My husband and I have some pretty in depth conversations in the car. After many years of leading worship, we’ve seen LOTS of different scenarios in churches of many denominations. It’s really funny what people “THINK” worship is. Some people think worship is the preliminary warm up to the sermon. Some think it’s a time to listen to some nice music. Some like to be entertained by it. Some can’t wait for worship to start so that they can sing, clap, dance. Some use it as a time to show off their newest dance moves to attract attention to themselves and their “flex-ability”. Some can’t stand it and can’t wait for it to be over.
For true worshippers it’s something that they live every day. It IS a part of their lifestyle. They express themselves from the heart singing with every fiber of their being because they can’t find enough ways to tell God just how awesome He is. It may be by playing an instrument, or leading worship or being on the worship team as a singer or being part of the media team or the ushers or greeters or the dance team or whatever part of worship you’re involved in. For those who truly love to worship it is NOT a ritual or a segment of the service. It’s a celebration.
During our conversation in the car while driving, we started talking about how people act during worship services. Some participate wholeheartedly. Some stare at the ground and count the tiles on the floor. Some stand there with their arms crossed looking at you as if to say, “Could you PLEASE NOT sing that song twice through because I’d really like to get out of here and get on with my day.” I always chuckle at those faces. Those are the ones I try to make eye contact with while I’m leading worship and smile at. It totally rocks them out of their trance some times. 🙂 (yes I really DID just say that.)
We recalled how a young boy at our old church in Western New York used to worship. Andrew was a sweet young boy. He was born with learning disabilities and was autistic, didn’t speak much and had other developmental issues. BUT when it came to worship, he couldn’t wait to get to church. He was unable to sing or really express himself the way most people do in worship so for him, worship came by moving every part of his body. Now some folks thought it was distracting. Some thought it was silly. But for those who understand worship and the NEED to worship, it was beautiful. You see Andrew couldn’t sing like the rest of us, but his soul inside of him worshipped through the movements he felt from the music. His SOUL was going to worship if not verbally, then it was going to worship physically and that’s exactly what he did. Every part of him moved, his back, his arms, in sometimes a wavy motion or a bending motion but what caught your eye most was the smile on his face – it was like a HUGE beam of light.
Somewhere in the Bible it talks about birds singing their praise to God and there’s another section that speaks about even the rocks crying out if humans don’t praise God. As we continued to talk I said to my husband, “Isn’t it amazing that our soul was created with the desperate need to WORSHIP GOD in whatever way it can? That Andrew’s soul had such a need to worship that for him, the way he expressed himself was with his ENTIRE BEING? What would it be like if people really caught on to the fact that their souls were CREATED to worship God?”
For those who attend church week after week and can’t wait for worship to be done, I wonder what it will be like when they get to heaven and find out that we will be worshipping at the throne of God 24/7 crying, “HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! Is the Lord of Hosts!”
The Bible says we were created to worship God. That’s not just in our singing, our playing of our instruments, our interpretive dance, or whatever form or expression you use to worship but our true worship comes in our every day lives. Our actions towards others. Our treatment of our spouses, our children, our extended family and those we come in contact with. Worship is something we are called to do all the time, with our whole heart, our mind, our soul and our body and yes even our actions.
Well this blog ends on a sad note but not really. Andrew became ill a few years ago with a virus that took his life when he was in his late teens. BUT as Dave (my husband) and I were wrapping up our conversation, Dave said, “Now Andrew is singing, dancing and worshipping God completely healthy with no limitations….how great is that?”
Let’s all worship like Andrew did from his soul and in the process tear down the walls of “I don’t DO worship” when I’m at church and let our guard down and worship God with everything you’ve got. I bet you’ll be surprised at how it changes your life.
From the Inside of Church 