Have We Made It Back To The Heart Of Worship Yet?
The formative power of songs and sermons in a polarized Christianity
When you think about the sheer number of worship songs written…
The amount of services held in churches across America…
The polar opposite perspectives of Christians in this nation...
It makes me wonder…are we back to the heart of worship yet?
And what does that mean?
Of course, it’s impossible to quantify. No man can judge the heart. Humans are going to “human” in every generation.
But it never hurts to ask these difficult questions:
How are our songs forming us?
What is the fruit of our gatherings?
What effect are our systems having on human hearts?
Are we looking more like Jesus?
Vance Boelter Sang Worship Songs
Heroes of faith rarely make the headlines. We need to recognize and celebrate the faithful people and pastors who are resisting grift, celebrity, and exploitation. Praise God for those faithful in calling, character, and compassion.
But negative headlines provide us all an opportunity to reckon with sin in our own hearts.
When I read that Vance Boelter was a conservative, evangelical Christian, I immediately thought about how our sermons and songs failed him. What are we missing in our discipleship for people like Vance? What takes root in a “Christian” to justify unspeakable harm in the name of Jesus?
What are we missing?
Good People And Broken Systems
Church and CCM scandal has been relentless. It’s likely always been this way, but social media is merely amplifying it.
When we hear these stories, our response can’t merely be, “There are good people in the industry.” Everyone knows that. We know Christian music has done a lot of good. Churches have done {and do} unspeakable good. But that doesn’t absolve us from reformation. No saint is holy enough to withstand the pull of a broken system. Could it be the system is producing a certain kind of fruit?
Yes - worship is all about Jesus, but even “all about Jesus” can be packaged and sold. Humility and purity can be a business opportunity we exploit.
Redman’s lyric “I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it” rings true. We’ve made worship about so many things.
Sales.
Songs.
Assets.
Industry.
Products.
Platforms.
Church growth.
But when worship becomes more about making “Bubba” comfortable…
When worship becomes a soundtrack to bombs dropping…
We need to slow down. To take inventory. To evaluate the kind of Christianity we are practicing.
Could it be the Lord is calling us to a season of quietness and repentance?
Isaiah 30 is painful:
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’”
The Opportunity In Front of Us
We have an opportunity to:
Repent.
Return.
Refocus.
Without a regular rhythm of conviction and repentance, I’m not sure we can be the people God has called us to be. We all need it.
Biblical worship should make us more brokenhearted for the least of these.
Biblical worship should lead us to action on behalf of the most vulnerable.
Biblical worship should humble us in light of the greatness and glory of God.
Biblical worship should lead us to look more like Jesus.
When we see the glory of God it should fill us with humility, not hubris.
Take note of Isaiah’s response:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
Let’s come back to the heart of worship, my friends.