No More Worship Service!!!!
Articles SlideShowPublished September 3, 2009 at 9:15 am 22 CommentsWhat is more barbaric than a religion where parents sacrifice their own children?
Yet for untold generations parents did this, even willingly, and they defended the priests and crude superstitions that made them do it. The Aztecs did this: heaps of infant skulls crushed by their own parents were unearthed. All the primitive cultures around Israel practiced infanticide, so the Israelites picked it up–which is the greatest crime because Israel traded the kindness of Yahweh for this cruel religion.
The practice continues today, but it’s spiritual execution even if it’s not infanticide.
When Christians watch their own kids leave the church in droves and fiercely-defend the rituals their kids hate, is this not blind obedience in the tradition of child sacrifice? No blood is spilled today, but the young are truly discarded at the altar of religious tradition. At least 80% or more of the kids are leaving, spiritually disenfranchised and unwilling to return.
How can parents remain so loyal to such boring, trite rituals? Even those singing its praises remain largely unaffected by the momentary elation of the Singing Worship Service. (The buzz is wiped-out in the parking lot traffic jam!) Even the church hierarchy knows the Worship Service is failing: leaders and pastors everywhere are frustrated with the spiritual apathy and biblical ignorance in their own congregations, and the problem is verified statistically.
How can parents remain detached from the suffering of their own kids? The massive disaffection towards the Singing Worship Service is well-documented and universally-acknowledged, with few exceptions. But parents don’t need the stats because they can see it in their kids’ faces while driving there.
It isn’t their fault: parents are pressured by the Singing Worship Service culture. American Christianity is so standardized and fossilized, it has a cult-like grip on Christians everywhere. Christians dare not break away from it for fear of being sacrileges.
People get enraged and irrational when the Singing Worship Service is questioned, like this:
“This is so far beneath what I have come to respect about your movement and so disrespectful I’m shaking as I type.†– response to “Why we don’t sing†blog.
Please, can anyone explain why the Singing Worship Service is so vital? The elation is brief, it doesn’t solve the real problems, it’s alienating for Millennials (and others), and most significant, the Singing Worship Service soaks more money and manpower than any other Christian ministry.
Here’s the shocker: with all the “conversations†and “revolutions†underway in churches today, with new generations of church leaders appearing, with Emerging churches and so many others thinking outside the norm, is anyone anywhere proposing to dump the Singing Worship Service? Not that we can see. They dare to add new songs or a snazzy beat, but nobody is willing to dump the Singing Worship Service.
- Is it really so wonderful?
- Is this thing embedded so deep in Christianity it will never leave, no matter how painful and costly it is?
- Is the Singing Worship Service an idol pushing God aside?
That last question sounds crazy: it implies churches are worshiping the Singing Worship Service. Maybe it’s not so rebellious, but if we can’t ask the question, if the Singing Worship Service is above criticism or questioning, isn’t this extreme, even dangerous, and possibly foolish?
There is good cause to ask if the Singing Worship Service gets unhealthy adoration: our time is so limited, our resources are stretched, our needs are so great it means we must prioritize ministry efforts. One ministry gets more attention at the expense of another. Since the Singing Worship Service gets the highest priority, other ministries must receive less attention.
Is the Worship Service the wisest stewardship of limited resources, considering the greatest needs?
It’s totally sad, but so true, that most christians don’t even want to take the effort to come up with a decent alternative–it’s so much easier to put on a show than to take the effort to get enthused about spiritual things or really get to know anyone in the body of christ. Genuine fellowship might actually affect your life outside of the Sunday morning service…oh no!
But for real, I used to be totally into the singing worship service ting, because you could feel spiritual without even really speaking to anyone, and I was so shy that an autonomous church experience seemed great. In our consumer culture, it’s more comfortable to go “church shopping” for the most exciting show rather than to get involved in serving relationships. Working in retail, I’ve asked scores of people some kind of variation of “how can I help you?” and had them totally blow me off–so why should anyon eseek out a relationship when just “shopping” for the best worship service?
What a great insight, Becky! “Retail Christianityâ€. Someone ought to start a retail store chain based on this idea, or maybe WalMart should open up a little “Christian Worship Services Center†corner in their stores….that would be very convenient indeed!
This may be the kind of negativity Dennis is talking about, below… It seems inappropriate to make fun of WalMart here, when this Web site is really not about WalMart at all.
I have felt for a long time that identifying “worship” as a type of meeting rather than a lifestyle is a mistake. David Peterson, Engaging with God: A biblical theology of worship, makes this point better than anyone. And I agree that the church pays a significant price for this mistake.
