It would be near impossible to count the number of times I've heard the song "Oceans" since it debuted my freshman year of high school. The same goes for "Good Good Father" and "I Can Only Imagine". Don't get me wrong, these songs are nothing short of stunningly written, but there are definitely times when I think to myself, "Why are they playing this again?" Last week during a worship service run by Mizzou's Christian Campus House, "The Well", I was reminded why.
There's a classic song by Matt Redman that I remember singing when I was a kid and I got to go with my parents to "big church" (the regular adult service as opposed to my regular Sunday school). I loved the music, but I had never realized the meaning behind the lyrics and the simplicity of the instruments until the worship leader at the Well told us the story of its origination prior to singing the song. Redman wrote "Heart of Worship" during a time when his home church was feeling indifferent towards their time spent in praise. "There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing. He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away," Matt recalled during an interview with Crosswalk. Hearing the song again for the first time in countless years was a bit of a wake-up call.
My goodness, is it ever so easy to get lost in everything going on around us and to get distracted from the actual praising of our God. That's what real worship is-- lifting up your voice and giving praise as offering to the Creator. We need to focus more on that worship, making sure that it's not about if we like a song or not, if we've heard it a million times, or if we don't think the person standing next to us is a very good singer. It is all about our God. He wants our full, undivided attention because He loves us and want us to know Him more.
The next time you're listening to worship, zero in on the lyrics. Pay attention to what the song is saying, and sing without inhibition. Discover a newfound love for those songs that once seemed annoying. Come before the King vulnerably and unconditionally. Thank Him for all that He's done. Dwell in the presence of the Spirit. Choose not to simply go through the motions. I promise it will change the way you worship when you focus completely on God.
"I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all about You, Jesus. I'm sorry, Lord for the thing I've made it when it's all about You-- all about You, Jesus."
