A Plea for Pursuit
- Posted by forhisglorycc
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SOME BACKGROUND
In 2010 I led my first retreat. I got to choose the songs, handpick the team members, and decide every last detail of worship. After countless hours of practice we had intricate instrumentals, harmonies that were spot-on, and a modern sound. We were phenomenal, and it seemed that everyone in attendance agreed.
Or so I thought when I was seventeen. Looking back, I’m embarrassed about that retreat. It genuinely grieves my heart to recount that weekend. At the time I thought it was the height of my worship-leading experiences, but now I look back and think that it was the height of my pride and, worse yet, the height of my ignorance in regards to the worship of the Most High God.
SERVING AT FOR HIS GLORY COMMUNITY CHURCH
One of the hugest blessings to me as the worship leader at FHG is that we have a singing congregation. I cannot express to you how many articles I read, people I talk to, and churches I’ve led worship at that make me believe wholeheartedly that we are a blessed anomaly in the American church, and I praise God for that. However, I’ve had it on my heart to plead with us for something more as of late. You see, the aforementioned retreat included incredibly passionate singing from the attendees. We all left, myself included, thinking, “Wow, that was real worship.” But we weren’t necessarily right. I love that we are a people that loves to sing to the Lord, but I’m convinced that there is more for us.
WITHOUT GOD’S WORD
Fast-forward from that retreat. After following in the footsteps of misinformed but well-intentioned worship leaders, attending a worship education program that was borderline anti-theology, and leading worship in various contexts, I was confused and jaded enough to start from scratch. My ministry made no sense anymore, and I had become that oh so unique teenager who “wasn’t attending a church because we are the church.” I began scrapping what I had been taught and searching the scriptures. After an extended season of that, God graciously called me to FHG.
WITH GOD’S WORD
If you regularly worship with us at FHG you’ve probably noticed some changes recently. We do a call to worship now. We have a time of confession. We have title slides for our songs that show us what year they were written in and what scriptures justify us singing such words. We read scriptures during our songs. We have moments of prayer in and between songs. My heart in all this is not to be structurally rigid or to create our own legalistic traditions – far from it. My heart is to root our liturgy in what God has said about worship in his scriptures.
What’s the point in me saying all this? Well, my goal is simple. Don’t make the mistakes I made. Don’t mistake passion for understanding. Don’t mistake singing for health. Don’t mistake a lack of heresy for the presence of orthodoxy. Don’t detach worship from the scriptures. Don’t fall prey to thinking that you can worship God with all of your heart without engaging all of your mind, as well. Rather, let your worship be rooted in the scriptures. Surely, let your worship be heartfelt, but let it be informed, too. You see, at FHG we sometimes sing songs with a ton of words. Sometimes we sing songs that are really old. Sometimes we spend so much time reading scriptures, praying in silence, or taking communion together that it’s difficult to define our worship by the word ‘musical’. Why? Because we want to pursue the God of the bible. Because we want to root our worship in the scriptures. Because we want to connect ourselves with the saints from this year and from 1,000 years ago. Because we want to do more than just sing. We want to worship God with all of ourselves.
HOW?
I’m always wary of tacking on application points because it tempts us to act without ever wrestling with God and his words on a matter. Nevertheless, the abuse does not negate the use. I believe these are good starting points for those who wish to take God’s words seriously as regards worship.
1. Read, pray, and sing the psalms. God has given us a songbook! I can’t get over that. And yet, most people aren’t amazed by the psalms simply because they’ve never really explored them. To borrow an analogy from N. T. Wright, if we sing modern worship songs without singing the psalms as well we are like a little boy standing before the Grand Canyon with his eyes glued to his iPad. Pursue God in the psalms.
2. Meet with God’s people. Come sing with God’s people! Come praying and expecting that God will meet with you there. Come purposing to engage your mind in the various elements of our liturgy. Every scripture reading, every prayer, every Eucharist, every sermon, every song, and even every title slide is an opportunity to feast on who Christ is to us. Make every effort within the grace of God to make it for the entire worship service. Due to the fact that each component of our liturgy is tied to the next, being present from the very beginning to the very end will greatly affect your worship experience. Sing with God’s people and pursue God in community.
3. Take your listening off the beaten path. The modern, mainstream worship industry makes money most effectively by putting out songs that present a God of love to the exclusion of presenting God’s other characteristics. Thus, we are left with radio stations, music festivals, and albums full of songs that say “love” and “grace” nonstop but rarely declare a God who is any bigger. Music from this industry cannot constitute a healthy diet of worship music. Surely, this is not to say that hugely popular, mainstream artists cannot be part of a balanced set of worship. Instead, it is to say that we should recognize how bound these artists are – their producers aren’t going to allow them to cover other aspects of our God. They are a blessed and helpful complement to songs, hymns, and psalms that express a biblically robust conception of our king. Thankfully, we have a plethora of such music even today! Let us strive together for balance and depth in our worship. Pursue God in your listening.
Let’s love each other enough, let’s love our families enough, and let’s love our wonderful and fearful God enough to take worship seriously. Let’s make worship more than singing. I pray that we are a people that pursues God diligently in worship – a people who worships because they long to be with God and because they know that they need God.
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