However, I am not comfortable with the tone of this post. Comparing loyalty to worship services to child sacrifice is way over the top! There also seems to be a fixation on this on this site that is disproportional. The message here seems more negative than positive. I think you should chill on the rhetoric and put more focus on what we should be doing than what we shouldn’t be doing. I also think you need to think about Eph. 4:3, and state your problems with other evangelicals in a respectful way. I particularly don’t like the way my church is drawn into this, because I’m not cool, and I don’t think many here would be cool with the tone being taken here.
Thank-you for taking the time to reply. This is really the only anti-ritual article on this Web, and hopefully if you are able to read some of the others, like Radical Revolution, we are advocating “social, racial and gender equality,” among other great, biblical causes.
We are trying to avoid attacking anyone here, as the article states–this ritual isn’t the parent’s fault, and really it isn’t owned by any Christian group. It’s the remnants of the Dark Ages. Surely we can separate who we are as Christians (or persons) from church history, because that history is quite censurable, as this remnant ritual is.
Hi Den! Good to see you out here! Thx for the input.
Of course, I completely agree with Eph 4:3. We should handle each other with humbleness and gentleness. Were any of us to sit down with a real person, this is exactly how it should be handled. However, as far as I can tell after reading through identityproject.info again, no specific church is named nor are any individuals named. What is being critiqued is a practice, an idea.
Dennis, if I understand the point you’re making, you are saying that we are right but you don’t like the way the article said it. OK, point taken. I’ve certainly been guilty of seeming to have a sarcastic or demeaning tone in my blogs such as http://jhughes.neoblogs.org/2009/03/why-dont-we-sing/, which prompted the “shaking as I type” comment quoted by the article. However, seems like you have broader point about general negativity on the IP website. I’m not sure I see that.
Personally, I don’t even think the article is that negative. The point as I see it is that maybe we should consider questioning the singing worship service.
Fact is, kids are leaving their parent’s churches – shouldn’t Christians be alarmed about this to the point where we’re at least willing to do what the article is calling for?
Jesus had harsh, negative words for the religious establishment of his day who took the focus off of God and put it on ritual and tradition. In that regard – if the article is right, shouldn’t it be written more negatively and do more than to just ask for people to question the singing worship service?
Go back to the top and notice the opening image–child sacrifice in barbaric Inca death rituals. I know what the idea is–that the church is losing its kids and doesn’t seem to care enough to change. But that rhetoric is way over the top. It seems to talk down to most Christians in the way the one respondent pointed out. I don’t like the idea of being part of something where we think we’re better than everyone else and hold them in contempt.
I’m not sure the comparison with Jesus and the Pharisees fits, b/ they were unbelievers who were taking people away from God. Here, we’re talking about a lot of people who are on our side of the river, and therefore should use a more pleading, persuasive tone.
I tend to agree with you, Dennis: this is classic, over-the-top, crazy talk by hot-blooded youth. I don’t think they’re citing your church here anywhere, however. And hopefully they don’t cite mine, either.
But I was intrigued by the list of questions, especially the last one: is this idol worship? I wonder about that…
I also wonder if Christianity now has 3 sanctioned rituals: baptism, communion, and the Singing Worship Service?
Hey Dennis I’m not really sure how much time you spend on college campuses but this idea of parents sacrificing their kids for the sake of the worship service is reality. the problem isn’t with church because college student love to coming to the IP church (I think out 100% growth this semester speaks for that) , it’s because of the lame worship service!
All these non-believers on campus hate their parent’s religion and the worship service because they have been forced to go to it. The stories I have heard from people on campus about how their parents made them go to church against their will are horrific.
I know this is a major generalization but I honestly don’t think I’m wrong when I say older believers of “churchianity†use the worship service as a source of a “spiritual high†and “appearing good.†And when you have a radical and different generation that hates the worship service but it is the source of spirituality for so many older churchgoers you are willing to defend it at all costs.
The problem starts at the worship service but really goes as deep as parent’s inability to relate with their children because they are of a different generation. Older Christian parents are sacrificing relationships (Which is essentially what life is, and should be based around) for the sake of seeing them go to the worship service! I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “I just go to church because my parents make me, and they really don’t know who I am.â€
If you still think I’m wrong, please come up here and talk to some of the people, like Eleni or me, in our college group and hear the horror stories.
