The countdown clock ticks away on the screen. The lights begin to dim and the crowd around you is energized as they all stand to their feet amid the laser lights and mood-setting fog. The music is a pounding force that begs your attention. As the singers belt out their anthem, they exhibit precise choreography as they move about on stage. The frontman or woman commands everyone to stand up and clap as the smiling backups gesture to the excited crowd to join in. People in the crowd are energized and focused on the great stage production in front of them. The scenario I’ve just described is what you might expect at your local arena, amphitheater, or stadium. Unfortunately, this scenario is also played out in thousands of church sanctuaries every Sunday morning. When we gather as the body of Christ, are we gathering for worship or worshiptainment? John 4:23-24
Worshiptainment is a word that’s been thrown around a bit, so let me clarify what it means in this article. Worshiptainment is a morphing of the traditional worship of God one would expect in a Christian gathering and an infusion of the world’s methods of getting people in the mood to worship. Simply put, it is using entertainment, hype, and controlled conditions to get the crowd to have some sort of spiritual experience. The desired result is creating an experience they will return for each week. It is all about numbers, calculations, formulas, replication, and strategic vision, much like a corporate structure. In the realm of growth as the measure of success, true worship, evangelism, and discipleship take a back seat to proven formulas.
Offering up worship to the Lord is not out of compulsion, hype, or something that’s task-oriented. True worship comes from the heart of a believer who offers it up as a pure expression of love, gratitude, and awe for the Lord.
Some people will read the title and assume this article is nothing more than a diatribe against a particular music style, venue, or personal preference. That would be an unfortunate misunderstanding because what I’m covering here is something vastly more important than personal preference or traditional versus contemporary worship styles. What we are focusing on here is what is the motivation, methodology, and outcome of our worship of God.
What we are addressing here is something very different. Worshiptainment is extremely dangerous. Its danger lies in its subtle ability to take the focus off of Jesus and place it on ourselves, our felt needs, and on other people. Worshiptainment places the focus on everything else but who worship should be ascribed. Worshiptainment in its very essence is a movement based solely on the flesh, not the Holy Spirit. I call worshiptainment a movement because it is becoming woven into the fabric of many previously or otherwise biblically-based evangelical churches. The onset and growth of worshiptainment have exploded in scope in the past few years.
It doesn’t matter if you sing traditional, contemporary, or both styles as long as our Savior is central. When Christians gather corporately to worship Jesus, He alone should be our focus. This brings us to the issue at hand. How can Jesus be the focus of worship when there is clearly a focus on ourselves or the people in front of us? I’ve been to fellowships, churches, and gatherings where the fog machine, lights, and music are so overpowering, there is zero chance I could focus on the One seated on the throne.
You can’t throw the name of Jesus into the lyrics of a song and expect that to cover the garbage that passes for worship lyrics. These so-called ‘worship leaders’ basically repeat the same shallow chorus over and over again as the congregation has another Sunday morning experience complete with warm feelings and goosebumps. This isn’t worshiping before a holy God, it is a show. It’s the lukewarm fruit of experience over a relationship.
The fog can drift, the shapes on the wall can swirl, and the band can play in a deafening cadence. The worship singers can raise their hands toward heaven right on cue and belt out their anthem precisely, but it produces no fruit. It is an effort of the flesh that will only produce fans, not disciples.
I’ve had times when I’ve known the Lord’s presence was moving in service and instead of pausing or waiting as people in the congregation silently pray and worship, the leader and singers will strike up the band for the next song. Whatever happened to being still and waiting on the Lord? I often wonder if many people in our churches are able to be quiet and stand in awe of the Lord for even one minute without being entertained.
I’m resolute in regard to zeal for the pure worship of the Lord in church and Christian gatherings. I’m certain many believers have to be dealing with the same zeal we have for the Lord’s name and true worship. Isn’t it time we lovingly and boldly speak up about this issue in our local fellowships, to other believers, and to those who are supposed to lead corporate worship? Church and the Christian life should not be cheapened or reduced to a movement, a fad, or a worship experience cloaked in the hype, entertainment, and a smattering of religious buzzwords. We are called to be holy. Marketing, movements, and worshiptainment will never substitute for the Holy Spirit’s true work in a sold-out believer’s life. Love for the Lord and one another distinguishes us from the rest of the world. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 How can we expect to see true converts if we are becoming more like the world in order to reach the world?
I love the church. I love when we gather together for corporate worship. I know there is still a faithful group of people in worship ministry who love Jesus. They worship for His glory and deplore the show that much the so-called ‘worship service’ has become in many churches.
