The Expression of Worship
We had chapel the other day and the the principal was talking to us about what causes us to worship. It was something that I had thought about in a nebulous way, but never really came to any sort of conclusion about what I thought and how it applies to me.
When I go to church and I worship by singing that song, painting that canvas, doing that move, cutting that shot, giving that money .. am I affected by the expression of worship? Do those things that surround me affect the way I worship my God? What causes me to worship my God, a response to the atmosphere or a response to him?
We should never let the expression of worship affect the measure of our response to him. Would I worship the same with a hot creative team working together as I would with an old man with a tambourine who could only sing off key "holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty" over and over?
I hope so.
I want my extent of my worship to come from within me, not from what surrounds me.
posted by Clare at 6:59 PM
9 Comments:
Very good point Clare. Feel free to remind me of it if it ever seems that I've forgotten.
11:26 PM
love it... i think its a question we all need to bring ourselves back to every now and again. its so easy to just get caught in the hype of it all and forget why we actually do what we do. i wonder what people would do if mark and the worship team took a weekend off and there was just an old man on the stage with his tambourine... haha ..oh how funny the look on people's faces would be... cept how awesome would the worship be for the one's that actually stayed!
12:55 AM
Great thought Clare. And i agree that it's a beautiful concept in theory... and it would be SOO nice if it were really true for each of us...
But unfortunately i think we've got to admit that there are very few people like that..
Something i guess we've gotta work on..
But i'll be hounest with myself... if i rock up at church next week and the usual amazing worship team isn't there and there's just a lone old man tapping a tamberine and leading worship in a croaky voice....i certainly won't be worshipping God with the same passion i normally would...
Why? because its weak and pathetic and doesnt create alot of room for God to fill peoples hearts with joy and excitement...
This is why very few people attend smaller old fashioned churches where things are less creative and dynamic.. It's the very excact reason why riverview and similar styled churches attract so many more people than other churches..
It's sad, and it'd be great if we could all worship God just because he's God... but i think as humans we need atmosphere and creativity to bring out our most passionate and enthusiastic reponses towards God and it does definately affect the way we all worship him..
thats what i reckon anyway..
1:53 AM
I totally know what you mean Nilmot, my most passionate times of worship have been with just an acoustic guitar. "When the music fades...and all is stripped away"
5:50 PM
i'm reading about Job at the moment. Look at chapter 1 verse 20. The man's just lost his entire business, wealth, health and more horribly, his children. All at once.
No reason at all to worship God. Nothing as an incentive to worship Him either. No properity teachings are making Job think "gee, i just really want to bless the Lord with my worship today!" ;)
"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship..."
woah..
The man just lost his children in one fell swoop.. and still he worships. Our worship is not meant to be dependant on anything else but our own response to God.
I can imagine Job thinking.. "why? why? why? God you are sovereign, God you are holy.. why? why? why?" worshipping not in the middle of music and sacrifice, but doubt and intense grief and confusion..
worship is not the expression, or if it is then maybe we should rip off our clothes, get rid of our hair and fall on the ground. Or maybe ceremoniously kill some livestock, or bring some wheat into church or give huge amounts of cash... i'm being sarcastic :)
it most definately comes from your inner being and your deepest reaction to God himself, not from what you happen to be surrounded in..
6:22 PM
Interesting though there Nilmot.
Maybe your absolutely right. Maybe they're all fakers.. All the church goers are actually just simply worshipping the music, the lights, and the classy atmosphere that the church goes to the effort of creating... You could have unraveled one of the biggest kept secrets in modern church.... It's all just HYPE!!
However..... I personally think not.
I think if that were really the case then the people who do come to church and worship God could quite easily go elsewhere seeking that form of atmosphere. They could go to a nightclub, they'd get grovvy lights and loud music there. They could go to a football game or strip joint, certainly the people there would be making noise and screaming with passion and excitement...
But.. they don't do they?? no.. they come to church and they praise and worship God.
Is it fake and are they just caught up on hype...? i dont think so.
God gave us the ability and talent to to do worship well and he gave us the creativity to create great atmosphere and excitement to accompany it to spice it up that extra little bit.
