Worship

I have been thinking a lot about worship lately. Maybe not only lately, since I go to a worship practice every week and keep it very close to my every day life. However, I have been looking more closely at its meaning, it’s purpose, and how we exemplify it. While I fully recognize that worship is much more than music, but rather how we live our lives to glorify God through a beautiful variety of means, I am thinking specifically of worshipping through music, particularly as a body. Whether you’re at church, a worship event, or another outlet of corporate music, there are some things we all think about, and some things I’d like to put out there.

Depending on what type of church you attend or grew up in, you’ve seen different styles of expressing gratitude and glory to God while worship music is being played by a group of musicians. And if you’re at all like me, you have analyzed the heck out of it to make sure you do it right and react appropriately.

If you’re brave enough you raise a hand. If you’re extra spiritual, you can raise two hands, but probably only during the bridge of the song when it gets intense. The half raised hands with upward palms is for when you really want to receive, maybe during a slow song. You can sit or lie down if it’s time to reflect, and you can jump and dance when it’s exuberantly exciting. Sound about right?

I’m not trying to be cheeky, I have just genuinely felt this way most of my life of being a music worshipper. And I think most of it is ridiculous. The over analyzing, not the actions themselves.

The place that I think I personally learned the most about worship was at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California where my brother attended last year. Justin and I drove down there in May to visit for a week and bring him home. It was one of the most radical experiences of my life, which is where much of this blogging stems from. I’m not living off a high, I just received an incredible amount of revelation and real life experience. The way they do worship is absolutely phenomenal, contagious, and full of life and Spirit filled actions. The entire church, school, leaders, and people are filled with the love of Christ, the power of God, and the moving of the Holy Spirit. You can’t help but feel the Presence of God in that place as soon as someone strums on a guitar. It’s an entire culture that I won’t dive into now, except that the worship was incredible. They have Bethel albums and are the church that birthed Jesus Culture.

What amazed me the most about the way they did musical worship was the freedom. Though some of the spiritual reactions seemed a bit odd, it was so incredibly freeing to be a part of something like that. They had people painting beautiful prophetic art on the stage. Sometimes they would have people with ribbons, and other times the most gorgeous dancing I’ve ever seen. The people in the crowd moved in any way they felt led, sometimes in ways I didn’t know was ok. The worship leaders were full of joy and reverence and motion. I wanted it all. Well maybe not the yelling, but most everything else.

The revelation I received from this came down to the Holy Spirit. Being filled up with the Spirit and God’s Presence is such a phenomenal experience, that when you worship Him, all you want to do is outpour what He has filled you with. You can give back to Him in whatever way feels normal and freeing for you. If you’ve thought about doing something while in worship that you maybe didn’t think was regular or you didn’t know why you wanted to do it, there is a chance that it is the Holy Spirit encouraging you to be free in His Presence. And so I danced.

I’ve been dancing on teams for a few years, heard about, and sometimes seen prophetic dancing during praise and worship. But I never felt that it was something I should or even could do in a corporate setting. I had never done it privately either. But Bethel was full of people who danced for their King with such grace and purity of heart. Not everyone would be considered a dancer, but it was done with such honour that they all looked beautiful. One night, I decided to try it, and I think I ended up weeping with joy at the freedom I experienced. I often envisioned myself dancing in God’s throne room before Him, and now I could actually do it with people around. Passion Project is currently my only outlet to dance in a corporate worship setting, but I enjoy every moment of it.

It really has nothing to do with me and what I’m thinking other people are thinking about. That’s the other thing. Since WHEN did worship start being about other people?! It’s been said time and time again that we shouldn’t worry about the people around us and only focus on God. But we do it all the time! Am I singing too loudly? Will I hit someone with my arms if I raise them? Is anyone noticing how intense I’m getting? Do I look too bored? It’s absurd, and completely opposite to our point in being there. Worship isn’t even really about you and what you are comfortable with. Worship is a SACRIFICE. Jeremiah 33:11 says that we bring Him a sacrifice of praise. Sometimes while we’re singing we need to step out of our comfort zones and do something that glorifies God. We decrease ourselves as He increases.

How do you sacrifice yourself when you worship Him?