But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth<\/em>” (John 4:23-24).<\/p>\nJesus charged the Jews with worshiping God in their rituals, but without their hearts (Matthew 15:8). It can happen to Christians as well, such as in not decerning Christ’s death during the Lord’s Supper (I Corinthians 11:27-30). God desires sincere worshipers (Matthew 22:37-38).<\/p>\n
However, worship also requires truth. It doesn’t matter how sincere I am if I’m not worshiping God in the way He requires. Here again, the Jews failed by substituting their own things for God’s worship (Matthew 15:9). God is the object of our worship, and He tells us how He wishes to be served. God doesn’t have to accept anything man may happen to send His way – God doesn’t need man’s worship. Man cannot tell his Master what God will accept (Isaiah 29:16).<\/p>\n
The concerts masquerading as worship fail in the latter. God didn’t ask for them, but people like and want them. Ask your friends if they are willing to worship God in the simple way God requires or if they would give worship up because they don’t find it entertaining enough. They may claim it doesn’t matter, but clearly, they highly value their entertainment.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you for your timely response. A key point that I have noted is that “sincerity of heart is useless if it doesn’t tally with God’s command.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Good day, Minister, My question to you is, can you kindly explain the difference between true worship and Christian concerts using sufficient Bible passages? I have friends in various denominations who attend concerts organized by various so-called Christian bodies, where gospel singers are invited to perform and do all sorts of things. After talking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[759,84],"class_list":["post-81545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-entertainment","tag-worship"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/worship-as-entertainment\/","url_meta":{"origin":81545,"position":0},"title":"Worship as Entertainment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Roberts via\u00a0Abundant Life Romans 1 challenges us with its chilling words \"they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man\" (vv. 22-23). Man has the propensity to change God and the worship of God into what he desires. Instead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Entertainment-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42252,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/worship-or-entertainment\/","url_meta":{"origin":81545,"position":1},"title":"Worship or Entertainment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Prichard In our entertainment-oriented culture, many churches find themselves trying to 'outdo' themselves with more and more elaborate additions to worship. What began as special music by a choir becomes a full orchestra with professional soloists. A dramatic reading necessitates a full Broadway stage production. And as long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/entertainment-worship-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23279,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-virtual-choirs-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":81545,"position":2},"title":"Are virtual choirs wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, With the advent of social media, we hear about these virtual choirs. Do Christians have the authority to do virtual choirs and post them on Facebook? Doesn't this constitute entertainment because they have an audience? Answer: I can play the card game Solitaire and find it entertaining, even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55539,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-recreation\/","url_meta":{"origin":81545,"position":3},"title":"Church Recreation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Camp Recently I received an invitation to a facility that provided \"ping pong, walking track, concerts, basketball, weights, pool table, board games, banquets, refreshments, etc.\" No, the invitation did not come from the local Boy's club. It came from a local church. Increasingly churches have begun to take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38702,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/food-gimmicks-and-recreation\/","url_meta":{"origin":81545,"position":4},"title":"Food, Gimmicks, and Recreation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff May Problems arise as we strive to serve God faithfully, but God has given us a tree - the tree of Calvary, to be used in such situations, just as Moses cast in the tree at Mariah to resolve the problem of the bad water (Exodus 5), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Birthday-Party-300x203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":85948,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-few-words-about-our-thrill-seeking-culture\/","url_meta":{"origin":81545,"position":5},"title":"A Few Words about Our Thrill-Seeking Culture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. 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