Tuesday, November 14, 2017

The Atmosphere for Worship

“The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:22-25 NIV)

It seems these days everywhere you turn there is evidence for the need to hype up worshipping God. People are drawn to the mega-churches because of the big crowds and the energetic atmosphere. Worship concerts are also a popular thing, with Hillsong and other well-known worship bands drawing huge crowds night after night in arenas all across the country. And, increasingly, to attract young people to their ministries, youth groups sponsor and promote Christian concerts where “God is going to do awesome things.” 

As I have reflected on this trend in recent years, this story of Paul and Silas continues to resonate with me and I think it is a much needed correction to the majority thinking that somehow we need to create the ideal conditions for worshipping God—which once was believed to be austere and reverent, but which now has flipped to being loud and energetic.

Roman jails were far from what we might conceive when thinking of modern jails and prisons.  They were closer to the dungeons portrayed in movies. They were dark, dank, and rat-infested. Prisoners were chained inside their cells.  Not exactly what we would consider anywhere close to the ideal conditions for worship.  Consider also that Paul and Silas had been terribly beaten prior to their incarceration.  Yet, here they were, hours later, worshipping God through prayer and singing.  

The truth is, we can worship the Lord anywhere under any conditions if our hearts are right. It is a gross mistake to think worship is in any way dependent on outside conditions. Worshipping God is by definition an external expression of an inward reality. To attribute worth to God, which is worship, doesn’t require a professional-sounding band, certain lighting, or a large crowd. It doesn’t require waking up feeling great and close to God on a Sunday morning. It merely requires a grateful, thankful, and humble heart. With that, whether we are amidst a large crowd of fellow worshippers or all alone in a dark room, we can worship unhindered because at the heart of worship is the condition of our hearts.

The reality is that followers of Jesus over the millennia and in many places today did and are experiencing suffering and persecution while still worshipping the Lord their God. They worship in secret, or in drafty buildings with wooden benches, often with no instruments, or with merely a few people making up their church. By believing that we need an ideal setting for worship, we totally misunderstand the very nature of worship, and, thus, will be unable to truly worship.  

What worship, I fear, has become for many is an emotional feeling enhanced by the atmosphere created precisely to produce those feelings.  And with that is created a sense that one cannot worship apart from the atmosphere and the accompanying feelings.  If that is true, then how do we explain the worship of believers over the centuries in conditions almost unimaginable to us? And how do we explain Paul and Silas’ ability to worship in the conditions in which they found themselves? 

Today, let the example of Paul and Silas, as well as others who worship in the midst of very difficult circumstances, help you to understand the ability to worship is not based on the external conditions in which you find yourself.  Rather it is based on the attitude of your heart at that moment.  If it is right, then you can worship the Lord fully and enthusiastically anywhere and under any conditions.

© Jim Musser 2017

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