Does God really want songs?
Note: coinciding with the release of “7 Steps Toward a More Beautiful Story of Faith”, this is the third of seven posts expanding on those steps. Subscribe and receive this free resource.
Step 3: Sing less worship songs. Serve more people in need.
If you only knew me when.
I spent the first 10 years of my ministry career as a worship pastor. I led a couple morning services and an evening service every week for most of those 10 years. I directed youth and adult choirs. My favorite type of music to listen to was worship music.
Then as a lead pastor for 10 years I regularly led the music in the services at my church. Hundreds of services. I loved learning the songs, teaching the songs, and the feeling of closeness to God that I often felt.
Since my professional ministry career ended in 2015 I’ve still spent a good amount of time on a worship band at my church, putting together 20-minute sets of worship songs. It’s really fun to be part of putting music together and having the congregation sing along with worshipful hearts.
Even when I’m part of the congregation I enjoy singing the worship songs. Singing has been a big part of my life since I was young. I often feel close to God when I’m expressing myself to God through music and it often unlocks feelings of awe, devotion, gratefulness and repentance. All of this is good.
But these worship singing times can also become an end to themselves. I’ve had to wrestle with the knowledge that there is something really ego-stroking about being on a stage and performing music. Many evangelical and pentecostal worship services are now dominated by music that is performed by skilled musicians who can create a seemingly spiritual atmosphere through their craft. Through the use of extreme changes in the dynamics and lyrics that are repeated many times to create an emotional punch, an emotional and religious experience can be created. Add to that powerful lighting and video elements, and the emotional experience can be heightened even more.
But is this really worship? Is this what Christ really wants from his followers? What if there are other ways to connect with God that actually fit more closely with what Jesus said pleases God’s heart?
Without “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” I think a more beautiful story of faith can sprout from a different type of activity: serving others.
Two really important scriptures come to mind when I think of this. The first is hidden away in the book of Micah, chapter 6. Here the ancient prophet reminds the Israelites of God’s faithfulness in the past. He goes on to ask them, “With what shall I come before God in worship?”
Using the popular worship activities of that time and culture, he asks if God wants them to sacrifice lots of animals. Or if they were super devoted, would God be pleased if they sacrificed a child on the altar?
“No!” the answer comes. Micah then says to them, “God has shown you what God wants from you. If you really want to demonstrate your worship of God, do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.” (see Micah 6:6-8)
Hundreds of years later, Jesus instructed the crowds about what God really wants through a parable about a shepherd separating his flocks - the sheep and the goats. It’s found in Matthew 25. He tells them that as the shepherd separates his flocks, so will God one day separate the people who pleased Him from those who did not.
One group of people invested time serving people in need (the hungry, the exposed, those in prison), and one group didn’t. Jesus makes it clear the group who actively met the needs of people he calls “the least of these” actually served Him. Serving people in need was actually worship that pleased God.
No mention is made in this important teaching about whether these people spent time at the temple going through religious ceremonies and sacrificing animals. What is mentioned is how much effort was put into things like doing justly and loving mercy and walking humbly with God.
So if you want to take a step toward a more beautiful life of faith, I’m not saying you should stop singing worship songs altogether. After all, music is a beautiful tool given by God to help us experience God. Times of emotional and musical worship can help people feel closer to God. But if the musical worship becomes an end unto itself, if singing worship songs functions like a spiritual “hit” that you need each week, maybe you might experiment with spending at least as much time helping people in need as you do singing songs.
Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God. Serve the least of these. I’ve found a focus on these sorts of “worship activities” opens the door for me and others to experience a more beautiful story - one of God’s love for all. Maybe it’s time you tried it out too.