I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  What is worship?  Everyone who goes to church (and maybe even some of those who don't) has his own idea about what constitutes worship.  In many churches, there is talk of "praise and worship" or "authentic worship."  Some seem to have an active concept of worship, by which I mean that they feel the congregation participates fully in worship; meanwhile, others seem to have a more passive concept, in which the congregation functions as an audience.  To be honest, many churches I have been to in the past several years seem to favor this latter model of worship.  The worship space is often very like an auditiorum, and as a result, the worship which takes place therein closely resembles what usually takes place in an auditiorium--entertainment.

I think many churchgoers believe that worship basically consists of the songs that are sung, and whatever else they are expected to do in the service.  They may also have some idea that the preacher or pastor's "message" is an integral part of worship.  Those in liturgical churches most likely have a more structured concept of worship, and probably consider worship to consist mostly of a pastor or celebrant's role and the answering role of the congregation.  But does any of this really get to the heart of what worship is supposed to be?  Marva Dawn, who wrote a book entitled Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, speaks of worship being an encounter with the Living God, something that should make us tremble with fear and awe. I wonder if this ever happens in a typical church service.

I am often concerned that our modern concept of worship (even in liturgical churches) has become so influenced by the entertainment paradigm of secular culture, that the average Christian is under the impression that worship is something we attend weekly in order to make us feel good and keep us interested, much like our favorite weekly TV program.  We sit in the pews, or we stand and dance to the "praise and worship" team, and we enjoy what is happening, we listen to an engaging (or not-so-engaging) sermon or "message," and then we go home and get on with the normal daily tasks of living.  As a Director of Music, I absolutely am including myself in this critique.  After all, as choir director and music leader, I have many tasks that I have to perform, and my job can often become just that: something I have to perform competently before I am dismissed to go home.

As I wrote at the beginning of this post, it is very difficult to really determine what worship is "supposed" to be.  The people who enjoy modern "praise and worship" choruses must truly feel that they are participating fully in worship, and many could never understand how anyone could find any meaning in a bunch of old hymns.  I feel exactly the opposite: I find much meaning in the old hymns, and find little or no value in standing up for a half hour, while everyone dances and says to a bunch of trite "praise songs."  Each of us in these two scenarios believes he is participating in worship as it should be, and yet each believes the other is completely missing the point.  And truthfully, the praise and worship fan has thousands of people who agree with him, and more joining him all the time, while I seem to have fewer people each day who agree with my idea of worship.  (True, I probably have several hundred more years of tradition backing me up, but will that mean anything in another several hundred years?)  It's a difficult thing to figure out, but I keep trying anyway.