Evangelism Handbook

I love corporate worship. I love being with the people of God to meet with God through songs and hymns, through prayers and offering, and the preached Word. I minored in music and have been a minister of music (we were not called “worship leaders” back then) in several churches. I take a worship band with me because I love vibrant worship. For several years I played bass in the band. Corporate worship with the people of God will endure as a mark of the Christian movement.

When a church gathers on Sunday for corporate worship, the main focus should be on God. Too many believers act as though worship is about them, focusing on preferences more than becoming living sacrifices. Our time of corporate worship should focus on exalting a great God and celebrating a risen Lord. But that does not have to exclude the lost. Worship can be a wild card that trumps our differences and our prejudices. People whose lives are focused on worshiping God overcome all sorts of barriers.

A hillbilly from West Virginia found himself serving the Lord at Armitage Baptist Church in Chicago. He began to go into the neighborhood inviting children to church. Betty Cherry was the mother of some of the children—an African-American lady who spent her life in the city, who had nothing in common with a West Virginia hillbilly. But through his influence, this former prostitute, who lived in drunkenness for 18 years, came to a time of worship at Armitage on New Year’s Eve, 1982. She was eventually saved through the witness of a lady named Dawn who had been a prostitute as well before coming to Jesus. Later, Betty led the ARMS (Armitage Reaching Many Souls) evangelism ministry.²

Her story: “Right away I was discipled. The church became a second home and a second family—at times my first family.” Through her ministry at ARMS Betty has reached hundreds with the gospel. One lady was from Puerto Rico—she came to Christ, then moved to Milwaukee, where she began an ARMS ministry to the Hmong people group. Imagine that—a hillbilly touched a black, drunken prostitute who reached a Puerto Rican who reached Hmongs. How? Because truth and love trump our differences. And that is why true worship is so vital. Genuine worship will trump the differences in any congregation.

People should have freedom to encounter the living God. In the cultural context of the Middle Ages, freedom meant stained-glass windows for an illiterate population to assist in communicating biblical stories. In the twenty-first century, stained glass is lovely but not integral to the worship experience. Fifty years ago a vast pipe organ enhanced worship for many, whereas a keyboard and drums does the same for lots of young adults today. A plexiglass lectern or a table and stool have replaced a big, elaborate pulpit from one generation for many in another.

A woman from a free congregational tradition visited a liturgical service. She continually punctuated the message of the pastor with “Praise the Lord!” Finally, a member of the church turned around and said to the guest, “Excuse me, but we don’t praise the Lord in the Lutheran church.” A man down the pew corrected the member: “Yes, we do,” he said. “It’s on page 19.”³

The revolution in worship services in contemporary evangelicalism is obvious. More than 25,000 congregations use overhead projectors as an aid to singing contemporary choruses each Sunday. The church where I attend regularly incorporates drama in its services. Thousands of other congregations sing only the old hymns of the faith. Many use some sort of “blended” style to meet the needs of their members and to make the services palatable for the unchurched. Radical changes in corporate worship have led to “worship wars”⁴ in more than a few congregations.

R. W. Dale said, “Let me write the hymns and the music of the church, and I care very little who writes the theology.”⁵ He understood the powerful impact that worship has on the church. The corporate worship of a local church also affects its evangelistic growth.

Martin Luther understood the power of music in worship. “I really believe, nor am I shamed to assert,” said the Reformer, “that next to theology there is no art equal to music.”⁶ Luther further recognized, “Experience proves that next to the Word of God music deserves to be extolled as the mistress and governess of the feelings of the human heart.”⁷

Most questions about worship deal with style rather than substance. But more about that later. Let us begin with a theology of worship from the pages of Scripture.

Worship for the Hebrew meant to come before the Lord in humility. Hebrew worship focused on giving offerings to the Lord. A number of terms in the New Testament denote worship. Latreuo is one of many that emphasize veneration of God. The familiar word proskuneo (“to worship”) focuses on one’s allegiance to the Lord. To state it simply, worship is to be God centered. Much of what we do in church is a means to a greater end. Worship is an end in itself. Worship relates directly to the emotions; however, true worship goes deeper.

