John 4:23-24 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (RSV)
I have already written about Funky Worship elsewhere in this blog. But only telling you what worship isn’t is not real helpful.
Soulish worship only requires that you simply follow along with whatever the worship leader or cd dictates. It doesn’t require anything of you except to keep up with whatever is going on and is predicated on the presence of music. Successful soulish worship requires that your emotions engage with the music. This you can do without ever actually worshipping in spirit or in truth.
So what is worshipping in spirit and truth?
In Matthew 22:36 Jesus was asked by the greatest law-keepers of all, “What is the greatest commandment of all the religious laws we have?” We are all aware of His response. But most miss the whole point of His reply. What Jesus was speaking to was relationship, not response to canned rules and regulations. Can you imagine trying to conduct a marital relationship according to rules? Love demands a sacrifice.
It’s no different with worshipping God. Following a canned, scripted routine each Sunday is not relationship. It’s a lot like law. This is what you will do when we worship; stay in step; stay together; start when I start; stop when I stop; Do what I do! That’s not relationship. That’s cattle –like behavior. Never mind the view, just stay in line.
Relationship requires that we communicate on an intimate level. Intimate worship is no different. Check out the following from The Message;
John 4:23-24 “But the time is coming--it has, in fact, come--when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 24 God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." (MSG)
Monday, December 7, 2009
Our Perspective
Our Poor Poor Perspectve
This past week I ministered to a young woman whose mother had died of cancer when she was about 12 or 13 years old. And Yes, she was still mad at God for taking her. I'll write about that issue later.
During the ministry session she spent some time with Jesus. And at one point I asked her to ask Jesus what he thought of her mother. To our surprise, Jesus replied, "She was a good sport." Unfortunately, she missed all the symbology, and most of that which followed. That was a disappointment but what Jesus said really struck me.
I don’t know about you, but when someone refers to another as a “good sport”, I take that as they have gone through a lot, and that they’ve taken it well. Perhaps not with a smile, but certainly not whining all the way through it. Being a good sport does not require you to enjoy what you experience. It simply requires that you endure it with all the good humor you can muster.
Our human perspective on life is always from the immediate; What I’m going through; How much it hurts; Why did it happen? What did I do to deserve this? What can I do about it? etc., rather than from the perspective of the eternal. When viewed from the immediate, it’s about, What can I withstand? How long will it last? and How much of it can I duck? When viewed from an eternal perspective, Paul’s words become very clear, he considered it “a light and temporary affliction.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
When Jesus said she was a “good sport” it said a whole lot about the relationship she and He had. Since He did not afflict her with the disease, He took no joy in the toll it took on her emotionally and physically. But He apparently took pride in how she handled it, even in death. We know from the damage it did that her children didn’t handle it the same way their mom did. Grace to deal with a terminal illness is not always handed out to all participants, but is certainly there for the one who fought it daily. In this case, the husband and father didn’t do his job with the kids.
From Jeremiah 1:4-5, we see that the human spirit is eternal. Consequently, from an eternal perspective a short stint on the planet is not a very big deal, no matter how we make our exit.
2Corinthians 4:11-18 “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. 12 While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!
13 We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe. 14 And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. 15 Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! 16 So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. 17 These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. 18 There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.” (MSG)
This past week I ministered to a young woman whose mother had died of cancer when she was about 12 or 13 years old. And Yes, she was still mad at God for taking her. I'll write about that issue later.
During the ministry session she spent some time with Jesus. And at one point I asked her to ask Jesus what he thought of her mother. To our surprise, Jesus replied, "She was a good sport." Unfortunately, she missed all the symbology, and most of that which followed. That was a disappointment but what Jesus said really struck me.
I don’t know about you, but when someone refers to another as a “good sport”, I take that as they have gone through a lot, and that they’ve taken it well. Perhaps not with a smile, but certainly not whining all the way through it. Being a good sport does not require you to enjoy what you experience. It simply requires that you endure it with all the good humor you can muster.
