Faithless Leaders and Faulty Worship - Reforming Worship #4

We are working as a church through the Old Testament book of Malachi. One of the things God holds against His people is that their leaders have become faithless. They were supposed to guard the truth, but they no longer care about it. They were meant to lead people in true worship that honours the Lord and displays His glory, but instead, they are doing the opposite. God tells them, “You have caused many to stumble by your instruction,” and “you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

Now, the times have changed, and we live after the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, under the new covenant. But what hasn’t changed is the sinful inclination of the human heart apart from the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And what also hasn’t changed is that God still calls men—pastors and gospel ministers—to lead His people in worship. Put both things together, and we see that it is still as true today as it was in Malachi’s time: leaders will cause people to stumble through their teaching and failure to walk in the Lord’s ways.

So, if shallowness and unfaithfulness in worship are among the greatest problems in the evangelical world today, at the core of this problem are faithless leaders. As one preacher once said, “A church will never rise above its leadership.” If we have a worship crisis, it is because we have a leadership crisis. Many of the men leading churches today have been trained in general theology but know very little about worship itself. And worse still, many know neither theology nor worship, but are eloquent speakers—skilled at entertaining people and making them feel good.

As a result, we are surrounded by so-called churches led by unfaithful ministers who peddle God’s Word and cause people to stumble. And look at what the Lord says to such men in Malachi 2: “If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.”

If you do not give God the honour He deserves, according to the truth and in the way He prescribed, He will curse your blessings. What was meant to be a blessing—worship—will become a curse. Faulty worship is not “half-good,” allowing us to “half-benefit” from it. Faulty worship becomes a curse to people. Instead of blessing them and drawing them closer to God, it hardens hearts and drives them further away.

It is time for church leaders to turn their eyes back to Scripture and fall upon their knees, asking God for grace and strength to lead His people in true worship—worship that honours the Lord and blesses His people. Worship is serious business, and we must stop taking it lightly. Worship is the purpose for which God created everything, and it is what sustains the blessedness of creation. The Gospel is the invitation into true worship—worship before the throne of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Worship that renews all things.

Nino Marques