More worship…
Paul at “A Man Among the Exiles” examines worship in a post called “singing songs to God sometimes feels trivial“. This is a powerful post that encourages us to examine not only our motives, but also the truth that is being expressed in our lives. Consider this:
I’ve song a thousand songs that basically say the words, “God, I surrender.†Most of those times, I groped for God through those songs, seeking very hard to make that statement true. It was like I was trying to convince myself and God that I did indeed surrender everything to Him. However, without there being something in my life making it a true expression of worship, all I was doing was trying to muster up some kind of emotional intensity through the power of music. When worship comes out of real life, there is no striving. That which is in our hearts will naturally surface. For example, when our first child died at birth, and I struggled with even believing or loving God anymore, I made a choice. Both my wife and I chose to say, “God, this hurts like hell, but I still love You. I don’t understand why this is happening, but I still trust You. God, I surrender.†Now there was something real to incite the response of surrender to God. This has been one of the deepest worship experiences of my life… I don’t look for God once a week on a Sunday morning. I wake up each day wondering where and how I’ll see Him next.
Think about this… singing is not worship… attendance is not worship… listening is not worship… standing is not worship… What is worship? Do you worship?
While I appreciate and agree to a certain extent with the sentiment expressed in Paul’s post, I, at the same time, am not quite so pessimistic in my view of the utility of music in our expression of worship to God. Just like I believe the meeting together of the saints can be, and often is, a tool God uses in my life to help me in my Christian growth and discipleship, I believe that music is a tool to help me express my worship to Him. We can misuse this tool, just like we can misuse the meeting of the church. But, for the most part, songs of praise sung from a sincere heart help me, I believe, to get in touch with my emotions (as well as my will, and intellect, to a certain extent), and thus offer to God an important aspect of my entire being, as I seek to “surrender all to Him.”
Worship is defined for us in the bible. Offering our entire selves as living sacrifices. That’s worship. It shouldn’t just be when we are in a building with a host of other Christians who are comfortable singing and dancing and praising together. It is every breath. It is determining in our heart to do whatever He asks. If it means talking to the guy on the subway next to us about what Jesus has done for us, that is worship. If it is enjoying a cup of coffee with a grateful heart that is worship.
David,
I agree that songs can be a tool to help us express our worship. In fact, I agree with everything you said in your comment.
Bryan,
I also agree with everything that you said in your comment.
-Alan
Alan… you are almost too prolific on your blog… or I’m too busy to keep up. I haven’t even posted hardly all week on my own blog and you keep pounding them out. Great stuff, but sometimes I wish I had more time to digest some of what you are writing!
Bryan,
I’ve considered writing less, and I’m sure there will come a time when I write less. For now, as long as I have content, I will probably keep writing. Don’t worry, I usually return to the same topics and themes.
-Alan