Contemporary worship is harmful to Baptist churches because it can shift the focus of worship from God and congregational participation toward entertainment, emotional experience, and individual preference. Baptist worship has historically emphasized congregational singing, Scripture, reverence, and the active participation of the whole church. When worship increasingly adopts concert-style production, performance-oriented music, and emotionally driven techniques, there is a risk that the congregation becomes an audience rather than participants in worship. The issue is not whether contemporary instruments or musical styles are inherently sinful. The deeper question is what kind of worship best reflects the purpose of the church gathering. If the music, atmosphere, or performance becomes the primary attraction, then worship can gradually become centered on what people enjoy rather than on what Scripture calls the church to do. Baptist churches should therefore be cautious about adopting contemporary worship practices that may weaken congregational singing, reverence, and the distinction between worship and entertainment.

It is definitely possible for certain individuals to feel distant from church because they are not used to it, but that is what the church is called to do. The church is called to be different from this world. We are not called to transform to this world but transform our minds to know what God’s will is. If a church is like every other institution on this earth, then how will an individual see a difference? Another point I’d like to make is that what makes an individual feel closer to God is getting to know Him, not how that certain individual feels. An individual should be attempting to get closer to Christ by reading the Bible, and should use modest hymns as supplication and not the main source.

Well, let’s look at what the Bible says about this. The Bible is our top source on this because it is God’s Word. Psalms 2:11 says, “Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.” ‭Key words here are reverence and trembling. When we look in the Bible at everyone who has seen God or had a glimpse of His glory, they all fell on their faces and were scared in reverence because He is that holy. If such heroes of the Bible like Moses and John trembled before the Lord with joy, why is it appropriate for us to worship in any way we please and make our worship so emotional to the point where we forget that the Lord is God?

A newer style that adopts to the world is dangerous because it can portray God as a completely different character than He is and not present Him correctly to individuals. For example there are churches that claim that homosexuality is not a sin because that’s what brings people through the doors, even though the Bible talks about homosexuality as a sin in both the Old and New Testament. Another point I’d like to make is that not everyone will be saved sadly. The Bible says that the kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and one must put in effort to get in there. At the end of the day it is an individuals choice to not want to go to church, but we as Christian’s can not bend the truth or bend our behavior just to be appealing to everyone around us.

Once again, I’d like to point out that not everyone will be saved. If an individual doesn’t want to come to church because it’s not “hip” that’s their decision that they will be judged for on judgement day. What I am saying we can not bend the truth or bend our behavior to appeal to individuals. I would like to point out that my opponent has brought this argument up twice without any supporting thoughts or facts.