Creating a Culture of Worship
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”
Romans 12:1 (The Message)
You’ve seen the YouTube videos of worship events or churches where their worship just seems to flow like a river—people pouring out their hearts before the Lord, expressing their praise, and visibly adoring Jesus. Then you come to your Sunday morning worship service and…well…it’s just not the same. People are walking in 2 songs in, coffee in hand, with a look that says “I’m still waking up.” It can be disappointing and discouraging. But there is a way to bridge the gap. It comes down to one word: culture.
One of the definitions of culture is: the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular group of people (dictionary.com). It comes from a Latin word that means to till, or cultivate; it’s the tilling of land, the act of preparing the earth for crops (etymonline.com).
The culture you experience is the culture you have cultivated.
Chances are, if you have a culture of passionate worship at your church, it didn’t just happen one day. It was the fruit of someone’s cultivation. Someone (most likely a team) was working the soil—they prepared the “earth” for “crops”. The crops of responding reasonably to God. A culture of worship.
On the flip side, if your culture of worship isn’t fully engaged, it’s also because of what has been cultivated (or lacked in cultivation). Someone has to get in there and till that soil—get the rocks of religion out, get the thorns of the cares of this world out, and dig deep and reveal Jesus!
So, how do you create a culture of worship?
1. Get a vision
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
From Scripture: What does the Bible say?
The Bible says to praise His name with dancing, lift your hands, clap your hands, shout unto God, make a joyful noise, come into His Presence with singing, kneel, bow down, lay prostrate before God…but most of these expressions aren’t common in the church.
Let’s catch a vision from the Bible and lead the church in worship the way God intends.
From Prayer: What is God showing you?
He’ll speak to you! What is on His heart for your church?
From Leadership: What is your leader’s vision?
You always want to flow with and submit to the vision of the leaders of the house.
I watched a DVD around 2004 of Hillsong UNITED leading worship and it changed me. I saw young teenagers worshipping God with tears coming down their faces and I realized our group didn’t worship like that. But by watching it, I got a vision.
I had encountered God on my own during times of worship and embraced all the outward expressions of praise. But seeing others do that seemed to mostly happen at large events. With my vision of seeing what was possible, I had something to move towards.
And I did.
2. Teach and implement
I started implementing what I saw.
Another time, I was in a church in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and as they sang praise, the entire church was up and dancing! Again, I said…this can’t just be for here, we have to do this at home!
We started implementing songs that facilitated dance, and it was awkward at first. But the more and more we did it and encouraged everyone to participate, the culture began to shift.
I would take a minute to share a scripture about the dance, and then we’d have an opportunity to do it! If no one participated, I would jokingly call it out saying something like, “If you’re standing next to a statue, grab them on the shoulders and shake them up! It’s time to praise the Lord!”
What was I doing? I was teaching the Word and taking a moment to implement it.
This works with all the aspects of praise—lifting hands, shouting, kneeling, etc.
It’s important to note, however, that worship is a response to a revelation of Jesus. I usually try to tie an expression to a revelation of who Jesus is or what He has done.
i.e. Jesus is King, therefore we kneel.
i.e. Jesus is Lord, therefore we surrender.
i.e. Jesus has freed us, therefore we rejoice.
i.e. Jesus is victorious, therefore we shout!
I saw that the more I taught and implemented the vision I had, the more the culture shifted. (Here’s an entire article on how to lead in speaking times during worship leading)
3. Be consistent
It’s the repetition that makes what is new become normal.
Keep implementing what you want to see.
Halfway through the building project, Nehemiah re-cast the vision to build the wall. It's important to keep the vision before the people.
Push through the “not feeling it”. Push through the awkwardness.
New things are always awkward because they’re NEW! People aren’t used to them.
Exciting as it may be, it’s new and it takes time for people to get used to it. So push through it!
Be consistent.
4. Lead by example
Don’t try to get people to do something you’re not doing yourself!
Live the worship culture you’re wanting to create.
A lot of times, people will do what you do and not just what you say. Worship leaders are worshippers!
At the core of a worship ministry is being a worshipper!
What does that mean?
Your heart is open, connected, and expressive towards God. You’ve seen His beauty, you’ve seen His glory. Out of that heart connection, all the outward expressions are done. You live a life of worship unto God.
True worship is in Spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). It happens on a deeper level than just physical. But when you’re heart is touched, the physical and emotional parts of you can’t help but express.
When that’s who you are, that’s who you’ll reproduce. You reproduce who you are.
This isn’t just an individual thing; it’s a team thing.
Yes, cultivate it on your own, but also cultivate it with your team, cultivate it with your family, etc.
Take time out of your normal rehearsal to just worship and behold Jesus.
Remember, whatever you cultivate is what becomes your culture.
Question: How have you seen a culture of worship created?