“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger,” is a saying popularized by singer/songwriter Keith Green. Adapting it to this month’s theme of the RP Witness, I’d like to amend that to say, “Going to church doesn’t make you a worshiper any more than going to Starbucks makes you a cappuccino.”

I suppose one could argue that everyone who goes to church is, in fact, worshiping, but the question is, Who or what are they worshiping? Merely showing up at an established church doesn’t make you, individually or collectively, true worshipers of God. A position paper the RPCNA Synod adopted a few years ago gets at this point when it says, “A church is pure according as its worship is pure, both inwardly and outwardly.” Reformed churches have through the centuries put a wise emphasis on pure worship, because God certainly puts an emphasis on it.

Notice that pure worship happens both inwardly and outwardly. It recalls to mind Jesus’ statement that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth:

You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:22-24).

If in today’s culture it is difficult to keep the form of our worship pure, it may be more difficult to keep the heart of it pure. All my life I’ve attended churches that took pure worship seriously and conscienciously. Though none were perfectly pure that way, I think a more serious struggle has taken place in my own mind and heart. Many times I have come to church, to corporate worship, unprepared. During prayers and psalms and sermons I have tuned in but then drifted off. Sometimes, I confess, I’ve even started thinking about how I’d preside for the following week’s worship service! Some of my distractions seem holy but really are not worship at all.

Biblical churches throughout the millennia have tried to create an atmosphere that is most conducive to pure worship. The RPCNA has sought to do so, albeit, as the standards acknowledge, with imperfection. The greater question then is not whether our form needs tweaking but whether our hearts need overhauling.

We need to remember that we can no more worship purely on our own power than we can save ourselves from sin. But that leads to the focus of Pastor Dennis Prutow’s article on worship in this issue, a focus of good news. What we cannot do, God graciously does. Humble yourself during the week as you look ahead to the corporate worship of God and to what He will accomplish among you. Recognize your neediness but also rest in and receive His certain promises. He will meet with His people and grant an overflowing blessing this and every week.