But I Don’t Like the Music

I imagine that police officers hear some pretty good stories when they ask people why they do what they do.  Stories students tell about why they didn’t do their homework can be epic.  I’ve been tempted myself when my wife asks why I didn’t get the laundry done…. well, that’s a different topic…  or maybe right on topic.

Excuses.  We tend to be pretty good at them when we want to get out of something, or explain why we want to get out of something.  We even tell them to ourselves – and we believe them!  We use excuses about everything in the book – from why we didn’t feed the dog, to why we didn’t take out the trash, to why we don’t exercise… why we don’t go to church regularly, why we don’t read our bibles daily, why we don’t give… even why we won’t engage and participate in the worship service.

As a worship pastor, I spend a lot of time thinking about… well, worship.  Specifically engaging people in worship.  God has given us this awesome privilege – this ability to approach the throne of God and express ourselves to Him.; to respond to His goodness in our lives.  It’s a free glimpse into what Heaven is going to be like.  Yet as with so many other aspects of our lives, many of us choose to avoid what is good; what is right; what we should be doing.

There’s a lot of reasons.  For someone who’s not “a believer,” it would be very difficult to engage in worship authentically.  How can you worship a God you don’t know?  If you’re in that camp, then let me encourage you – keep seeking.  Find out what Jesus is really about.  Find out what all those people mean when they ask you, “Have you been saved?”  It’s literally, seriously, the most important thing that you can do in your life.  And if you would like help in that journey, don’t hesitate to call me or e-mail me – I’d literally, seriously love to tell you about Him; what He’s done in my life and what He can do in yours.

As for believers – those who “confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord, and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead…” – well, like I said, some of us are pretty good at excuses.  Don’t get me wrong – I know a bunch of people who really seem to get this right.  But I’ve also seen the prolific use of every excuse that you could possibly think of to avoid fully engaging in worship – to either just stand there during the time and watch what happens, or even worse to purposely avoid coming for the worship part of the service and arrive late to “catch the message.”  Some are excuses that we tell ourselves.  Some are excuses that we tell others.  Most of the time when I hear them, though, it’s 2^nd hand – either through a comment card that wasn’t signed, or a spouse telling me what their husband or wife thinks, etc.  And every time, I am thinking, “If only I had an opportunity to respond to that concern; to speak some truth into that way of thinking; to give another point of view.  So… I’m going to take this opportunity to do just that.  To respond.  To give another point of view.  To speak some truth.

Now, just one quick disclaimer.  Right here, right now, I’m talking about corporate worship.  The kind where the church gathers together and as a body worships our Savior.  Make no mistake – I fully believe and agree that worship should be an every day occurrence.   We should make it part of our lives.  But there’s something special when a body of believers gets together and gives God His due.  That’s what I’m talking about here.  So… lets see if we recognize any of the following – in others, or maybe even ourselves.  Here’s how I would respond to some of the most common concerns or excuses about “entering into” corporate worship.

• I don’t like the music.  When we go to church, the music starts.  When the music is “good,” then we say we have a good worship time.  There are a lot of definitions of “good.”  My seven-year-old has already shown me that there’s going to be a music gap a mile long in our house.  Everybody has a style preference.  Some like it fast.  Some like it slow.  Some like it big and full.  Some like it light and transparent.  But here’s the big thing here.  The music isn’t for you.  Not really.  We spend a lot of time and energy and money trying to create an atmosphere that will engage people, but when it’s all said and done, whether we like the music or not is irrelevant.  What’s relevant is whether or not God likes the music.  It’s for Him.  It’s about Him.  And I’m pretty sure He’s more interested in the heart behind what’s going on than the sound itself.  He’s interested in the feeling behind the words, “I love You, Lord,” not the style it’s sung in.

One thing that’s pretty clear is that worship is one of the common denominators between this life and the next.  We see it all over the scriptures.  Yet never once have I read a passage with angels singing praises to God, but somewhere in the sixth row back one looks to another and says, “Well, that just isn’t my style.  I don’t like this song.”  Kind of ridiculous to think about, but it’s the same thing.  I’m pretty sure the angels are focused on what’s truly important – ascribing worth to our Almighty God!

There’s nothing wrong with having style preferences.  There’s nothing wrong with preferring certain songs, or certain singers, or whatever.  But (and please get this) when we allow those preferences to get in the way of us fully entering into worship, we are cheating ourselves out of an experience with God and cheating God out of the praise that is His due.

• I don’t like to sing.  I recently wrote another blog article on a similar topic.   You can look it up here: http://wp.me/p12dNI-m.  The summery is this:  for whatever reason, God set it up that worship, and specifically singing to Him, is something that He likes.  So, our personal preferences in this area are nowhere near as important as God’s preferences.  But let me address this in another way.

