Well tonight we had a night of Worship at our pavilion at my home church, Ozark First Assembly. There were 4 guitars many youth and young adults, and a few not as young adults. The night went pretty well I thought. We had a fire, the temperature was perfect for a fire tonight… at 90+. It was by a creek, mosquitoes were out. But we were all together, a group of believers joined together to sing praises to our God, Father, and King. The night started around 7, it’s not dark at 7, but that’s the time we decided to start. The 4 guitars were tuned, and finally playing the same song. People started singing. I wouldn’t really call what we did at this point worshiping; no it was more or less just playing the guitar and singing. So after we played about 7 or so songs, we stopped for a while. I spoke a few words concerning the heart of what the night was about. The guitars spread out a little amongst the crowd to better spread the tune, and we started again. This went on for another hour or so, but there were brief moments when no music was played and no one was talking. All we could hear were the sounds of nature, but shortly a guitar would pick up with another song and off we would go again. Though more worship occurred at this point of the night, we soon stopped, picked up around the area and went our separate ways. This is when a question was asked to me. How do you think tonight went? And it struck a random thought…
Overall, I thought the night went pretty well, but with events like these we always wish that it would’ve gone better than it did. My philosophy on worship has become such, and that is what I would like to share with you. This is a time when TRUE worshipers will worship Him. That is a statement most of us have heard and believe. My question is, if this is true, why do we not see more people truly pour their heart out to God during our times of worship together? First off, you shouldn’t be worried about those around you, but I do know we’re all guilty of this, or I am anyway… But my thought is that no where in the ‘true worshipers will worship Him’ statement does it say how the true worshipers will worship. It only says that they will. So just because we do not see somebody pouring their heart out to God, doesn’t mean that they aren’t. Some people worship God just as silently as the Spirit moves through a service. Others go as extreme as singing as loud as we all do in the shower or car, or as loud as I do in the shower and car, and in the shower and car I sound like Joel Houston or Chris Tomlin or something. I mean you wouldn’t believe how awesome.. how amazing… sorry…
People worship differently. If we try to make everybody worship the same, we will waste our time. As long as everyone is worshiping the same God, is that not enough? On the flip side of ‘true worshipers worshiping’, what does that mean of those who are not true worshipers…? Simply they will not worship Him. Yes, they may sing lift their hands and cry, but if they are not true worshipers, what they are doing is just making noise, motions, and forcing emotions. If this is you I almost apologize for stepping on your toes. I almost apologize because you needed to hear the truth. Now you need to accept the truth and do something about it. This statement also never states that those who are not true worshipers will never become true worshipers. There is hope! Seek God, become someone who worships God for who He is, and what he’s done for you. Give Him the glory, it’s not about how well you carry a tune, or how many buckets you’ve tried and failed to carry a tune in.
Worship Leader or Pastor don’t become frustrated when you don’t see visibly the fruits of your labor. God is working, and you never know what He is accomplishing in your congregation. Just do your job, follow the leadership of the Spirit, and let Him do his.
Moral of the Story: What time is it you asked? Time when true worshipers will worship? Yes, and time for you to get a watch!
