Worship is important. In fact, it is impossible to read the Psalms, or indeed any other book in the Bible, without being able to see just how important worship is to God, and because of that – how vital it should be to us. Not long ago, I came across an article that piqued my interest given the heading and the bright, flashy image that accompanied it. As I continued on skimming through the paragraphs, this one in particular grabbed my attention. It said:
“I like music. I like sitting and listening and singing. This is comfortable. This is easy, but it is often more comforting than it is worshipping. If I stand and sing “Oceans” with a thousand other people in a church building, but I leave feeling unchanged, with no desire to reach out to my neighbors or spread the Gospel further than my own heart, have I truly worshipped God, or have I simply worshipped an experience?”
This is an excerpt from an article written by Andrea Lucado entitled “Do you worship your worship experience?” It is an excellent read. Essentially, if our experience in worship engages our senses, but doesn’t make it all the way down to our hearts – producing change (or at least the desire to be changed), then is it truly worship? I think the author is on to something here. If worship simply makes us feel good about ourselves, then what, or the better question is Who exactly is the object of our worship? Worship is something that is certainly personal, in that it is an offering that we bring and is directed to an audience of One. But worship is also something that God has given to His people to partake of together. When we come to worship, there is always the temptation to see this is as something merely as happening between “me and God.” But the Bible is filled with instances in which it is the corporate gathering of God’s people, that God delights to reveal Himself to us in. So how can we be sure that it is God that we are worshipping, and not the experience of worship itself? Check out the article below as I think that it offers to us some excellent insights.
Blessings!
Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/do-you-worship-your-worship-experience#hJZHBcPvyTqUritA.99
