“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
I consider it a wonderful blessing from God to be the son of missionaries, and have the privilege of observing and participating in worship services all around the world. If I dare to make broad, sweeping observations, I believe Japanese churches generally have solemn, reverent expressions of worship in song, while those in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala have more exuberant, expressive response in worship. Some of it may be culturally derived, while also being scripturally informed. There’s even a beauty in how God designed our differences. We can learn to appreciate many aspects of Church life, even in our uniqueness.
That being said, there are also features or characteristics of the Christian life that should be recognizable across the board and across the world, such as “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35). We should be faithful to key tenets of the faith, bearing spiritual fruit in its proper season as all true Christians should have the Spirit of God! Though there may be certain propensities to sin that beset certain cultures over others (as well as certain blind spots), if the Church Universal is being led by God’s Word, we ought to be unified in our condemnation of all that is ungodly. We must be eager to glorify Christ as Lord, which also includes putting aside our old idols!
So, what kind of sins and pitfalls are plaguing our culture and generation that can affect/invade/corrupt our worship services? What kind of unhelpful societal values creep its way into the mindset of believers as we gather to worship and give God the glory? Several come to mind! Often it’s found in your answer to the question, “What are you looking for in a church?” Does your particular church spend far too much time focusing on the secondary issues, such as volume of the music, stage lighting, sermon length, attendance numbers, the average age of the congregation, and so on? Of course I’ve spent years thinking about all kinds of secondary things that hopefully aid and not hinder or distract from worship.
I’ve been involved in so many different things, like drama, special music numbers, and PowerPoint presentations. To be honest, the older I get, the more I get tired of “The Show”. Not that many would overtly state it this way, but by the preoccupation with it, you’d think that Jesus taught His disciples of other churches, “All men will know that you’re my disciples by your performance!” You’ll know them by their stage design? The music ability/vocal quality of their worship leaders? The pastor’s ability to entertain? A well-articulated 5-year/10-year plan? A blockbuster Easter Pageant? Huge youth group?
I’m tired of the games. I’m tired of churches competing with one another to win over the same people. I’m tired of “The Show” that emphasizes the externals! I fear that the Hollywood mindset has invaded the inner psyche of the believers’ minds. We were never made to compete with the phone in their pockets on that level. Churches were not designed by God to overcome the world by entertainment, by offering the best “freebies”, or an attention-getting alternative to sports. If we try to compete in those ways, we lose! I’ve heard this good quote: “What we win them BY is what we win them TO.” We can win over the Rich Young Ruler to our church by appealing to his flesh, or we can share the spiritual truth with him and leave the rest to the Lord. The only way to win is not to play their games.
The Church only wins in doing what we were designed to do: Worship God, Preach the Gospel, make disciples, and defeat the powers of darkness through prayer and ministry of the Word! Where do we start? We begin by committing to the authority of God’s Word in all it says, and in doing so, rejecting the games the world plays. We stop competing with them, and with one another.
What do we do well, or at least better than the world? We should be better in showing authenticity, as we are living for God’s approval over the world’s. We demonstrate a love for neighbor that may make them suspicious of us at first, thinking “what’s their angle?”, until they discover that we are doing it out of obedience to our Master. We love each other to such an extent that the world cannot help but see that the Gospel we proclaim is true. If we live in unity, run with integrity, and love in community, we would truly have no competition!