A Capella singing and our "Heart of Worship"

Doxologue has a great post on the plans to worship with no instrument other than the human voice this coming weekend. I agree with their post when they say that this is not the only way to worship. What caught my attention here was David's thoughts about the words and even the thoughts behind what we're singing. He also mentions that even if we sing beautifully, God doesn't want that offering if the words we sing don't match the attitudes in our hearts.

First, we need to concentrate on what we're singing. As one of my pastors used to tell us - the only thing that makes a song "Christian" is the lyrics. A lot of our more popular hymns have melodies taken from popular songs of the day, including drinking songs.

Second, do the words we sing line up with what's in our heart? Are we singing songs that praise God for his blessings while we are consumed with thoughts on how we can manage our money better? Do we completely contradict those words by thinking, "What blessings?"

Third, are we so consumed by the type of music we're singing that we don't really mean what we're singing? I tend not to prefer "contemporary" style worship. However, that does not mean that it should affect my ability to worship God through guitars and drums. Other countries have completely different styles of music used to worship God - probably a whole lot different than anything I'll ever hear in the USA. Will that stop me from offering my praise? If I were to attend a church that only used guitars/drums/praise band, will that hinder me? (And I'm not proud to admit that I've definitely put self first some of those days when that did happen.)

Lastly, David brings up a good point on how our main instrument to worship God is our voice. And behind that, our hearts. The best band, the best choir, the best praise team, the best director - all mean nothing if our heart is not in unison with the words proceeding from our mouths. God looks at the heart. He knows what we're offering to Him.

Am I offering my best when I sing to Him or am I just singing? Am I singing to glorify myself or Him? I know that I'll be thinking about this next time I'm singing corporately.

Vain Worship (from Pastorway)

OK - this post (pastorway: Vain Worship) got me thinking quite a bit. Am I like the people he mentions in Ezekiel 33? Am I someone who pursues teaching, but doesn't do what the teacher says? Am I like the people Jesus talks about in Matthew 15:8-9? Do I draw
near to Him in the physical sense yet distance myself or even go the opposite way spiritually? Pastor Way writes a great devotional discussing true worship vs. vain worship.

How am I applying or not applying the truths from the messages or Sunday School lessons I've heard lately? How am I changed day by day? In short, am I worshiping in vain or in truth?

Worship - who?

Been reading Bob Kauflin's blog, "Worship Matters" quite a bit lately and he posted some notes from India that got me thinking. He mentioned something about how going over there helped him realize what parts of worship were cultural and what parts were desired by God. He said that the different languages and practices really narrowed that down.

That got me thinking about the way we worship here in the USA. Too often, we're caught up in the music styles of worship - contemporary vs traditional seems to be the common battle now. Worship is about more than music and more than style. We've worshiped God in all sorts of different ways throughout the centuries. Prayer, fasting, prophecy (teaching), service, etc. are all acts of worship but are often forgotten when we discuss worship.

We are also so caught up in the style of our music used during worship that I think we neglect to look at the lyrics. What are we singing? Do the lyrics honor God or edify the body? Do the lyrics portray God as He is? Are they so generic that they could be sung by Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, or any other faith?
More importantly - do we ever really think about the lyrics that we're singing or are we on a sort of "auto-pilot" when we sing the words? I've been there - words come in, harmony comes out and nothing has actually passed through my brain on what I'm singing. God's been working on this in me for a while now and seems to have been really encouraging me to take a look at this area of my worship lately.

So what words am I singing? Why do I sing? To whom am I singing? When I sing these words, do I think of what sort of God I'm praising? When we sing "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" do I reflect on how the church was silenced in song for such a long time that God used Martin Luther to restore the congregation's voice? When we sing "How Great Thou Art", am I thinking of just how great our God is? The words behind "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" are some of the most touching ever written and should drive me to think that if everything in nature were mine, it would still be too small of an offering to give back to God for what He's done for me through Jesus.