“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 (ESV)
One of the most concerning trends in some modern churches is the lack of reverence and awe for the God we serve. Some believe that since we are being adopted into the family of God as sons and daughters, we shouldn’t view ourselves as servants of the Lord. This posture in my opinion greatly affects the way we worship. It is a view that elevates man’s place and lowers God’s.
Although there are a few scriptures that mention that we are no longer slaves and that God considers us sons, daughters and friends, this doesn't mean that we are equal with God or anywhere close. We are new creatures in Christ and one day we will be forever free from sin, which is amazing, but we will always be created beings.
Having too high of a view of ourselves makes worship more of a love relationship between equals rather than us humbly, graciously and gratefully worshiping God as King.
Sometimes this elevation of ourselves is subtle but it is damaging and dangerous, and has a negative effect on our view of God and how we worship him. If our worship is gospel centered, we will see God as he is: the creator of the universe, self-contained, self-sustaining, timeless, perfect, holy, worthy, sovereign.
And we will ourselves as we truly are: desperate, needy, sinful, lost, completely dependent on the goodness and grace of God, weak, fragile. So then, seeing God as he truly is and seeing ourselves in light of that, we see his grace and love toward us as an amazing gift. From this comes true and genuine worship—worship filled with reverence, gratefulness and awe.
This is what Christ centered worship looks like. Our worship is centered around Jesus. This is the problem with the attractional, purpose driven, seeker sensitive church: it is fueled by creating an experience that is enjoyable for the churchgoer rather than focusing on a worship that honors and pleases God.
“For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.” Psalm 96:4 (ESV)
When our corporate worship service is centered around the feelings and experience of the lost people we hope to attract to our church instead of on the God we are supposedly worshiping, in a very real way we are worshiping them and not God. For this reason, I don’t really care for the terminology of calling our church services a worship experience as so many do today. It sounds like an attraction at Disneyland rather than the corporate gathering of the saints to worship God.
Biblical worship should be Christ centered and man-denying. It should lift the name of Jesus high and be focused on him. It should be doctrinally sound and theologically rich. It should be unifying to the body and not aimed at bringing us into unity with the world.
Often when talking about worship we are referring to music, but music is only a part of corporate worship of God. Although I think there are wrong ways to worship as far as corporate worship goes, I am not saying there is only one right way.
The body of Christ throughout the world is very diverse and is infused with many different generations, races and cultures. This makes the body of Christ beautiful and full, but this also can create many challenges.
Although churches have many different styles and structures, I believe that is ok and to be expected. As long as worship is reverent, biblical, gospel focused, and Christ centered, it is acceptable to God.
In Christ,
Pastor Joshua
Joshua West is a pastor, evangelist, and author. he is also director of the World Challenge Pastors Network.