Worship & the Visitor

I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.  Psalm 108:3

An American church planting pastor in Japan told me this story.  Two Japanese, who had never had any previous contact with Christianity, came into a tiny Christian gathering.  The worship that day, he said, was especially good.  After the meeting, the two visitors eagerly approached the pastor with this question: "When you were singing those songs, we felt something.  Was that God?"  The pastor was able to explain how God dwells in the praises of His people and how they could know Him personally.

The Universal Itch
People are looking for spiritual reality.  In previous decades, a secular rationalism created antagonism toward spiritual expression.  Currently however there is a broad reaction to that worldview and an unabashed hunger for spiritual experience.  For the most part, however, the Church is surprisingly uncomfortable with its transcendent nature. 

In his book entitled The Contemporary Christian, John Stott makes this observation:

This quest for transcendence is a challenge to the quality of the church's public worship.  Does it offer what people are craving — the element of mystery... in biblical language 'the fear of God'... in modern language 'transcendence'?  My answer to my own question is 'Not often'. The church is not always conspicuous for the profound reality of its worship... No wonder those seeking Reality often pass us by!

We shouldn't assume that the visitor is incapable of apprehending spiritual phenomenon.  After all, each one is made in the image of God, and, as Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, He has "set eternity in the hearts of men."  The worship experience corresponds to that universal "itch."  That explains the finding of the largest study of American congregational life ever undertaken — the FACT report conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research: "vibrant worship is at the heart of church growth."

Let's look at two principles of how genuine, hearty worship can help our fellowships and congregations communicate the Christian life to visitors.

Principle #1 - Worship gives a picture of kingdom life
A man I met at a conference told me this story.  At a time in his life when he was far from God, he was hurrying through a hotel lobby when he happened to catch, in the corner of his eye, a television broadcast of a large gathering of people worshiping.  Less than a minute later, he stopped in his tracks, went back to the TV and watched intently through his tears, knowing that God was drawing him back.  God apprehended this man through a picture of worship.

Jesus said in Mark 12 that loving God totally and wholeheartedly is the greatest commandment.  Christian worship should be living pictures of the society of those who have exchanged self-centered living for God-centered living.  The act of corporate worship beautifully demonstrates this new life style where God is the center.  The visitor needs such  pictures.

Principle #2 - The visitor is not just listening to your words
The biggest hindrance to visitors is not that they encounter something they don't immediately understand; it's encountering something that is not genuine.  Mahatma Gandhi, after several years of studying in London, said he would have become a Christian if he had ever met one.  Whatever version of Christianity he saw, he apparently didn't see the real thing.

One study concluded that 55% of all communication is nonverbal.  The visitor is not just listening to what you say.  He is intuitively observing how connected you and your group really are with what you espouse.  He's looking for emotional and intellectual honesty, depth of conviction, and heartfelt compassion.  How we worship reflects these things — or their absence — more than we know.

The discipline for worship teams to learn is to mean what we sing and sing what we mean.  This will affect not only what we sing, but how we sing it.  Worship leaders, choose songs that are appropriate to your group's experience — there's no place for meaningless expression.  And learn the songs so well that they are literally part of you. 
Encourage and train the worshipers you lead to be sure to connect the outer acts of worship with the inner realities of the heart.  Anything less is unfair to the visitor.

Do unto others...
Why is it so important to me that we not try to hide our worship from the visitor?  It's because I was once the visitor, as you probably were too.  I can still remember that meeting in Tallahassee, Florida when I, for the first time, saw people abandoned to God in worship.  It awakened in me a deep sense of hope and destiny.  Like the Queen of Sheba in II Chronicles 9, when she was the visitor observing Israel's worship, I was "breathless."  I'll really never be the same.

Don't you think that those who visit us should be given the same privilege?

 

2 Comments »

1. This article reawakened something deep inside me.  Thank you, Gerrit.  You have been a consistent teacher and mentor, though we have never met, over the course of many years.

   I have been a worship leader for 15 years or so at this point.  I remember what it was like the first time I was in a place where truly free, authentic, heart-felt snd intellectually honest worship was happening.  I was broken.  I had been as afar back as I could remember, but I had never worshipped… never even seen it… like this.  Deeply felt.  Deeply honest.  Deeply seeking.  Deeply connected.  God was awesome in that moment - and very very present.  Fearfully present.

   I know the power of honest worship, and the way it can affect souls who are not yet connected to God.  If it’s honest, deeply real, and a response to the truth of scripture and the person of Jesus, God will be present, and His love will draw souls to Himself.  People argue the theology of this “worship evangelism” mindset with me sometimes.  But I’ve seen it for myself.  And scripture backs it up.  When God’s people gather and worship with freedom and honesty, hearts respond.

   Thanks so much for this article.  God bless you, and your ministry, and your family!

   -joshua

   Comment by Joshua Skogerboe - Nov 02, 2009 @ 12:32 PM

2. Thank you so much for this article. It is so important to remember how important Christian Praise and Worship is in our lives and in the lives around us. God definitely does inhabit the praises of His people and so many people can come to know the Lord through the Spirit as we praise God. We must remember to Love God and let His Spirit do the work in touching other lives.

   Comment by Sharron from Christian Praise Blog - Nov 02, 2009 @ 09:21 PM

Sorry, but commenting is no longer available for this post.