Evangelism & Worship

Bill Johnson said, Evangelism in its purest form is Worship.

We have been reminding ourselves about this statement for many times now, and every time it was spoken by someone in our midst, it always gives me a sense of urgency, an urgency to get it right, to get a correct and full understanding about this statement.

Because it's not just any other statement.

It's not just another slogan or tagline.

And it's certainly not something made up without real revelation. (Because we can all say something very catchy but without real meaning)

Someone said to me recently that he has seen many dimensions to this one-statement truth as he opened up his heart for the Holy Spirit to teach him. I agreed -- there are really so many dimensions to be learned, and every time I meditated on it, it gives me a new understanding. It let me see another dimension to it that was previously not seen.

So... Evangelism in its purest form is Worship.

Does it mean then...

• If our motives for evangelism are right, it is pure, and therefore it is a worship unto God. If it is not, then we deceive ourselves and it is not a worship unto God. We deceive ourselves because we think that we are doing something that pleases God, but it actually doesn't. We deceive ourselves because we think that we are worshiping God, but actually we are worshiping ourselves, congratulating and glorifying ourselves because we have done it, when actually we are doing it by our own strength.
• If we evangelise from a heart that has the heart of Christ, we know that His heart is for the lost souls. Having this heart, we go and love and share the gospel of salvation, knowing that the Father's heart cries out for the lost. That, is the purest motive for evangelism.
• If we claim that we worship God, but we don't evangelise, we deceive ourselves.
• If we claim that we evangelise to people but we don't worship God, we also deceive ourselves.
• Evangelism and worship goes hand in hand; it is inseparable. If worship doesn't drive you to evangelise, you have not really worshiped the Lord until you come to a point of knowing what is upon God's heart. If evangelism doesn't drive you to worship God, you are doing it as a work, by your own strength, it does not carry God's presence.
• Of the 5 purposes of Worship, Evangelism, Fellowship, Discipleship & Ministry, Evangelism is found in the Great Commission; Worship is stated in the Great Commandment. We always like to quote the 2 purposes from the Great Commandment, i.e. Worship & Ministry, saying that if we say we love God (Worship) but don't love people (Ministry), it's wrong understanding. But then, if we say we obey the Great Commandment, but we don't do the Great Commission, how can we say that we are obeying God?
• If we come into God's presence to worship God, are we coming to worship Him because we want to give Him all praises that is due Him, and we want to give ourselves entirely to Him, or is it because we just want a good time? Are we coming into His presence to benefit ourselves? Or are we worshiping Him because He deserves it?
• If we say that in worship we give ourselves entirely to Him, how many times do we have to repent because we really held back many things from Him? eg. Lord I give You my heart, I give You my soul, I live for You alone, and blah blah blah, but that's only the lyrics, I'm just singing that because that's in the lyrics. God, You know I can't possibly give You all of my heart and live for You, cos I've got this and that to take care of... (plus thousand and one reasons why I can't give you my heart) Really, just how many times we have come that way to worship?
• Someone said, if you have come to church and think you will have a good time 'worshiping' God and be touched by God, you've got it all wrong. That someone said, if you come to church without having your heart changed, you will come every Sunday just being encouraged, but your faith will not increase, you will not see a change in your life. If you think worship is just to feel good, you've got it all wrong.
• If you think worship has got to have good musical performance, you can go to any concert, whether secular or Christian concert. It will not make a difference, because your heart did not see the difference between worship and good music.
• If you are a musician, and you think worship is about how well a band or an individual can play, or how well you yourself can play, you've got it all wrong. Worship is not about the music. It's not about the band. It's not about the voices who sing. It's not about the choice of songs. It's not about who's worship leading. It's not about the song arrangements. IT'S ALL ABOUT GOD.
• If you evangelise without coming into His presence to worship Him, you will soon ask this question, "Why am I doing this? For what am I doing this?"
• Every one in the Bible who encountered God in worship was changed in their lives forever, not for nothing, but for the expansion of His Kingdom. eg. Moses, Saul/Paul, Samaritan woman, Peter, etc etc etc.

God, please teach us more about worship and evangelism. Please let us have a change of heart, from a heart of stone to a heart of sponge, that we may understand it correctly. God, we don't want to worship you every Sunday not knowing what we are doing or why we are doing it, but just want to feel good. We don't want to be on stage thinking that we need to get all the chords right, and do the music correctly, though skill wise it carries some weight. But let us really know and be assured in our hearts that it's really all about You. It's not about how well we play or how bad we play. It's not about the songs chosen, not about the music. God, it's about our lives and our heart conditions, whether we facilitate or we become a hindrance for your Holy Spirit to move. God, we don't want to be the latter.

Holy Spirit, please teach us and give us wisdom and understanding...