Before getting to the main part of the article, I want to tell you a story. This is the story behind the song that we’ve all probably heard multiple times: The Heart of Worship. If you haven’t heard it yet, go give it a quick listen. The Heart of Worship is a song that was written by Matt Redman, over 20 years ago, after going through a time when his church forgot the true meaning of worship. The church was getting tunnel-visioned into the quality of music, so much so that they started losing sight of God. As a result, the pastor of the church banned instrumental music in their Sunday services, until they recovered what they had lost. This song reflects their journey through that time, and I reckon that we as a fellowship are going through a similar journey. We need to recover an understanding of what worship really is.
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
What is worship, and why do we do it? Is worship just another “Christianese” term that we’ve started using to mean singing? Sometimes it feels that way, doesn’t it? You’ll come to a Christian fellowship, and you’ll hear the leaders say, “now, let’s have a time of worship,” in which they proceed to start playing music and singing. For a newcomer or an uninformed Christian, what else could these people be referring to? Some people might claim that this isn’t such a big deal. They can argue that it technically isn’t even wrong to say “worship” when they really mean musical worship. What’s happening might not be theologically wrong, but let’s take a moment to seriously consider this. Is this dangerous? Are we misleading younger Christians into a misunderstanding of worship? How deadly is a false understanding of worship?
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart
One question we can ask ourselves is this: “how important is our worship of God?” I’m prepared to argue that worship is one of THE most important things for any human being. It’s so crucial to us, that I think a life without the proper worship of God is a wasted one. Just like a book that is never read, or an instrument that is never played, a life without the worship of God is a waste. This is because as humans, we were made to worship. Worship defines our relationship with our Creator. Right worship means right relations with God, and incorrect or no worship means wrong relations with God. When done correctly, worship is the glorious fulfillment of our purpose.
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath!
Our lives aren’t about us. The Bible says in Colossians 1:16 that “all things were created through Him and for Him.” The Westminster Catechism states that “man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” If glorifying, praising, and enjoying God is the purpose of man, then we should really start caring about worship.
Is worship just singing a song to God? No. Worship is so much more than that. Romans 12:1 defines worship like this: “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.” When God commanded us to worship, He meant so much more than just a song. He meant from all that we are, both our heart and mind — our very lives, lived out for Him.
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
Wouldn’t it be sad if the only time your actions had meaning was when you were singing a song? That would be tragic. While singing can be a form of worship, that’s merely one way out of many. It’s a good thing that we can worship God in other ways than just music, because there’s more to life than music. God gave us life and intended our every action to be done in worship of Him, even our act of eating — So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). If that is the case, then not only should we worship when we sing, but rather we should always be worshipping, at every moment of our lives.
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
How do we know if we or someone else is worshipping God in everything they do? The answer is… we don’t. But God does. God sees everything, even our every thought and motive. God sees the heart, and the heart is where many fail. We might sing a song, or do a good deed that we ought to do, but oftentimes our heart is in the wrong place. The Israelites in the Bible had this very issue. God hated this, and said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me.” (Matthew 15:8–9) Let’s be different from them. We should be better. As Christians who’ve been changed and transformed by the Gospel, we are called to worship God with all of our being, in spirit and in truth. “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
My hope in writing this is that when we gather for musical worship, we would do so with proper hearts. No more singing just for the sake of singing or because we like the music, but let’s sing with true hearts of true worship. Not only that, but let’s continue worshipping God outside of music as well. I want to see the day when our fellowship is filled with people who worship God both in and out of fellowship hours. I hope that this would be your desire too, that we would be glorifying God no matter what we’re doing, whether it's work, playing games, or just talking to each other. Let’s be Christians who love and fight to worship every moment of our lives, all for Jesus’ sake, because it’s all about Him.
