UK Worship Leaders & Musicians' Network | UK Worship Forum | Worship Events List
Worship - that thing we do...?
Hey, cool website. This is my first post, sorry it’s a bit of a long ‘un but I have this on my heart to tell – God kinda knocked me a long way sideways with it this week.
I’ve been thinking about what makes worship work and how great it is when it goes well, when you’re singing well and the band’s playing great and every hand is in the air in worship….and it’s very easy to think, man this is great! God must be out of his throne and dancing away, when we hit the bridge it’s just gonna blow Him away, this must be the best worship in the world right now…..
[This is how I imagine the ensuing conversation with God]
God: "You arrogant fool. You just made this all about you when it should be about me. You’re comparing yourself to others (even though my word says not to) but let’s do just that shall we?
First off, there are 1,754,623 people in the world right now singing that exact same song with the exact same intensity and heart as you are.
Second, there are thousands of angels around my throne night and day, day and night singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty…..”.
Third, what did you do 3 hours after giving me the "best worship"?"
Stephen: "...ummm...."
God: "That's right, you completely forgot all about me and did that thing that I've been asking you not to do.Fourth, as you’re so interested I’ll tell you about the "best worship" in the world. Mbazo is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. His wife of 17 years whom he loved more than anything in the world was raped, murdered and mutilated on October 8th. His two sons (11 and 12) were taken as child soldiers on October 9th. His three daughters (3, 6 and 9) were shot in front of him on October 10th. On October 11th his grain and two goats were stolen, his hut was burned to the ground and he was forced to flee the village. On October 12th, just when you were singing your “best worship in the world” song, Mbazo got down on his knees, took his one cup of rice in his hand (his only remaining possession in the whole world), thanked me for all the blessings on his life and offered me 10% of his cup of rice in honour of my name.
That, Stephen, was the best worship in the world on October 12th.
Give me more than a song for a song in itself is not what I require. Give me your life and then I will dance to your worship....
Rom 12:1-2 "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him."
-
Comment by Phil Williams on November 22, 2007 at 8:33am -
Hi Stephen - where were those figures from btw? the 1.7 million people singing the same song at the same time with the same intensity? ...and how do they measure intensity and heart?
I do see your point about worship costs more / is more difficult for someone who has been through those kind of circumstances, and you're right we shouldn't be comparing ourselves among ourselves.
However, I do think God enjoys our worship, and is dancing over us, even if we haven't been through the same circumstances as that African brother...as long as we are sincere in our worship...
Where do we get this idea of 'best' worship from? I think worship is just worship to God? Whether it be you singing in your bedroom to God, or at Church with lots of others, or living a godly life in very difficult circumstances.
Just some thoughts :-)
-
Comment by Stephen Edwards on November 22, 2007 at 9:54am -
"I do think God enjoys our worship, and is dancing over us, even if we haven't been through the same circumstances as that African brother...as long as we are sincere in our worship..."
Absolutely! My point was that if I'm only sincere in my worship for 30 mins on a Sunday and for the rest of my week it's not then I don't think God is dancing as much as I'd like to think He is over that small piece of worship. God wants me life worship, not just my songs...
"Where do we get this idea of 'best' worship from?"
Exactly, 'Best worship' is a ridiculous, humanistic notion that I've been realising is in the back of my mind somewhere and I've been trying to erradicate ever since.
p.s. I just made the number up but it's a reminder to me that the world doesn't revolve around me, it revolves around God!
-
Comment by Phil Williams on November 22, 2007 at 10:02am
- Thanks for the clarification Stephen - I think we agree :-)
-
Comment by Stephen Edwards on November 24, 2007 at 8:19am
- Yeah, it's weird. My wife and I both have new living translations but they differ slightly (hers is 2005 and closer to the KJV than my 2000), the word 'worship' appearing in hers but not in mine??!
Add a Comment
Sign in
Worship Leader Links
© 2010 Created by Phil Williams
You need to be a member of He Must Increase to add comments!
Join He Must Increase