- Satan is fine with us making the world a better place, and even doing so in the name of Christ, so long as we stop short of recognizing Jesus as Lord. (Ryan Denison)
- The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment. (A. W. Tozer)
- The best congregational songs contain biblical truths and then give us words to properly respond to those truths. Truth without emotion is dead orthodoxy. Emotion without truth is fanaticism and potentially idolatrous. (Matt Redman)
- We “seek the living among the dead” whenever we treat Jesus as anything or anyone other than our living Lord. (Jim Denison)
- How wonderful to know that Christianity is more than a padded pew or a dim cathedral, but that it is a real, living, daily experience which goes on from grace to grace (Jim Elliot)
- Comfort is the god of our generation, so suffering is seen as a problem to be solved, and not a providence from God. (Matt Chandler)
Text: Psalm 100: ‘1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.’
Ecclesiastes 5: Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
Living in a culture whose worldview and mindset tend to highlight what is missing more than what is remaining, the concept of worship can focus more on hurts, hunger, and pain, rather than on God. So, what is regarded as worship is a time to feed the self which is the centre, allowing it to define reality, feelings, desires and emotions. A time labelled worship is actually an opportunity for selfishness to overrule the wisdom of God and the truth of His word. Whether it is the formal structured worship (liturgical) or informal (Pentecostal), it is possible to claim to worship God, but in reality, the emphasis is self. The lyrics of the song may be about God and his glory, but their hearts are more concerned with their feelings and their needs but have no connection with God. ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” (Isaiah 29:13, compare with Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6).
WHY WORSHIP SHOULD NOT BE ENTERTAINMENT
‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
Worship
Worship is adoration– It is obedient response to the revealed nature and character of God. Biblical worship is always focused on God and God alone. Any other focus is likely to be idolatry and misuse of God’s name. It is making the feelings and thoughts submit to the Almighty God. In worship, one determines to forget about self and concentrates on the Living God, his redemptive plan for man, his indescribable love, etc. Worship is the focused expression of reverence and devotion directed towards ‘Our Father who is in heaven’. Biblical worship is not an attempt to get God’s attention, call the Spirit down, or lead worshipers into God’s presence; rather, biblical worship is a response to the work that God has already done on behalf of the redeemed worshiper, and through Spirit-controlled worship, believers further grow in their knowledge and love for the Lord.
Worshippers are Spirit filled and led- It is God honouring believers whose mission in life is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mathew 6:33) that proclaim the awesomeness of God whom they love and serve. The glory of God must be their deepest desire not themselves, their feelings or preferences. ‘Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:23-24). Awareness of God’s presence and holiness is what determine their mode of worship. God commands worship that is rooted in both spirit and truth. Truth is the content of worship that comes from God’s word.
Mission of the worshippers– Worship that gives glory to God arises from a life whose mission is to bring God glory, through our words, expressions of adoration, commitment to serving others and to making disciples. Ultimately, “worship”, the kind that God says He desires, is wholistic in that it is not limited to a building but continues in every aspect of life. ‘And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ (Colossians 3:17). Worship is a time to clarify the boundaries of where one belongs. It is aligning of thoughts to God’s eternal purpose and getting rid of what does not align.
Worship reveals maturity of the worshippers– An illustration by Ed Steel: ‘A father goes on several business trips a year and each time brings a gift for the children. After a while, the children would meet him at the door when he returned, but they really didn’t want to see him as much as to see what he might have brought them. Their focus has changed from their father to what might be given. If we are not careful, our worship can shift from waiting on “Daddy” to the “gift.”’ Worship is a sign of maturity as the worshippers recognise the love and fatherhood of God. Worship is a kind of basking in the presence of the living God. It is not praise worthy to allow our experiences to blur the mind such that the focus is our brokenness, pain and hardships. Whatever the pain, whatever the shortages. Irrespective of whether the gathering is identified as Pentecostal, mainstream or any other, if what is described as worship is all about meeting the needs of the people, this is a sign of immaturity. To sing songs of how people have become winners or keep repeating some words that border murmuring and complaint could reveal poor theology or immaturity.
