“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..”
(rf. Eccles. 3:1ESV)
As we enter into this season of the year, it is apparent by our surroundings that autumn has arrived. The leaves on the trees have begun their transformation from the greens of summer to the various hues of red, yellow, orange and brown, providing the eye with a panorama of vivid color. The temperatures have descended from their previous peaks of July and August, now, hopefully, giving us a much-needed respite, settling into a time of comfortable days and cool nights. It truly is a wonderful time of the year to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.
It is also a beneficial reminder, especially, to those of us who are older and tend to easily get set in our ways. The turn of the seasons was set in place by God Himself who established them as early as creation (rf. Gen. 1:14; Ps. 104:19). In nature as God has designed it, there is the principle of positive change. It happens each year around us, as certain “as the seasons”… and, though we hardly even notice it, we welcome it with the adaptation of our clothes, shoes, music, yard flags, etc.
If we are so flexible with the changes that God brings regularly into our lives by means of the rotations of the earth and its angle to the sun, why are we typically so adamantly opposed to allowing fundamental adaptations to the ways that He might want us to worship Him? Notice how carefully I worded that last question. I did not ask, “to the ways that we worship Him? Or to the ways that we desire to worship Him?” I rather put the question in the context of how God desires to be worshipped. Before we can ever look at the subject of our own reticence to change in reference to worship, we must first understand that worship is not about us at all, but solely about God.
True worship always has God as the audience or the receiver of the actions of our worship. The very definition of “worship” from the inception of the original word means “worth”-ship or “one who is worthy of our veneration”. When viewed through this lens, if we are being honest and humble, we immediately remove ourselves from consideration from true worship. The Lord alone is worthy of our worship and praise (rf. Rev. 4:11). Therefore, our preferences for style and dynamic in reference to worship are, in reality, of little concern. God is the one who really calls the shots.
When we grasp the above truth in full, then we open ourselves up to a wide variety of ways in which God desires to be worshipped, none of which, I might add will be profane or have a lack of sanctity in their application. Rather, we find ourselves “like clay in the hands of the potter” (rf. Is. 64:8), we become pliable as to how He would have us worship Him and not rigid in how we think we should like to “do our religion”. If we should make ourselves vulnerable to the movement and direction of His Holy Spirit, we would experience a new closeness, richness and depth that comes with being with God as He draws near to us (rf. Eph. 3:14-21).
Admittedly, this is not an easy transition (or change), especially, if we have always been taught or always thought of worship in only one context. Again, I am not advocating a movement into an entertainment-based motif. That would be going in the direction of the profane, the base, the worldly. I am referring to a shift of our perspective that keeps the honor of God as foremost and, yet, removes our self-imposed barriers of traditions so that the Holy Spirit can begin to expand our views, thinking and experiences with Him. If we trust in the Lord for our salvation, surely, we can have enough faith in Him and in His Spirit to lead us to worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth” (rf. John 4:24), knowing that as we follow His direction, we will be pleasing to Him in our words, style and songs.
So, then, it is not a matter of whether our worship is traditional, blended or contemporary, really. It truly is a question of whether our worship is God-centered and God-focused, coming from hearts that want only to please and glorify God in the efforts.
Lord, help us all to revisit our own motives as we enter into Your Presence each Sunday in worship to see if this is the status of our hearts. If not, open us to the proper change in our perspective and align our hearts to Your direction. If so, reinforce us and deepen our hearts by Your Spirit so that our commitment to You and Your true worship may only grow and mature. Amen.
