Is Sunday Worship for Believers or Unbelievers?

Type of Doctrine: Usually Secondary

"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

-John 4:23-24 ESV

Why Does It Matter?

It matters how we worship. (Click here for a more in depth article on why it matters how we worship.) Some churches are filled with various forms of entertainment and attractions designed to bring people to church so that they will come to saving faith. These types of churches often have engaging, short sermons which are usually very light on biblical content. I have heard one prominent pastor say something like, "The moment you get saved, this church isn't for you anymore!" But is that true? On the other extreme, some pastors spend years going through detailed, meaty biblical preaching that is difficult for newer believers and unbelievers to follow. (Most churches probably fall somewhere between these two extremes.) Which is correct? Is there a middle way? Is Christian worship primarily geared for believers or unbelievers?

This is typically considered a secondary issue since it can dramatically affect the way church worship is conducted. Christians will often find a church where they agree with the philosophy of ministry. However, I suppose minor disagreements could be considered a tertiary issue where they can agree to disagree.

What Is It?

Now, it is important to note that it is not necessary to choose between worship services being focused entirely on believers or unbelievers. It doesn't have to be a mutually exclusive, yes-or-no decision. It is possible to blend the two into a worship service. Nevertheless, services are usually primarily focused on one or the other. Moreover, Scripture and church history have quite a bit to say about this issue. (More to come on that below!)

Though we won't be able to look at this topic exhaustively, here are a few thoughts on the primary focus of Christian worship services. We will examine this subject in two ways: (1) biblically and (2) historically.

Worship Services According to the Bible

First, Christians worship the Triune God of Scripture. Let's start with a basic definition of worship. Christians glorify God by praising him, expressing his worth with every aspect of their lives (though imperfectly), and finding joy in him. That is not something that unbelievers do. For believers, this happens whether they are scattered throughout the week or gathered for corporate worship. As Scripture says, Christians gather for worship with other believers regularly (Heb. 10:25). Therefore, Christian worship includes Christians worshiping. “Duh,” you may say! But it is important to note that at it's most basic concept, we are gathering to worship. Who worships? Yes, everyone worships someone or something. However, when Christians gather for worship, they are gathering to worship the Triune God. Unbelievers cannot worship the Triune God of the Bible (that is, until they come to saving faith and are justified).

Second, Christian worship services are filled with songs, Scripture, and sacrament. (I wrote my doctoral project on this subject. For a brief summary, please click here.) Believers are to be saturated in the Bible, teaching and singing to one another and singing to the Lord (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Worship should be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Worship services should have time allotted for preaching the Scriptures (2 Tim. 4:2) and a time to remember and reflect on the good news of the Lord's life, death, and resurrection as believers partake in the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34). (Unbelievers are discouraged from participating in the Lord's Supper due to the fact that they are not yet saved and baptized. Also, Paul gives various relevant concerns to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor. 11:27-30.)

Third, Christian worship services may have believers and unbelievers present, but Scripture never says to primarily focus on unbelievers. Instead, it says to continue the worship service while making sure it is comprehensible for unbelievers (1 Cor. 12-14; see 1 Cor. 14:23-25). Believers praise God while also being edified (1 Cor. 14:12; Eph. 4:12). Hopefully and prayerfully, unbelievers will observe the worship service, hear the gospel, and come to saving faith (Rom. 10:9-10). In fact, Scripture shows an unbeliever experiencing conviction and falling on his face in worship (1 Cor. 14:24-25).

Concerning this passage of Scripture, W. Robert Godfrey writes,

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul talks about how unbelievers sometimes come into a worship service, and the experience of seeing God’s people speaking to Him and God speaking to them might cause an unbeliever to realize what he is missing in terms of knowing God and hearing God. It might even lead to conversion.[1]

Fourth, Christian worship should make disciples by sharing the gospel, baptizing those who come to saving faith, and teaching them to obey all of Scripture. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says,

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

In other words, all of Scripture should be taught (not just a few topics on rotation), and by the Spirit's power it should lead to life change. (Evangelism can take place within Sunday morning worship, however, in the New Testament, evangelism frequently takes place outside of the worship service.)

Summary

In sum, according to Scripture, worship services are primarily designed for worshiping our Triune God through songs, Scripture, and sacrament while remaining intelligible for unbelievers (in case an unbeliever is present).

Worship Services According to History

Next, we will examine worship services according to history. We will look at four main periods: (1) the early church; (2) the Medieval church; (3) the Reformation/Post-Reformation church; and (4) the contemporary church.

The Early Church

Remember in the earliest times, the church was mostly Jewish. They continued to attend the Jewish temple, but they also gathered with other Christians in love feasts (see Jude 12 and 2 Pet. 2:13). The love feast and the worship service with the Lord's Supper were not two separate events. Early church scholar Andrew McGowan explains, "[D]epending on the place and time, one or the other or both might refer to the same Christian meal."[2] After they ate, they sang, prayed, and shared Scriptures.[3]

In other words, Jews would attend the temple on Sabbath (i.e, Saturday), then they would gather for a love feast with other Christians later in the day (i.e, Sunday for them; Saturday evening for us). What we consider Saturday evening, they considered Sunday. At sundown they called it a new day, on the basis of Genesis 1, since Moses writes "there was evening and there was morning, the second day" (Gen. 1:8).