Worship is an expression of gratitude– The Christian responsibility in worship is to express gratitude because of the nature, character and worthiness of God. It is “Jubilate Deo” the Latin word that translates to “Rejoice in God” or “Sing joyfully to God”: this is what I grew up hearing every Sunday and later learnt it was Psalm 100. Worship is rejoicing in God ‘For the Lord is good and his love endures forever’.
It should be noteworthy that worship is not a singular activity of musical expression: it should include times of reflecting and studying God’s word, quiet time with God and testimonies of the manifestations of God’s power in the midst of the people. To go to church or a Christian gathering to have fun is abuse of the divine power and of being in the presence of the Almighty and Living God. Reading, teaching and exposition of the word of God (1 Corinthians 4:17). Singing that is based on the word of God and the mission mandated by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5.19; 1 Corinthians 14:26). If dancing has to accompany the singing, there is need to clarify the reason for joy. Testimony of the working of God in the midst of the people. Bible based prayer that reflect awareness of God’s majesty (Acts 12:5; Revelation 5). The remembrance of the sacrifice that Jesus became so that we could access God’s throne of mercy referred to as breaking of bread/Holy Communion. Beware of some of those unpunctuated choruses that border misuse of Gd’s name. ‘We need to do more than sing “Amazing Grace.” We need to be repeatedly amazed by grace. (R.C. Sproul)
Entertainment– However, entertainment can be defined as a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience, or gives pleasure and delight. Entertainment is ‘An activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience, no matter whether the audience participates passively as in watching opera or a movie, or actively as in games; a show put on for the enjoyment or amusement of others.’ Entertainment aims to provide pleasure and escape, just like a drug or alcohol. Entertainment takes the focus off of God and holds the attention on people. It seeks to hold captive the minds of people away from God and godly things.
Entertainments is selfish worship – The aim is to seek God’s power for self-use. People decree and declare using such words as, ‘fill me up till I overflow’, when there is no intention whatsoever to use that overflow for others but just us. If the overflow is used for others, it is to manipulate and subdue them. God’s anointing is sought so that one is labelled “man of God”, “prayer warrior”, or “true worshipper” by significant others. That way people who are ranked as spiritually powerful beings, who can eventually influence others and be regarded as important.
Entertainment is selfish worship used as a magic charm– It is God to grant the wish of the one who decrees and declares. Worship is viewed as a form of bribe, flattery that gets God excited, so that He does the ‘worshippers’ bidding.
The focus and purpose are what make entertainment and worship be polar opposites. When worship is perceived as entertainment, success is measured in how well the audience found the performance personally pleasing. The measure of worship should be obedience to biblical truth not feelings. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?’ (Jeremiah 17:9). Though both entertainment and worship can involve music, performance, and emotional expression, the core difference lies in their purpose. To have joyous emotions in response to the wonder and awe of God is a natural, God-given impulse that need not be denied. Worship is not the annihilation of our personalities; reading through the Psalms confirms the myriads of expressions David had in worship. Revelation 4 reveals the kind of worship that honors God. Worship should not be defined in terms of emotional expression, though such expressions are sometimes a result. While to be joyous is okay, we do not come to church to have fun, or have a performance venue. Hired worshippers can be placed in the same category as the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10,12). When worship is focused on God, chains that bind and limit fall off as happened to Paul and Silas (Acts 16). The Living God, the father of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, knows the true intentions and cannot be fooled with flattery. It is unwise to imagine that God can be enticed with melodies to do our bidding. It is a bad risk to assume that your acting ignorant about worship is acceptable before God. If you don’t know why you are doing what you are doing, you don’t know what you’re doing and that is what Hosea said cause God’s people to perish (Hosea 4:6). Repent and genuinely revere God in your worship and you will see His glory. What do you do when you find yourself in the midst of entertainers who have no knowledge of what true worship is?
‘The purpose of corporate worship is not to titillate, amuse our passions or gratify our carnal impulses; the purpose of worship is to engage on the level of thought with our Creator.’ (Jim Jonas)