Tuesday, September 09, 2003

Worship


For one moment, consider all that we know about worship. Consider the lyrics, the music, the motions, the attitude. Imagine your worship time as it stands now, and then imagine your worship, your life without any of them. Remove the music, remove the fanfare, the beautiful arrangements, the motions. Remove them all and what do you have? Can you still envision worship or are you lost?


I have come to realize that worship is far more than what we have come to think it is. It´s more than the songs, the emotional highs, the beautiful words. What are those things any more than inventions of man. For what good are our words if there is no truth behind them, what good is our raising of hands if there is no desire to touch the throne of God, what good is our worship if there is no heart in it.


And therein lies the problem. Worship has become rote to us. It has lost its heart and passion. Its become formulaic. We´ve replaced true worship with the worship service. We´ve replaced the thirst for God with the thirst for the next amazing song, the next big worship movement. We´ve come to worship the experience of worship rather than the one whom deserves all worship. Just as the Israelites of long ago, we come to God with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him.


So how do we rectify this? It´s simple, we take our eyes off of these things. We learn that worship is more than just the thirty minutes before the sermon, we learn that true worship is how we live our lives at all times, not the songs we sing. We learn that worship in its purest form is about loving God by living. That its sole purpose is for us to focus on the Cross of Christ Jesus, on loving Him, and in loving Him loving others. Forget the song lyrics for a moment, the beat, or the style. Let us not worship the song, rather let us worship the creator of all songs.


Kevin Carter



4 comments:

  1. Yeah, but when you try to do this there somehow has to be an avenue for praise. Not the formulaic worship services we create necessarily but at least when we are together it sometimes helps to be singing the same words.

    But, yes, he says he would rather have our lives than our empty worship doesn't he. So here we go again - off to work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. As soon as I read an acusing article like this (when I read through, it seems to be saying "YOU've replaced the true worship" and "remove them all and YOU are lost") I wonder what point it is they're trying to pin on me.



    So I need to step back, to say have I done what they are trying to accuse me of, do I need to seek forgiveness. Or do I realise that they've missed it.



    The writer may be struggling to recover his passion and thirst, but I don't need his guilt trip. At the end it tries to rally by pointing to some core aspects of worship, reminding us of certain truths, but this fails after all the blaming. I think I know what he's trying to get at, but it just fails to hit the spot.



    Or does he go to that little London anglican church that I blogged about a couple of days ago? I'm afraid that on this one I take no prisoners.



    Nicely thought provoking though, Randall.

    ReplyDelete
  3. When you read that this a.m. at Gate Crashers, it made me wonder where the author was coming from. I believe that no matter what we do in order to worship - sing, play instruments, dance, raise our hands, etc. if our hearts aren't focused on Jesus, yes, it WILL become rote, it WILL lose its heart and passion. My thirst for God and my desire to worship Him, actually becomes my worship experience - in music and song. May God forgive me if I have put my "worship experience" ahead of my true hearts devotion to Him......but music in itself, even outside of worship is so "natural" to many of us feeble humans....an inner thing, giving us an outlet to our emotions....and it turns beautifully into "praise"..... it works for me at least..... now, trying to make this "worship experience" wonderful for everyone though, is hopeless, because we each do it at our own level, our own way....corporate worship is still individual worship - just that all of us are gathered under one roof....well, this could go on and on and on.........I really can worship without music though....like right now at my typewriter.... oops, I started singing......and there goes my left han.........

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow. A number of interesting responses.



    I thought I heard him saying things like, We've begun to worship Worship, rather than God. That we love the newest, hottest worship song rather than God. That we wanna get to the latest, greatest worshipping church in town, just for the party. And those things don't cut it.



    But then I understood he was taking us towards a new understanding of worship. That maybe worship isn't as connected to singing as we have come to believe. That it must be bigger than the song. Kinda like "The Heart of Worship" song we sing:



    When the music fades, All is stripped away, And I simply come. Longing just to bring, Something that's of worth, That will bless your heart.



    I'll bring You more than a song, For a song in itself Is not what You have required. You search much deeper within Through the way things appear

    You're looking into my heart.



    I'm coming back to the heart of worhip And it's all about You It's all about You, Jesus.

    I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it When it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus



    King of endless worth, No one could express How much you deserve. Though I'm weak and poor, All I have is yours, Every single breath



    I'll bring you more than a song

    I'll bring you more than a song



    Matt Redman





    For what it's worth.

    ReplyDelete



Play nice - I will delete anything I don't want associated with this blog and I will delete anonymous comments.