Genuine Worship
Tonight we had a great discussion as a team at the beginning of worship practice. It came out of the days reading and question from the iWORSHIP Daily Journal. The discussion centered on Matthew 15:7-9. The question attached asked what sort of things you do in worship – personal and/or corporate – that comes more from man made rules than it does a response to God.
The prominant point of our discussion dealt with clapping. Clapping during songs. Clapping after songs. Clapping after prayer as a team before the service. For many people several of these are more of a conditioned response than something that is a genuine expression of worship to God. I have to admit that as a worship leader I often wonder people’s motivation for clapping after an upbeat song. I always hope that it is a clapping for God out of a heart of worship and not clapping for the skills of the musician. I hope that it is an overflow of a joyful heart and not simply something to fill otherwise empty space between the second song and announcements.
The whole discussion was a good reminder to me to always evaluate my own motivation in my expressions of worship. I realized that I too sometimes clap out of conditioning rather than genuine worship. Next time I clap, I will be aware of why I am clapping and be intentional about it, whether it is a creator of energy and excitement in my worship or an expression of appreciation to God.
What are the things that you tend to do in worship that stems more out of man made rules or tradition rather than a genuine heart of worship? I’d love to hear your thoughts. How does God want you to respond to that realization? Does it look like changing your actions or your motivation?
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