True worship of the ancient Hebrews was predicated on the activity of God in history⁸—in particular on the initiative taken by God to reveal Himself to His people. Thus, Abraham was called by God (see Genesis 12). In response, Abraham built altars of worship. God revealed to Noah the coming judgment on humanity. Noah responded in obedience by building the ark, and he worshiped God by building an altar after the flood. Ultimately, an elaborate process of worship developed through the tabernacle and the temple. Too often the people of God missed the genuine relationship with God in their ritual, so prophets like Amos exhorted the people to true worship. The Psalms provided songs for worship, while national festivals reminded the people to seek the Lord. Eventually, the synagogue service became the heart of Jewish worship.

The New Testament worship services patterned themselves after the synagogue. However, Phifer noted key differences in the worship services of the early Christians.⁹ The New Testament writings, particularly Paul’s letters and the Gospels, soon became a prominent part of the services. To the Psalms were added Christian hymns, some of which are probably included in Paul’s epistles (Phil 2:5–11). Paul encouraged the singing of “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:18–19 NKJV). Baptism and communion were added features of Christian worship. Zeal characterized the services. The resurrection emphasis led to a celebrative spirit. Christian worship moved from the Jewish Sabbath to the Lord’s Day, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus.

Ralph Martin reminds us that, although we can gain a general knowledge about worship in the early church, “there is, of course, no place in the New Testament which clearly states that the church had any set order of service, and very little information is supplied to us about the outward forms which were in use.”¹⁰ By the early second century, the Didache gave evidence of a greater sense of structure in worship.¹¹

This means that the style of worship is not prescribed in the New Testament but the substance of worship is—in particular, the celebration of the risen Lord. Just as evangelism must keep a proper tension between the changeless message and changing methods, worship must give attention to a biblical focus while avoiding the temptation to prescribe one form of worship. This tension is borne out in history.

The ritualism of the Middle Ages mitigated against true worship. Even more foreboding was the theological shift away from an emphasis on a regenerate church, leading to multitudes that observed the liturgy without a personal knowledge of the One whom they worshipped. Only a dramatic theological restructuring could rescue worship.¹²

The Reformation brought such a restructuring. Martin Luther returned the Bible and the hymnal to the people. Luther introduced hymns with more familiar tunes that were theologically rich and written in the language of the common man. Donald R. Hustad commented, “Worthy lyrics sanctify the secular melody.”¹³ Jesuit Adam Conzenius complained that “Luther’s hymns have destroyed more souls than his writings.”¹⁴ If only the contemporary church could grasp as Luther did the dynamic of biblical lyrics and a winsome melody! Calvin emphasized the singing of the Psalms in his services.

The Pietists of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries began writing subjective hymns, reflecting their emphasis on religion of the heart. At this same time, British pastor Isaac Watts began composing hymns. Such hymns as “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and “We’re Marching to Zion” set a new standard for English church songs, thus his title “the father of English hymnody.” By the turn of the nineteenth century, over 130 hymn collections had been printed.

Franklin Segler wrote that “a religious awakening has always been accompanied by a revision of the liturgy.”¹⁵ More recent centuries have witnessed the increasing role of music in the evangelistic mission of the church. One can trace the roots of music used for evangelistic purposes to the Evangelical Awakening and the ministry of John and Charles Wesley. Charles Wesley wrote more than 6,000 hymns. These were crucial to the theology of early Methodism. His brother John preached biblical sermons that emphasized the application of the text to life. To these Charles wed hymns utilizing secular tunes.

The impact of the songs of the Wesleys is hard to overestimate. To a largely illiterate population the hymns taught doctrine and supported Christian experience, combining “the revivalist’s fervor with the cooling elements of disciplined poetry and biblical theology.”¹⁶ Further, early in the Evangelical Awakening the wide use of singing, particularly the singing of groups of young people along the cities and roads of the countryside, had a profound impact. Thousands of nominal Christians were caught up in evangelistic fervor that shattered old forms and traditions and opened new channels of spiritual growth for entire congregations.

The camp meetings of the Second Great Awakening were characterized by simple, emotional hymns, many with evangelistic appeals. The camp meeting songs developed into the gospel hymn, marked by a verse and chorus. The Southern Harmony, a collection of camp meeting songs published in 1835, sold 600,000 copies over 25 years.

