My take on Worship.

Worship.

God as the creator of everything is also the one who created music. Music is a wonderful means to worship God. King David was one who experienced God in many ways and his expressions of gratitude, praise as well as laments are all written in the book of Psalms. These Psalms were set to music and sung in the temple and were part of the worship. Asaph, was one of the worship leaders in the Bible who led the people of God to worship. This was done with such awe and wonder that the people could experience the awesomeness of God through these times of singing. While there is such historical precedence to worship music in the scriptures, there is a divergence that has happened over a period of time where the very purpose of music has been lost. I would like to write here some of my struggles and reflections that I have had in my journey of worship.

One of the misconceptions of the term “worship” in the present day church is the reference to the part of the service they spend in singing songs. While this is important, we should know that worship does not end there. When this part is done well some believe that the worship is complete. People with hands raised and eyes closed go into an ecstasy and feel satisfied that they have worshiped God. Little do they realise that they have missed out on more weightier things than that when it comes to worshiping an awesome God.

This according to me has been the result of a saturation of so called “worship leaders” who are most of the time more commercial than missionary, spinning out their music albums year after year and going on world tours to promote themselves than God. In the church, most of the time even the presence of God is being alluded to the quality of the music. When the music is good people "feel" the presence of God and when it is not good they don't. 

Taking a closer look at this phenomena the question that arises is, "Why is this called as  "a time of worship” as if the other things done in the service are not worship. To put things in perspective, everything that is done in the house of God will have to be brought under the banner of worship. Even the preparation for the service – cleaning up, arranging and setting up everything is part of the entire “Worship”. Within the service besides the singing – the offering, the testimonies, the exhortation, the sermon, the communion, the serving and the prayers will all together constitute worship.

Worship from within.

In the old testament times when Solomon built the temple and dedicated it, it was meant to be a central place where the people would gather for worship where the presence of the Lord descended. However, in the new testament dispensation after the ascension of the Lord and when pentecost ushered in the era of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God is not limited to the physical temple in Jerusalem, but to every believer who is indwelt by the spirit of God all across the world. This extension became possible when the apostles in response to pentecost carried the word to the uttermost parts of the world. If we believe that the spirit of God resides in us then worship has to begin from the temple of God within us. St.Paul urges us to “present our bodies as living sacrifices holy and acceptable” to the Lord which is our reasonable service or a spiritual act of worship(Rom 12:1). Worship hence has to stem from the depths of our inner being first. It results in a sense of awe of God, it helps us with a constant reminder to how great and awesome our God is, his love, his grace, his power and his greatness, his desire to live in us in spite of us. It should help us realise our frailty, our sinfulness and our finiteness before an almighty and infinite God. 

This attitude helps us to have an upward view of God, an inward view of ourselves and an outward view to carry out the task of being a witness. In other words worship is how we live our lives deep on the inside and the values that govern our lives. True worship should result in a sacrifice of all our “self” to allow a selfless God to rule over our lives. Worship that does not change us is no worship. True worship takes a look on the inside first!!

Worship – Beyond Music.

Music is only a means to an end and not the end in itself, the end being glorifying God who has to be the object of our worship. The singing and playing of instrument has to be done for the audience of one – the one and only Lord our God. Music aides the church to realize that the object of worship is Jesus our Lord and nothing else. 

There are possibilities when the means can become a menace where God is not glorified and is no longer the object of worship. The danger is when the object of worship shifts to someone or something else other than God - it could be the worship leader, the singers or the music itself, or it could be an accomplished musician in the band or it could even be the whole so called misplaced worship exercise where the people end up worshiping “worship” instead of worshiping God.

The deception that we fail to notice is that most of these so called worship concerts end up as just another good musical experience rather than a spiritual experience. We hardly hear of a concert these days where people attended it and had a personal encounter with God, came to a concrete conviction of sin and returned in total repentance and surrender to God, where their lives where transformed. Worship is not limited to worship music or the leader but its beyond the worship leader, the music and the songs.

Worship - The need.

