn’t supposed to be entertainment; we don’t come together to enjoy ourselves but to worship God.” If you come to worship for the sole reason of being entertained, then you are not worshiping, you are merely a spectator. I would go as far as to say that if you can sit in a church where the Gospel is being authentically being preached, songs of praise are authentically being sung, lives are authentically being changed, disciples are authentically being made; and you say “that just isn’t doing it for me…” maybe the church isn’t the problem?
As Christians we have got to stop looking at everything as a transactional relationship when it comes to church and God. We don’t worship God to get something in return; we worship the lord because he is GOD! We worship Christ because he is our MESSIAH! These should be the only reasons we worship; if the byproduct of our worship is joy and comfort then praise be, but it should not be the reason. Now, are there bad preachers out there, of course! Are there bad musicians out there, absolutely! But the goal should not be to have good worship, the goal should be to have authentic worship. Where each person, preacher and parishioner, are working together earnestly to praise Jesus Christ and make him the center of the service.
Brothers and sisters, perhaps it is time that we take some responsibility for our disillusionment with the occasional worship service. Maybe the issue isn’t the service, maybe we are the problem. Maybe our hearts need to be refocused on Christ and our worship be focused on worshiping, not receiving. Maybe the sermon needs to return to the Gospel instead of the pastor’s personal feelings. Maybe the choir or praise band should sing songs of praise instead of songs that glorify the singers. And if you see a need in your church’s service that you could serve and provide, then don’t complain! Stand up and volunteer! Why sit and wait for others to be the solution when God may have put you there for that very reason.
One final thought, Jesus preached some of the most important, eloquent, earth shattering, mind boggling, life changing, and spirit saving sermons in the history of the world. But there was still a group of people called the Pharisees and Sadducees who said, “Jesus’ words just didn’t do anything for me!” Don’t think that those groups have gone away, and don’t fall into the trap of becoming one while worshiping on Sunday.
Seek authentic worship my friends.
Pastor Mike McVey
First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ASC Chaplain – United States Coast Guard
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Service
(P.S. If you would like to contact or receive Pastor Mike’s weekly newsletter simply email him at pastormike@fumcfairfield.org)
