A Few Thoughts on Worship - My 15th Blog

These are the blogs of my last month in youth ministry and some lessons and things God has taught me:

A FEW THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP

I hate hearing the Bible read by old men with deep voices. It is too loud and I mean you might as well drag your nails down a chalkboard. I hate hearing it read by young kids and hearing them stumble over the words. In fact I won’t tolerate it and I won’t even let them read the Bible when I’m teaching class. There’s an older man I know and I can’t understand much of what he says but him reading the Bible, forget about it. I mean he tries but it just comes out as mumbled jumbled jibberish and I’d just assume be deaf than hearing him read something about Jesus to me that I can’t understand. I have a friend who talks like an auctioneer. If I ever had to hear her read the Bible with her fast speech we would no longer be friends. If she were to get up and read the Bible in church I would find a new church. I won’t tolerate a fast reader reading to me about God. If you don’t want to anger me or upset me you best read the Bible when you’re around me the way I want it read at the volume I want it read and the pace I want it read. If not there will be problems.

I sound pretty ridiculous right? I think so too.

The point of my first paragraph is this: I just don’t understand why there are people in churches all over the place that will only tolerate one style of worship. The music has to stay the same and we have to sing the same songs from the same hymnal in the same traditional style we have always done it. Do you know how many people I know that have changed churches because their church went from a “traditional” service to a “contemporary” or “blended” service?? I’ll be honest with you I don’t even know what a blended service is because don’t we serve just one God and shouldn’t all our worship be directed to just Him? I’ve heard all my life people say “we’ll we don’t want to upset anyone or make anybody mad by changing the music any.” Well how about we change our focus from pleasing people to pleasing God?? The pleasing people method NEVER works!

I think people are afraid of worship. I really do, unless it is worship of tradition. That is why the church during Jesus’ day hated Him so much, because He came to change the entire tradition and process that they had in place. And the people worshipped the tradition that they had instead of God so they hated Jesus for these new age ideas that He was teaching.

I think people are going to be shocked at what worship really looks like when we get to Heaven. I love old hymns and I’m a rare young person who likes Southern Gospel, but I promise we won’t be singing “Jesus is coming soon” when we are in Heaven because he’ll have already come. And I think young people today want to worship. I know young people want to worship. And music is so so powerful and influential to them. Older folks have no idea how much music influences what they do and there moods and the choices they make. And I’m sorry but there aren’t many teenagers today listening to the Gaithers and Jake Hess on their iphones. They are listening to Eminem and Kanye and Fitty (I’m talking about 50 cent but I call him Fitty cause I’m from the streets of Westminster and that’s how I do). But man when I can get them to listen to Toby Mac or Lecrae or Third Day who might have similar styles but actually uplifting and God inspired lyrics then I have accomplished something! After all what you put in your ears is what comes out of your mouth!

I get so tired of hearing negative things about contemporary Christian music and praise and worship music. Me and a friend of mine were talking the other day and he said his pastor stood up in the pulpit and said that as far as contemporary Christian music was concerned, well he said the very word contemporary came from the word contempt so you can imagine how he felt. Wow! People dying and going to hell and we use God’s stage to badmouth God’s music.

I said the other day that when someone hurts you in church are you going for the people or for God? If you are going for God then don’t worry about the people and if you are going for the people then by all means move on. I’ll say the same thing about music, when you sing it are you singing it because you like the beat or the speed or the style or the noise level, or are you actually singing it because you like and mean the WORDS.

I could fill up 5 more pages with my thoughts on this subject but I’m going to be quiet now. But if you don’t think JESUS WAS A REBEL and a tradition changer, especially where worship was concerned, go back and re-read the gospels.

I’ve been called negative for some of the things I say and the beliefs I express and some people have had problems with it. You know what I have a problem with? The people that can see what is going on in our churches and with our young people and yet remain silent and complacent and unchanging.

And quiet…

Now I really will shut up :)