Living In The Tension: Worship vs. Performance

When you do church for people who don’t like church, joining Jesus on His mission of helping people who are far from God get close to Him, there are all kinds of tensions you live in and have to embrace.

One of the questions you face is: Should the music we do at our services lead people in worship, or should it be more of a performance for people to experience and soak in?  It may seem like an easy answer. “Of course we worship God! He deserves our praise.” But it’s not easy, because if you’re truly reaching people who aren’t yet Christians, they won’t worship. And what are they supposed to do while the rest of us worship?

But then there’s the other side: “If we don’t worship, are we even really a church? And yes, as a church we’re supposed to reach people who are far from God, but isn’t church the gathering of Christians? And Christians worship. And isn’t it possible that non-Christians will be drawn to God through the worship?”

Which side is right? Both. And neither. It’s just one of the many tensions you have to live in, and we have to figure out how to do worship, but make it comfortable for people who will not worship. Easy? No. Possible? Yup.