So Called Worship?

[EliasEmmanuel]

I have been doing a little soul searching this weekend and have found that one of the driving forces behind my perspective on praise and worship is that I do not feel that we have been created to be in a relationship with God, but rather we have been created for God's glory (Isa 43:6-7). There are compelling arguments for the flipside, but nothing that directly states that we have been created so that God can have a relationship with us. (Please do not let this paragraph detract from the original purpose of this thread).

So in recognizing that our lives, as a whole, should be devoted to the glorification of God (Rom 12:1-2), in what other circumstances do we, as a body, get to praise God for who He is and what He has done?

I don't mean to do exactly what you said not to, but.... if we're not designed to relate to God personally (and vice versa), why the proliferation of scriptures where God speaks of Himself as a Father or Husband, and Jesus (and the early church's) references to God as "Abba" (ie: Papa)? WHy all the talk in the NT about living by the Spirit and Jesus' words about being an intimately involved in our lives (ie: "My Father and I will come in and make our home...")?

Just curious. IMO what you believe about how God relates to us is going to have a big effect on how you approach worship.

 

[praiseman41]

Holy is the Lord ...the whole earth sings...

 

[growingupinhim]

I agree , I like songs that reflect scripture, like psalms

 

[Grolin]

Worship is to glorify God.

Of course, we're very very VERY limited in our perspective of things.

I mean, how do we know God? Through His interaction with us... and I don't know about you, but I don't see God Himself when I go to class during the week.
How do we see God? Through the really filtered, imperfect view of Him that we find in the people the Spirit dwells in (ie. Christians) and through how He affects our lives and the lives of those around us.

To put it simply:
Though the whole "I" and "we" thing can be a little much, really, we don't meet God Himself face-to-face (we'd be toasted if we did).
And a lot of us are pretty bad at abstract things. It's one thing to sing "how great Thou art" and quite another thing to remember an occasion during which you witnessed how great God is.

And also... let's not fool ourselves, many people aren't going to "experience God" 24/7 or anything resembling constancy. So much of Psalms talks about that- a longing for God, a trust that He is there and will respond... even when He seems distant, absent even.
A song that's like "I want to yearn for You, I want to burn with passion" or "I want to know You..." yes it's about what "I" want, but is that desire something that would please God? Just because it's about what "I" want doesn't necessarily mean it's bad.

 

[ditzie]

I think I understand what you're saying. I have to agree that much of our so called worship songs are very self centered. I am a song writer and write songs that are birthed from prayer and times of intimacy with Him. Many of the songs I write are focused on the relationship between He and I and could never be used for corporate worship because they include too many personal things that no one else would be able torelate to. However, many of them are focused on HIm and who He is and are used for corporate worship. I agree with the person who stated that worship is not music. It isn't. It's a vehicle to express worship. True worship is a heart of obedience to His Word, His Will and His purpose. Being a good steward of what He's given is worship. If you're a husband, working every day for yourfamily is worship. If you're a house wife, taking good care of what He's given you is worship. watching over your children and teaching them His ways are worship. the list goes on and on. It's living what you're singing. It's a life laid down. It's decreasing so He can increase. It's preferring one another.

 

[huntertim]

I have been a worship leader for about 10 years and I have been involved in worship for many more. I have grown more in the last year in the realm of worship than ever before. Worship is such an important part of our EVERDAY life and we just seem to over look.

I feel our approach to worship has been tainted for the past several years. I am not talking about style or what church we are in or anything like that. To call worship contemporary or traditional is wrong. It is much deeper than a style. As in most cases, we have made worship a selfserving part of our services. We come into church sing songs and after the service discuss how blessed we were or were not in the service. We rate the worship service like a movie.

I have news for all. ITS NOT ABOUT US. The word was created for us... worship is for God. We do not worship to be blessed, we worship to give glory to God. Jesus died for us all.... he deserves so much more. I have a burning desire that God experiences us in worship.... yes you read that right. We seem to want to see God and then worship. If we can get to the point that we come in ready to worship we are going to see a change in our services. We will not be judging the presence of God in our services because it will be evident. Peoples lives will be changed.

I ask all of us... what are we bringing to God (not only on Sundays, but everyday) as our offering. Roman 12:1 says "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.

Its a life style... not a music style.