Worship Isn't For You: A Biblical Wake-Up Call for the Modern Church

We call worship “good” when we get goosebumps or everyone in the room is singing really loudly or the music is swelling and pulls on our emotions or we cry. “Man, worship was so good today!”

I’ve become more and more uncomfortable with judging how good worship is by how much I get out of it. It’s a common occurrence and most of us have made those comments over the years. We see Bethel Worship when they come to our city and we are blown away. We have this incredible experience when Elevation or Phil Wickham rolls into town. Then we go back to our churches on Sunday and are left disappointed with the lack. Lack of emotion, lack of devotion, lack of energy, lack of chills, lack of…do you see that we are making worship about us and what we receive through it and then judge its goodness based on that? That is extremely troubling to me.

Worship isn’t about you. It isn’t about how you feel. It isn’t about what you get out of it. It isn’t about excellent musicians. It isn’t about the right lighting. It isn’t about an encounter even.

It’s not about the encounter.

You may have an encounter. You may feel overwhelmed. You may hear beautiful music. The room may be perfect. But that’s not what it’s about.

It’s about giving Jesus what he deserves.

And it’s not about whether everyone else in the room is giving Jesus what he deserves either. The music may suck and be really distracting. The people may be disinterested and barely singing. The lighting may be too bright or too dark. And we walk away with “the worship wasn’t that good”.

But what about you? Was your heart in it? Were you singing with every ounce of breath in your lungs? Were you pouring your heart out to the Lord and giving him what he deserves?

We’ve begun to treat worship like a concert experience. It’s a commodity to be consumed and filled with instead of a choice to pour out yourself - even if the environment isn’t “helping” you get there. But if we are judging how “good” the worship is based on how we feel about it…are we really pouring ourselves out? Or are we just opening our mouths to be filled?

I’m speaking to myself here too, sis. Worship isn’t about me. As a worship leader, it’s easy to judge how “good” worship was by how well I played my instrument or how my voice sounded or if the band hit all the best parts with excellence and precision. Or if the church responded emotionally - tears, arms raised, on their knees bowed down, cheers and clapping. It is so easy to slip into the trap that how I perform or how the Church feels about it defines the “goodness” of worship.

But we need to ask ourselves: are we even allowed to judge how good worship is? Isn’t that God’s job? To look into our hearts and judge the sincerity found within?

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

Most of us, if we are totally honest with ourselves, judge worship based on what we get out of it. It was a great time of worship if I cried or if I felt something intensely or if the band was incredible and the atmosphere was right ...but God judges our worship based on what we give to Him.

I heard a pastor say once, “If I get to the end of a service and am disappointed I didn’t get anything out of the worship time or the prayer time, then good. Because I know today, my worship and prayer was purely for God - not for myself.”

That has hugely impacted me. This isn’t saying it’s wrong or bad to receive during worship or prayer or to have an encounter. Those are precious gifts God grants us and we should embrace them with both arms. But that isn’t the purpose of worship. The purpose is not to get a gift. The purpose is to give a gift. Our hearts to God.

So the music sucked? So your church band is meh? So the pastor doesn’t have the most profound, instagram-able message each week? So what? We are so obsessed with ourselves…what does this sermon speak to me? What does this worship do for me? What does this prayer time offer me? What does this church provide for me?

I’m disgusted with that mindset. I have carried it, but I refuse to anymore. I hope it leaves a bad taste in your mouth too.

Let's just be honest and quit beating around the bush: We are so selfish in our relationship with God. If he doesn’t answer our prayer we bail or doubt. If he doesn’t “show up” in worship (newsflash - he’s always there) then we think about finding a more “spirit filled” church. If the pastor isn’t a dynamic preacher then we think we can’t be fed by him.

At some point, we have to ask: are we following God, or are we following experiences? We need to wake up because our obsession with what we get in our religion is quietly hollowing us out, leaving us empty but deceived into thinking we are filled, and killing us. We risk showing up to our final judgement and Christ saying “I never knew you”. Let that sink in.

I love a lot of the big name pastors that have reels all over the internet. I love a lot of the big names in the worship industry (that’s a different topic for another day) and the music they write and produce for the Church. There’s a lot of good podcasts and YouTube channels and sermons to feed on. And that’s a great resource for us! But when those become our primary source - when we start comparing our local church to the polished, visible, "better" versions online—we begin to disconnect from the very place God has planted us. It's like spiritual adultery. Then we struggle to stay faithful to our little local church because they don’t offer what we love - what feeds us - what makes us feel close to God.

That reality should put the sting of disgust in our hearts. Comparing brides (churches) based on what they offer us instead of adoring the bride (our local church) God has placed us in...that should make our hearts sick because I'm convinced it makes the heart of God sick.

If I was hyping up all these other men, hanging on their every word, and then coming home to my husband frustrated that he isn’t as eloquent or intelligent or “deep” as those other men I stare at and listen to during the week…you all would call me out on flirting with adultery. Longing for something God hasn’t given me and forsaking the one He has given me.

I think our obsession with celebrity pastors and award-winning worship music… I think that grieves the heart of God. We put pastors and musicians up on lofty pedestals because of their giftedness and scorn in our hearts those God placed right in our lives because, in our own estimation, they don’t possess so great a gift.

It’s selfish faith.

We need to repent. We need to quit looking for food everywhere that is more attractive to us and look for food from the shepherds that God has placed right in front of us. The ones who see us each week, who know our families, our habits, our struggles, our life. Quit looking at strangers on the internet as if they can pastor you better.

They can’t.

And that’s not who God put in your life to pastor you. You don’t know better than God. If he wanted your pastor to be Bill Johnson, you’d live in Redding. If he wanted your pastor to be Michael Koulianos, then you’d live in Orlando. If he wanted your pastor to be Josh Howerton, you’d be living in his city too. But most of you don’t live there. You live where you live. You go to that local church with no famous pastors and their worship team doesn’t record Dove nominated albums. They are simple and maybe even boring by comparison. But that's where you've been planted. Those are the people God wants you to call family. Those are the pastors God wants you to pray over and seek their wisdom and let speak into your life. Not someone on the internet who preaches profound sermons but has no relationship with you. They don't even know you exist!

We need to quit judging our worship time and our churches by how it makes us feel, what it provides for us, and whether we felt God in the room.

HE IS IN THE ROOM. He is in your heart! So notice him! Quit ignoring him until someone gifted makes you emotional about the idea of God and take notice of the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Prince of Peace, our comforter, our friend…living within your heart speaking to you each day. It shouldn’t take Bethel or Jesus Image or Elevation or Josh Howerton or Steven Furtick for you to notice him. Isn’t Jesus enough? Isn’t the church he has provided for you enough?

We need to repent. Lord, forgive us.