to like what I like . They might not even make the time to ever go there , and I should be okay with that .
But how ridiculous would it be if I not only recommend the restaurant that I like , but I also try to tell my friends that the restaurants they like are inferior . That , if they don ’ t go to my favorite restaurant and eat there from now on , they must have poor taste and don ’ t really know what it ’ s like to eat out - I mean really eat out at a restaurant !
Of course , I wouldn ’ t do that . Neither would you .
Yet , sadly , it seems to me that some people do think and speak about their preferred way of worshipping God through songs in this way . As long as this way of thinking and talking about sung worship exists , I cannot see how The Church can ever be truly unified .
MORE FROM MARVA DAWN As I did in the previous PART 3 article , I ’ d like to again quote American theologian and “ Saint of modern worship ” Marva Dawn ( 1948-2021 ) from a 2007 interview for “ On Faith Canada ”.
“ Reconciliation is God ’ s goal for humanity . God wants to reconcile us to Himself . God is in the business of breaking down barriers . He also wants us to be reconciled to each other , and worship is one way we can do that . Worship can bring us together and unify us . Unfortunately , it ’ s doing the opposite today — worship is driving us apart .”
“ As long as we think that worship is about the style of music I like , it will keep us apart . Good worship brings people together as we focus on God and praise God . And when we are reconciled to one another , we can become a reconciling people in the world , bringing others to God .”
This Church division that Marva spoke about in 2007 is still apparent today . Perhaps more so . Like Martha , I believe this is a contributing factor as to why we - The Church - are not fully effective at bringing others to God .
“ As long as we think that worship is about the style of music I like , it will keep us apart . Good worship brings people together as we focus on God and praise God .”
SO , SOME THINGS WE SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND :
• The worship of God is a full-life response . As I hope we all know by now , worship is NOT limited to the music within Church gatherings . In my opinion , we ought not speak about the worship of God as if it is .
• Every moment of every day offers the opportunity to either worship God , or worship idols . And ultimately it is only God who gets to decide what is truly worshipful to Him and what is not .
• While gathering and singing together are extremely important , valuable and even ( to me ) essential expressions of worship , it ’ s apparent that true worship has more to do with the unobservable ( to humans ) heart posture of people towards God . God sees the heart . We cannot . We humans do not have the necessary perspective to measure the worship of God .
• God has created each person as a unique individual . We are different from one another . It ’ s okay if people use music in a variety of ways to express the worth of God .
• True worshippers will not craft a “ worship ” of their own design . We must worship Almighty God on His terms and not our own . We must allow God Himself to shape our worship of Him . Read , study and prayerfully meditate on Amos 5:21- 24 , Isaiah 58 , John 4:1-26 , Romans 12:1-2 and James 1:27 that says , “ Pure and perfect worship in the sight of God is to care for orphans and widows in their trouble and remain uncorrupted by the world .”
• It is perilously possible for us humans to confuse our own preferences with what is worshipful to God . To think that the way I prefer to worship God is the superior form of worship . To look down on the “ worship ” of others disparagingly - thinking of it as “ not real worship at all ”. We may even be tempted to try to enforce our worship preferences on others .
But the diversity of musical worship is good . We need each other . Thank God we ’ re not all the same ! Don ’ t be afraid , restrained or skeptical to express the worth of God through songs in ways that aren ’ t your favorite - perhaps aren ’ t your preference . If we do , we might grow in our love and respect for each other . The Church may become more “ as one ” as Jesus prays that we would ( John 17:21 ). Now that , surely , would be a wonderful expression of worship .
After all - God is BIGGER than the graph !
Grant Norsworthy founder of MoreThanMusicMentor . com
MoreThanMusicMentor . com
34 July 2024 Subscribe for Free ...