As time progressed, Christians got kicked out of Judaism and more Gentiles (non-Jews) were coming to saving faith and joining the church. At some point, for them, worship services were moved later in the day on Sunday (for us, according to our modern calendars, this would be have been considered a move from Saturday evening to Sunday morning). With more people, it was more difficult to accommodate a communal meal. Thus, smaller portions of bread and wine/juice were needed. Due to persecution, sometimes the church locked the doors to prevent people from coming into Christian worship services and causing harm. Unbelievers who wanted to attend needed to be vetted by pastors so that they could protect their flocks.

Thus, worship in the early church was primarily for believers. The service was considered worship where fellowship, preaching, singing, prayer, and the Lord's Supper took place.

The Medieval Church

In the Middle Ages, liturgy evolved from simple to complex. The Lord’s Supper became more prominent as a centerpiece in worship services. A significant development occurred during the Great Schism of 1054 when the church split into the Eastern Orthodox Church (East) and the Roman Catholic Church (West). The Eastern Church and Western Church both developed distinct liturgies and worship styles.

The church in the Middle Ages was strongly sacramental (i.e, alongside the development of transubstantiation). The earlier vision of songs, Scripture, and sacrament in worship services waned. The preaching of Scripture increasingly was displaced by the Lord’s Supper.

Nevertheless, worship was still primarily for believers.

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Church

The Medieval church grew more sacramental. Preaching was minimized and corruption (like indulgences) became rampant. There was quite a bit to reform. After breaking away from the Catholic church, Martin Luther and John Calvin developed their own liturgies.

Around this time, the Anglican tradition sought a middle way (via media) between Catholics and Protestants, but this also led to the Puritan movement where some stayed to reform the church while others broke away. During this period in the Western Church, the gospel and preaching of the Scriptures was largely hidden underneath the veneer of Latin and theological inventions by the Catholic Church which concealed justification by faith alone.

This doctrine was recovered through the Reformers. In doing so, they brought back the strong emphasis on preaching Scripture, which had mostly been lost. However, perhaps overcorrecting, some seemed to pendulum swing away from the Catholic Church by deemphasizing the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. This took place primarily through reducing the frequency in which believers partook of the Lord’s Supper in worship gatherings.

Still, Christian worship was primarily focused on believers.

The Contemporary Church

In the contemporary period, particularly in America, churches became focused on revivalism. Through the influence of Charles Finney, many churches began including altar calls at the end of their services. A massive emphasis on evangelism ensued. While there were undoubtedly great aspects to recovering a focus on mission, Christian worship services began to focus less on worship and more on the mission of reaching the lost (in many cases even displacing the Lord's Supper).

Churches began innovating within worship which ultimately gave rise to the worship wars between contemporary worship and traditional worship. (For the rise of contemporary worship music click here). Additionally, the seeker-friendly movement and church-growth movement exploded in popularity, which then gave rise to the emergent and emerging church movements. Each of these movements sought to be missional and relevant to their contexts (modern and postmodern). Thus, worship services began to be viewed more as the location where evangelism takes place rather than worship.

Undoubtedly, both can be present to some degree, as can be seen in 1 Corinthians 14. However, in its worst expression, this change led to worship services that were much more human-centered than God-centered. Additionally, during this time a greater emphasis was placed on worship through music, rather than preaching Scripture or the sacraments. 

Summary

Thus, what began as worship services primarily for believers to worship God through songs, Scripture, and sacrament have, more recently, often ended up as human-centered evangelistic rallies (at least among American Evangelicalism). In many cases this has meant a reversal of what took place in the early church. That is, worship services have undergone a bizarre reversal: they are now primarily for unbelievers but remain intelligible for believers. (In contrast to early services which seem to have been primarily for believers with the intention of remaining intelligible for unbelievers.)

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My opinion on this subject is that according to 1 Cor. 12-14 worship services are primarily for believers. In them, we worship God and receive edification while considering how to keep our language intelligible for unbelievers.

As A. W. Tozer has said, "We are running our churches the way you would run a club. I wish we might get back again to worship so that when people come into the church they sense instantly that they are among holy people and fall on their faces and worship God."[4]

Yes, Lord, let our worship be like this.

Some Questions / Implications

• I think that Sunday morning should be God-focused, for believers' edification, and intelligible for unbelievers. However, if Sunday morning is primarily for unbelievers, when are the sheep fed the Scriptures? Who will teach/feed them? Should we put the responsibility for teaching the Scriptures with depth on small group leaders in a discussion format? Why not feed the sheep Scripture Sunday morning when all are gathered from a qualified elder/shepherd?

• On what basis do some teach that Christian worship services are not for believers (only for unbelievers)? Do those who hold this view really believe that Sunday morning services are only for evangelism?

• There is a trend where churches are changing the terminology for worship services and calling them an “experience”. However, doesn’t this shift from God-centered to human-centered terminology?

• For churches with worship services primarily focused on believers: How are we equipping believers to be witnesses for Christ outside of the church worship services?

• For churches with robust, biblical teaching, how can the preacher keep the language intelligible for unbelievers?

End Notes:

[1] W. Robert Godfrey, "Should a worship service be designed for unbelievers or for believers?," Ligonier, accessed October 9, 2025, https://learn.ligonier.org/qas/should-a-worship-service-be-designed-for-unbelievers-or-for-believers.

[2] Andrew McGowan, Ancient Christian Worship: Early Church Practices in Social, Historical, and Theological Perspective (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2014), 34.

[3] Ibid., 35.

[4] A.W. Tozer, Tozer on Worship and Entertainment, compiled by James L. Snyder (Camp Hill, PA: Wing Spread, 1997), 159.