Charles Finney worked closely with local churches in urban centers, so a different type of revival song was needed to reach the people in the cities. The church hymnals set too high a standard for some tastes, but the typical camp meeting songbook’s standards were too low. Thus, he utilized Thomas Hastings, who published an early hymnbook, as a musician in the urban setting.

The first true music evangelist to be widely recognized was Ira D. Sankey (1837–99), who teamed with evangelist D. L. Moody. Sankey led congregational songs and sang solos. Sankey served as an emerging model for music evangelists. “The Ninety and Nine,” “Jesus of Nazareth Passes By,” and others made a great impact on believers and unbelievers alike. Lord Shaftersburg did not exaggerate when he said, “If Moody and Sankey had done nothing else but teach us ‘Hold the Fort,’ their visit would have been worthwhile.”¹⁷ He and Philip P. Bliss published Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs in 1875. This collection included hymns which they, Fanny Crosby (1823–1915), and others had penned. Between 50,000 to 80,000 copies were sold by 1900.

Sankey was followed by scores of other musicians who teamed with evangelists. These included Charles Alexander, partner with J. Wilbur Chapman and R. A. Torrey; Homer Rodeheaver, who teamed with Billy Sunday; and more recently Cliff Barrows, with the Billy Graham team.

In the twentieth century, music on the radio, Stamps-Baxter gospel quartet music, and revivalistic southern hymns have added to evangelistic music. With the rise of evangelistic music, a tension developed between music designed to worship God and music primarily aimed at reaching the lost.

The Jesus Movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s laid the groundwork for a significant shift in the corporate worship of the American church. The charismatic movement added to the growing awareness of a need for freedom in worship.

Charles E. Fromm noted that for several decades the church resisted change in worship, leading up to the revolution that occurred in the 1960s and beyond:

By the mid-sixties, it was generally acknowledged that if God had ever spoken at all through music, it had only been in the cherished hymns and psalms of the forefathers; that all things musically modern were, at best, tainted and unprofitable; and that spiritual song was best left safely locked up in the sanctity of ceremony.¹⁸

The changes in musical forms were influenced by young people who came to Christ in the Jesus Movement. The innovations served to present a new freshness in worship and were useful in reaching others as a result. In fact, the primary focus of much of the new music was evangelistic. Donald Hustad stated that “it should be obvious that the motivation behind all the pop-gospel phenomena of our day is evangelism.”¹⁹

The rise of contemporary Christian music and the accompanying explosion of Christian radio stations after 1970 laid the groundwork for dramatic changes in worship services. Two streams merged to create the genre known today as contemporary Christian music. Folk music, especially as it was expressed in the youth musical, eventually merged with the rock sound of the Jesus Movement coffeehouses to form what is easily recognized today as contemporary Christian music.

The youth musical became a powerful medium for attracting young people to the gospel message in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Such musicals came out of the sixties and the increasing popularity of the folk song and such personalities as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. “Do Lord,” “Give Me Oil in My Lamp,” and “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart” became part of church youth fellowships.

The first widely used youth musical was Good News. The evangelistic focus of the musical is evident in its title. Ralph Carmichael and Kurt Kaiser then wrote Tell It Like It Is. Others included Celebrate Life by Buryl Redd and Jimmy and Carol Owens’ Come Together. Soon youth choirs became the heart of many youth groups, while youth choir tours covered North America.

Contemporary Christian music began in the coffeehouses and youth fellowships of the period and mushroomed into a five-hundred-million-dollar industry annually by 1990. John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association in 1993 and publisher of Contemporary Christian Music magazine, summarized the advent of the genre:

Contemporary Christian Music was born out of the counterculture movement of the 60s. Disillusioned hippies who found the answer in Christ used their most natural means of expression—music—to proclaim the joy of their salvation and to share Christ with others. It wasn’t organ music either. It was the music they understood.²⁰

Dozens of “Jesus rock groups” had begun playing in southern California. Larry Norman, called the “poet laureate” of the Jesus Movement by some, was one of the best known leaders. His simple ballad about the second coming of Christ, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” was a signature song of the movement. Chuck Girard and Love Song were referred to as the “Beatles of the Christian music world” by some. Nancy Honeytree, Don Francisco, the Second Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, Keith Green, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, Petra, Amy Grant, Brown Bannister, and Dogwood sprang from coffeehouse and similar ministries in the early 1970s. Jesus music festivals provided another forum for musicians to share their songs.

