Sunday morning. Time for church. Time to collectively worship God with other believers through praise, song, and a helpful message. I don’t know about you, but I get excited about praising and worshiping my God. I usually pop in a praise cd on my way to church to help get me in the worship mindset. When I get to church, I’m usually just bursting full of praise and my mind is set on my God.
Yet, so often I come into church to be met by a wave of coldness. No it’s not the air conditioner (although might I add that our worship center is entirely too cold, but that’s another post for another day). It is not even the congregation, per se. What is causing this coldness? What is turning my heart from a heart of worship and praise to a passive heart? It is the overall routine and monotony of the service.
Do you know what I’m talking about? The pastor or whomever gets up and says the same thing they say each week to greet the crowd and welcome the visitors. I’m sure if I wanted to, I could stand up and recite the schpeel along with him. Then we sing a few lifeless songs and a choir number that would sound better at a funeral.
Oh and to prepare us for the message Mrs. Smith will stand up and sing a song that I swear was written to put children to sleep at night. After the song, the last thing I want to do is listen to a sermon. I want to curl up in my pew and fall asleep. Which is exactly what some church members do. (Well, not literally curl up in the pew, but you know what I mean.)
Now, how is it that I can be pumped up to worship God and to hear from His Word, but that energy is taken from me by the people who are supposed to be leading me in praising my God? Maybe it’s just me, but aren’t they supposed to be helping me in this? Why am I coming to church if I get more excited about worshiping God than the worship leader?
This is all too common in many of our churches. And I think it’s time for a change. God never meant for church to become a routine, a monotony of repeated songs and a rehearsed message. He wants us to praise Him from our hearts and to gain knowledge and help from His Word.
It’s sad to say, but many pastors are not correctly shepherding their sheep in this area. No I am not attacking pastors, but I am merely challenging their methods. What do you think God would want? A group of lifeless people repeating songs from memory, or a group of energetic believers praising God from their heart and truly meaning it.
We have seen this for far too long. It is time to take our churches out of the dead zone. It’s time to let them fall back in love with God and worship Him with all their hearts. It’s time for change.
Amen! I am pleased to say that I have found a church that has renewed my love for the Lord. I have found a home where I feel safe and comfortable, a home where I can accept Jesus as my personal savior.
Bless you for standing up for this!
You bring up some great points. Part of the supernatural nature of the church is it’s ability to go into any culture and touch people where they are. That’s one of the reasons why God moved from reaching out through a nation (in the Old Testament) to reaching out through regenerated people from every nation . .so He could touch every people group. Every culture is different and they have the freedom to worship God in the context of their culture. Many countries have several sub-cultures within them. You may be part of a smaller sub-culture within your church and it’s possible that the culture that your church is aiming to minister to is not yours. Is everyone getting put to sleep in this church? If so, maybe they have the wrong pastor leading in worship. Is it a smaller group that seems to be getting put to sleep? If so, perhaps they need to have a second worship service with more of a contemporary worship style as so many churches do today. Just because your church’s worship style is not ministering to you don’t jump to the conclusion that it’s a right/wrong issue. There’s more than one way to express worship and praise to God.
I hope this helps.
I appreciate your honesty and candor. Your faith is definitely alive! What do you suggest to remedy this problem with so many churches?
Grace and Peace!
In contrast, I’ve attended churches where the worship is overly animated and emotional. I was led to believe that if I wasn’t having an emotional experience then I hadn’t entered God’s presence. The Bible teaches to worship in spirit and in truth. Yes, emotional feelings often result, but they are not the goal. I’m happy to say that I’ve found a church that seems to have found a balance between the two extremes. The congregation follows the example of the worship leader – he/she sets the tone and shows the way.
Hey – maybe you could lead worship
just a thought, i know i might be speaking out of no where i am a Muslim, and i wanted also to share with you that in our religion we believe that worshiping should be very serene manner, you are dealing with your creator when you are worshiping, so you should be at peace, and being as modest as possible.
but good luck with your mission
Peace