I’m going to say something unpopular.
Church isn’t for you (or me).
Yes, it certainly is beneficial and essential for us. But what happens at service is not ultimately about us. It is about Christ. While we are instructed by the word, encouraged by the worship, and fed by the sacrament, the purpose of our time at worship is for the proclamation of the Gospel, and focus on giving praise and honor to God.
Sadly, what we see in a lot of the modem Western Evangelical Church is a specially curated experience that is attuned and created for those experiencing it to draw them, almost in a sense of entertainment. “We need to do stuff so that people will be interested in participating”.
The worship of the One, True, & Living God from the beginning of Scripture is presented to us as for Him alone. We are prescribed how He is to be worshiped. And as we see in Scripture, whenever human ideas of how this worship is to be conducted is implemented, bad things happen. (See Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah etc…)
What I’m saying here is not simply a case for more traditional worship (though it could be made). Ultimately, adaptations, advancements & modifications do happen through the ages in worship. But what should always remain the same is the effort and focus of our worship. My goal in this discussion is not to perpetuate the “worship wars”, but to begin a discussion about the WHY of what we are doing, not necessarily the WHAT.
All of this is being said, not to bash or to question the motives of people. I genuinely believe what we see around us is well-intentioned. People want to see lives changed through an encounter with the Risen Christ. And that’s a good thing! But, we seem to be in a position in many places where the means have ultimately become the ends, and that is always a dangerous thing. This can happen in traditional spaces as well. Where the tradition, and focus on it becomes the goal, rather than it bringing us to closer relationship and transformation in Christ. So this cuts both ways.
Since the 1980’s in earnest, many have adopted the “seeker sensitive model” where the primary motivator behind the movement and flow of services, and the operation of the individual church was to draw in the potential seeker. Sadly, what this created much of the time was repackaged entertainment, spiritual ted talks, and corny attempts to dumb down the beautiful and historic truths of the faith into a modern, often secular-materialist gospel that anyone would consume.
As the Church has continued down this path, the offspring of this move has much of the time been a shallow, no-cost walk with Jesus that can flake away at the first sign of resistance. Following Jesus costs us something…really everything. But when we walk in to commercialized, production intensive, watered down worship experience; while the emotion is high, often the foundation isn’t laid for life-long sanctification that is held fast through every ebb and flow of life.
I know much of what has been said is in many way generalizations, and doesn’t capture every spectrum that is reality in the wide world of American evangelicalism. But if there’s one thing that I have begun to realize is that Gen Z, and potentially Gen Alpha desire is not platitudes and entertainment; they desire foundational, unchanging, & transformational worship & teaching that reaches into the depth of the human experience to answer the burning questions of the brokenness of this world. Rather than answering the question of, “what can Jesus do for me?”, they want to answer, “what can I do for Jesus?”
Our worship, sermons & everything we do much reflect this. We cannot just glide along as things have always been. Jesus doesn’t just make us better. He makes the dead alive, and transforms us into people originally intended to transform creation through abiding and deep relationship with Him.
How we worship is also important. We can never forget that what we do on Sunday matters. We are not just getting together to learn about Jesus. When we gather to worship we are glorifying God, and that worship is looked at by those in the spiritual realm (1 Peter 1:12). Worship is not for us, it is for Christ alone. When we sings songs, listen to the sermon, pray together, recite the Creed, and take the Eucharist together (the last two on the list that sadly to not happen enough), it all forms us to look more like Christ as we worship Him.
What we worship forms us. It always does whether we realize it or not; and that matters.
Yes we benefit from it. During our times of worship and hearing the word we are instructed in what is true, and yet all of it is to truly worship and glorify the One, True God.
Let us worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.