He's also inspired and led many church leaders (including ours) to adopt that uplifted "Hypey" style of worship as their form of worship for their church. And it works, people come and people worship with passion and enthusiasm. And i believe in our church anyway, that people are connecting with God. I see it each week.
I'm not saying people can't worship to a smaller and more silent form of worship with the same passion.. I really just meant to say with my first post that i think in our church that people get a little bit more passionate when things are done really well. And that if one solitary man who couldnt sing did it by himself then i wouldn't mind betting the response wouldnt be as great. Why?Because the musical talent God gave humans to worship him with isnt being used the way everyone in the crowd knows it could be!
Darlene Zscechs night at riverview last year for example. I was doing camera on stage and i looked out across the crowd and our entire congregation of 2000 that night were going nuts and praising God like crazy! it was incredible... I don't usually see such an incredible and enthusistiac response from our crowd.
And i have to say.. the sound that night was brillaint, the music was great and the atmosphere was Good. However all those things did was give a little extra spice to the spirit of God's powerful presence that was already in the room..
God gifted us with the ability to play music and create atmosphere, He created Music for US as a way of worshipping him better. Thats the very reason music exists!! So we could use it to glorify him!! He also gave us the intelligence and talent to do it brilliantly..So why shouldn't we do it and get excited about it??
I agree with Clare that true Worship comes from your inner being and not your surroundings, but i think an uplifted and "hyped" up atmosphere being used for God's purpose can get people that little bit extra enthusiastic on the outside.
This is the way i see things anyway.. But i'm not God, and i don't know what goes on in the hearts and minds of other people who worship God. I just have my own perspective that i've developed from reguarly attending riverview each week. So don't judge me for stepping out there and giving my opinion.
HB
8:43 PM
holy moly... that was long wasn't it... hehe
Sorry guys.
this whole thing has just got me really thinking..
Good post clare.
8:45 PM
I would love to see this happen at our church one weekend.
I'm very intrigued as to what the response would be..
I love your comment Nahum at the end there, "quite often good sounding worship inspires me to worship, but i want my love for Jesus to inspire me..."
And that's what it's all about really isn't it? what is it actually that gets us to worship? Is it Jesus or is it the good sound and enviroment stuff..?
The thing i feel though, is that you can have a genuine love for Jesus with all your heart and still not feel like worshipping if the right setting and enviroment in which to worship God is created. Sure maybe some people can without any added stuff, and thats a credit to them, But i'm just saying i dont think there are stacks of those people around.
I mean, you can get 500 passionate christians who love jesus over anything and stick them in all in a room together and tell them to worship God..
But if the enviroment is not right, if the music totally sucks.. if the "atmospheric" things aren't put in place to allow for genuine worship to take place.. then will it??
I just don't know that's all... I think it would be totally awesome if it did, and would love to see it happen. But i just can't help but feel that you would get a less passionate and less enthusiastic response on the outside from worshippers.
When i grew up going to a small catholic church in the country in Corrigin, all the people there certainly loved Jesus. But when we sung songs, there just wasnt a huge amount of outward physical passion being displayed. very rarely did people raise their hands or show any excitement.. yet they still came every week out of their love for God.
Did it mean they didnt truly love God and have a desire to worship him?? Or did it simply mean that there wasn't a very good setting created in which to worship. They didn't feel inspired in other words.. Same old slow boring songs etc..
I think to a certain degree, atmosphere and passion need to be created by us to really bring out peoples most passionate responses FOR their love towards God.
i dunno. Maybe i'm totally wrong, and maybe i struggle with the whole thing my self. but thats how i see it.
6:31 PM
Hi claire, i think i've met you before.
Anyways, just was thinking about something in regards to HB's comment, which in many ways has already been responded to. But with worship, you can have a fantastic band, but if there is no genuine heart felt passion for God coming from that band, or if there is a heart felt love, then that is how an atmosphere is created.
If it was all about atmosphere, then not many people would get much out of their personal quiet times. Time when it's just you and God in that secret place. In church, the 'good atmosphere' is in fact the presence of God - which can't be created by a great man made band, but can be created through beautiful hearts seeking God.
8:55 PM
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