Contemporary Christian music was effective in evangelism through mass rallies, high school assembly programs, and festivals. Richard Hogue stated that the voice that young people listened to in the early seventies was not the athlete, but “the musician and the intellectual.”²¹

The music of the Jesus Movement endured because of its close relationship with a major reason the movement began in the first place. Positively, the Jesus Movement was experiential and evangelistic, emphasizing a relationship with Christ. Negatively, it was a protest movement against the institutional church. The music gave a spiritual compass to a generation that felt disenfranchised due to the “generation gap.”

Morgenthaler observed, “In the 1970s and 80s, much of the evangelical church experienced a worship revolution: an upheaval of traditional worship forms brought on by a belated, yet significant, ‘cultural awakening.’”²² The new musical styles among the youth gradually gained favor in many churches. But favor was not universal, as Carol Flake observed:

Not all evangelicals were cheered by the success of CCM [contemporary Christian music]. The rock of ages they clung to did not roll with the times. Not surprisingly, Ralph Carmichael’s first concert at the National Religious Broadcasters convention stirred few amens. The growth of contemporary Christian music and the opening of the gates between sacred and secular genres stirred up a long-simmering controversy over the devil’s role in rock and roll.²³

Instruments associated with pop music, such as guitars, electric keyboards, and drums, stormed into many churches with the new songs. Such instruments became more acceptable in some churches because of their use in youth gatherings. The idea of an electric guitar in a worship service caused a virtual apoplexy to many, as illustrated by one pastor’s observation: “I’ll never forget the first Sunday they had all those guitars in there. [Some members] just went nuts.”²⁴

Bob Burroughs, a worship leader and composer, linked the Jesus Movement with revivalism of the past by stating that contemporary music, with guitars, amplifiers, and so on, was “the biggest thing to hit Christian music since Ira Sankey joined D. L. Moody!”²⁵ Added to the rise of contemporary Christian music was the advent of praise and worship choruses, developing out of the Jesus Movement but receiving significant impetus from the charismatic movement. Publishing houses such as Maranatha! Music and Sparrow Records emerged during this period.

Choruses became the inroad into the mainstream of worship services. Such songs gave a new and needed sense of freedom, emphasizing the experiential side of the faith. However, the Jesus Movement was also characterized by a simplistic and even self-centered theology, which also crept into worship. Unfortunately, this focus added to the shift in our consumer-driven culture to receiving a blessing from God rather than giving an offering to God.

More recently, movements such as Passion in the United States and the worship music of Hillsong in Australia among others has led to a greater desire for corporate worship that is participatory rather than passive in nature.²⁶ I mention I travel with a contemporary worship band of excellent young musicians (my son Josh being the drummer!). While extremely gifted, they never do “special music,” a conventional staple in corporate worship where the congregation sits passively for a song performed by a soloist, choir, or ensemble. Instead, in the style of recent worship leaders, they only do songs in which the entire congregation participates. The congregation becomes the choir, and the entire band the prompters. I was reminded how great this shift is by our daughter Hannah. Raised in a contemporary church, Hannah came to chapel with me one day while in middle school. The leader that day led the singing by moving his hand as a conductor, the way I knew all my years in church services. She had not seen this, so when she watched him waving his hand wildly from the stage, she looked at me with big eyes, asking, “What is he doing?” Times indeed are changing.

To summarize, worship in the Bible focused on the character of God. Throughout history, music and worship styles have changed with the growth and expansion of the church. In the modern era, musical changes often paralleled times of spiritual awakening and renewal. Over the past century, a distinction has developed between music focused on worship and music designed for evangelistic services. Added to this are the experience-oriented choruses of the Jesus Movement and the charismatic movement, resulting in services that focus on meeting contemporary needs without demonstrating a true understanding of worship. How can we keep the best of contemporary worship without abandoning the biblical focus?

