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UNDAUNTED
For a few very hard years this word was my mantra.
The word means
-undismayed; not discouraged; not forced to abandon purpose or effort
-undiminished in courage or valor; not giving way to fear
But the truth is, I was often dismayed by everything that had taken place, and I did battle discouragement. I battled fear and doubts. I hurt and was angry, and sometimes "undaunted" sounded more like a mockery than a mantra, and I was determined to be real about all of it in these posts, thus the name, Undaunted Reality. More than that, though, I was determined to live undaunted, not because I'm so great or strong, but because my God is, and no matter what this world looks like, He is the only reality that matters.
I pray I live the reality of Him beautifully undaunted.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Worship May Not Be What You Think

Our worship at my church messes with my head. I told you a little bit about it yesterday. I don't know the words. The genre isn't my style, and who puts worship after the sermon?

I'm not the only one with worship issues. Lots of people have them.

People complain about the music in church declaring how it makes it impossible for them to worship. It isn't comfortable for them. It messes with their rhythm. And do NOT change the words or inflection because it makes it hard to follow and they can't sing it mindlessly like usual, and plus, they sound dumb when they get the notes wrong, and how one worship when they are afraid of getting it wrong?

I'm not exaggerating when I say at some point every statement in that paragraph has come out of my mouth, and the saddest part is I thought I was right in being indignant about such things because worship is important after all, and I need to worship. Worship is where I connect with God. It's the soul-melding of the spiritual life.

And it really has nothing to do with music.

Let me explain. I love music. I love to sing. I love the whole expressive experience of music, but it isn't worship.

Worship is declaring the worth of something.

When I worship God, I'm responding to Him and the goodness He has poured out on me.

My response may be joyful excitement because He has heard my prayer, and I may express that with boisterous clapping or dancing.
My heart may be broken, and I may feel crushed, but I know He is till good, so I respond to that with my presence, even though I have no words.
I may respond in awe at how amazing He is. I may respond with humility because He is so good and I deserve nothing from His hand.
Maybe I am simply overwhelmed by the bigness and wonder of Him, so I raise my hands to acknowledge that He alone is worthy of my praise.

That is worship.

Music offers an avenue for expressing those responses, but it isn't worship. If I stand in a church service and find fault that the worship doesn't cater to me, that's says a lot more about my heart than the music.

And instead of making demands for how the music needs to be done right, it's a good time to stop and ask God how to get my heart right.

Drop by tomorrow, and I'll tell you How to Fix Bad Worship.

Copyright 2014 Jerri Kelley Phillips
All rights reserved

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