I think the next time I’m asked what our worship services are like I’m going to answer, “Unremarkable.”

Recently, I’ve been visiting various church websites to see the different descriptions given.  One website described their worship as, “Dynamic!”, another as “Relevant”,  “Exuberant!”, and one website even described their ‘Ministries Pastor’ pretty much as, the guy every guy wants to be and every girl wants to date.  Now, those are my words, but that is the impression I got from their description which actually says, “He’s the one you want to take home to mama.”  That’s their words.

I’m sticking with “Unremarkable”, as a description of our church, worship, ministries, and leadership.

Why?  Because our worship style, our leadership, and our service to God doesn’t deserve praise.  Our God deserves praise.  Our acts of worship in singing, preaching, giving, praying, serving, and loving are only what God has asked of us.  And when we offer Him this worship we shouldn’t expect praise in return from Him or anyone else.  In fact, Jesus said this,

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:7-10)

You know what’s remarkable?  Someone who goes above and beyond in their service and worship of God.  That’s the person I’m going to praise.  Do you know where that person lives?  Right now He is seated at the right hand of His Father where He rules over everything and everybody.  Jesus is the man who became obedient to the point of death on a cross and that God speaks to and says, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)

Our worship and our service are unremarkable.  Nothing great and by no means perfect, but we do seek to worship God in the ways He has commanded us to worship in Scripture.  And we long for the day when our worship and service to God becomes perfect.  Not complete, our God is infinitely worthy of worship that will continue throughout eternity.  But perfect worship and service from a glorified heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Now that’s not to say that we can be lazy in our worship.  We strive to be the servants and worshippers that God wants us to be.  That’s why we do the things that we do.  We believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, therefore we look to God’s Word to tell us what He wants.  And here’s what He wants:  preachers who will preach His Word ‘line upon line, precept upon precept’, Christians who will hear His Word and obey, worshipers who will lift their voices to Him in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.  He wants His Word read publicly, He wants us to encourage one another and build each other up, bear one another’s burdens, care for the widows and orphans, give cheerfully to His work through the church, and love Him and our brothers and sisters and our enemies.

On second thought, maybe I would consider a church that did all of those things remarkable…at least from a human perspective.