The Heart of Worship

Worship.  What is it all about? 

Is it about the style of music we want to hear and sing?  If you prefer traditional hymns, but contemporary songs are sung and played, does that interfere with your ability to worship? 

Is it about which version of the Bible from which the Scripures are read?  Can you hear Scripture only if it is from the old King James version?  Does that version turn you off so that you can't hear what the Bible says?

Must the pastor wear robe and stole for it to be "real" worship?  Does the robe and stole seem too pretentious or "high and mighty"?  What if the pastor were to wear blue jeans and a "WWJD" T-shirt while preaching?

Worship includes such things as style of music, different versions of the Bible, different dress codes for the pastor, and many, many other things.  However, worship is not ABOUT any of those things!

When certain elements of a worship service prevent us from worshipping, perhaps we have lost sight of what worship is really all about.  So, what is worship all about?  What is the heart of worship?

Worship is all about Jesus!  You knew I was going to say that didn't you?  Well, it happens to be true. 

Our music should point us to Jesus, no matter what the style.  We should try to hear the message of the music, even if we don't like the tune. 

Scripture, by definition, points us to Jesus.  I understand the all the "thees and thous" of the King James version are foreign to our ears, but some Christian traditions refuse to hear any other version.  That is sad.  Because the version of Scripture used is far from the point.  The point is allowing the Scripture to show us something about Jesus.

And really?  What do the preacher's clothes have to do with anything?  Sure, the preacher should be presentable, but does wearing a robe, or not, really matter?  There are times when I feel that wearing a robe and stole are more appropriate for the occasion, Communion Sunday for example.  But, there are other times when it might be most appropriate for me to wear jeans!  It depends more on what message God gives me than on what is comfortable.

Oops.  I think I just stumbled across the thing that most often gets in the way of our worship.  It's that word "comfortable"!  Can we be uncomfortable and worship at the same time?

You betcha!  Think about Paul and Silas, in prision, their feet in stocks, their hands shackled.  They were singing and praying and praising God even in those decidedly uncomfortable circumstances!  Oh! and mighty things happened as a result of their worship!

We can worship under any circumstances, as long as we remember that Jesus is the heart of worship.  Whenever we forget that truth and start thinking that WE are the heart of worship ... well, you know what happens.

Be blessed!
Pastor Mark