Worship in Spirit and in Truth
The American Church is performance oriented. Everything is done to attract an audience. Just ask the "seeker" churches and they will tell you. The front of the church building is not called an altar as much as it is called a platform. Maybe it should be called a stage. This is where the performance takes place. Who is giving the best performance? That matters when all a church is attempting to do is steal sheep from another church rather than seeking the lost.
This is particularly true when it comes to "praise and worship." Performance! Performance! Performance! The high priest is the modern praise leader. He wants to give the mini-sermon both before and after the service. And it is like he is conducting a pep rally for God. God does not need a pep rally. He is looking for worship from the heart. The praise leader needs the pep rally. Because with such a "pep rally" spirit in the congregation the congregation will be convinced that God has shown up and the praise leader has done his or her job. Worst than this, the praise leader may be addicted to the praise, which is really dangerous. He or she may keep saying: "We give you all the glory, Lord." Such statements are usually tacked on at the end after the leader has basked in the so-called praise for awhile. Is this not true?
This is not new. This problem is ancient. It occurred in heaven long ago. The praise leader was an accomplished musician. His performance was spectacular. But he so abused his position that he confused a third of the angles. He had to be thrown out of heaven because if he were permitted to continue he might have corrupted even more. There is no place for this in heaven and there should be no place for this in the church.
Can we discern that, through all the loud and lengthy praise, God just may not be there? The church has substituted human performance for God's presence and power. What is needed more? Impressive praise or repentance? Some praise leaders will tell you that God needs their praise before any revival takes place.
What about the form of the worship service? What about the liturgy? For some a liturgy is dead works. They want to be spontaneous. They need freedom. They don't need to follow format. Ever noticed that Jesus message in His hometown was given in the context of the liturgy and that he was not preaching against the form of the synagogue service. Rather, he preached from the appointed lectionary reading of the day. He just made it real.
When Jesus got a little too close to home in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well she changed the subject so that she may talk religion. "You Jews worship in Jerusalem and we worship here on this mountain." Jesus told her that neither place was important. God was Spirit and He was looking for those who would "worship Him in Spirit and in truth."
Is it the type or form of worship? Where is our heart? If we sustain lengthy praise to the Lord and yet go out and live the same lives without repentance, what have we accomplished?
“I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."(Amos 5:21-24)