What is worship? What is the difference between worship and entertainment? What defines worship of God? If God commands us to worship, what does that mean?
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the Lord is good;
His steadfast love endures forever,
And his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100)
Do you ever wonder if certain kinds of music qualify as worship? Do you ever think that location is important – that we must worship in our sanctuary? Have you ever thought that particular sermons, spoken eloquently and with grace, were “better” worship than other, less spectacular sermons? What about prayer? Are there qualifications that make one prayer more “worshipful” than another?
I think worship might have three characteristics:
- It should be pleasing to God. What makes worship pleasing to God? Does he care if the person singing can carry a tune? Does He deduct “worship points” if the preacher forgets an illustration or if the scripture reader mispronounces a name? Does God have a preference for one type of music over another? No. What pleases God is that we bring Him the gifts that He has given to us, whatever those gifts might be. What pleases God, I believe, is that we love Him through our worship, with all of our hearts, souls and minds. Worship is not what happens in front of us; worship is what happens within us.
- It should move all of us closer to God. I believe that one of the reasons that God commands us to worship is so that we will enter into relationship with Him. It is to create in us an awareness that God is God, and that we belong to Him. I believe that because we are ALL God’s children, that we have a responsibility to bring others closer to God through worship. That’s one of the reasons for community. That’s one of the reasons we have worship leaders. We bring each other to worship.
- It should become a demonstration of what the Kingdom of God is like. God in our midst, His people offering him worship and their gifts to Him and to each other – true communion. Through worship, God communicates with us.
If the goal is to love God and to love each other, and if the goal is to help to move each other closer to God, then when we truly worship God, we accept certain responsibilities.
- When the music is “not to our taste” or the volume is too high or too low; when the style is too classic or too modern, we realize that none of that defines worship. We come to the realization that the music might move someone else closer to God, so we not only tolerate what we do not like, but we embrace it. We love the other person SO MUCH that we will even sing their music for them, because it means that God is brought closer. We have the responsibility to show a generosity of spirit which values the person standing next to us, or across the room from us, more than our own tastes in music (or preaching or praying or liturgy). We love our neighbor.
- We realize that if the pews, the carpet, the candles, the organ, the piano, the pulpit, the lectern, the screens, the microphones, the stained glass and the hymnals were all taken away, that worship would continue. Worship can happen anywhere that God and His children come together. With that reality in mind, we accept that we cannot love the “trappings” of worship more than we love each other or God. Our actions toward each other and toward God must be an expression of that priority.
- Because worship is a reflection of the kingdom of God, then all of God’s children are part of our community. How we look, how we speak, our ages, our gender, our salary, our clothes, our health or our abilities cannot exclude us from the command from God to worship Him. It is our responsibilities, as members of God’s community, to be welcoming.
So what is the difference between entertainment and worship? Entertainment takes place in front of you; worship is born inside of you. Worship is of the heart. Music, proclamation, location and prayer may inspire it, but they do not define it. Do not come to church looking for God; bring Him with you.
Matt Redman
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
Kim Matthews
No comments:
Post a Comment