At the start of the new year, a Christian radio station that broadcasts in my area decided to shift their format to become a “worship station.” The change was met with a wide variety of responses, ranging from wildly positive to extremely negative, and while I understand human nature’s hesitancy towards change, especially when that change possibly involves no longer hearing your favorite band on your favorite radio station, I think the negative feedback in this case–which, last I heard, has caused the station to change yet again from “worship” to “worship and more”–points to a larger issue among the American church: a misunderstanding (and perhaps an unfortunate disliking at worst and complacency at best) of worship.
Having been raised in church, I have experienced the divergence of worship styles–ranging from totally Spirit-filled/we’ll-worship-all-night-if-we-want-to to okay-we-did-our-three-songs-so-we’re-done–as well as the total transformation of my own views of worship. When I was a kid, I didn’t enjoy worship at all. I thought the songs sounded boring and outdated (In fairness, worship music of the 90s wasn’t exactly the most exciting, and the church I attended seemed to follow the mindset of, “You can kinda sorta sing or play an instrument? Come on down!” But OBVIOUSLY I missed the whole point of what worship is about), and the last thing I wanted to be doing was having to stand awkwardly for thirty minutes in my uncomfortable church shoes. In addition, that church was very Pentecostal and Charismatic, which meant that worship could be prolonged whenever they felt like it, and there were many responses to praise and worship that I didn’t understand, such as grown men and women waving a banner and running laps around the sanctuary.
As I got older, I tried to enjoy and get into worship; I’d awkwardly raise my hands and close my eyes and try mean what I was singing, try to feel something. But honestly, it was really more of going through the motions. Even once I finally surrendered my life to the Lord five and a half years ago, finding genuineness and getting over feeling awkward in my personal worship experience, especially beyond just raising my hands, was a challenge. I remember my first Overland conference; the first night, the first song played was God’s Great Dance Floor. As that song totally calls for, a bunch of people left their seats to gather at the front, jumping, dancing, and, as the service progressed, worshipping their faces off. I joined my friends down front, but moving around in praise and worship like that felt UNBELIEVABLY awkward and uncomfortable, and while I pushed through and stayed down front until worship ended, I felt like such a disingenuous faker. While I think pushing through that night did help, it really wasn’t until I became baptized in the Holy Spirit and began to experience God in a new way that He began to shift my views on worship and shake the insecurities off of me. Now, if you were to join me in worship, don’t surprised if I whack you with my hands or step on your toes as I move around, and if you’re looking for me during an Overland worship service, you’ll find me front and center, praising and worshipping so hard that I turn into a sweaty, blubbering mess. (And no, I don’t limit my Holy Spirit dance parties to corporate worship services either). I have a genuine heart and love for worship now, even to the point of looking into auditioning for my church’s worship band.
So, you see, I’ve experienced several different sides and views of worship. And from that, I have learned that our view of worship matters because worship matters. It really really matters. And it matters more than it just being karaoke to the latest Hillsong Worship song. Because [unlike a lot of modern worship, sadly] true worship isn’t about us; it’s about Him. (And FYI, God isn’t good because of the Gospel, because of what He has done for us; that’s merely a demonstration of His goodness. God is good and worthy of praise and worship simply because it’s who He is!)
I believe that worship, true worship, changes us. It activates something within us, activates our spirits in a way that nothing else can. The fact of the matter is that we are designed to worship, and as such, we all turn our worship towards something, be it a relationship, our careers, a hobby, ect. But when we turn our worship towards God, its rightful place, our spirits come alive because they recognize that this is what they were made to do. Worship allows our spirits to connect to God in a supernatural way that produces supernatural results.
2 Chronicles 20. A couple of people groups teamed up to go to battle against the kingdom of Judah. Per the norm, the Israelites freaked out, but God told them that the battle was His. So they sent a group, whose only duty was to praise and worship, ahead of the army, and (verse 22) “when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.” Praise was the breakthrough.
Battles are fought and won in worship. Because worship takes our eyes off of ourselves–off of our circumstances, our weaknesses, our struggles–and puts them on the finished work of Christ. Worship forces us to remind our spirits of exactly how BIG of a God we serve. Worship causes us not to look with the eyes of the flesh but with the eyes of the spirit. Worship forces us to remember that no matter how big, how intimidating the battle in front of us, the war is already won.
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:4a
I also believe that our posture in worship matters. In fact, the Hebrew word for “worship” (shachah) literally means to bow down or prostrate yourself, both in a spiritual and a physical sense. The Bible frequently references posture or movement in conjunction to mentions of worship, such as bowing down or dancing. We’ve all seen articles about the importance of body language, so why shouldn’t the same be said of our worship? It should matter whether we stand before the King downcast and hunched over like a widow at a funeral, rigid and erect like a soldier before his commander, or like a bride, in awe of her beloved.
While the Lord certainly knows the hearts of His people, and therefore doesn’t need to read body language, I think there is definite spiritual significance in the physicality of our worship. If nothing else, worshipping with my whole body feels completely different to me in my spirit than just worshipping on the inside. It signifies complete and total surrender. It signifies that I don’t care how goofy or awkward I feel or look doing it because He is worthy.
David knew this full well. 2 Samuel 6:14 describes David as dancing before the Lord “with all his might.” (And scantily dressed, I might add). Holding absolutely nothing back. Complete abandon. Complete surrender. Completely unconcerned with who saw or what they thought. Completely uncaring that such activity was viewed to be completely unsuitable for a man and certainly a king. Later verses tell us that when one of his wives saw him doing so, she was completely and utterly disgusted and appalled. David didn’t give a single piece of bovine fecal matter. His response in laymen’s terms: “If you thinking worshipping like this makes me look undignified, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Oh that we would all strive to worship like that, with that much abandon.
Beloved, I challenge you change your views of worship. To give yourself to the Lord in worship. To decide in your heart to not be concerned who’s watching or how awkward it feels. To allow God to transform the innermost parts of your being through worship. To fight and win battles at the altar. And should you choose otherwise; should you continue to view worship as something to get through, well, my friend, you’re going to have a very very long eternity.
“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” ― A.W. Tozer
“We’re here to be worshippers first and workers only second. We take a convert and immediately make a worker out of him. God never meant it to be so. God meant that a convert should learn to be a worshiper, and after that he can learn to be a worker…The work done by a worshiper will have eternity in it.” – A. W. Tozer
“If we haven’t learned to be worshippers it doesn’t really matter how well we do anything else. Worship changes us or it has not been worship. To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change. Worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience.” -Erwin Lutzer
The Living One Blog 