Worship Like a Rock-Star
Everyone, read the bible… it’s good for you…
The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 4:8-11
When I was in Kansas, this sweet guy named Aaron read this one day at our church meeting. Something hit me from this that hadn’t before. Worship seems like it was meant to be contagious or something. In that passage, when do the 24 elders bow down and worship and cast their crowns? It’s when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to God. Is this because the 4 creatures were better and that’s just the proper order of heaven worship? …Maybe? …or maybe seeing how amazing God is to the 4 creatures causes something to be stirred in the elders. This is going to sound nuts, but … oh well… Maybe the 4 creatures had a better view of the throne than the elders… and they must’ve been able to see God in ways that the elders couldn’t because they had eyes all over themselves (read it again).
What if the worship from the ones who can see God better than others is a way in which those without so many eyes are to be drawn into worship and the presence of God… then they can see for themselves how amazing He is. Have you ever been worshiping in church or in a bar or somewhere and then you saw someone else worshiping and that person was really giving himself/herself to God. Maybe they were weeping or dancing or jumping… and at the sight of their worship, something lit up inside of you and you couldn’t help but worship God like a worship-maniac. Has that ever happened to anyone else? Part of me used to think it was emotionalism. Who really truly understands emotions anyways? Maybe it is some kind of emotionalism. Maybe it’s something else…
Whatever you call it, I think the contagious nature of worship is kind of a big deal. Our worship is an expression of how worthy we think God is. Brad says the word worship comes from worth-ship. How much is our God worth to us? Even if I don’t have a very good view of God at times, seeing someone giving himself or herself to Him in worship, can bring a revelation of God’s goodness to me that someone else has experienced! Seeing a sold-out response to God’s glory (worship) might not be too different from seeing His glory myself. Another man’s worship tells me of the majesty of God that He’s seen and experienced; so as a believer, that man’s worship stirs my heart to respond to the glory of God I’ve experienced but am currently not feeding on. Could this be part of the reason why corporate worship seems to have a synergistic (high-priced word) effect when it comes to the intense sense of the presence of God that isn’t experienced as often when one is alone? (If that sentence doesn’t make sense, you can move on. I don’t even know if it’s English-class legal.) … True heart-worship also draws nonbelievers too. I’ve seen it happen a number of times even though it seems like it’d be repelling to the rest of the world.
Am I crazy? …possibly. One last thing I was thinking about like 15 minutes ago: Thanksgiving is a response that occurs when I see what I have because of what God’s done. It’s important and oh so necessary. Worship is a response to how amazing our God is. It has nothing to do with me and my situation and what I have or don’t have. That means, worship should never stop because I don’t think God’s going to stop being amazing. Choose worship. I promise He is worthy.
Don’t be afraid to let the love out of your heart in beautiful expressions. Maybe you’ve been given eyes to see the King because others are looking at you. All you need to do is let yourself respond to what you’ve been privileged enough to see. The rest of the world won’t be able to help themselves.
“…every knee will bow before me. Every tongue will confess…”
I have recently been thinking about the significance of worship as a part of our lives that should act like a magnet to draw lost people to the Lord. And it is not just the sound of our worship, but the sight of our “new song” that Psalm 40 says provokes people to fear God and to turn and trust Him. The “new song” is the song that flows from our heart as we worship the redeemer. As people see the worship in our lives and hear the sound of our new song, it becomes an invisible sight for them.
Great post.
My English degree approves your sentence.
Also, I’ve been reading stuff along the same lines in David Crowder’s book Praise Habit. He writes about wearing our praise-response to Christ like cloting, like a nun’s habit, something that stands out so much that people just have to stare. Our awe of God IS contagious.