THE WORSHIP EXPERIENCE
After the Sunday morning service, you run into a friend from church and you ask, “Hey, what what did you think of the worship this morning?” They reply, “It was great, they did a lot of the songs I really like!” This statement reflects a typical American understanding of what it means to ‘worship’ God in the modern church; worship that is one dimensional and is essentially boiled down to an expression of emotion through music and singing. Unfortunately, the preaching, teaching, and receiving of God’s Word is rarely considered worship in our contemporary services, but it should be a central aspect of our corporate worship experience. The question of worship and what place the preaching of God’s Word takes in that worship is a critical one for the church today, and it needs to be re-affirmed openly and often, for the benefit of the next generation of believers.
According to the Moody Handbook of Preaching, “…the reading and exposition of God’s Word are indispensable components in the dialogue of public worship. God Speaks to His people through His written Word. (Koessler 45)” This simple truth, which at one time, seemed to be so self-evident, that every pastor and every church member understood it, has fallen on deaf ears as of late. Seeking to entertain audiences rather than equip the saints, many churches have fallen for the classic blunder of setting aside the preaching and teaching of God’s word in favor of more experiential and ecstatic forms of worship; i.e. expanded highly emotional music sets, mystical exploration into spirituality, and of course, the worship of oneself via the gospel of personal improvement and self-help psychology.
The ministry of God’s Word is the ultimate form of worship, because it says to the worshiper; “This is the word of God, will you acknowledge it’s authority over your life, and will you submit to that authority by allowing it to change your life?” You can stand with your hands raised, singing at the top of your lungs, (even in tongues if you like), in a thousand worship services, in a thousand churches, with a thousand different songs, that, “Jesus is Lord!!!” Yet, if you have never submitted to the authority of God’s Word, and worse yet, you don’t even know what it says, because you’ve been unwilling to learn its precepts, your worship is in vain!
Jesus boldly declared that, “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (NKJV Mat 7:21-23)”
A dear sister told me just the other day, that she heard a pastor just recently boast that, “We’re all about experiences here. We don’t spend a lot of time preaching the word, because you can only read those old stories about Jonah and the whale so many times… we just want to have spiritual experiences!” Given this backdrop and the spiritually condition of the church today, it is more than helpful for us to be reminded continually that, “The subjectivity and ambiguity of spirituality [must be] countered with the objectivity of Word-permeated, Christ-focused worship. (Koessler 45)”
Applying this principle in my own ministry, requires that I remain firm in my convictions, and take the admonishment that Paul gave Timothy, as my own: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (NKJV 2 Tim 4:2)” But of course, with so much of Christendom departing from this precept, it is a continual challenge for churches to resist giving in to the pressures of a younger generation, and their cries for cultural relevance and social expediency. However, the words of our LORD Jesus shall be our guide who said, "...true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (Jn 4:23-24)"
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited:
Koessler. Moody Handbook of Preaching. Moody Press. Print. 2008.
NKJV. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Print. 2001.
