Worship & Idolatry - Day 17

Talking about worship is a lot like talking about music. We all have different tastes and different understandings of what makes "good" worship or "good" music. In some ways it's a little insane of us to attempt mixing the two every Sunday. But what would worship be without music? It's hard to imagine. So we continue to attempt to mix it up. Here's the thing. "Good" worship and "good" can be distractions from appreciating worship and music for what they are. Sometimes we are so caught up in our judgment of what is "good" that we miss the deeper message, deeper gift, that is being held there.




Being the consumers we are, what we deem "good" is a very important quality. We are bombarded with voices, images, and a wide range of items reaching for our "good" stamp. Our consumer senses have refined our ability to judge, and to judge quickly, so as not to waste any time on something unworthy. With so much attention given to our opinions by the thousands of competing sources in our lives, it is no wonder we turn to the Professional Optionionators, the critics, to show us what's best. No matter we devote ourselves to their opinions, almost reverently listening for what they will say about what the President did this time, what teams deserve to make the play offs, or what albums will make their top 10 for the year. The ways our likes, or 5 stars, or brand solidarity, etc. has consumed our way of thinking has become a form of idolatry. This idolatry overcomes our ability to receive the gift of worship.

I've talked to many "church shoppers" over the past few decades. When asking what they like about the church they finally decided to attend, I would hear things like, "I agree with everything the Pastor said." Or, "It's totally my style." These expressions do not come out of a worshiping heart; rather, the idolatry of consumerism.

I understand this is a tricky conversation. I am not trying to put down the idea that we have different ways of expressing ourselves, different spiritual vocabularies, different ways of experiencing God... In fact, this variety is something I understand as being made in the image of God. I don't think we were created for one way of worship. But I do think the weight that we put on what we "get out of it" has taken a tight hold over the purposes of worship. Leaving us bouncing from one place to the next without learning what the Spirit can do through a community committed to each other, no matter their differences.

So what is worship really about? Why do we worship? I'm sure we could make a long list together. Let's work on that list together because I don't think it's possible to do alone.

Here's some thoughts to begin with though... In the first paragraph I equated worship to music. There's something about music that can touch us beyond whether we think it is "good" or our "style." It's hard to put into words, but that music gets us, and we can see that it means something more than our opinion. That's what happens in worship too. Though we may not always pray the same way we would on our own; though we may sing songs we wouldn't usually sing; though we say old words we had nothing to do with writing; or practice a strange ritual or tradition that doesn't completely make sense to us...worship can touch us and pull us out of ourselves in a way we can ever fully explain. When we do that together, practicing in our communities the kingdom God is calling forth in the world, joining the holy conversation between created and Creator, that's when we know it's worship... and nothing else.

I think that is what Matt Redman attempts to get at in his song, The Heart of Worship. So as you reflect on what and when you worship in your life, rifling through the places where idolatry might warp it all, listen, pray, and sing along...

Visit: http://youtu.be/cUakmpfK9XY or watch the embedded video on the blog.