Worship - Not (Just) About Emotion

We had a great rehearsal last night! We went over some stuff from this past weekend, sort of rehashing the service and the response (which we usually do). But this week was a little different for a couple of reasons:

1. We didn't have a drummer Sunday due to illness, so we didn't have the 'driving beat' in the room. Keep that thought in mind...
2. Pastor Bill brought the BOOM to church in his message.

So what does all this have to do with worship? Great question!

I think that we, as a church, sometimes get too used to having certain elements in our music. And if they're not there, then we just can't seem to 'worship' the way we normally do. Folks, that's a CROCK! You don't need any particular instrument to help you worship. Do the drums help? Yes. Does rockin' out on the guitar help? For most, yes. But let me ask you this - is that worship coming from the right place? If you don't have the drums, can you still worship from a very deep, personal place? The answer has to be yes.

Our worship needs to come from the place where we meet God and recognize just how BIG and AWESOME He is in our lives. THAT should motivate our worship. We talked in our team last night about how we CANNOT respond to how the congregation does NOT respond. It cannot ever be about how they are or are not getting the music we put out. We have to be worshipers ourselves FIRST, then we can lead. It's up to them to follow.


And when I said Pastor Bill brought the boom to worship, he did. (Check out a couple of his key points at his blog here.) The message was on tithing and it landed hard on a lot of people - all of us who were there. It came straight from God's Word and it wasn't sugar coated. Do you think that brought out any emotions? Oh yeah!


When we get our world 'rocked' by something in God's Word, it should take us back to that place where we remember how BIG and AWESOME God is. Instead, we sometimes curl up in the fetal position and wish the big bad pastor guy would just shut his pie hole. Why? Because his words are reminding us of how far away from God we have gotten in a particular area of our lives.

The Church in America has gotten so caught up in the wrong ideas of tithing that is has really hurt worship in the church. Remember, worship is not just music. It's all the elements that we use to point people to God, including the preaching/teaching of His Word. So when the Pastor nails a point home, it's going to impact their response to the rest of the service. We cannot, under any circumstances, 'judge' how worship is going by how the people in the crowd respond. Worship is a personal event, even in a corporate setting.
So don't let it be about anything but the relationship you have with your Creator. He is BIG and AWESOME, and He wants so much for you (it would make your head spin to know how much)! Celebrate Him. Celebrate His grace. Thank Him for your victories and your trials. Worship from THOSE places and see what God does. Emotions will come out of it - but your worship won't be about them!


See ya in church...