I spend tons of time on campus, and I’m well aware of the anti-institutional church attitude on campus these days. The problem is that along with messed up churches, you guys are not putting in any qualifications here because your blanket denunciation of all who have worship services. So Calvary Chapel, which blows away anything you guys or we have ever done, including winning hundreds of thousands to faith, are child sacrificers. That’s not right. You should leave room for the good groups that continue to believe in worship services. The way we worship is not even a clearly taught issue in the NT, so why would we alienate friendly fellow Christians for the sake of something that isn’t even declared by God?
I have to disagree with you Dennis. The NT is all about telling us how to worship Christ.
In the NT teaches is that anytime we act for the sake of Christ we are worship him. Simply reading your bible is worshiping him.
Again, I fail to see any groups under condemnation here–it seems like an over-reaction. Are you saying Calvary Chapel is defined by a Ritual Worship Service?
If Calvary Chapel uses the King James Version to quote scriptures, are you saying we shouldn’t criticize the King James translation of the Bible just because Calvary uses it, or because someone there might disagree? It seems illogical to attribute Calvary’s success to all of its practices.
It’s also unclear why Calvary Chapel would be committing child-sacrifice according to the article above…are you sure you’re reading the article right?
Well Den, I think what this article is trying to get across is truthful, (which you agreed with in your comment anyways) so what’s the dealio? Child sacrifice seems pretty radical, but Jesus Christ is even more radical! Jesus Christ hated the world system and hated how it worked. It takes something radical to catch people’s attention, to get them to see the fact that there is an issue with Christianity today! The Millenials are flocking away from the church, and the worship service is only helping to scare them off. Today, people want some concrete evidence for the Gospel. With science and technology advancing at such an exponential rate, people have started to come a much more practical viewpoint, and aren’t easy to sway from their own beliefs. That everything is practical and that can be explained logically. People are flocking away from the fluffy, fruity, “spiritual” worship service in search of something more real more tangible. They don’t want to waste their time on songs that have no real meaning except to “praise God.” Our generation has never been so far away from the belief that there even is a God or one that they consider important in their own personal lives. But Christ came to show us that God is tangible, real, and radical! Christianity has soaked itself in tradition and institutions for so long, that they aren’t reaching the lost but trying to get the old fogey Christians a sense of importance with a worship service. It’s disgusting!
The most important group that the church should be reaching is the Millennial generation! Because where’s the church gonna be when no one is left to flock to the church? Yet, the Church is stuck on the idea that “We need the worship service” and is arguing with itself over issues like “is swearing wrong?” “is our worship service good enough?”
I think our college group is being radical like Christ is, and are people gonna be offended? Heck ya! Let them get offended! Let the persecution thrive, I say!
Dennis! My much beloved uncle! Let me first just say how much I respect who you are and what Christ has done with you to reach so many people. I love downloading your podcasts and using what the Spirit has spoken through you to affect the lives of people in our ministry and on campus. I look up to you and strive to be a man after God’s heart like you are. Your revolutionary language and way of thinking inspires me to share the love of Christ by the strength og the Spirit to as many people as possible. I can’t wait to speak to you on Thanksgiving!
Your input is very much appreciated and I have taken time to consider what you have said. In Galations 4 Paul writes to fellow believers who have adopted additional rules in addition to the grace message. He says the church even observes the holy days but that is worthless. He calls their traditions “useless” and “weak” and he is writing to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! Speaking truth and calling their weak cultural traditions as they are was a bold thing.
I think the worship service and the dogmatic, blind way many people follow it is a huge barrier to Christian growth today. Is it not possible that the Calvary Chapel has grown so great in spite of their worship service? It seems the winning strategy and what sets them apart is their strategy of sending, which we are trying to implement as soon as possible with plants in Pittsburgh and Youngstown by the end of the year.
Our college group certainly has not grown because of a worship service. It ultimately was through Xenos sending people up to Northeast Ohio and starting a plant. Let us continue this and be done with the weak and elemental things of this world. The cultural tradition of the worship service does not help. It is a waste of time.
Since everyone is saying hi to Dennis i guess i will too, and also i would like to burn you really quick because you still have not accepted my friend request on facebook, for reasons unknown. I thought it was because im dating your niece Kate but this bitterness must end! All seriousness though I do respect you very much, The many times I have visited Xenos Columbus I have seen how the Lord is continuing to use you in peoples lives and I do in fact turn to your teachings first before I go to teach for my Homechurch teachings. The Lord has definitely blessed you with some intense insight, you have this roar that the Lord is effectively using to instill real conviction in the hearts of many. You have indirectly effected my spiritual walk and taught me how to live a life that is focused on the Lord and his will.
