Idolatry in Worship

As I wrote about recently, I have come to the conclusion that the modern church has turned their worship service production into an idol.

Strong words, I know. But I can, and will, back them up. Strap in, kids: it’s Unpopular Opinion time.

First, some background. What we see in “modern worship” today largely came out of a small handful of churches, most notably Hillsong Church in Australia. I remember when Hillsong was new on the scene: the sounds were fresh, hip, and not stuffy like the old hymns we were used to singing. The words were mostly fluffy and filled with metaphorical imagery, but wow! They had passion and fire, and they loved Jesus! Before long, mega-church Bethel, in California, had joined in.

Fast forward 30 years: Hillsong and Bethel have both repeatedly touted false doctrine, been embroiled in scandals, and left the Assemblies of God association under questionable circumstances. And they’re raking in money by the tens of millions of dollars.

“So what does that have to do with church production?”

I’m glad you asked. The modern church model of super-expensive, slickly produced worship services is a direct influence from these two churches. The “Seeker-Sensitive” thing, however, was pioneered by Rick warren of Saddleback and Bill Hybels of Willow Creek, and has roots going back to Robert Schuller, and beyond. But Seeker-Sensitive church models are based on false doctrine. They can, and will, cause you to compromise the gospel. I have written at length about how supporting churches with bad theology by playing their music is not a good thing.

“But that still doesn’t have anything to do with church production, does it?”

It absolutely does. I think John McArthur put it well:

“This [seeker model] is importing into the church the cultural success patterns; looking at corporate America, looking at successful CEOs, looking at successful businesses – everything from Ben and Jerry’s to Microsoft – and trying to find the triggers, trying to find the avenues, trying to find the accesses, the hot buttons, that allow them to sell their product to the degree that they do, and to be so successful in corporation life.

It isn’t that everything they say is wrong, it isn’t that everything they do is wrong, it is that the church is being run by market-savvy entrepreneurs; that in itself has no connection to Scripture.”

They key here is “cultural success patterns.” How do you sell a product? You make it more appealing. You have a slick website, you have expensive commercials, coordinated social media teams, and expert branding. You study how big “successful” secular businesses do it.

How do you get more people to come to your worship services? You make it more appealing. Polished music production with backing tracks. Mood lighting. Fancy stage decorations. High-dollar sound systems, environmental projectors, lyrics on hypnotic animated backgrounds. Catchy bumper videos. Gourmet coffee bars. Attractive young worship leaders. Downplaying sin and repentance. Preaching nothing but positive, affirming messages. You study how big “successful” churches do it.

This is a horribly backwards and unbiblical approach to presenting the gospel, and worship, as a whole. It is reducing Jesus’s Gospel to a product that you’re trying to sell. Is it any wonder that people treat Christianity as a shady pyramid scheme, when we promote it as one?

“What about the music?”

It’s the biggest part of the production. Modern worship music has become the elephant in the room: nobody wants to admit that it’s shallow and unoriginal. What modern worship is doing is not new- it’s mimicking secular pop music and concerts.

Futhermore, author Rohadi brings up several good points about the shortcomings of modern (what he calls “evangelical” as opposed to “liturgical”) worship. One of the things Rohadi says that jumped out at me was something I’ve discussed before:

Evangelicalism as a whole condones the privatization of the Christian faith. Emphasizing the “personal relationship with God” trickles down to a worship filled with the constant droning of, “what God does for me, myself, and I”. This point is particularly important to understand. The individualized Gospel is a reductionist Gospel. When the chief goal of a good faith/Christianity is primarily about your personal salvation and road to holiness, you not only come from a privileged worldview, but your faith is incomplete. When the only songs you sing are about how good God is to YOU then you might have a privileged faith.

There’s nothing wrong with individualized songs. The problem is the vast majority of songs are transactional takes of what God does for us. Just listen to the songs you sing.

What do you call a gospel that only focuses on what God can do for us? That’s right- prosperity gospel. This point has been addressed by scores of theologians, and always comes back to this: A self-centered gospel isn’t the gospel at all.

“Ahem- production?”

Right. What I’m seeing in most churches today is very heavy emphasis on production quality. This of course comes directly from the seeker-sensitive model, but is frequently excused and justified with the glib phrase “Spirit of Excellence.” (This is an oft-misquoted and misused phrase from the book of Daniel.)

Usually, “Spirit of Exellence” (in my experience) is used to justify expensive equipment purchases for the church- “for God’s ministry!” or increasing production value of the service “to bring more people in to hear the gospel!” It is very rarely (if ever) used in reference to a person’s prayer life and spiritual devoutness.

