"The duty of singing praises to God seems to be given wholly to excite and express religious affections. There is no other reason why we should express ourselves to God in verse rather that in prose and with music, except that these things have a tendency to move our affections."
— Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections
PURPOSE
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:19–20, NIV84)
When Jonathan Edwards speaks about "affections" he is talking about being moved in the deepest part of who we are, what the bible calls the "heart". We are not to just know true things about God but be affected by that knowledge - moved to pour ourselves out in praise and gratitude for all He has done for us in and through Jesus. Throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, the common language of worship is song. When we sing together, we take all our diverse voices, with all our different experiences, and unify them into one voice as we are moved by how glorious He is. The purpose of gathered worship is hearts moved by the glory of God!
PRAGMATISM
When we fail to have a clear purpose we tend to be increasingly guided by pragmatism. Pragmatic worship can take many different forms but the most common is "Christian Entertainment". This is the continual competition where churches and worship leaders work to provide a bigger and better experience to attract as many people as possible, usually from other churches. To this end, more than any other time in history, churches are being aggressively marketed and sold pre-packaged cultures of worship. You can buy the songs, arrangements, backing tracks, even pre-made guitar sounds to implement plug and play in your church. Most of those offering these resources mean well and are trying to serve the church but the most appropriate, God glorifying worship from a specific, local people will always be guided and formed by that specific people. There is no substitute for local leaders and pastors shaping the local church worship gathering in light of the people they know, love, serve and share life with. When we let go of purpose for pragmatism we run the risk of what Jesus cautions in the gospels of Mark & Matthew:
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me...” (Matthew 15:8 & Mark 7:6, ESV)
PRACTICE
“When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church... everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” (1 Corinthians 14:26,40 NIV84)
Having a clear purpose for worship is vital, but not enough on its own. A church must do the careful, slow, cultivation work of embodying purpose in practice. You have to ask questions like, is our gathered worship centered around God more deeply than anyone or anything else? Are all the words we speak, pray or sing in line with the bible? To what extent is the congregation participating whole heartedly in worship? How are we being hospitable and welcoming to those who are new or visiting our church? Is the music, sound, light, video and other technology serving the overall purpose of worship? This is the ongoing work of reformation and refinement to which all worship leaders and pastors must devote themselves . This is also where others outside the local church can be helpful as come and observe with fresh eyes and speak into this process.