Our human perspective on life is always from the immediate; What I’m going through; How much it hurts; Why did it happen? What did I do to deserve this? What can I do about it? etc., rather than from the perspective of the eternal. When viewed from the immediate, it’s about, What can I withstand? How long will it last? and How much of it can I duck? When viewed from an eternal perspective, Paul’s words become very clear, he considered it “a light and temporary affliction.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
When Jesus said she was a “good sport” it said a whole lot about the relationship she and He had. Since He did not afflict her with the disease, He took no joy in the toll it took on her emotionally and physically. But He apparently took pride in how she handled it, even in death. We know from the damage it did that her children didn’t handle it the same way their mom did. Grace to deal with a terminal illness is not always handed out to all participants, but is certainly there for the one who fought it daily. In this case, the husband and father didn’t do his job with the kids.
From Jeremiah 1:4-5, we see that the human spirit is eternal. Consequently, from an eternal perspective a short stint on the planet is not a very big deal, no matter how we make our exit.
2Corinthians 4:11-18 “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. 12 While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!
13 We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe. 14 And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. 15 Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! 16 So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. 17 These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. 18 There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.” (MSG)
Funky Worship
Funky Worship
Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus ... for it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God,and him only shall thou serve." (RSV)
Matthew 15:9 "But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." (RSV)
John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (RSV)
From these verses, it is intuitively obvious, even to the most casual of observers, that we are not only commanded to worship, but that there apparently is a way that God the Father (through the mouth of Jesus) wants us to do it; ie in spirit and in truth. Failure to do it in the prescribed manner means that we have been duped into, or worse, chosen to not to worship according to the Word, but to worship according to the doctrines and precepts of men. That's not good!
So which category to you fall into? Are you offering up funky worship? It would be good to check it now and again.
1Thess 5:23 says, "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Apparently God made us rather uniquely. We are a tri-part being; spirit, soul and body. Despite the fact that we can make this division in order to discuss the issues, it’s a bit harder to separate them in course of living life. But it is important to do so in order that you can draw a proper distinction between functions.
There is a principle of interpreting scripture called “The Principle of First Mentioned.” Whenever the scripture presents us with a list, the first item in the list is the most important (comparatively speaking) and the last item in the list is the least important. So in this instance our list of “spirit, soul and body” lays out for us a couple of things; 1st, we are a three part being, 2nd, our human spirit should rule over our soul, and 3rd, our soul (mind, will and emotions) should rule over our physical bodies. This is the proper order for living life.
To confirm this we have these two scriptures, which are very important for us to grasp because this is the way we need to be living our lives;
Genesis 1:27 “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
John 4: 24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
So what we have here is a flat-out declaration that we are first and foremost spirit beings. Not soul beings. Not physical beings. But spirit beings, unfortunately being unduly influenced by both the soul and the body.
Consequently, that confusion has become the chief problem for most people when they enter a worship service at their local church. If their soul (principally their emotions) is not moved by either the music or the lyrics, then they feel they’ve not worshipped. They are more swayed by the implications of their soul and body than they are by their human spirit.
What does it take to move your emotions? Number one on the list is familiarity with the music, which we understand as the ability to sing along with the music without struggling to read the words or figure out where the melody is headed. This is one of the reasons why many hymns were originally so popular for a century or more. Many of the tunes were former pub songs and they were easy to sing.
Number two on the list is the sentimentality of the lyrics. We respond to the words of songs that pull at our heart strings, so topics that touch those places of need become key; family, security, acceptance, provision, faithfulness, etc. If we follow that path, and require that to be a prime element of worship, then worship actually becomes all about us and not about God at all. We will become disenchanted with any worship leader who doesn’t provide us a storng does of it.
Number three on the list, which may rival number one, is the song’s sing-ability. If a song is easy to sing, and is well within your range, and is also familiar, it presents no stress and makes it easy for your soul to engage and your emotions to be touched.
