The Archbishop of Canterbury (William Temple) in the 1440s described the purpose and functionality of worship. He said, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” In other words, while we are impacted, changed, and beneficiaries as a result of worship—we must view worship as primarily centered upon God.

Recently I observed an advertisement for a bank and it was a commercial that talked about how their new design was “banking reimagined.” It was not the typical banking atmosphere. It was complete with a coffee shop, modern seating, and appeared to be more of a lounge than a bank. It is very common within evangelical circles to hear people talking about how they have reimagined church or reimagined worship. This typically means they have redesigned it for a modern audience with a fresh new look or purpose. It would do us well to remember that God doesn’t need our imagination to repackage worship. He has given us everything we need in the Scriptures in order to detail they way in which God should be approached in worship.

The Archbishop of Canterbury (William Temple) in the 1440s described the purpose and functionality of worship. He said, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” In other words, while we are impacted, changed, and beneficiaries as a result of worship—we must view worship as primarily centered upon God.

The primary audience for our worship is God himself. It’s not the congregation, because the congregation is called by God to engage as participants in worship. It’s not the seeker who is coming looking for God, for that person doesn’t truly exist. The true seeker is God himself. Therefore, in our weekly worship as a gathered church—our worship is offered up to God since he alone is the primary audience. Therefore, that means that we must take our worship of God seriously.

Our Aim is to Please God

Many pastors aim to please people, and often unbelieving people, in the way in which they design their weekly worship. This past week, Ed Young who serves as the pastor of Fellowship Church in Texas, redesigned the worship center of their church to look like a basketball court. He called it, “March Madness” and he invited a professional dunker to come and perform dunks on stage. It was widely advertised online and Ed Young spoke before the congregation with a basketball in his hand the entire service.

Many pastors have gone the route of pleasing people rather than pleasing God. They have become entertainers rather than preachers of God’s Word. Seeking to entertain people, they have turned their backs on the central priority of worship which is to please God. Church has become a platform for their personality, their success, and their latest gimmicks are designed to bring in people who would not typically attend church. In their attempt to entertain goats, the sheep are starving to death. With their goal of pleasing people, they fail to please God.

Read More