Worship Matters:

[funkStrat_97]

In your opinions; do you think that many churches have gotten to a point where the so-called "worship experience" has actually become the object of worship?  Seems kind of a strange thing to say, but I think that there are some signs that this is in fact happening.

[baggettcindy]

I think so. I know I don't worship the way I should. My study for the month of June is supposed to be consecration.  I want to worship Him in spirit and truth. I think a lot of churches/saints have gotten away from that concept...worship has become too routine, which is one of the reasons the situation you stated in your post exists...IMHO

[gtrdave]

Totally. We've made the worship experience 'the thing' we worship instead of making God the Only thing that we worship.
I mean, it's not that we've all got it wrong, but as a leader in a church where an overemphasis has been placed on the music ministry to deliver "excellence" to a higher level than any other ministry, I definitely feel that the weight and the focus of worship can be on me and the team.
I pray that I'm wrong in that, but I hear things from people and it bothers me. I've really wanted to radically change things up...change our style and our structure and go more organic...but I think my pastor(s) would have a cow if I did.

[sjonathan02]

Totally. We've made the worship experience 'the thing' we worship instead of making God the Only thing that we worship.
I mean, it's not that we've all got it wrong, but as a leader in a church where an overemphasis has been placed on the music ministry to deliver "excellence" to a higher level than any other ministry, I definitely feel that the weight and the focus of worship can be on me and the team.
I pray that I'm wrong in that, but I hear things from people and it bothers me. I've really wanted to radically change things up...change our style and our structure and go more organic...but I think my pastor(s) would have a cow if I did.

Can you elaborate a bit further on that, Dave?

[Mysteryman]

I believe worship is not confined to the praise experience only but is also in how you live and serve God each day. People have made worship into spiritual entertainment. Everyone has their own way of worship from the church to personal experience. A lot of PW leaders are just following trends and copies of what they think is a successful worship experience. There are times when the preacher speaks for instruction, encouragement, and rebuke the music ministry should be teaching in what we do also. Worship is not just the "experience" but in how you live also. What you are talking about is no different than people who believe they aint had "church" unless they shouted.

Being with God is about relationship. It is in some ways different from our earthly relationships but in may ways it is alike. The church experience is no different. We live, learn, and grow based on experiences. There is a time and a purpose for everything in worship service. A part of that is the structure and knowing what is needed at the time. We have many different people with different experiences in live that make up the congregation. I believe the effective worship leader tries to minister to all at some point in the service through the leading og the Holy Spirit. Trying to make the people conform to what you want or believe is the right way to worship can be counterproductive in helping people get in the presence of God.

[jlewis]

I believe worship is not confined to the praise experience only but is also in how you live and serve God each day. People have made worship into spiritual entertainment. Everyone has their own way of worship from the church to personal experience. A lot of PW leaders are just following trends and copies of what they think is a successful worship experience. There are times when the preacher speaks for instruction, encouragement, and rebuke the music ministry should be teaching in what we do also. Worship is not just the "experience" but in how you live also. What you are talking about is no different than people who believe they aint had "church" unless they shouted.

Being with God is about relationship. It is in some ways different from our earthly relationships but in may ways it is alike. The church experience is no different. We live, learn, and grow based on experiences. There is a time and a purpose for everything in worship service. A part of that is the structure and knowing what is needed at the time. We have many different people with different experiences in live that make up the congregation. I believe the effective worship leader tries to minister to all at some point in the service through the leading og the Holy Spirit. Trying to make the people conform to what you want or believe is the right way to worship can be counterproductive in helping people get in the presence of God.

What he said ..........    totally agree with this.

Jlewis

[Furious Styles]

Worship can only become stagnant if one doesn't worship at home. It is written to enter into his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. SO those who worship at home will have a pure worship corporately. Sometimes worship can be misconstrued with talent and performance. Eventually that begins to fell stagnant. Those who worship before they get to the sanctuary rarely experience this because worship is such a part of their relationship already

[funkStrat_97]

Worship can only become stagnant if one doesn't worship at home. It is written to enter into his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. SO those who worship at home will have a pure worship corporately. Sometimes worship can be misconstrued with talent and performance. Eventually that begins to fell stagnant. Those who worship before they get to the sanctuary rarely experience this because worship is such a part of their relationship already

I think that a lot of worship in many of today's churches has been performance driven and in order to avoid stagnation, the level of the performance gets pushed.  The result is a worship that caters more to the entertainment of men or than the true worship of God.  Worship has also been dumbed down to a largely emotive experience which is also tied to the performance aspect.

[gtrdave]

Can you elaborate a bit further on that, Dave?

In the past few years we've made the total transition to in ear monitors, click tracks, ambient pads and sync'ed tracks w/ count-ins and synths, etc...and there's nothing inherently wrong with this stuff, but it does sort of raise the bar of expectations when people come to our church.
When we serve at the local homeless mission it's usually just me and an acoustic guitar and a couple of singers and, maaaaan, do we have some awesome times of worship there and I think that some of the reason is because the stress of all of the tech functioning properly is gone and the expectation of the production is absent; it's just us and God.
Again, the extra stuff is not inherently bad nor is it a destruction from God IF we use it correctly and don't rely on it...but the simple, the organic, the acoustic is just special and I'm wondering if I need to lead my team and ultimately my church 'backwards' a bit.
It's that whole "Heart of Worship" concept. It's more than a song.