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...in candid conversations with pastors in retreat settings, I regularly hear that their need to control arises from a range of fears -- a fear of disappointing God, their congregations or their bosses unless they belt one out of the park every Sunday morning; a fear for souls that will be lost unless those people can be attracted to come to their churches and believe as they do, and the fear that really makes them shiver -- being ignored as culturally irrelevant.

To sum it up, it's a theological blinder: that man's "free will" trumps God's sovereignty, that the Holy Spirit cannot act on the human heart and soul unless (and until) the subject grants God permission first.

Thus, it's not a sovereign God being worshipped. Rather, since it's the unconverted soul that (they believe) can actually control whether God "shows up" or not, said uncoverted soul is placed at the center of worship.

Wait did you just say that God is not Omnipotent????

(I fore one would have no problem with agreeing with what you said)...but what about the perception that God is an all powerful God?

Why is that such a BIG issue when refering to the problem of evil?

“Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?” — Epicurus, as quoted in 2000 Years of Disbelief

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil