My Take on Worship - 2

Since there was much more I wanted to add to this topic, I thought of writing it as a sequel to my earlier post. It has been a constant struggle to be in a world where this enormous 'concept' of Worship, is practiced. I wonder if this is a subtle satanic strategy to marginalize actual worship to a mere time bound activity of well accompanied singing which they call as 'Praise & Worship'. While use of technology and evolution of music is welcome, these are only to be considered as aids to worship God. We should be careful not to lose the bigger picture of who God is and what actual worship is. The ambience, the settings, the lighting, the sound and effects employed can trigger the senses of people to get them into a frenzy at times, or the constant repetition of a monotonous chorus which takes one into a trance like state are familiar practices these days. Honestly, these things make me question the authenticity of such worship sometimes. I am perplexed to know that some of these things are found in pagan practices and these have taken inroads into the church today. Worship in it's purest sense is what comes from within and not what we experience externally.

Here are some of my reflections on worship which will help us to have a wider and deeper understanding of Worship.


Worship is living - How well we are living our life is very important. Presenting ourselves as living sacrifices unto God every day is more important than a mere performance on a Sunday morning (Friday morning in the middle east). Worship is what has to happen for all seven days of the week and not just one day. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.'' Rom 12:1.

Worship involves Truth - Worship is not a performance. It involves our truthful submission to the Truth personified king of kings in whose sight everything lies bare and naked. We cannot masquerade in his presence. He sees through our facade and reaches down to our inmost being, our very soul. "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Jn 4:24.

Worship is giving- Worship should result in a change of one's nature, a change of focus from self to God and others. Loving God implies loving our neighbour which in turn implies that we are to give selflessly as Christ gave himself for us. Therefore, you worship and honour God by your act of selflessly giving your resources to God and his children.

Worship is service- True devotion is taking care of the widows and orphans says James. Not every one can leave everything in order to do this. However, to the best of our capacities in the contexts God has placed us, we should be able to serve others. It could be service in the Church or the Community or in the neighbourhood. Our worship makes sense when there is more action and less rituals and rhetoric.

Worship is yielding - Worship should result in our willingness to yield ourselves completely to him. When we do this, the Spirit of God takes control and we are changed to be more like our Lord Jesus.

Worship is tithing - In the old testament they gave a tenth of all their produce to the temple as tithe. There is no set percentage that is prescribed in the new testament worship. Real tithing is giving to God our all - a total surrender besides all that we can part with for the service in the house of God.

Worship is obedience - Worship is true love for God. John 14:15 Jesus says, 'If you love me keep my commandments'. The one who truly knows God will love God. The one who truly loves God will worship God and keep His word. A true worshiper will be governed by the Word of God.

Worship is diligence in work - When we believe that work is God ordained then our attitude will be different towards our work. Many Christians dichotomize Spirituality and Work and end up as failures in one or the other or both. Bible shows many characters who were involved in work while being very godly; men like Joseph, David, Nehemiah, Daniel and his three friends. These were committed public figures who excelled in their respective work situations and God was with them. When God is preeminent and integral to our work then He causes us to excel and ultimately he derives the pleasure of our excellence and in that sense it becomes worship. Paul encourages Timothy to be a workman approved of God. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15. Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. Pr 22:29.

Worship is Communal - The early church worshiped as a community. They gathered in houses and worshiped. Yes, individual worship is necessary. But the body of Christ is comprised of many individuals who live in harmony bringing glory and honour to God. The world will know we are Christians by our love as we live as a united and harmonious community of believers. With the advent of the internet and live telecast of the Church service, many people resort to staying at home and watch a live service. While this can be a last resort in situations like sickness or travel to unfamiliar places etc., this cannot become a norm. Worship should nurture true fellowship and community.

Worship is Sacrificial - David said, 'I will not give unto the Lord that which does not cost anything,' (2 Sam 24:24) and therefore paid a high price in order to worship God. It involved a price and a sacrifice. The people in the Old Testament were required to bring a sacrifice as they came to worship. We need to sacrificially offer our lives and our possessions as we come to worship a God who gave His own life for us on the cross of Calvary.

Worship is Transformational - Worship results in repentance, cleansing and a change of heart. A change in our character where we are purified and transformed into the likeness of our Lord Jesus.Worship makes a person humble and holy. The more a person worships the more sanctified he becomes as he spends considerable amount of time in the presence of God. This is what happened to Moses as he spent forty days in Mount Sinai.

Worship is Missional - Our worship is a response to our understanding of who God is. We will be able to understand who God is when we reflect on Jesus, the true image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). Jesus left everything and came in search of the lost mankind to redeem him from sin and certain death. The birth of Jesus was hence incarnational as well as missional. Therefore, an understanding of this Jesus whom we worship as Lord and God should result in an emulation of him which causes us to reach out with the love of Jesus. Therefore all genuine worship must result in missions, else it is no worship.

Therefore, worship is a much larger thing than so called worship music and so called worship leaders. 

The "Worship" Dilemma

Having been gifted with musical abilities I have been using it for God's glory for quite some time now. Listening to good music goes with it and it helps in honing one's musical skills. Talking about music, there used to be a time when musicians released their singles and albums which were songs with messages, stories, scripture and songs which were simply their experiences put forth in a melody. I even recall reading that some famous artists, get their song ideas from the books they read and make compositions out of the reflections they find in the chapters of the books.

Growing up listening to such songs and music in the 90's with such depth of meaning and theological correctness, here I am suddenly finding myself being a part of a crowd which now calls the songs they sing in Church  as "Worship" songs. These are songs which are primarily written about God and sung to God. Since the 90's there has been a wave of this Worship music with forerunners in the industry (yes! it's become one now!) like Maranatha Singers, Vineyard, Hosanna Integrity etc., to name a few! There has been a clear wind of change from the traditional Southern Gospel to the new "Worship" which has now become a genre by itself.

The older style of songs have clearly taken a back seat. Even the main line churches find it hard not to have this wave hitting them. This has even created a generation gap where the older generation desires more solemn hymns while the newer generation wants the upbeat songs. At 50, I now find myself caught up in this chasm where I prefer the 80's and 90's style of songs while the ones that came later have a distinct difference in the style and manner in which they are played and some how my musical sense finds it hard to sync with it or I wonder if it is just a mental block.

With the passage of time I find myself leading Worship and I have done this for over 2 decades now. I have predominantly done this in an Indian and an Asian context. I would like to give some of my challenges in leading worship and my experiences and struggles that I have been through in the journey given the context that I have been in. If you are in a similar context like me this will make sense. This will also help you to take a balanced view of things in order to avoid the conflicts that have risen in my life.

1. Mixed Age Groups.

When you have older people in the congregation it is pretty easy to see that they are not too keen to follow some of the latest songs. They are still holding on to their traditional songs and songs they grew up listening. Now this becomes a dilemma as to how to have a mix of both old and the new songs. You need to cater to the old as well as the new.

2. Mixed Nationalities.

While it is true that every nation and every tribe will be worshiping in heaven, it poses a challenge to us this side. The Africans are culturally expressive and rhythmic and music and dance are integral to their culture and being. So they are quite expressive in their worship. On the other hand, we see certain other nationalities who are conservative and may not be as expressive as the others. As a worship leader I get into this dilemma of watching some just stand there and watch me sing while the others join along into jubilant singing.

3. Mixed Language Groups.

Not everyone is primarily English speaking in the congregation. Hence some could be more engaging in the worship when it happens in the language of their comfort. For some, worshiping in their mother tongue would make more sense. However, in such a multi-linguistic and multicultural settings it becomes a challenge to be leading the worship where the response could be a bit depressing. As a worship leader I have felt out of place in such settings.

4. Mixed Backgrounds.

We observe people coming in from different backgrounds with different worship patterns and styles. Some come from a liturgical background, some from a free worship background, some from a quiet and somber way of worship, some prefer it to be overly vocal, some want instruments while some may not be wanting extra sounds, some are conservative and the others are quite open and even dangerously "progressive". As a worship leader it gets pretty challenging to have a session going well in this context.

5. Mixed Experiences.

Some people come in with their baggage of experiences and each one claims their experience to be superior or correct. While experiences are important when it comes to worship we need to weigh our experiences in the light of scripture and not vice versa. Many times as a Worship leader I wonder if I am doing the right thing especially when I do not do certain things or express the way some of the others do.

Therefore, with such challenges I sometime wonder where do we converge and how do we converge to make the experience of worship more meaningful, purposeful and realistic.

Will be interesting to hear your views. Do take time to comment and let me know what you are thinking. Also check out my other blogs on the same subject.

Thanks for reading!! Would appreciate your comments!!