Why do people come to worship? That is a question that is usually asked for the wrong reasons. Some churches have asked that question and in coming up with their answers move to distort authentic, Biblical worship terribly. In our world the gathering of God's people for worship competes with all kinds of rivals - sports, television, movies, concerts, golf, gardening, or a casual lingering over the Sunday paper.
People come for many reasons - some from habit, some from gratitude, some from guilt, some from loyalty (many times, mis-placed loyalty), children "need to be there", and the list could go on. In some ways, given the social setting and cultural trends around us today, it is a small wonder that anybody comes to worship and is the very reason we have seen a drop in attendance in churches generally.
As I mentioned earlier, the question can actually be dangerous to authentic worship. Worship isn't just a good thing to do, but is essential to human need because of the way we were created. Human beings need to engage in corporate worship of God in acts of devotion, praise, obedience, thanksgiving, and petition. As worship leaders our job is to get distortions out of the way and plan worship that is authentic and magnifies the aspects of true worship that draw people yearning to be whole. If we are honest, not everything that attracts people to gather for worship is authentic. That is why so much of worship today is based more on what-people-say-they-want-in-worship "market research" that leads to a "royal waste of time," as one worship theologian has put it.
Worship is about an encounter with the living God and true worship involves our bowing down before God's presence. Worship is about awe, not a strategy. We can come up with strategies to "get" people to church, but you can not come up with strategies to "get" people to worship. In worship we respond to the God who is already there, and our worship is all of what pours out of us when we become fully aware of God's presence - praise in awe, joy unmeasurable, holy, trembling confession, and thankful giving of self.
The answer to the question should be - because we need to be in communion with God, to belong to Him and be in right relationship with Him. And, because we do belong to God, we need to join ourselves in community with others giving ourselves to God, offering our lives to something much bigger than ourselves. mjm
