Greatness Through Worship Series

OPEN: A few years ago, Scott (our Family Minister) and I heard that a church building over by High School was for sale and Scott thought it would be a great place for a youth outreach program (Scott’s a genius at lining up grants for things like that). Obviously, we didn’t purchase it … but we did go for tour. And, as I was opening the closet door just off stage something surprised me: There on the floor of the closet was A SMOKE MACHINE! And on the shelf above it was a DISCO BALL.

Why on earth would a church own a smoke machine and a disco ball? Well, because some churches like to enhance worship experience of their members - and so, they have fog machines and disco balls. And some churches work hard to develop lighting effects and have special props on stage that emphasize the sermon series they’re preaching. What they’re doing is trying to create an “atmosphere” so people will feel they’ve REALLY WORSHIPPED on Sunday. And so they add a lot of bells and whistles to how they worship.

Now, I’m not sure God is necessarily bothered by these things. But I do wonder if these activities can become distractions. Because all that stuff really ISN’T worship!

The real problem with enhancing worship & creating an atmosphere, is that a lot of churches do that to please their audience. They believe that the more impressive and awe-inspiring the service, the more people are likely to come and then come back again.

ILLUS: But that kind of thinking can be deceptive. It’s kind of like the preacher that asked his daughter: “How many kids would come to your birthday party if all we offered was cake. No games, no entertainment. They could come to the house to spend time with you and bring gifts because they like you. But that’s all we’d offer. How many of your friends do you think would show up?” She thought for a minute and said “Maybe just a couple.” Then he asked her: “How many would come if I rented out a big arcade and let them have unlimited tokens, food and prizes?” She laughed and said that if they did that, in that case, the whole SCHOOL would show up.

Then the preacher addressed his audience and said: “Imagine if I pulled her aside during that big party at that huge arcade, and I put my arm around her and said, “Look at all the people who came to be with you!” Would she actually believe those people were there because they loved her and wanted to spend time with her? Or would she realize they weren’t there for her - because most of those kids were there just to be entertained. We’ve learned that we can fill church buildings if we bring in the right speaker or the right band - if we make things exciting enough - people will come. And then we say, “Oh Father, look how many people are coming because they love being with You!” Do you really think God is fooled by that? (Francis Chan “Letters To The Church”)

You see, that’s the problem with relying on bells and whistles. A church can grow that way, but they often grow without really worshipping because too often people come because they want to be entertained.

Jesus defined worship this way: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

In other words - HOW we worship IS important to God. You see, God is seeking for people who will WORSHIP HIM the way He WANTS to be worshipped. True worship is NOT about disco balls, or smoke machines, or special light shows. It’s really about worshiping in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

So the question is: how can I know if I’m worshipping in Spirit and Truth?

Well, let’s just start with that word… “WORSHIP”. What does it mean to “Worship”? Here in John 4, The Greek word that Jesus used was “proskuneo” – “to kiss the hand…, in a token of reverence”. The same source noted that… Part of that Greek word (kuneo) meant “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand” (Strong’s Greek Lexicon)

Now, a Question: WHO IS WORSHIP FOR? It’s for God isn’t it? His is the master’s hand! I’ve come here to worship GOD! In worship I declare that God is God… and I’m not! I owe Him my worship; I owe Him my allegiance; I owe Him my very life and my salvation.

The problem for too many church goers is that they don’t think like that. They think worship is all about THEM. Francis Chan once told of hearing a person say “I really didn’t like worship today.” To which he replied: “That’s OK. We weren’t worshipping you.”