Our chapel services at Southeastern Seminary are the greatest on earth. God receives great honor as the seminary community gathers for a time of worship every Tuesday and Thursday. Still, I marvel at the difference in the spirit of the services when we move from singing a couple of hymns to a combination of hymns and choruses with more of a flow and more contemporary instrumentation. The warmth, the richness is apparent when the latter takes place. On the negative side, more contemporary songs tend to be softer in doctrine, and tend to emphasize personal blessing over the greatness of God. Fortunately there is a growing trend of contemporary hymns with greater depth on the horizon. The second most likely place to get theology is our singing. In a given service, what do the songs you sing say about God? In six months in your church, can a person have a significant understanding of the nature of the faith? Or do they leave just knowing they “feel good” when they sing their songs?

We must affirm the vital role of theology in all we do. Music and worship are inherently experiential, so one must constantly assess worship services from a theological perspective. Theology matters, but too often we don’t emphasize its role. Our focus on modern methods to help churches grow has opened the evangelical church to criticism on theological grounds. Sally Morgenthaler made the point: “In the 90s we are getting quite good at target practice—honing in on the lifestyles, habits, wants, and needs of particular people. Yet in our zeal to hit the bull’s-eye, we have forgotten that God grows the church through spiritual power.”²⁷

Morgenthaler cited Barna who discovered that the key thing unchurched people are looking for in a church is not a certain worship style but specific doctrinal beliefs. She added, “To replace doctrine with style is to totally misinterpret the message our culture is sending.” Barna also said, “We have 325,000 Protestant churches, 1,200 Christian radio stations, 300 Christian television stations, and 300 Christian colleges. . . . During the last eight years, we in the Christian community have spent in excess of $250 billion in domestic ministry and have seen a 0 percent increase in the proportion of born-again adult Christians of this country. Are we concerned about this? Do we feel any accountability for this picture?”²⁸

Most churches are so introverted that they are not concerned about honoring God through the worship experience or about bearing fruit through new believers. The sad truth is, we born-again Christians are an insulated, narcissistic subculture, involving ourselves with very few people outside our own churches. How can we witness to the lost if we do not know anybody who fits that description? “Some churches have perfected the art of draining other churches.”²⁹

We must remind ourselves that our primary object in life is to glorify God. Our adoration of God must transcend any other object of ministry, including our desire to see churches grow. There is no better way to glorify God than to bring a lost sheep to the Shepherd (Luke 15).

Morgenthaler gave a PASS formula to test songs for worship. “Personal—they related someway to people’s everyday lives and involved their whole being, including their emotions. Attractive—they hold people’s attention. Straightforward—both Seeker Bob and Saintly Bill can understand and latch onto them quickly. Substantive—give a thoroughly biblical message that is faithful to the whole counsel of scripture.”³⁰

An evangelistic service, ranging from contemporary seeker services to traditional mass evangelism, can include elements of worship, but its purposes are different. Many church leaders fail to distinguish between a seeker service, which is evangelistic by design, and a seeker-sensitive worship service, which welcomes the unsaved. Evangelistic services are needed but not to the neglect of worship services. Os Guinness put it well: It is “perfectly legitimate” to “convey the gospel in cartoons to a nonliterary generation incapable of rising above MTV. . . . But five years later, if the new disciples are truly won to Christ, they will be reading and understanding Paul’s letter to the Romans.”³¹

Weekly services dedicated to the worship of God can have an evangelistic impact. George Hunter and others have stated that our culture is becoming more like the apostolic era. Our postmodern, post-Christian era demands genuine worship by radically changed believers who honor God with their lives. Such worship not only glorifies God but also draws the attention of unbelievers (Psalm 126; Acts 2:47; 16:25ff; Rom 15:9–11; 1 Cor 14:23–25).

Worship leader Tommy Coomes came to Christ because of the genuine, dynamic worship at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California, the mother church of the Jesus Movement. It was the worship that drew him to Christ. He later observed, “There is a spiritual dynamic going on in authentic worship that can’t be reasoned away.”³² Don McMinn said it well:

Music is not the power of God for salvation, and neither is the media of writing, speaking, or sign language. The gospel is the power of God to salvation, and when it is presented, regardless of how it is presented, lives will be changed.³³

We should give proper attention to celebration in our worship services—not celebrating our experience but the resurrected Lord. Hustad has warned that “the ‘new enjoyment’ may lead to a worship hedonism which is another form of idolatry—worshiping the experience instead of worshiping God.”³⁴ Confession and brokenness are necessary for honest worship to occur; still, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ should be the focus of our worship. When He is our focus, we are reminded that Christianity is not primarily fun; it is essential.

