I love to worship.
I believe we are doing a pretty good ministry of worship at Living Word Community Church where I serve as the pastor of leadership development and spiritual formation.
I know our worship leaders (three on staff) have a heart of worship and a longing for God and a desire to have a worshipping congregation.
I am grateful.
I always desire more (mas, magis) for the glory of God and the sake of his people.
So, these words from John Piper stopped me cold and led to some fruitful personal meditation.
If the Christian life has become the path of ease and fun in the modern West, then corporate worship is the place of increasing entertainment.
The problem is not a battle between contemporary worship music and hymns; the problem is that there aren't enough martyrs during the week. If no soldiers are perishing, what you want on Sunday is Bob Hope and some pretty girls, not the army chaplain and a surgeon...
Worship is the display of the surpassing worth of God revealed in Jesus Christ...
Faith-filled suffering is essential in this world for the most intense, authentic worship...
Our problem is not styles of worship. Our problem is styles of life. When we embrace more affliction for ht worth of Christ there will be more fruit in the worship of Christ.
John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, pp 167-169
Pretty powerful words.
It is the quality and integrity of one's Christian life in the world that shapes what one looks for and needs in the time of corporate worship in the sanctuary.
How you live shapes how you worship and how you need to worship.
Sometimes I come to the worship service and my heart is cool, my mind distracted, my passion for Jesus tempered and my previous week lukewarm.
Pity the worship leader and team... for now I expect him or her to entertain me, pick me up, charge me up... and of course I'll be the critic and judge for lights, sound, style, energy, mistakes...
Other times I come to the worship service and my heart is aflame for Christ, I am in the midst of challenging times and heavy demands, I know my need, I long for God.
Pray for the worship leader and team... for now I need her or him to create a sacred space and a pathway of worship so I, weary and worn from battle and costly service, together with others, may meet with God.
If one is seriously following Christ in the world, passionate about His glory, and devoted to accomplishing His purposes . . . then you are going to have some trial and tribulation, you are going to face obstacles and enemies and then you are going to need a fresh and real encounter with the Sovereign God in worship to sustain you on the journey and in the fight.
Worship leaders and worshippers . . .
. . . how are you worshipping these days?
Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com
