In our mid-week tune-up we are working through George Barna’s book, Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ. The past two weeks have been the most challenging from a technical aspect and because of a healthy dose of spiritual reality.
Wading through the research we‚Äôve seen a disturbing picture that believers are not living all that differently from un-believers. It would be nice to think the reason for this similarity is the positive influence believers have had on society at large. This, I’m afraid, would be delusional thinking. We live in a society where Christianity is being pushed to the fringes. All in the name of tolerance!
Barna asks:
How well do we, the Christian community in America, measure up to the example set for us by Jesus and later by the disciples in Jerusalem?
To help measure our progress Barna reviews the pillars of the Christian life as described in Acts and modeled by the ministry of Jesus: worship, evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, service, and fellowship. To be true disciples of Jesus Christ, Barna contends, we will be growing in each of these areas.
Take worship for example. As you know, growth in worship can be measure by attendance. This is an easy indicator to gauge. The harder indicator, as the survey suggests, relates to people’s experience at worship events.
The survey revealed:
- In a typical worship service, about half claim that they did not experience God’s presence or feel that they interacted with Him in a personal way.
- Less than one-quarter of all born again adults consciously strive to make worship part of their lifestyle. For most people, worship implies attending a church service that includes music and preaching.
- When we asked people to describe the meaning of worship, 42 percent of all adult believers were unable to provide a substantive or reasonable reply.
- When born-again adults conveyed the most important outcome they want to achieve in life, less than 1 percent mentioned praising and worshiping God.
In summary, Barna makes the following observation:
Few individuals deny the importance of worship, but relatively few understand what it means or have a passion to engage God through worship.
Say it isn’t so! And if this is true, why? What does worship mean to you? What does it mean or look like to have a passion to engage God through worship?
5 Responses to “The Heart of Worship”
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May 26th, 2005 at 10:38 am
Since you asked, I find that when my focus is not on giving glory to God, my life is a mess. If I’m working to get promoted, rather than working, as Paul commanded in 1 Cor 10:31, “to the glory of God” then my worklife is tense, political, and no fun. Same with family: if I’m not about trying to bring my children up in the way they should go, there’s aggravation and exasperation all around. Then, I think I’m going to fix things by singing on Sunday? Wrong answer, thanks for playing.
I’m not able (or interested) in reaching out to visitors or encouraging brethren/sistren on Sunday if the preceding Monday through Saturday has been off the spiritual rails.
So, to make a long answer longer, I striving for more intimate worship by deciding to give God priority in worship’s constituent parts (i.e., work, family, food, drink, social life).
May 26th, 2005 at 12:08 pm
I often wonder how much worshiping is going on during “worship”. I want so much for people to be engaged, to feel God’s presence. It’s one of the reasons we keep trying new things, changing orders from week to week, making the morning as fresh as possible. The more static it is, the more ritualistic it becomes. Sandra does a great job at this and I know she always has it in mind. “How can we bring people close to God today?”
What’s amazing to me is how much time I spend worshiping from Sunday afternoon through Saturday night. The more I grow in Christ, the more I want to worship all the time. Lisa and I will be driving somewhere, singing whatever’s on K-LOVE, and just praising! And I draw even closer in those silent moments.
Explaining worship to a person without faith is alot like explaining “blue” to a blind man.
May 26th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
I agree. One cannot (at least not me) come into worship Sunday morning and feel close to God if I am at sorts with my spouse or frustrated over other issues. I have to turn over any burdens to God before I begin to experience my worship Sunday or any other morning. How I differ is that while others are trying to make the experience richer by changing things, I can lose something in my experience by seeing we are changing something in the order. Obviously, we cannot please everyone–that is why I think while the service is there to help us, we need to keep hearts and ears open for God through the message. Some people learn better visually, others by reading.
May 26th, 2005 at 3:08 pm
Interesting blog, Randy. Part of the restoration problem has been that we look in the NT, see “how” people worshipped and then try to emulate that, thinking if we do what they did then the result will be that we, too, have worshipped. Not so.
To borrow (almost quote) from Tim Woodroof’s book, “A Church That Flies” … Worship for the first century Christian was not just an event. It was an experience. Worship transported them to a “holy place” where they met with their Lord and experienced his power. Empowered by the Spirit, worship was a convicting, humbling, awe-inducing activity in which Christians bowed down and acknowledged that God was present with them. It produced a vivid awareness of their own sin and unworthiness, and a compelling urge to praise, adore and testify to God’s goodness, grace and greatness. Whether it was spontaneous or structured, worship provided a vibrant connection between those believers and their God.
I don’t think we’ll “experience” worship to that degree until we get past trying to do what they did and seek, instead, to connect with our Creator, using whatever forms of worship that work for our culture.
May 27th, 2005 at 7:22 pm
The most substantive act of worship in my estimation is a life lived daily to the Glory of God. As examplified by the exhortation let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your father in heaven. Praise (not to be confused with worship) of which the bible says the Lord delights in is only a part, the vocal expression of worship which is far more comprehensive.