Mainstream Ministry: The Status Quo Isn’t Working

(The following is an unedited excerpt from a current project I am working on regarding worship leadership).

If current research is any indication, the status quo in American Christian ministry is failing. 82% of evangelical leaders in the U.S. believe that the evangelical church is continually losing influence in the country, and of the many Millenials leaving the church, far fewer are likely to return when they get older as many of their parents did.[1] Additionally, The Barna Group discovered that “When asked to list the two or three top ministry priorities of their church… worship was included in that list by only one out of every four pastors (26%),” and that “Only three out of ten church-going adults (29%) indicated that they view worship as something that is focused primarily on God.”[2] Mathew notes the problem that worship leaders are continually becoming the focus of corporate worship, and are actually becoming a distraction.[3] Yet, simply put, “Leading praise and worship is a ministry, not a performance…”[4]Yaconelli, although referring to youth ministry in particular, seems to diagnose so much of the problem with the way in which mainstream churches approach worship: “Like children’s television programming that seeks to keep kids attentive so they’ll watch the commercials, our ministries of diversion respond to young people’s most carnal appetites so we can slip in a five-minute Bible study or parade them through the church building.”[5]

Much of mainstream worship is a mere concert, a diversion, so that we can fill the seats of our sanctuaries. Tozer remarks, “That type of Christianity which happens now to be the vogue knows [the Presence of God] only in theory.”[6] But Yaconelli suggests that in our day, there is a deep and abiding desire for the presence of God.[7] The Barna Group’s research affirms this by noting, “… more than a mere community club helping youth cross the threshold of adulthood, church communities can help Millennials generate a lasting faith by facilitating a deeper sense of intimacy with God.”[8]

The church needs a worship ministry that is focused on God­, on his holiness, beauty, and love.[9] Worship leaders must embody this kind of ministry by modeling a lifestyle of true worship. Effective leaders put their values into action, causing followers to do the same.[10]Thus, worship leaders must demonstrate in their actions and the fruit they bear, that they know this Presence personally. Secondly, as noted above, there is a fundamental lack of knowledge about the nature and purpose of worship in the church. Therefore, worship leaders must also be able to teach and instruct the church regarding worship. A worship leader cannot simply be a person with musical talent.[11] The psalmists of Israel reflect a tremendous level of revelation about God, and what this revelation meant for understanding themselves, and the world they lived in.[12]

Worship must embody the contemplative values that the church has historically embraced. If worship is about Presence, then it cannot be reduced to ten or twenty minutes a week. God is far more worthy than that. We cannot rush through our worship or treat the needed structure in our worship as a lifeless set of rules and norms that are never broken week after week. The members of our churches must be trained and exhorted to worship as a lifestyle. Fathers and mothers need to create spaces in their family’s schedules to worship with their children. Young adults, instead of spending hours a week in front of computers and TVs should instead sit in front of the Presence. Homes, cars, and workplaces need to become places where the praises of God’s people are heard. The church must know the Presence, and respond to it. Christianity cannot be reduced to a special interests club, a concert series, or a motivational seminar. The church is the new and living temple, which must, first and foremost, host the Glory of God. In this way, his Glory will be seen throughout the nations, and it will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.

[1] http://www.pewforum.org/2011/06/22/global-survey-of-evangelical-protestant-leaders/; https://www.barna.org/barna-update/millennials/534-five-myths-about-young-adult-church-dropouts#.VBxEa-emAch

[2] https://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/85-focus-on-qworship-warsq-hides-the-real-issues-regarding-connection-to-god#.VB5HHeemAcg

[3] Thomson Mathew, Spirit-Led Ministry in the 21st Century (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press, 2004), 143.

[4] Ibid., 142.

[5] Mark Yaconelli, Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 45. Significantly, 67% of evangelicals world-wide believe that consumerism and a focus on material goods are increasingly major threats to the posterity of evangelicalism (http://www.pewforum.org/2011/06/22/global-survey-of-evangelical-protestant-leaders/).

[6] A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1982), 37.

[7] Yaconelli, Contemplative, 23.

[8] https://www.barna.org/barna-update/millennials/635-5-reasons-millennials-stay-connected-to-church#.VBxDluemAcg

[9] Ps. 89:1, 96:9 (ESV).

[10] James Kouzes and Barry Posner, Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge, ed. James Kouzes and Barry Posner (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004), 10

[11] Mathew, Spirit-Led, 141.

[12] Ps. 2:1-12, 46:9-11, 73:1-15, 117:1-2 (ESV).

[13] Matt. 22:37-38 (ESV).

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