Years ago I was challenged by a churchgoer that I have no right to
critique another church’s worship unless I have personally attended and
witnessed for myself what is happening. I took this challenge and visited the
local evangelical church in which thousands from the community were attending.
The church adopted the Saddleback model of worship that still is, to this day,
the common practice of many churches in the United States.
As I
made my way to the worship center, I couldn’t help but to be impressed with
what felt like a giant theater. I estimate that a few thousand seats were set
up. There were a lot of grey haired baby-boomers. Families in general did not
sit together. In fact, I really didn’t see very many families. There was a
giant youth center next door where most of the young people gathered while the
main service was happening.
I
tried to discern a general liturgy or order of worship. This was a challenge.
There was a worship team with three ladies, a band, and lead singer. The
worship leader read a few verses from a Psalm that I assumed was to be some
form of a call to worship. We then spent the first 25 minutes singing praise
songs.
The
senior pastor then walked forward and welcomed the church and visitors. We had
a moment of congregational hugs and greeting. The pastor then encouraged us to
applaud God, so we did—everyone clapped for God. We were then shown Video #1 on
how men can recover their manhood through outdoor recreational activities. Men
were encouraged to sign up for an upcoming retreat to recover their purpose in
life. Prayer was offered.
Another
Pastor from the church was introduced and he came up to give the message. It
was Valentine’s Day weekend, so before we heard the message we were again
directed to the screen for Video #2—a Valentine’s Day tribute comedy video. It
was in black and white and the people seemed to really enjoy what was evidently
a love-comedy.
We
then came to the message. The series that day was: “Off-Roading With God:
Satisfaction Guaranteed”. The Sermon was titled “Promise Fulfilled.” The First
“Off-Roading Observation” explained how God placed his promise in Abraham and
Sarah. Didn’t God call Abraham to embrace the promise by faith? The pastor
seemed to teach that God dropped the promise into Abraham. I was genuinely
confused with what he was saying.
The
sermon then rehearsed Abraham’s stumbling along the way, as the next
“Off-Roading Observation” called us to live our lives out-loud. As I was trying
to figure out what he meant by this, all of the sudden, the lights went out,
and the pastor had an imaginary conversation with God. God’s voice came out of
the speakers and the pastor, pretending to be Abraham, had a real life
imaginary conversation with God.
In
the Third “Off-Roading Observation” we were called to see that God is faithful
and that we can have astounding faith and confidence to squarely face off
against our repeat offenses like Abraham. The pastor felt the need to work in
the Valentine’s Day theme, so we then watched Video #3—a love tribute to God. A
woman gave her testimony of God’s love. She described how madly in love she is
with God, and how she now wants to squeeze out God’s love upon everyone else
since she has broken his heart so many times. People seemed generally moved by
this.
The
pastor then made some general applications to Abraham’s example, that “the key
to attitude is focus, and the key to behavior is attitude”. This seemed to be
the driving point of the sermon. “When your faith is focused on the treasure in
us, wonder and worship will increase exponentially motivating me to change”.
“Is this what you want”, we were asked? He then made us all close our eyes, say
a version of the sinner’s prayer, and asked if anyone “really” prayed for
salvation. Prayer was offered.
The
worship leaders and the band then came forward. We sang a traditional song and
then a contemporary praise song. Offerings buckets were then passed. As this
was happening, pictures were shown of suffering children in Haiti and how the
church needs to give more to do great things for God. We were dismissed and
thanked for coming. All of this was done in one hour and ten minutes.
While
this may be an extreme example for most, what’s important to notice are the
common themes are universally shared in many worship services across the United
States: a lack of discernible liturgy, the absence of reverence for God, an
obliteration of ordained offices as the laity control worship, self-help
messages, and music that panders to sentimentalism and is vainly repetitious.
In
the next part, I will offer a Biblical critique.