It’s certainly nice to have our emotions stirred by our worship, but that cannot be the gauge by which we judge whether we’ve worshipped, or perhaps more specifically, whether the worship leader has done his. If we are soulish worshippers, then it’s easy to blame the worship leader for not doing what's necessary to get you where you think you need to go. Many a worship leader has run afoul of folks whose preference for a specific style of music, or fondness for a specific instrument, or voice dictates whether they'll participate or not. This is followed by mounds of helpful suggestions, criticsm and complaints. Its no wonder we have so many "former" worship leaders.
Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus ... for it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God,and him only shall thou serve." (RSV)
Matthew 15:9 "But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." (RSV)
John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (RSV)
From these verses, it is intuitively obvious, even to the most casual of observers, that we are not only commanded to worship, but that there apparently is a way that God the Father (through the mouth of Jesus) wants us to do it; ie in spirit and in truth. Failure to do it in the prescribed manner means that we have been duped into, or worse, chosen to not to worship according to the Word, but to worship according to the doctrines and precepts of men. That's not good!
So which category to you fall into? Are you offering up funky worship? It would be good to check it now and again.
1Thess 5:23 says, "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Apparently God made us rather uniquely. We are a tri-part being; spirit, soul and body. Despite the fact that we can make this division in order to discuss the issues, it’s a bit harder to separate them in course of living life. But it is important to do so in order that you can draw a proper distinction between functions.
There is a principle of interpreting scripture called “The Principle of First Mentioned.” Whenever the scripture presents us with a list, the first item in the list is the most important (comparatively speaking) and the last item in the list is the least important. So in this instance our list of “spirit, soul and body” lays out for us a couple of things; 1st, we are a three part being, 2nd, our human spirit should rule over our soul, and 3rd, our soul (mind, will and emotions) should rule over our physical bodies. This is the proper order for living life.
To confirm this we have these two scriptures, which are very important for us to grasp because this is the way we need to be living our lives;
Genesis 1:27 “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
John 4: 24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
So what we have here is a flat-out declaration that we are first and foremost spirit beings. Not soul beings. Not physical beings. But spirit beings, unfortunately being unduly influenced by both the soul and the body.
Consequently, that confusion has become the chief problem for most people when they enter a worship service at their local church. If their soul (principally their emotions) is not moved by either the music or the lyrics, then they feel they’ve not worshipped. They are more swayed by the implications of their soul and body than they are by their human spirit.
What does it take to move your emotions? Number one on the list is familiarity with the music, which we understand as the ability to sing along with the music without struggling to read the words or figure out where the melody is headed. This is one of the reasons why many hymns were originally so popular for a century or more. Many of the tunes were former pub songs and they were easy to sing.
Number two on the list is the sentimentality of the lyrics. We respond to the words of songs that pull at our heart strings, so topics that touch those places of need become key; family, security, acceptance, provision, faithfulness, etc. If we follow that path, and require that to be a prime element of worship, then worship actually becomes all about us and not about God at all. We will become disenchanted with any worship leader who doesn’t provide us a storng does of it.
Number three on the list, which may rival number one, is the song’s sing-ability. If a song is easy to sing, and is well within your range, and is also familiar, it presents no stress and makes it easy for your soul to engage and your emotions to be touched.
It’s certainly nice to have our emotions stirred by our worship, but that cannot be the gauge by which we judge whether we’ve worshipped, or perhaps more specifically, whether the worship leader has done his. If we are soulish worshippers, then it’s easy to blame the worship leader for not doing what's necessary to get you where you think you need to go. Many a worship leader has run afoul of folks whose preference for a specific style of music, or fondness for a specific instrument, or voice dictates whether they'll participate or not. This is followed by mounds of helpful suggestions, criticsm and complaints. Its no wonder we have so many "former" worship leaders.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
