I had a wonderful encounter the other morning with God. It is not unnatural for the human mind to get lost in its worries and cares, its intellectual struggles and its relational burdens.
But I have found this. I may analyze, categorize and de-romanticize the nuts and bolts of worship, Christian worship, contemporary worship, emerging worship and the act of leading or participating in its activity. I may become so routinized in my functions, roles and personal patterns that I lose sight of my context as a child of God, in a bright, beautiful and broken world. I may delve into the wider arts, culture, religion, philosophy and worldview. And yet…
When I lift my voice in a simple, or artful, lyric and melody that affirms who God is, His goodness, His trustworthiness, His praise-worthiness, my heart is moved over time. It seems that God responds to expressed words of acclamation and appreciation, affection and trust.
My disorientation gives way to orientation; my feeble attempts to course-correct my own interior life find hope and reason trickling toward them, infusing them with life from without.
Someone once asked me why I led the act of musical worship, in the ways and with the consistency that I do.
I said, “I have to. It keeps me alive. I also have to because it orients others, and keeps them alive in the wear and tear of life.”
Enjoy art, bear the responsibilities of life, see worship as a whole life, sacramental response to the goodness of God, do justice, love mercy, care for the poor, embrace the sacraments, incarnate the teaching of Jesus, celebrate and aid your neighbor, but please…
Do not withhold worship, as expressed through songs of direct prayer, thanks and communication to God.
It will orient you, and heal you, over time.
Let your praise be heard, with words, in addition to actions and thoughts. The emerging Church systems and philosophies we are building must keep music integral to our forethought. There is something about singing that is vital to all who walk the human concourse.
