Don’t Build Your Church Like An Evangelical
Build It Like A Pentecostal
Ok—I’ll admit I’m a little biased.
But I think Evangelicals muffed the order. They love to say, “It’s all about people.” Sounds nice, right? And sure, you can dig up a couple of great Bible verses to back it. (You can also find a couple of great Bible verses to back just about any heresy. A heresy is just a half-truth, after all.)
But let’s get something straight: You and I don’t exist for others—we exist for God. The Church doesn’t exist first for lost people. It exists for the glory, worship, praise, and honor of the Triune God. This doesn’t mean we don’t care about people. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reach them. It just means that the first work of the Church isn’t evangelism—it’s ministry to the Lord.
Why Evangelicals Have No Idea What to Do with Worship
Ever wonder why so many Evangelicals are confused about worship? Why they complain about “tHe iNdUsTrIaL wOrShIp cOmPlex” and how it’s all just a business? Because worship music wasn’t their idea. They have no ecclesiology for it.
For Evangelicals, the songs at the beginning are an appetizer. A warm-up act before the “God Loves You” message and “Five Keys to Living the Blessed Life.”
But Pentecostals—especially Third Wave Pentecostals (aka early Charismatics, aka the Latter Rain folk)—dug deeper.They looked at the Psalms, at David’s Tabernacle, at Biblical patterns of worship and said:
"The Bible tells us to sing praise to the Lord. The Bible says God is enthroned on the praises of His people. So let’s do that."
They weren’t thinking, “How do we make worship cool?” They were thinking, “How do we minister to the Lord?”
Pentecostals Were Chasing Presence—Not Relevance
And guess what? It worked.
Pentecostals got so good at worship—and their services were so profoundly marked by the Presence of God—that Evangelicals couldn’t help but copy them. By the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Charismatic worship had gone mainstream with Integrity’s Hosanna! recordings. Ron Kenoly was a god among men, getting white people to clap on beat.
Worship music exploded. But most churches never actually taught worship. So now?
Now, it’s just Christian karaoke.
Because Biblical praise isn’t cool—it has to be taught and instructed.
Why doesn’t anyone teach worship anymore?
Here’s why I think they don’t:
