I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted about all things your name and your work. -Psalm 138:2
I have been pondering a recent conversation I had over lunch with a friend from church. Inevitably the topic wove its way to a critique of the worship service - the music, the order of worship, yada yada yada. I tried to be patient and understanding and not too critical of the criticizer. And I listened and responded in what I hope was a gentle way. But the exchange left me unsettled and not a little bit disturbed about the attitude so many Christians have about worship in general. Since when did it become about us? What is it that makes us think we go to church to get fed and fired up enough to survive another week until we can come back and refuel and start the weary cycle all over again? Has it never registered with some people that worship is simply and purely about God? And God doesn't care what songs we sing or the order in which we sing them or whether the choir wears robes or jeans. He's not the least bit concerned about whether we use hymnals or power point, or anything else we get ourselves so worked up over. God is more concerned about our hearts and where they are, not just during this one hour on Sunday, but also during the other 167 hours of the week. Worship is just the chance to come together corporately and lift the name of God....to love Him and let Him love on us in a group setting. But true worship has everything to do with God's enjoyment, and little to do with us. I'm no theologian, but, to me, authentic worship is letting the Spirit of God within us connect with the one who created us purely for His good pleasure. We were created to worship Him in everything we do, and it is so much more about surrender than it is about self. That's not to say that we don't derive joy from the process. Oh, we do! But that joy is more from experiencing His presence in a powerful way. It is more internalized than it is for show. We should be far more concerned about whether God is pleased with our praise than we are with ourselves.