Generalities like “sing great old hymns only,” or “sing only newer songs,” should be resisted. Such dichotomies lead to a reductionism that fails to distinguish between the timeless and the trendy, the contemporary and the faddish. Some people sing choruses because this is the music they like, with little thought given to the issue of worshiping God. Others hold to a more historic, traditional approach because in their minds, it demonstrates authentic worship. Perhaps the truth is that they just don’t like change!

Style and substance are both vital, but substance must guide stylistic concerns. We must never make “either-or” that which is actually “both-and.” There is no one all-encompassing worship style that will reach the multitudes or exalt our great God.

I participated in a recent evangelism conference that featured music quite popular about 20 years ago. The keynote speaker commented that the recent changes in worship style hindered evangelism. More than a few people older than me have repeated his perspective to me. The problem is that such opinions are not verified by research. One recent study found that a primary factor in growing congregations was actually moving to more of a contemporary worship style.³⁵ Thom Rainer’s study of effective evangelistic churches found the following about style:

We must keep a healthy balance between new music and lasting songs. Bob Burroughs, while affirming and writing many contemporary scores, feels that an overemphasis on singing choruses instead of hymns could become detrimental:

The praise chorus music itself in some churches has taken the place of the hymnal, and the music is so shallow . . . that the great hymnody of the church, which is a teaching aid also for theology, and for doctrine . . . is lost. When you sing “Alleluia, alleluia” over against “A Mighty Fortress” or “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us,” or some of those, the young people and the young adults really do miss out on some . . . great theology.³⁷

The key to worship is not the songs we sing or the music’s beat. The key is not style, although style does matter. The key is spirit. The key is life. Over the past decade I have been privileged to speak in some 500 churches, mostly but not exclusively Southern Baptist, in over 20 states. I could share many stories of pathetic churches who are dying. The favorite song of such churches is “Take My Life and Let It Be,” and they mean “let it be,” as in “don’t bother me!” These churches that have confused reverence with rigor mortis are legion. But I would rather note some other churches where life is contagious, where God is at work—big churches, small churches, new missions and some over a century old, rural and urban. Here are some examples:

• A small-town congregation in South Carolina where contemporary means songs like “There’s Just Something about That Name” and “His Name Is Wonderful.” In other words, songs contemporary 25 years ago. But a church full of life and reaching people.

Many more churches could be cited, but my point is clear: No one style of worship is the exclusively biblical approach. The Bible, especially the New Testament, does not give specific instructions about the form of the worship service. This does not mean that anything goes in worship. “Decently and in order” is how Paul told the Corinthians to worship. Some form, tradition, or liturgy gives continuity from generation to generation. There must be an underlying theology of worship and a biblical ecclesiology.

What I am saying is that there is a need for traditional churches, for some people love church like Granny had. But churches that worship in a manner that honors Christ and relates to culture are also necessary.

People are passionate about what happens in worship services. We must teach our people that worship is not designed to please the congregation but to please God.

There is a tendency to make a strong distinction between worship services for the saved and evangelistic services or weekly seeker services. But there is ample biblical evidence for the concept of open worship—worship that focuses on exalting God, but that draws people into his presence. This includes drawing sinners to salvation. Today we are in the midst of a worship reformation, a movement that continues to address the issue of worship form (relevance) stretching beyond form to the core of worship itself—biblical substance. This is a worship movement with more life-reaching, life-changing potential than anything the evangelical church has seen in the last 75 years.

The Lord gave Moses clear instructions about worship: “And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do” (Num 15:14 NKJV). So strangers were expected to worship. Deuteronomy 26:10–11 also mentions how foreign residents worship. The psalmist declared, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Ps 150:6 NKJV). The presence of unbelievers is also noted in the New Testament (see 1 Cor 14:22–25).

Israel was to be a kingdom of priests and a light to the nations (Isa 51:4). Worship really is an encounter of God with his children. Lost people are potential children of God. The Bible indicates that there is none righteous, but it also says that those who seek God will find him if their search is genuine. In our worship we should not put unnecessary burdens on unsaved people who may be in attendance.

