Debates over worship styles are almost always sociological or personality clashes, couched in theological terms. Everybody thinks that their worship style is the most biblical. But there is no one biblical style. There are no musical notes in the Bible. We don't even have the instruments that they had. The truth is God loves all kinds of worship styles - as long as we worship him in spirit, in truth, and in an orderly fashion.
4. While unbelievers can't worship, they can watch believers worship.
We see this truth lived out in Acts 2. "They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness, praising God. The whole city was favorable to them, and each day God added to them all who were being saved" (Acts 2: 46-47 TLB).
When the early church worshipped, non-believers came to faith in Christ. Non-Christians can't worship, but they can see the kind of joy worship brings us. They can see how God's Word transforms our heart, comforts us, and interacts with us. God can use our worship services to draw non-believers to himself.
5. Worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers if God's presence is felt and the message is understandable.
Both of those are essential parts of a worship service when witnessing to unbelievers. Again, Acts 2 is a good example of this. God's presence was so evident in the disciple's worship at Pentecost that it attracted the attention of all the unbelievers throughout the city. And then the message was understandable. Remember the miracle of tongues? Every man heard the message in his own language. It had to be understandable! And that's true today as well.
6. God expects us to be sensitive to the fears, hang-ups, and the needs of unbelievers when they are present in our worship services.
The Bible says in Colossians 4:5 (NIV): "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." When you have guests over for dinner at your house, do you act a little bit differently? I hope so! A little bit more polite. Maybe you use a different set of china or dishes. The presentation of the meal is a little bit more thoughtful. The table conversation is a little bit more courteous. You may be still eating beans and weenies. It's the same meal, but you are presenting it in a little more polite way.
Is that being hypocritical? No. It's called being polite. Whenever you hear people talk about being sensitive to unbelievers, that is not watering down the gospel. It's called love. You're just being nice to them.
In the next issue, I'll share with you the other six convictions that our worship services are built around at Saddleback.
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Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers. Copyright 2005 Pastors.com, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