I have thought about this worship service issue, after visiting many christian churches around north east Ohio who do put everything they have into making the worship service top priority. I talked a dude who as a former Xenoid had turned to this new church. I asked him after a teaching from one of these churches why he switched over. He pointed to the place where the music was coming from, and began to reply “that’s why i come here, you can just feel the presence of God and it makes me feel incredible like i have purpose.” I was filled with some joy myself to see that this dude who was a former atheist had finally found a body of Christ to fit into where he could have good relationships. The thing that just pierced my heart and brought upon a sudden sorrow was the fact that he is taking significance from singing songs and feeling good for a temporary time. The next day does that guy really want to go talking about to his high school friends how awesome it was to sing songs at church?
Does this guy even know the word of God? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17). The word is going to be the source that Lord pierces our hearts and convicts us to be revolutionary for him. The word is living and active sharper than any double edged sword able to pierce through joint and marrow soul and spirit and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12). What I am not cool with is when churches replace the word of God with this worship service and put all of the resources in making the worship service the highlight of the meeting. Are people going to meet the Lord through singing? Are people going to be filled with power from singing? Are college students or even high school students even attracted to singing songs that remind us about the good times?
I agree with Kyle that Dennis is great and greatly appreciated. I probably would not be at NeoXenos if Dennis had not started Xenos. Finding Xenos in 1996 revolutionized my life, for sure.
That said, I am puzzled by the debate because Dennis essentially said he agrees that the worship service is bad, but doesn’t like the way it was stated in the article. Typically Xenos hasn’t had a worship service, and Dennis probably wrote the defense of not having a worship service. I played for an 8:30 am Xenos singing worship service for a brief time in the 90′s(with Nathan Dixon) and it was anemic and poorly attended. Dennis has said publically that the “worship theory of evangelism” is ineffective (at XSI a few years ago…I love to quote Dennis on that topic). So there is no disagreement over whether or not the worship service is a good idea.
Dennis appears to be saying; 1) don’t say it that way, you’re too negative and 2)leave room for other churches that have a singing worship service, don’t be so alienating.
To that I responded 1) point taken, our bad, we’re mean spirited sometimes in our critique of the Christian subculture and 2) no problem, we love our fundy brethren.
However, regarding the point that Calvary chapel is successful and has a worship service, and therefore the worship service must be OK (or perhaps they don’t deserve criticism because they were successful), I must object. That is not a well reasoned argument for anything. For example, the Catholic church used to the the only church for centuries, and probably has hundreds of thousands (if not millions?) of converts. Nonetheless, there are many practices in Catholic eccelsiology that I would certainly criticize.
yeah we all know Dennis is anti-worship service. But come on, this article pretty much says it like it is and this message is reaching the pagans! I don’t really feel like candy-coating the true nature of the worship service so that practitioners who blindly and religiously follow it won’t be offended.
If you want to sing, go for it! But I will boldly speak out against any claim that a church NEEDS it. Driscoll spoke out against you, Den, for not having enough singing. Why can’t we speak out too? Pleeeaaaaase?
btw I sent an email to Delashmutt praising him for a mind-blowing teaching on Galations 4. It is such a revolutionary message!
Kyle, good thing you did that, then realized it wasnt actually Gary teaching.
I know this article is focused primarily on the Singing Worship Service tradition, but I was wondering if you all think that music is not appropriate in any arena or is it just in church that it becomes inappropriate? Is it trite to sing about God or listen to a cd outside of the worship service? I’m asking because I have noticed since I was a child the ‘power’ that music seems to have over people’s lives. I remember being in the second grade daydreaming about a boy because of how the lyrics and music of a song sparked my mind. It is strange to me how powerful music is, yet there are times when worship songs seem to fall on deaf ears (as well as times when they speak to people’s hearts about God). I have seen people who have definite strongholds in their lives because of secular music, though. To this day, children all over the world get excited over Disney soundtracks decades after these songs were written. Music is everywhere and is deemed necessary, entertaining and powerful in many arenas (movie scores, restaurants, music industry, tv show themes, commercial jingles, amusement parks, karaoke spots, video games…), so do you believe music is inappropriate and mundane there as well or only in a church setting? Is it the tradition of it or the musicality of it? Anything done repeatedly without change eventually becomes tradition, so does that mean all those things will become irrelevant as well? I am really interested in this because I only weeks prior asked myself ‘why is music so deep in other arenas yet so surface in some worship services?’.
I was typing fast and did not separate my thoughts. Secular music and Disney songs are two different areas of thought, not one and the same. I don’t know anyone who has a Lion King stronghold!