And here it is, the 1st place paper from our little presentation of essays from the students at Fairhaven Baptist College. Students were assigned to write a short paper explaining what is wrong with contemporary worship, and why we must contend for the issue.  As an incentive, I promised to post online any articles that I thought were well-written and compelling. 

Our first three posts offered the “honorable mentions” and the top ten.  Over the last two days, we have offered the number three and number two entries.  Today, we give you first place.

Lydia Johnson

Contemporary worship proponents focus a great deal on lighting. They spend thousands of dollars on laser lights and hazing equipment. The lights are their emphasis. They do this to “create an atmosphere to encounter God.” This idea purely is pantheistic.

With so many churches turning to contemporary worship, Independent Fundamental Baptists may ask themselves, “What’s the big deal?” These churches are bringing in people by the hundreds, some even thousands on Sunday morning. Contemporary worship is flawed because it creates a false atmosphere, and it makes no demands on the sinner.

The first issue with contemporary worship is that it creates a false atmosphere. During a contemporary worship service, the house lights go down and all eyes are on the stage. This is not an atmosphere of worship, this is a concert atmosphere. Contemporary worship proponents focus a great deal on lighting. They spend thousands of dollars on laser lights and hazing equipment. The lights are their emphasis. They do this to “create an atmosphere to encounter God.” This idea purely is pantheistic. A brief study of Eastern religion presents the idea of “encountering” god through nature. God does not make us “encounter” Him, He seeks for His own and desires His children to seek Him. God promises in Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” This is not an aimless wandering, but a deliberate search. God promises to show Himself when His children seek for Him with their whole heart.

Finally, contemporary worship is flawed because it makes no demands on the sinner. The philosophy of contemporary worship is “come as you are.” This mentality never allows for any growth. It cheapens God’s grace to say that God accepts everyone just the way they are. God accepts sinners in spite of what they are! He sent Jesus because He could not accept sin. The sinner does not come to God pleading his merits but pleading for mercy. The “come as you are” mentality would rather have believers remain worldly than to scare away any newcomers by their conformity to Christ. Romans 12:2 is a command, not an option. The contemporary worship movement would rather gain popularity than follow the direct order of their Master.