A few years ago, I visited a large church where I was schedule to give a talk. Because I was part of the service, I waited backstage with members of the staff. After the opening set of songs, the members of the worship team exited behind the curtain where they were immediately hit with a round of high-fives from one of the pastors. “That absolutely rocked!” he exclaimed. “Even better than last week.” When the pastor concluded his sermon, there was a similar backstage celebration with more high-fives and ravings about how he’d “crushed it.” I felt like I was at a football game.
There’s nothing wrong with a little excitement at church—but I couldn’t help but wonder if they were focusing on the wrong things. They seemed to judge worship based on its performance quality and little else. Scripturally, worship is judged very differently. God is not as impressed by our musical or oratorical abilities and seems far more concerned with the state of our hearts and our commitment to justice.
Is God Pleased by Our Worship? from Old Testament scholar M. Daniel Carroll R. is a powerful reminder that worship without justice is dead. Through a close reading of Amos, he makes the point that if we worship God but forsake justice, it doesn’t matter how slick or powerful our worship practices are.
If you want to bolster your church’s justice efforts, our resource on Practicing Biblical Justice is a good place to start. This 24-page resource is designed to help you understand what the Bible says about God's heart for justice and what it looks like to live that out in your church.
