Question of the Week: Are Worship Services for Believers or Unbelievers?
Last week I was having lunch with a friend of mine who is also a local pastor in the area and the topic of worship came up. Specifically, the topic of whether or not a church service should be designed for the sake of a worship connection between believers, or designed to be evangelistic. The way a person answers this question dictates a lot about how they go about designing a Sunday morning service, the kind of music used, the way the church looks, and the topics preached.If worship services are for believers, then the service will be geared towards encouraging a deeper intimacy intimacy between the believer and Christ. The music will most likely be deeper with the presupposition that those singing the songs have an understanding of at least the basics of theology. Liturgy, such as Communion or Lectio Divina, will most likely be more prevalent and done without much introduction. Although the aesthetic of the church will be nice, amenities like a Starbucks in the foyer, top of the line children's equipment, sound equipment, etc. will not be as much of a priority. Sermons will more likely be exegetical than topical, since the sermons are more for the care of the believer than a conversation starter with non-believers coming to the church.If worship services are more for unbelievers, for evangelism, then the service will be geared towards them. The music will be more accessible and shy away from some of the deeper theological ideas, as well as be very contemporary and high quality. There will be less liturgy outside of music and whenever something like Communion is done, it will be very deeply explained. The church building will be more likely to have things like Starbucks and other "seeker-friendly" amenities. Sermons will likely be more topical than exegetical, since the point is to engage non-believers in a way that is relevant with the hopes of introducing them to the gospel.So here's the question: Are worship services for believers or unbelievers? Is worship for the church or the unchurched? Are we supposed to be devotional or attractional?What do you think?