Jump: Part Dos

Fun fact for ya: I've searched the Bible many times for passages that speak to praising and worshipping God, and of all the times I've kneaded through the pages of Scripture, I've never once found a passage condoning an "arms-crossed" style of worship. Or an "eyes-glazed" style. The infamous "angry-eyebrow" stance, or the even-funnier classic, "The Bewildered Brow"? Never mentioned. Or how about one of my personal favorites, the "standing-dead-still-staring-contest-with-the-worship-leader" technique?...errr, nope, thank God. Never once in God's word is praise/worship cast in a lifeless, bland, colorless, boring or unemotional light. It's always described in vivacious, interactive, boisterous, poetic, and bold terms.

Like I said in my last posting, if you're one of those Christians who doesn't feel the need to physically interact with God, insisting that He knows your heart and expressing emotion in worship is irrelevant, I'm not against you. Heck, I might even stay friends with you! ;)  But I will say two things: 1) you're half-right, and 2) I feel bad for you.

1) You're half-right because, ultimately, God really is concerned with your heart. That half you've got right, but you're forgetting the other half: your heart is connected to the rest of your body. David, the Psalmist, writes on multiple occasions about praising God "with all of my heart." What does that mean? How does that connect with the rest of my body expressing praise? Let me put it this way: if you went on a date with your one true love - your amor, your fantasy on two legs - and this dreamboat tells you, "I am so desperately in-love with you," following that passionate statement by slowly sliding into the wettest, steamiest kiss your lips have ever tasted, would you step back, ponder the moment quietly, and solemn-faced, awkwardly say, "that was great, thank you so much" without so much as a twitch of excitement? NOOO!!! If you have a pulse, you're gonna lay a giant wet one on those lips in response! That's worship. It's that one word: response. Responses are an outpouring of emotion toward something/someone. Responses aren't dead or half-baked. They are surging with emotion, even if that emotion is apathy or, at the very least, "The Bewildered Brow." Once you grasp this, you can move from being half-right to right-on...which leads me to why I feel bad for you.

2) I feel bad for you because YOU'VE ALMOST GOT IT!!! If you know God knows your heart and choose to stuff your emotions because of it, you don't realize this but you're so close to actually worshipping unashamed! See, God knows all, right? He's all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, all-present. In other words, He's the man...sort of. Anyway, you're time in worship with God is kinda like a marriage: you can have emotion toward your spouse over wearing that sexy lingerie, and your spouse knows that makes you all flustered inside, but it's an easier, healthier road to intimacy when you act on your feelings and express those pent-up emotions. If you didn't act on those, imagine how robotic that love scene would be? Definitely not romantic, that's for sure..."beep, boop...you look lovely dear, beep." "Beep bop, thank you honey, let's have marital relations, boop beep." "Sounds...boooop...nice. Here we go, beeeep." Personally, when I'm being intimate with God in worship, the last thing I want is to be robotic. I don't want my flesh, my natural tendency to stuff my emotions toward God, to get in the way of passionately pouring my oil on His feet and wiping them with my hair (if confused, see Luke 7:36-50 for a beautiful example of someone unashamedly worshipping Jesus).

So now what? Hopefully you're longing for the next step in your worship life. If so, let me fill you in on the secret formula to worshipping with all you've got: just...do...it. Yup, that's it! You're like, "what?! that's not advice, that's stupid!" Well, here's what I mean: you know that itch you get in worship to branch out a little? Yeah? Do it. You know that apprehension you get during worship, the one that keeps you standing and staring like a straight-faced statue? Yeah? Toss it. Whenever you feel the urge to raise a hand or move a limb or two, do it! Try it! Whenever you feel the wave of embarrassment or apprehension to move out of your comfort zone, that's exactly when you should be moving! I promise, you won't regret it. God already gave you freedom in so many ways - really, it's us who keep ourselves tied down, us who don't allow freedom to sink into our hearts and minds and subsequently flow out of our mouths, hands and feet. God gives freedom, but we stay enslaved in a lot of ways because we can't get past ourselves. If we are free, then we must embrace it, taste it, and celebrate it. Stop getting in the way of God's freedom taking over your life. Take the bold next step in your worship life. Jump...