When I say "worship," most people think of the music part of a church service, so that's what I'll focus on. There's a lot of elements to it and maybe some other time I'll focus on what worship is.
Everyone has their preferences on what they do in worship. Some want to hear hymns. Other want to hear contemporary songs. In fact, there's a whole genre of music devoted to worshiping God. You can often find some of these songs on the radio on stations like KLOVE. However, that's not all there is. I wasn't introduced to this entire genre until I was in high school and I realized how much I was missing out. Now, by no means am I saying to totally abandon the hymns. They're part of a rich tradition through many years of Christianity. Then, there are the choices between how loud the music should be and what the lights should look like. But me ranting about these different choices isn't why you wanted to read this article.
Why do I close my eyes in worship? One might say that it's what they see everyone else doing, so it's just the right thing to do. That's how Christianity continued for many years, people watching others understand what to do. I'm sure there are many who are still doing this. We, as a Church, have a tendency to not share things like that. We get into habits and routine, and just expect everyone else to fall into that routine.
Maybe, at one point in time, that's why I closed my eyes in worship. Over time that changed into something I was wondering about myself. Just why do we close our eyes in worship? There's got to be a deeper reason behind it.
About a year ago, there was an article posted online about why Christian music made the author leave Christianity. One of the things he discussed was how people closed their eyes and raised their hands in worship while singing lyrics that either didn't make sense or didn't apply to them. It really got me thinking. I've been thinking about it ever since. As a future worship leader, it pains me to know that someone became disillusioned because of the worship.
So what was it that bothered him so much? It seemed to him that everyone around him was just going with the flow instead of really paying attention to what was going on. They weren't phased by the nonsensical lyrics. They just kept singing and raised their hands at the "appropriate" time in the song. These lyrics were trying to make an analogy, but the analogy didn't make much sense. In any case, what bothered him the most was that despite the lyrics, people kept going as if nothing was wrong. No one even noticed his distress.
In light of this, is it really okay that we spend our time worshiping God with our eyes shut? Are we really just trying to shut out everyone else and have one on one time with God? I feel that many people are. I also don't feel like this is the right approach. We're supposed to get that one on one time when we spend time in worship in our quiet places.
However, there is such a thing as corporate worship. This is a time when the church community in the area gets together to praise God together as one body, one being. It's a special thing that is a whole different level to worshiping God. Not only are we joining with our brothers and sisters who are immediately around us, but we're joining with the entire Church. Not just those who are around the world, but we're joining everyone who has ever praised God.
This is why I worship God with my eyes closed. When I close my eyes, I can imagine better the rest of the church. It's like the voices I hear around me don't just belong to my local church body. There's something special about that, and you can't find it anywhere else. I close my eyes so that I can imagine myself in that throne room, praising God with my entire being. I close my eyes so that I can imagine the rest of the Church with me. I close my eye so that I can hear the Church praising God with their entire beings.
When you worship Him on your own time, that's up to you. Praise Him however you want. I'm not telling you how to praise Him. As I said at the beginning of this article, everyone has their own preferences. However, I urge you to imagine yourself joining with the entire Church when you worship corporately, at least once. There's nothing like praising Him together with the rest of the Church. There's something to it that can't be explained.
