[This post is part of a series on Leading Your Team & Congregation Through Worship Tensions. Check out the rest here.]
Cliches are an interesting breed.
We typically shy away from using them or roll our eyes when we hear them. We consider people “trite” or “inauthentic” who speak in cliches. They’re just giving easy answers to complex problems, right?
But there really is truth to be heard behind them.
“Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water” or “See the glass as half full” or “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”. True statements, good lessons, but due to sheer repetition, they’ve become numb to our minds.
How about these: “We were created to worship” or “Worship is not about songs, it’s a lifestyle”.
I understand that worship is a lifestyle. Absolutely. But I wonder if sheer repetition of the phrase has made its truth numb to our minds, and more importantly, our day to day lives.
Has the “life as worship” cliche been minimized to a phrase that we say and preach and write books about and make t-shirts and products that sell?
How do we measure a lifestyle of worship? How do you know if you’re living it?
These are the questions I’m asking as I probe my own heart:
Personal “Lifestyle of Worship” Quiz
Are you the same person behind the scenes as you are on stage?
Are you quick to confess your sins?
Does the Word of God move you to action?
Does your thinking reflect a renewed mind?
Is the person and work of Christ daily upon your tongue?
These are the questions I’m asking for my church:
Corporate “Lifestyle of Worship” Quiz
What would it look like if your entire church showed up ready to worship on Sunday?
What if our weekdays fueled our weekends?
What if our people didn’t need to be hyped up?
What if the church prepared their own hearts for congregational worship beforehand?
What if there was an expectation for the glory of God to come every service?
It’s typical for people to be a bit distracted on Sunday morning. I mean, they have spouses, children, jobs, events, activities and they stumble into Sunday morning for a “2 hour energy” of God to fuel yet another crazy week.
If worship is a lifestyle, are we truly living it?
Question: What does it mean to live a “lifestyle of worship” both personally and corporately? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Great stuff, Dave! It’s a blessing to work with you each week for one, because you practice what you preach. Your blog is tearing it up!!
Thanks Kate!
“What if our weekdays fueled our weekends?” – Very challenging indeed.
Let’s believe for it bro!
What does that mean exactly?
Convicting questions for us worship leaders. It doesn’t feel cliched to me.
I think David Peterson in “Engaging God” and maybe Harold Best in “Unceasing Worship” discuss the idea of our gathered worship in community being a continuation of our individual lives of worship.
Love your corporate lifestyle questions. Excellent for encouraging a worshiping culture, I think. Worship is the work of all the people, not the worship team. Keep encouraging everybody to bring it.
Worship is the work of all the people – brilliant line. Thanks for the encouragement Rob. Haven’t read “Engaging God”. Is it a keeper?
OH yea, Peterson is much quoted. I highly recommend both books, Harold Best’s “Unceasing Worship” is brilliant.
This is a great topic. “weekdays fueling our weekends” is brilliant. I believe our first ministry is to God. The Holy of Holies is about Him. I like how Derek Prince put it. We enter courts with thanksgiving, our thankfulness for all He has done. “He is greatly to be praised,” we praise Him for who He is. (I believe half hearted praise is an insult, but that’s for another day) Worship is how we value/honor His Holiness. What is it that sets Him apart from all the other gods. What is it about Him that makes Him so valuable? That’s worship and to express that in song is a gift, indeed! Thanks David!
Wise words, Sandy. I’m actually speaking to our ministry school about this tomorrow – God honoring worship flows from true thoughts about God. We’ve got to worship him for WHO he is. Thanks for this!
God-given talents we show how grateful we are for them. And it shows our satisfaction with what God has given us with. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please Him. When we worship God, it is more than music. we use our talents as we aim to glorify God shows how satisfied we are in our relationship with the Lord.