A growing number of our evangelical churches and gatherings have become so seeker sensitive and want to be so culturally relevant that they have reduced the service to a pep rally, followed by a sermonette, great fellowship, and the building of a ‘me-centered community. You can use the name of Jesus and place it on big flashing screens. You can have banners full of spiritual-sounding platitudes on every wall. It is all window dressing if He isn’t central to what you are doing. We must focus on building His kingdom, not our own.
Today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.
Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate “producers” peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it. A.W. Tozer Our Odd Idol – Entertainment (1955)
Psalm 95:1-6
Friends, true worship is ascribing glory to God. It comes from a heart that doesn’t need to be hyped, pepped, or conjured up. If you are a true Christian, you know the difference. As many in the evangelical church seem to be embracing the methods of worshiptainment to increase numbers and appeal to the world, you must feel the same tension I do as I want to point people to the only One who rightfully deserves worship alone. Let me reiterate, I love the church, I care for fellow believers, I want young Christians to know true worship isn’t something to be reduced to religious entertainment.
There is not enough hype and entertainment to carry you along in this ever-darkening world or give you enough motivation to live daily for Jesus. Spiritual pep rallies complete with cool bracelets and t-shirts commemorating a movement will not help you stand for Jesus when it costs you something or even everything. Conferences, youth rallies, and other gatherings have their place and many are so edifying to a person’s Christian walk, provided they are focused squarely on Jesus. At the end of the day, we cannot let religious activity take the place of truly walking with Jesus. If you focus on and sell out to Him, you won’t need to be entertained. You will be excited by the simple fact that you are able to live your life for His glory.
Looking across the religious landscape of our day, I’m becoming convinced of the root cause of shallow worship. Many have reduced the Lord down to our level. They view Him as a homie, pal, or cosmic genie in a bottle. He’s someone they sing to make them feel good about themselves. In my opinion, we need to completely do away with self-esteem and view God as high and lifted up.
If we could even take a moment to see what the Bible says about the Lord, we’d be on our faces or kneeling in worship instead of proudly belting out anthems about our struggles or how great we are.
The Bible tells us the throngs of angels surround His throne and sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” In Psalm 145 David proclaims, “I will extol you my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
This is the fruit of a heart filled with adoration and it is expressed as worship to the Lord. Me-centered dribble, sappy songs about our hopes and dreams, or felt needs do nothing to bring worship to God.
Worship in the Bible occurs in many times and places. Sometimes it is during a high season or mountaintop time in one’s life. Other times, it is after trials and hardship. Jesus ascribes worship to God when tempted in the wilderness. Paul and Silas were stripped of their clothing, beaten severely, and thrown into a dungeon, yet they praised and worshiped the Lord during the night.
The point is this: Worshiptainment focuses on the here and now, the mountaintops, and it is me-centered. The loud music will fade away, laser lights will cease, the artificial fog will dissipate, and the excited crowd will be gone. You may feel very alone. When hard times, trials, and persecution comes, you need to be able to worship the Lord, even in that hard place because He is right there with you if you belong to Him. Proverbs 18:24
My motives are to lovingly warn you if you are a Christian to be genuine with the Lord and desire true worship. Be intentional about warning others including your leadership about the dangers of worshiptainment. If you are a new Christian, I warn you to seek the Lord, worship Him in spirit and truth, and diligently read what the Bible says about worship. Find a local church or fellowship that teaches the Bible, is Christ-centered, and worships with reverence and awe for the Lord.
In 2 Timothy4:3-4, Paul warns Timothy about false teaching being proliferated by those who desire to hear what they want to hear. Worldly passions give rise to people, including once solid believers wandering off into religious myths. I’m echoing the same warning because some of what passes for worship songs in services is not doctrinally solid or biblical and it is leading people away from Jesus and back into the world. It may appear good because there is some truth, a smattering of religious platitudes, and even a mention of Jesus name.
I believe as we approach the climax of history and the Lord’s return, more churches and fellowships will begin to resemble the world. It will use its marketing tactics, clever salesmanship, and corporate models to build and replicate for strategic growth. This will continue to be epitomized in its greatest manifestation of seeker-sensitive overtures and a give-them-what-they-want mentality. Worshiptainment is the end result of playing church, making little of God, much of ourselves, and how great our church is.
Throughout church history from the early believers in Jerusalem, and Antioch, to those persecuted in the Middle Ages, up to the time of Spurgeon, Moody, and Tozer, worship has been focused squarely on the Lord. The prevailing current in much of the modern evangelical church worship is ‘me’ focussed. In these end times, let us exhort other believers to true worship where the glory is the Lord’s alone. Tozer saw worshiptainment creeping into the evangelical church over fifty years ago and warned us about it. Let’s continue to lovingly warn people against this spiritual decay disguised as being in the Lord’s presence and worship in our day.
All for Him,
Howard
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