ReThinking Worship

From coffee cups, water bottles, and even snack containers; these are the items that litter many church auditoriums following brief periods of worship. Stuffed in the pockets of the seats are handwritten notes regarding the afternoon activities and future events of the day. In fact, the newest church seats resemble theatre seats equipped with cup holders more than the pews of piety from years past. The flashes of light against a screen, called PowerPoint, are the highlight of the service instead of humbly bowing before the Almighty.

Each Sunday for one hour members fill an auditorium for “worship.” For many, this may be the only time each week they worship God. For others, this will begin their week of worship. While each person may be drastically different, we all understand that worship is a part of our lives. The question may be, “How well do we respect our worship?”

My friends, I submit to you today, that we clearly see our respect for God in our worship of Him.

Let me pose a few questions for you to consider:

• If our minds are not focused on the Father during the week, how can one hour on Sunday morning suffice?
• If our worship is filled with what we want, when do we live in what God wants?
• Do our children see us worshipping God, or respecting the world?

Hard questions deserve hard answers!

Take a moment and consider the words of A. W. Tozer this day:

“Christian churches have come to the dangerous time predicted long ago. It is a time when we can pat one another on the back, congratulate ourselves and join in the glad refrain, ‘We are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing!’

“It certainly is true that hardly anything is missing from our churches these days—except the most important thing. We are missing the genuine and sacred offering of ourselves and our worship to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.…

“My own loyalties and responsibilities are and always will be with the strongly evangelical, Bible-believing, Christ-honoring churches. We have been surging forward. We are building great churches and large congregations. We are boasting about high standards and we are talking a lot about revival.

“But I have a question and it is not just rhetoric: What has happened to our worship?”

A. W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1985), 9–10. 

Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (810). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Just some thoughts,