As believers, our desire should not be to fill our pews on Sunday with the lost. The corporate worship of the local church is not to be geared towards lost people. In fact, there should be such a great distinction between the world and the church, not a familiarity – so much so that unsaved people are not comfortable with attending a Christ-centered worship service. I’m not implying that we are unfriendly or that we prohibit lost people from attending our services. There are lost people in our services! Instead, I’m saying that it should not be appealing to them because they are carnel. Consider Acts 5:13-14: "None of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women."

In the first century church, there was a great fear among the unsaved in joining in with God’s people. They were not joining in their services and worship. But on the other hand, those same lost people did magnify them; they did have a great respect for them. The sick were being healed, lives were being changed, but there was still that reverent fear among those outside of the church. The power of God was evident, and it made the lost fearful and uncomfortable. Today it seems backwards. The lost find it quite easy and comfortable to be in our churches, and yet there is little respect or fear for the things of God and the people of God.

So if the goal of your local church is to attract the world to come to your church, to get them into your pews, your worship service, and your programs, consider the teachings of Scripture. What does the Bible say about the church…particularly our worship services? Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Matthew 21:13 says, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer…” Acts 2:42 says, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” This should be unfamiliar territory for the unsaved.

With that being said, we still preach the gospel in our churches. Lost people are there. Even if you attend a church that understands that the focus of Sunday worship is for believers to worship the one, true God, lost people are still present. But the goal of our weekly worship services is not to evangelize the lost. It’s to worship. And included in our worship are gospel-centered messages because we preach the Scriptures.

Now don’t take what’s been said as an excuse not to witness. We are commanded to and we should – obediently and consistently. We are to go out and preach the gospel, we are to make disciples, and we are to witness to the lost. But how we are to do that is NOT through the channels of entertainment, programs, or “cutting edge” worship services.

Our Sunday worship should be a time for believers to worship together, equip, edify, provoke one another unto love and good works, fellowship, pray, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, hear the preaching of the Word, sing praises to God…not to bring in the world. There are six other days we have be given in our week to evangelize the lost. But if we are honest, it’s much easier (and unbiblical) to substitute worship for evangelism and do nothing the other six days of the week.