Leading Worship
Yesterday a missionary spoke in our chapel service here at the ministry where I work. He mentioned that as he was listening to the praise and worship team warm up, they were cutting up and having fun. He joked with them, "Hey, you're having too much fun, you're at work." One of them replied, "This isn't work, it's worship." To which he retorted, "Is there a difference?"That has gotten me thinking a lot on the subject of fun, work and worship. I'm a web developer. I manage the web development/content team here where I work. Most days, I think my job is pretty fun. I enjoy being able to be creative, do some programming, contemplate strategies, and interact with my co-workers. So that covers the first two: fun and work.
But to throw the third concept in the mix, worship, makes me step back and look a little deeper. Do I worship in my work?
In Romans 11: 33-36 Paul describes how far and above us God is. He speaks of the depth of His wisdom and how unfathomable His ways are. Then, immediately following these verses in 12:1 he says, "Therefore I urge you, bretheren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
I believe this series of verses puts worship in context for us. At the risk of oversimplifying it, I'll try to summarize it in one statement:
God is so great we can't imagine how great He is, therefore we need to give up our selfish desires and focus on Him and submit to His leadership in every aspect of our lives.
So anytime I am focused on God and submitting to Him in my work, my freetime, when I'm with my family, I am worshipping. Worship is not just singing. It is something we should never stop doing. And when we realize that, I believe we will find ourselves amazed at all the things God will do in and through our lives.
It's sobering to realize that I don't worship as often as I might have thought. To realize that I can stand in church on Sunday morning, or in chapel on Wednesday morning, or sit with my family to sing on any evening and if the focus of my heart is not on God and my will is not submitted to His Spirit, I am not worshipping. No matter how much I sing.
God's been working in my heart about becoming a Godly leader, in my home and in my work. Seeing as how I can't carry a tune in a proverbial bucket, I would have never expected God to call me to be a Worship Leader. But, I'm seeing now that the title is about so much more than just singing. Its about how you live your life. And that is exactly what He has called me to be and to do.
Labels: fun, leadership, submission, work, worship
posted by David @ 8:07 AM
1 Comments:
"...I would have never expected God to call me to be a Worship Leader. But, I'm seeing now that the title is about so much more than just singing. Its about how you live your life. And that is exactly what He has called me to be and to do."
Very well said, David. As someone who leads worship of the musical variety, I've often thought about how short our songs fall from adequately glorifying God. Compared to the entirety of our lives, they seem very small indeed. So, may our lives continue to sing when our voices falter. Thanks for your thoughts.
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