The last six hours of my day have been divided between three different worship practices so I’m in the mood to give my two cents regarding worship. I love music and I thank God for giving me the ability to play it. What I love more is being able to play for His glory. It’s such a great thing! However, I still believe the Universal Church lacks something that I believe is beautiful; a heart towards kingdom minded worship. We all have our preferences towards what we like to listen to, but if we’re not careful, a critical attitude will be birthed in our spirit and as soon as we experience worship in a way that we’re not used to, we’ll pull the “I don’t know if I can worship to this” card. Being a musician, I’m drawn to all sorts of music. If you were to look at my iTunes library, you would find a lot of different worship artists. Some more than others, but nonetheless a variety of people. During the last two years I’ve had the privilege of experiencing worship in quite a few atmospheres. The thing that gets me the most is when I take the time to watch everyone worship. It’s such a beautiful sight. What am I trying to say? All of us have our preference as to what we like to worship to, but that may not be the same for everyone else. That’s the beauty of the body of Christ. It’s full of unique people who enjoy different things. Why do we criticize worship songs just because it doesn’t meet our standards? That one song we can’t stand may be the only song that leads somebody else to the presence of God. This is why we have to be kingdom minded worshipers. I’ve learned that wherever you are, it doesn’t matter who’s speaking, it doesn’t matter who’s leading worship, and it doesn’t matter where it’s at. If our hearts are in the right perspective, a kingdom minded worshiper will experience the presence of God wherever they are.
steviegoddard 6:15 pm on September 12, 2008 Permalink |
You are right, and I have been guilty of being one of those people who judge a time of worship by my own musical preference. I do think that every style of worship has it’s place, though it is easier to worship when it’s in the form that you’re use to, but easy worship isn’t necessarily the best worship. One thing to be said for having to worship in a foreign style is that you can’t really do it absentmindedly. I hate it when I catch myself not really worshiping God when I am in a worship service, but stilling looking like I am. When I’m not use to the way the worship service is taking place it makes me have to be more focused, which of course makes for an awesome time of worship even if it’s more difficult. Perhaps worshiping out of difficulty actually means more to God too. Thanks for the reminder of what worship is really about.