Last night we had our first worship meeting of the summer and with pizza, watermelon, grapes, and some awesome rice krispie treats. We were set. We started talking about the difference between praise and worship, and it was really interesting the answers I got some were right on and others were met with other questions to think more about their answer.
This summer is a season of transition for me, I have been working out almost everyday, drinking mostly water, I still have a coke in there, but mostly I am trying my best to quote and unquote get disciplined. In that I have found myself challenging my answers to alot of things, asking myself why do I believe what I believe and also why do I do what I do? Those are hard questions when you have done things for so long one way.
So in this season of my life, I am going to start my first blog series on Worship. They will short blogs on worship to get you thinking, and also for you to take time out of your summer to remember God, and be invited to move closer to Him.
So without further adieu, worship part 1
Worship is more than a song. But the song really matters, too.
Sometimes church feels like a surreal high school pep rally. The guy with the bullhorn (worship leader) pumps up the fans (congregation) to go out and win the big game (do the right thing, live missional lives, pursue justice, draw others to Christ, etc.). Like pep rallies, these worship services fulfill a particular, focused purpose: they are a means to a victorious end and preludes to the “real action” of life.
Do we worship to give us the emotional energy for the application part of our faith? Tim Hughes, a worship leader, writes in one of his choruses, “Keep us from just singing, move us into action.” While his message is important—that we are living lives of meaning and mission and not ones of stagnant faith that lacks deeds (James 2:14)—these lyrics could be misconstrued to assume “just singing,” just worshiping, isn’t as important as the action.
To be fair, the hierarchy of mission and worship is easily flipped for many Christians. These people are perfectly content going to church, worshiping and living without a greater awareness of our world, or even the neighbors around us. In The Dangerous Act of Worship, Mark Labberton says, “The crisis the church currently faces is that our individual and corporate worship do not produce the fruit of justice and righteousness that God seeks.”
But, if we rank mission over worship or worship over mission, we end up sabotaging both; worship and mission are equally and intrinsically linked. If worship is merely the thing that makes us feel good, feel “full” so we can go and do the important, active stuff, we lose. On the other hand, if mission is the thing that’s flippantly tacked onto our faith, we lose. Either way, our definitions of worship and mission are sickly and insufficient. We are missing the engaging, challenging, and courageous call of the Church to enact both.
P.A.
