In much contemporary worship today, congregational participation is minimized by the emphasis on performed music on a stage. Like clergy in medieval worship, musicians in contemporary worship have taken on a “priestly” role in the service…The people have become mere spectators of the worship performed by the praise team on their behalf.

The medieval church suffered from a kind of sacerdotalism that removed worship from the people and made it the worship of priests on behalf of the people. But as we have seen the last couple of weeks, the New Testament clearly identifies all believers as priests who have access to God through Christ by the Spirit and who can and should draw near for worship. Church leadership is important, but leaders serve to equip the people, not worship on their behalf.

Unfortunately, while contemporary evangelical churches don’t necessarily suffer from the kind of sacerdotalism that developed in the medieval church, a similar problem has emerged. In much contemporary worship today, congregational participation is minimized by the emphasis on performed music on a stage. Like clergy in medieval worship, musicians in contemporary worship have taken on a “priestly” role in the service. Even the title “worship leader” to describe the chief musician developed from the idea that musicians lead the congregation into the presence of God through the music. The quality of worship in many churches has become measured by the excellence of the performed music and the atmosphere it creates. This has resulted in “worship” become mostly what the praise team does on the stage, which is separated from the congregation by bright lights and darkened congregation. The people have become mere spectators of the worship performed by the praise team on their behalf.

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