I grew up Catholic.  We went to church every single week.  There was a lot of singing.  A lot.  I felt the same way as many of you did.  I didn’t like to sing.  That’s one of the little ironies of life that my mom likes to bring up every once in awhile – how resistant to singing I was in church for all of my childhood.  As I got older, though, and as my relationship with God matured, I realized that the singing portion of the service wasn’t for me.  And so I gave it a try – little by little.  And I realized something important:  there is truth when the scriptures say “In His presence there is fullness of joy.”  When I started to fully enter into worship – getting beyond my own likes, wants and desires – I realized that God gave back.  He gives back joy.  He gives back peace.  He gives back so much more than I can possibly offer Him.  That’s just the way He works.  So… if this is you; if you are someone who has historically not engaged because of this or other similar reasons, let me give you one challenge, born out of personal experience.  Try it.  Give it a try.  Fully enter into worship – not just singing the songs, but giving the words to God.  See if He doesn’t return your offering by blessing you in ways that you never imagined.

• I feel self-conscious with others around me. Guess what.  I do too.  When I’m thinking about singing or public speaking and I’m focusing on other people’s reactions, it makes me nervous.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret that people who know me well know but people that mostly see me leading worship at church sometimes find difficult to believe.  I am a rabid introvert.  I’m shy.  I find interpersonal communication difficult when it’s with new people.  I’m not a performer by nature – I actually would prefer to not be seen at all most of the time.  But when I am leading worship – whether it’s with song, prayer, or just talking about God, He changes something inside of me.  He gives me the grace and ability to be more extroverted.  Here’s the trick – I can only do that when I’m fully focusing on Him.  I’ve tried some more “teaching” oriented roles, and I sound like I have the mental capacity of a pigeon.  It’s not good.  I get nervous, and I stumble over my words and thoughts.

Here’s the point.  Self-consciousness is caused by focusing on ourselves.  When we become God-conscious, we are changing the focus of our attention.  We’re changing from, “What will that person think of me if I raise my hands in worship?” to “God, does it please you if I raise my hands in worship?”  We stop caring what everyone else is thinking about and focus solely on pleasing God the Father – the One we’re here to see anyway.  It’s incredibly freeing.  King David of the bible once had people commenting on his worship – essentially saying that he was being undignified.  Instead of being concerned with what others thought, he (and this is a man that God called “a man after God’s own heart) essentially said, “I’ll be even more undignified if it will bring glory to my God.”  So, next time you struggle with this one, let me suggest telling yourself to focus fully on God, not on others, and see if He won’t do a mighty work in your life.

• I don’t have a good voice.  This is a simple one.  Who cares?  Who really cares how you sound?  God says to sing.  He says to “make a joyful noise.”  He never said that you have to take singing lessons to do so.  We’re definitely not all gifted in the area of singing and music.  Again, I say, who cares?  God has given different gifts to different people.  My wife is an extremely gifted teacher of children.  Pastor George is gifted in shepherding and teaching in the church.  Some people can help others in discipleship.  Some with financial understanding.  Some with counseling.  Etc.  Etc.  Each and every one of these people – each and every one of us have exactly the same potential to bring joy to the heart of God with worship.  It has nothing at all to do with musical gifting and everything to do with giving to Him from deep within ourselves an offering of praise that is His due.

Now, that’s not to say there isn’t a place for those who are gifted in this area.  I am a firm believer (and I believe the scriptures back this up) in people serving in the area of their giftedness.  Those who are gifted to teach – should teach.  Those who are gifted to lead should lead.  Likewise, those who have musical gifts should be the ones helping lead the congregation in the musical portion of the service.  But everyone – EVERYONE – has been created to worship.  Not having a musical gift might mean that you aren’t up on stage leading the worship, but each and every person in the congregation doing their part and participating in authentic worship is just as important to the worship experience as the band, singers, and worship leaders.  God cares much more for the heart behind the voice than the voice itself – and He created the voice anyway.  To Him, everyone’s voice is pure beauty when it’s offered to Him in praise.

OK, this is getting a little (a lot) long, so let me just make a quick summery.  God wants us to worship.  There is power when we do this together.  There are many other excuses I’ve heard on this subject that I could talk about, but most generally come down to this:  either we’re focusing on ourselves; our wants, our needs, our desire; or we’re focusing on God. When we force ourselves to be less “self-conscious” and become  more “God-conscious,” a whole new world is opened up to us.

I was recently discussing a teaching that Darlene Zschech gave with the other worship leaders in our organization, and one point really stuck out to me.  She (Ms. Zschech) stated that our enemy is purposely, consciously, and regularly giving us more and more excuses to avoid worship.  How scary.   There’s not a whole lot we know about what heaven is going to be like, but one thing is sure – worship will be the main event.  We will be in the literal presence of God Himself, and just as we see in so many examples in the bible, the obvious and immediate response will be worship.  Right here, right now, we have the opportunity to practice for eternity.  Let’s not let anything – our excuses,, our self-focus, the enemy – let’s not let anything get in the way.  Let’s let our praises ring!  Let’s make worship the main event!   Let’s set ourselves aside, and give our savior His due.  Let’s worship!

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