The problem is, by emphasizing production, they are neglecting the content of the service in exchange for the appearance of Godliness. I have frequently heard “The service went amazingly well! God was really moving!” in reference to how the production went. Not people broken on the altars, lost souls coming to salvation, or people being healed and set free from spiritual/physical bondage. No, if we made it through the setlist without getting off-sync with the backing tracks, then it was an “awesome service.” I myself have been guilty of saying “service went well” because we had good congregation participation. If our primary goal was to get people to feel comfortable enough to join in singing, then yes- it went well. But is that worship? Is audience participation our goal? I can go to any secular concert and find fans that sing along. This isn’t a spectacular feat, or a move of God.

We can even think sometimes, because the service elicited an emotional response, that God moved. But as Francis Chan puts it, these can be nothing more than man-made waves. And I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched- and participated in- emotional manipulation through man-made music and production. Chan says:

“We can become content with something that is manufactured and man-made… some places, if the music is cranking, we say that was a move of God… other places, if everyone’s crying, that was a move of God. Other places, if everyone was laughing and it was a good sermon, that was a move of God… We become content with a wave we made.”

Worship service production has taken the reigns from the Holy Spirit. Our “success” is now judged by how many people come, how emphatically they sing the songs, how many people feel involved, and how much they tithe. “We want people to be engaged!” Yes, but engaged with what? With the Holy Spirit? With the Word? Or engaged with their feelings, or the worship leader’s performance? I can listen to a secular song and be moved to tears. That doesn’t make it worship.

“But if we don’t have production, people will go somewhere else that does!”

Let me tell you friend: if they’re not coming to your church because of the gospel, and you think upping your production game or revamping your website will get more people saved, you’ve just made Production your idol. And just because the songs are “about Jesus” doesn’t hide that fact. It’s obvious. It’s a man-made attempt at manipulating God. It’s entertainment, it’s salesmanship, and it’s an idol.

“Are you saying we should just sing a capella and wear sackcloth and ashes?”

Well, if that’s what it takes to get people to turn to God, then yeah, why not? Holy men did this all throughout the Bible, it can’t be bad. God moves when people are broken and turn to Him:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. – Psalm 51:17

If you’re centering your church service around being attractive to “seekers,” let me give you a bit of truth: lost people don’t seek God unless He is leading them (Romans 3:10-12), lost people can’t worship in spirit and truth (1 Corinthians 2:14), and the gospel is foolishness to them. Lost people cannot be disciples of something they don’t believe.

We are called to “go into the world and preach the gospel,” not “draw them in with cool music and a coffee bar.” Are coffee bars evil? No, but if you’re counting on that to bring people in “to hear the gospel and maybe get saved” then you’ve made it an idol. Lost people don’t go to coffee shops to hear the gospel- they want coffee. You’ve just lured people in under false pretenses. If people are truly seeking God, nothing will keep them away.

How about this: what if we went out to the secular coffee shops and made friends with the baristas? What if we went out and offered people bottles of water at a concert? What if we went out and became the salt of the earth- preaching the gospel, making disciples, and loving people?

As Bill Blankschaen says,

Rather than investing 80% of our energy attracting non-existent seekers, why not focus on those who already believe, are desperate to grow, and are urgently needed to live out their faith in this fallen world?

Why not, indeed? Is what we’re doing for the church- really? Should we spend tens of thousands of dollars on sound equipment when the church doesn’t even have ongoing discipleship programs? When they don’t invest in their own congregation’s spiritual development? When they’re not actively teaching people how to handle the Word effectively?

Where are your priorities? Just bringing people in the doors doesn’t make them disciples. Just singing songs about God doesn’t make it worship. Revamping your website isn’t the same as “going unto all the world.” Are we carrying out the great commission, or not? You’d better carefully consider it.

If you’ve made Production your idol, it’s not too late. Put aside the lights, the graphics, the backing tracks, the fancy expensive equipment… and just get on your face with the congregation and ask God for forgiveness. Seek God’s heart. Quit trying to make artificial waves, to manipulate people’s emotions, and just let God move on His own.

Years ago, I was ministering at a small country church with no fancy production. We had a 30 year old patchwork sound system, no band, no tracks, no choir, not even a pianist. I remember one week, a sweet older lady at my church was asked by a visiting young couple, “What do you offer for our kids?”

“We offer them Jesus,” she said with a glimmer in her eye.