The need of the hour is to come back to the heart of worship in it's purest and truest sense - worshiping God in truth and spirit (Jn 14:24). Coming to the presence of God with conviction about the awesomeness of our God. Knowing this God in concrete terms as our personal Lord and Saviour. Having a personal encounter with Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and an intimate relationship with him as our very source of life. Worship should come out of a realization of our dependence on a God who is high above all, having a very high view and regard for this God who deserves all honour and glory. Worship should come out of a deep reverence to this awesome God who has to be the center of the Worship.

Are we into a deception of having been part of a service which had great worship music? Or are we trying to look deeper than that?

Does our life reflect a worship unto God? 

Do our relationships reflect worship? 

Do our values reflect worship? 

Does our work reflect worship?

The day when we can confidently say "YES" to these questions is the day we have actually arrived at "Worship".

A musical musing!

It is said that the baby in a mother's womb can listen to the sounds outside the womb and that's the reason why pregnant mothers are advised to have some good music going on around them. It not only soothes the mind of the mother but also engages the unborn inside the womb in its responses to sound. The power of music is so much that we find it as an indispensable element of the entertainment world.

Having said that, it is possible that most of us have grown up listening to music from the day our faculties to listen began, even before we were born. Some of us could have listened to more noises than music or more silence than sounds. Whatever it is, music has been all around us.

Having been involved deeply with music for many years now, it fascinates me to discuss about this with people - musicians and non musicians, ardent music lovers as well as casual listeners. I realised then, that not everyone listens to music the same way I do. There are various ways in which they listen. I would like to take you through a list that I developed on the basis of my interactions with people on the various ways in which they relate to music.

• Nonchalant listener - This is the kind of person who is not so impressed by music, but at the same time cannot avoid the notes falling into his ears. However well the music is played it doesn't make sense to him as he least cares about the music but is perhaps engaged in something else more important to him.

• Casual listener - This person listens to music occasionally but does not delve into the music. He loves it but is not so literate when it comes to music as a subject. He appreciates it and feels good or not so good about the music, but it does not inspire him. He can live without music.

• Addictive listener - A compulsive listener to music who cannot do anything without listening to music or having it played in the background. Music is what drives him. This person is obsessed with the pleasure of music. Sometimes his behaviour is affected by the kind of music he listens to. We see this kind of person on the road with his headphones on, shaking his head and walking to the rhythm of the song. Everything in his life needs to be connected to music somehow.

• Critical listener - This listener likes to dissect the music and look into each aspect of it - the way it is played, the details of the production, the people involved, the highlight of the music and also whatever was not so right with the music. In most cases he is either a musician himself or a music critic. This kind of listener is one who has sold himself to music and every time he listens to it, he does it with such deep passion. He loves to experience the flow of the music and enjoys every bit of it irrespective of what the genre is as long as there is some music.

• Emotional listener - This is the listener who associates himself with the context of the song. The lyrics and the melody of the song strikes a chord and he is immediately transported to a different world where he becomes one with the song. It is this segment of the market that the music directors target with their melancholic melodies. Often times in my personal experience I have listened to certain songs and I have immediately associated it with a certain place or a context in the past especially my childhood. I do not have the answer to this linking that happens in the mind. It could be possible that the song was actually played when the incident happened or it just connects to it somehow. However, there is a deep emotional connection  to the melody or the music.

• 'Soul' listener - I would call this the highest level of listening to music as the listener is not so bothered about the quality or the genre of the music  but is deeply concerned as well as connected with the content of the music. He doesn't connect with the music at the mind level but at a level higher than that - at the 'soul' level. He allows the music to calm his restless mind and spirit. The lyrics in the song instills hope in him, touches the point of an inner need and elevates him to a place in his soul where he experiences an inner healing. Here is where most of the divinely ordained music exhibits its power to heal. Music becomes more a medicine than a pleasure to this listener.

It is also said that plants grow to the sound of music and cows produce more milk when music is played. If that be the power of music, as Shakespeare said..."play on!"