Creating a Culture of Worship.
Part 3: Be a Cultural Architect.
Posted on February 17th, 2010 by adamdiehl
As the worship team, our job is to lead, inspire, and guide people to and through a worshipful experience with God. That’s a huge role. How can we create a culture of worship in our churches? This post is part of the “Culture of Worship Blog Series”, aiming to answer that very question.
Definition of “worship culture”: An environment where all ages in the local church are able to genuinely express their worship to God.
The idea of a worship culture was foreign to me until I visited New Life Church (Colorado Springs), with worship pastors Ross Parsley, Jared Anderson, Jon Egan, and Glenn Packiam (Desperation Band). I went to their worship conference for a week, and on Friday night I left the conference and snuck into the back of their college age ministry during their worship time. It was a huge room and I fully expected to just observe in the back. I quickly realized that there were NO OBSERVERS in this room. Observing was just not something people did in this church. Their kids and youth group worship services were the same way. Observing was not an option in this church’s worship services – any of them. I left this conference extremely jealous. I wasn’t jealous of their technology and equipment or their outstanding musical talent – I was jealous of the presence of God that showed up every time they gathered.
I realized that what I had observed at this church was a culture of worship and I dedicated my heart to developing it within my own church. How could I create a culture where all hearts reach for God? Here’s what I have learned in my journey so far.
Worship cannot exist without an expression. A genuine worship expression occurs when a believer transfers their passion and feelings for Christ inside their heart and turns it into some action appropriate for them (lifting hands, clapping, living a holy life). Without an expression (be it internal or external), there is no true worship. Our goal has to be to facilitate the congregation’s expression of their emotion towards God. This requires having a worship leading heart.
Have you ever asked the question, “How do I get these people in my church to worship?!” That’s a question with a lot of baggage. Perhaps what you really mean is “How do I get my church to express their worship like I do?” Consider that some people in your church are wired differently than you! That’s okay. The measure of worship expression we’re shooting for is not a physical measurement but a heart measurement.
Also consider that maybe people in your church are not saved. “If we are wondering why worship is cold in some of our churches, it is a possibility that our people are not born again. … We should not expect an unbeliever to worship God. … they have no intrinsic capability for true worship.” (‘The Complete Worship Leader’ by Kevin Navarro).
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