Morgenthaler asks rhetorically, “Just how does evangelism take place in a service that is ‘fully worshiped’?” Her reply is worth considering: “It happens in two ways: first, as unbelievers hear the truth about God (through worship songs, prayers, communion, baptism, scripture [preaching!], testimonies, dramas, and so on); and second—and more importantly—as they observe the real relationship between worshipers and God.”³⁸ This can be seen in Psalm 126 in the Old Testament and in the Acts narrative in the New Testament.

Some evangelists, including Franklin Graham and the Harvest Crusades of Greg Laurie, are moving toward a worship experience, even in their evangelistic crusades. Perhaps a miniature example of open worship would be Paul and Silas when they worshipped in the prison at Philippi and their worship drew the prison keeper to want to know Christ (see Acts 16). Gerrit Gustafson gave a definition of worship evangelism, the kind of evangelism that occurs in the context of open worship: “Wholehearted worshipers calling the whole world to the wholehearted worship of God . . . [and] the fusion of the power of God’s presence with the power of the gospel.”³⁹

What then are the characteristics of worship evangelism? Morgenthaler suggested these:⁴⁰

Knowledge. The worship is centered on Christ. Our worship is not centered on seekers or on us; it is centered on the risen Lord. Some seeker services deny the gospel because they think seekers are offended by it. We should not be offensive in worship or at any other time, but we should not be surprised if the gospel is an offense to some people (see 1 Cor 1)! The fear of offending people with the salvation message may indicate a much deeper problem: We may be willing to do whatever it takes to get unbelievers into church but not to bring them to Christ!

Vulnerability. This is an opening up to God. Lost people are not looking for perfect Christians; they are looking for people who are real, who open themselves before a holy God and make it clear that they are not God, that they are seeking to worship him. Perhaps we need to talk less about being seeker friendly and emphasize that we are sinner friendly. After all, Jesus was called a friend of sinners. The point of vulnerability is that worship ought to be about honesty. We’re not perfect. We need to let the world know we make mistakes. But we have an anchor in Jesus Christ when our ship is adrift.

Interaction. Worship evangelism means participating in a relationship with God and others. How can we make the church and worship relevant? The key to relevance is not changing the gospel or our worship to make people happy. God desires not that we be happy—but holy. When we’re holy, we find happiness. The only way to be relevant is to be real. The central issue is not to be relevant but to be significant.

“Contrary to popular belief,” Morgenthaler added, “it is not culturally relevant in turn-of-the-millennium America to throw out every single piece of historic Christian communication.”⁴¹ Morgenthaler cited a survey that discovered that 47 percent of unchurched people indicated they would like to sing some traditional hymns. Taking the older hymns and updating the music would communicate to the current day. I mentioned I travel with a young worship band ministering to students. We regularly include hymns in the song list. Young adults do not hate hymns; they do tend to be unimpressed with the way many Christians sing them!

Take a few minutes to consider the corporate worship of your church. Does it exalt God? Is it a celebration of the resurrected Lord? Can lost people be saved by participating? Would they want to know the God represented in your worship?

Morgenthaler, whose book is by far the best I have seen on this subject, offers five rudders to guide worship evangelism.

Worship evangelism is really more of a mind-set, a focus of ministry, than a method. It can be conducted in three ways.

1. Corporate. The subject of this chapter has been on corporate worship in a local church. Just imagine if your church approached each Sunday morning with great anticipation of encountering God, and with the desire of seeing people apart from Christ reached.

2. Family. Worship on various levels helps the unbeliever to see the manifest presence of God. The head of a national organization focused on evangelism came to Christ out of Judaism in the early 1970s. He sensed his need for Christ in part because he had a meal with a Christian family. As part of their routine of worship as a family, they prayed before the meal. In that simple time, this man sensed God’s presence like never before. One of the ways you can teach worship to your children is to have family worship at home.

3. Personal. Your personal evangelism will not likely reach past your personal devotion. Gregory said of the Church Father Basil, “His words are like lightning because his life is like thunder.” Perhaps no greater power in witnessing exists than a believer whose primary aim is to know and honor God, for out of that personal worship, one learns to think as God thinks, and to want what God wants, which certainly includes the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Further, a lost person can tell if you or I have been walking with God.