A Bit About Worship Style
I grew up in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Worship
was formal, and very structured. Hymns were traditional, and
the favorites were hundreds of years old from Europe. There
were elements of worship that were directly from the reformation
and had not changed much since. We recited the Nicene Creed
and
the Apostles creed from memory, and chanted the liturgy, some of it
led by a canter.
For many years I directed and lead the worship for a
Presbyterian church that has both
contemporary and traditional worship services and for a Baptist
church that was about as contemporary as you can get. For the
contemporary services, there is a full rock band that includes drums,
guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, singers, etc. We did
music from a lot of time periods but most of it
was recent. Some of the music I wrote specifically for the
week's worship service, a tradition that hails back to
Bach and before.
If you set the two types of worship experiences side by side,
they are as different as night and day; not that one is
better than the other, they are just different. Personally, I
can worship in either style. I feel strongly
that the style of worship is a human care, and the state of the
heart is what matters. I understand "ritual" and
repetitive worship, I understand free flowing non-structured
worship. I am happy in either flavor of worship, because my
worship is not of the style, the church, the music, or even
myself. It is not about me. My worship is about God. I certainly have my
preferences, yet I fully realize that they are my own, and God is
happy if I just worship Him in spirit and in truth.
And that is the crux of the matter.
Some would argue that certain styles are more useful when reaching non-believers
for Jesus Christ; that you need to reach them in a
fashion that makes sense to them. Alas, this sometimes has
taken the focus and worship then becomes a show to attract the
world, rather than an offering to God. From the seeker-sensitive
warehouse-contemporary-multimedia-mega type churches to the
candle-incense-stained glass-dark-postmodern gatherings,
there is a reason and a potential follower of Jesus for every style
and flavor of worship. What matters is not the style but the
changing heart of the believer, who begins a relationship with the
one and only God through Jesus Christ, and draws closer to God
through heart-felt worship.
I have been through so many steps in
my life. At certain points I may even dare to hope to be
comfortable for a while. Generally, the break is non-existent
and God has more growth in mind. At this point, my attitudes
and feelings about worship seem to be getting simpler all the
time. I know that worship is about God.
Shocking, I know. But . . . It is for God.
Through God. In front of God. Blessed by God.
Ordained by God. Powered by God. Used by God. It
belongs to God. It is offered to God. Indeed . . .
mostly, it is what we offer to God. If worship
is a sacrifice of praise and our hearts, then by nature of
the word "sacrifice" it should cost us something,
right?
For a moment, lets step back . . .
Our lives as worship, well that's easy to see that God will be
offered a sacrifice. We will surrender as we go, our will, our
goals, and strive to live for God. Day by day, something to
give up and capitulate to. In our corporate worship, there is
sacrifice, too. We offer our worship to
God. It is His. We fall to our knees and offer Him our
hearts. We praise because we must in His presence. The
God of the universe is in the room, to be worshiped, and what do we
do? While the one full and perfect God is waiting to be
adored, do we struggle with our philosophy about worship or our
preferences ? I mean, if He is truly the Almighty and
Great Sovereign, Loving Father, Who Made All Things, And Gave Us
Life, and He is there in the room . . . man . . . what are we
doing? What are we thinking of? Calling a meeting or
talking afterwards on the patio or voicing our displeasure, or . . . GOD
IS IN THE HOUSE . . . and we pick our seats so we are closest to the
door so as not to be caught waiting for a few minutes after the
service, because in our minds we're already thinking of coffee
time? The one God, omnipotent majestic God, who sent his son,
became man and died on a cross a horrible death weighed down by all
the crap in our hearts, to allow us to be in God's presence again,
HE IS THERE TO BE GLORIFIED, and we ask Him to wait for a moment,
while we . . . ??? Do we really believe in this God? Do
we believe that He is there to be worshiped? Where is the
shock and awe?
If God is truly there to receive your
worship (of course, He's always there)...
Would you be a little nervous?
Would you be excited?
Would you be a little awestruck?
Could you BREATHE in His
presence?
Holy
God of Israel
We
are in the presence of the only God.
We
are in the presence of the Holy God.
Maker
of all things, creator of all life.
Lord
of all,
You
take my breath away.
Holy
God of Israel,
Eternal
power and truth,
Lord
God in unfailing love,
Hear
our praise to you.
God,
we love you, God we praise you,
God
we sing your holy name,
God
we lay our lives before you,
God
we sing of all your ways.
Lord,
forever, all eternity,
We
want to worship you.
What's wrong with the following
picture?
- The message didn't speak to me
today.
- I was so tired in worship,
I almost fell asleep.
- I didn't like the music
today.
- I didn't like that new
song.
- I prefer when we do all my
old favorites.
- The band was too loud for me.
- The pastor just did not "hit a
home run."
- The choir sure was off key.
- I hated
that anthem.
- I just didn't feel the Holy
Spirit blessing me today.
- I don't like it when it's
so crowded.
- If you ask me, those new
banners were just awful.
- I really disagree with what
Pastor was saying in the sermon.
- It was so hot in that room, I
got nothing out of worship today.
The
list goes on and on . . . and it is all about us . . . should it be?
Worship GOD
It's all about GOD
It's for GOD
Only GOD is worthy
Offer only
excellence for GOD
This is God's world
God's creation
God's story
We are blessed to
play a tiny, tiny role in the story of our GREAT GOD
He is to be
worshiped and glorified.
"Whenever the living
creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the
throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders
fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who
lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne
and say:
'You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.' "
Revelation
4:9-11
