Chapter One
Revelation and Response
Matt Redman
Recently I've been considering worship through the windows
of revelation and response. What kind of revelation
do the songs we use bring to the people who sing them?
Do they paint a big picture of God? Is there enough of His
grace and splendor in our worship meetings to awaken
even tired, discouraged hearts? And are we responding in
a way that fits the revelation received? Worship is always a
response to a revelation.
As I look at these two aspects of worship, I see I've
paid more attention to one of them than the other. I often
find myself approaching congregational worship much
more mindful of the response element than of the revelation
side of things. And I wonder if that isn't the case for
many other lead worshippers, too.
In some church services, it's obvious that the worship
leader is consumed, above all else, with getting a response
from the people. Not much is implied about the integrity
and heart of the offerings. Instead comes a barrage of
forceful encouragements to shout, clap, dance or anything
else you can think of. Instead of focusing on bringing a
true and meaningful overflow of the heart, leaders have
settled for some sort of spiritual disco competition with a
prize for the wildest participant. Yes, it's easy to point the
finger. But am I so very different when I lead worship?
What's going on inside my head when I lead?
Haven't I led meetings during which my mind gets the
clap-o-meter out at the end of every celebration song to
check if we're on course? After all, if people clap at the end
of each up-tempo song, that means we're in for a good
night, doesn't it? Don't I sometimes find myself subconsciously
scanning the congregational horizon for any sign
of life? Some outstretched hands, perhaps-that definitely
means its working! And as we move into intimate reverence,
don't I sometimes squint through my half-closed
eyes to see what other responses are happening, hoping to
see at least one person on their knees or in tears?
I'm exaggerating to make a point, but I hope the point
is clear: Too often when I lead worship I'm driven to get a
good response out of the people. I want to see results.
Now, all of these things-dancing, lifting up holy
hands, clapping and kneeling-are potentially good
things. But rather than being so desperate to see these
things happen (or God forbid, even trying to make them
happen), I should be far more interested in what lies
behind these responses (or the lack of them). It's a subtle
distinction but an important one for the mind-set of any
lead worshipper.
And that takes us right back to revelation. Before we
become consumed with how people are responding, it's
good to be mindful of what they're responding to. As worship
leaders and songwriters, we need to pay more attention
to the reasons for God's worth in our writing and
leading. What aspects of His wonder and splendor are we
presenting for people to get their hearts into? How are
we reminding hearts, minds and souls of the merciful acts
that God has done for them and the amazing grace that
He has won for them?
Of course, this isn't just our responsibility-everyone
involved in the service plays a part. But we must take our
role seriously. Instead of trying to work people up (however
subtly) to some sort of response, let's take a different
approach. Let's bring songs so full of our glorious Jesus
that they ignite a fresh fire and a heart-filled response
from those who sing them.
William Temple once wrote:
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the
holiness of God, To feed the mind with the truth of God, To purge the imagination by the beauty of God, To open the heart to the love of God, To devote the will to the purpose of God.
Notice how much Temple's definition of worship is centered
around revelation. Here's a man who knew that to
get people caught up in the holiness, truth and beauty of
God results in the devotion of their wills to the purpose of
God. Our whole lives need to be poured out in worship.
And in the end, that is the ultimate response of anyone
who has truly recognized the all-consuming revelation of
God.
If, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can help usher
people into a fresh revelation of Jesus during our worship
times, the response will take care of itself. We will not be
able to stand in the way of a room of passionate, dancing,
shouting, bowing, adoring lovers of God.
the one thing .
Graham Kendrick
Pursue the biggest vision of Christ you can. My reference
Bible records 101 different names and titles by which Jesus
is revealed in the Bible, each one a key to knowing more of
who we are worshipping and why. Worship is a response
and will grow or shrink in direct proportion to our view of
Him. We love to worship Christ as Savior and Friend, but
how often do we worship Him as Judge or Author of Life
or Desired of All Nations? Seek out; use; and if you are
able, write truth-saturated songs that stretch the minds
and hearts of the worshipping Church to grasp as much as
we can of His incredible glories and cosmic purposes.
Reflections on Psalm 8
(Part 1)
Louie Giglio
Little Leaders
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.
Psalm 8:1
When worship is the subject, little leaders are what we need.
I don't necessarily mean small in stature but small in terms
of self, for there is no other enemy of true worship besides
self.
As a result of the Fall, we all have a deadly preoccupation
with ourselves. We are self-aware, self-focused, self-conscious,
self-made, self-protecting, self-promoting, self-centered and
selfish. Conversion to Christ is nothing less than getting over
ourselves. That's why there is more than a subtle change that
happens at the foot of the Cross. A death takes place there.
Christianity is not about self-help but rather self-death. New
life begins when we each abandon "me" and fall on the mercy
of a God who loves us in spite of ourselves and a Christ who
gave Himself in our place. In that moment, we embrace freedom
from the perpetual doom of the flesh and take up the
cause of living solely for the One who freed us. Such is
the way of the Savior, who calls any who would be a recipient
of new life to "deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow
me" (see Matt. 16:24).
Yet from my experience, self does not go quietly.
Instead, it stubbornly rears its head and demands its way,
looking for any opportunity to stand in the limelight and
receive the glory. If left unchecked, self will stand in the
light of God and somehow try to take credit for it.
Recently, I was stunned by a photograph in USA Today
of what astronomers say is the perfect spiral galaxy. Taken
with the help of a new telescope on the Big Island of Hawaii,
the photo shows a breathtaking shot of a galaxy named
NGC 628-slightly smaller than our Milky Way (it contains
only a paltry 100 billion stars) and, get this, 30 million light-years
away. Funny, the whole point of the accompanying
article was our great achievement of taking such a great
photograph with our two-week-old telescope. Aren't we
great? Hmmm. Seems like all the wrong pronouns! Granted,
we have done well to photograph anything 30 million light-years
away, but let's get the point straight: God's hand put
every one of those stars in place. An appropriate caption for
this photo would have been, "Can you believe God made this
stuff with His own hands?"
The psalmist writes:
When I consider your heavens, the work of your
fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set
in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Ps. 8:3-4).
Notice all the pronouns. Your heavens. Your fingers. You set
in place. Get it? God is far from small. In fact, it's safe to
say our self-limitation has never fully allowed us to think
of Him as He is. Given His incomprehensible immensity,
the fact that He is mindful of us at all is amazing!
So if you want a quick glimpse into how small you are
as a leader, take note of which pronouns consume you:
"His," "He" and "Yours"; or "I," "me" and "mine." Little
leaders use "He" a lot. The big ones use "me."
A stage is a dangerous place to be, because a stage, by
definition, is a raised platform. Stages are built so that
little people can be seen more easily by larger audiences.
The lights are bright. The sound is big. Yet if we are not
careful, those of us who lead worship can allow the stage
to succeed, making more of us than we really are.
It's not that we are nobodies. We're created a little lower
than angels and are crowned with glory and honor-made
in His image (see Ps. 8:5). We get to rule over all He has
made. But we've only to look up to be resized in an instant.
Rather than absorb the light that shines on leaders, we
must continually reflect it back to God. One night my wife,
Shelley, and I were flying home to Waco from Houston in
a small twin-engine plane. Every time I looked out the window,
I saw a massive searchlight moving rapidly across the
ground below. At first I thought a police helicopter was
tracking some criminals, but after an hour the light was
still there. Finally I spoke up, wondering aloud what could
be going on. The pilot, ever so confident, informed me that
the moon (which was full at the time and pretty much right
there, if I'd only looked up) was shining on the plane, reflecting
a huge circle of light onto the ground.
I felt like an idiot! Embarrassed and a little humiliated,
I went back to minding my own business. Then it hit me!
Eager to get even, I remarked that actually the moon was
not shining on the plane. Rather, the sun was shining on
the moon (hah!), and the light of the sun was reflecting off
the moon onto the plane. Thus the sunlight was making
the huge searchlight on the ground. Brilliant!
Well, as far as lead worshippers go, we need more little
moons. Shine a light on them if you will, but you'll only see
a greater reflection of His glory in all those around them.
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all
the earth!" (Ps. 8:1).
the one thing .
Mike Pilavachi
Here are the questions that have challenged me recently:
How many songs do we sing that are just about God and
do not bring us into the story? How often is God not only
the object but also the center of our worship? I am sure we
need to sing more songs that praise Him for who He is,
irrespective of what He has done for us. The worship of
heaven, as we see in Revelation 4 and 5, is amazing in its
color, sound and participants. The 4 living creatures and
the 24 elders seem to be having a great time as they take it
in turns to sing their songs and fall down. A few million
angels and then every creature join them. Great sight.
Great noise. But incomplete. The centerpiece comes as
the grand finale: the One who sits on the throne and the
Lamb. The rest are incidental: the audience, the supporting
cast.
How God-centered is my worship? Maybe I need to
tell Him a little less about me-what I feel and what I am
going to do-and focus a little more on Him.
We Become Like What
We Worship
Don Williams
Worship money, become a greedy person. Worship sex,
become a lustful person. Worship power, become a corrupt
person. Worship Jesus, become a Christlike person.
We become like what we worship. But what does it mean
to worship?
The verb "worship" in Hebrew means to surrender, to
fall down in submission-the way we would humble ourselves
before a mighty king (see Ps. 95:6). Paul says that
worship is the offering of our bodies as a sacrifice (see
Rom. 12:1). This worship goes on in all of our lives. While
we may fail to understand it, worship is the spiritual part
of our surrender, submission and attachment to many
things. The worship of money or sex or power or people
results in addictive and compulsive behaviors. The staggering
truth is that we all are lured into worshipping
something or someone other than the living God. This is
idolatry-pure and simple. It steals our humanity and
addicts us. So if we are really to be free from idolatry, we
must understand addiction.
Addiction happens when we attach our desire to
alcohol or street drugs or sex or gambling or money or a
person who controls us or whatever else. As that attachment
grows, it consumes us. Little by little, we become
captive to the very thing that gives us pleasure and meaning.
Dr. Gerald May says, "We are all addicts in every
sense of the word." If this is true, then we also are
idolaters in every sense of the word. You say, "Not me,
Don." But remember, denial is the first symptom of
addiction.
Psychologist John Bradshaw says that most of us
come from dysfunctional families-families that don't
work in an open, healthy way. Perhaps we were often
abused as children, either sexually, physically or verbally.
As a result, we live with a lot of repressed pain. Bradshaw
calls this the hole in the soul. We will stuff anything into
it in order to fill it up. It is a magnet for addictions. And
it only grows larger-nothing satisfies.
If idolatry is the issue and addiction the result, how
can we understand it? The three Cs provide a handle.
Addiction starts with craving; this leads to control loss; and
the result is continuing use. Let's say we build a dependency
on nicotine. When we need a fix to relax or lift our
mood, the craving sets in. The more we use, the more we
want (and need). We are now out of control, on our way
to chain-smoking. Once addicted, we are in the continual-use
pattern. When this becomes an obsession, it becomes
an idol.
What then is the root of addiction? It is spiritual; it is
idolatry. Whatever the objects of our addictions are, they
become idols in our lives. We become preoccupied with
them, crave them and serve them. As we have seen, worshipping
them is the spiritual side of addiction. The Bible
teaches that we not only dishonor God with our idols, but
we also lose our true humanity:
(Continues.)
