I'm Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

“I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You.

It's all about You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, when it's all about You.

It's all about You, Jesus"

                       -  apologies to Matt Redman (used without permission)

Jesus said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."   - The Bible, John 12:32   (NIV)

“Y yo, si fuere levantado de la tierra, á todos traeré á mí mismo.” (RVR)

Hmmm.... most times when I go to church I have expectations of what I want, what I need, what I'm used to, what I like. I like the songs I like, I like the volume I like, I like the format I like and I even like the people I like. I readily acknowledge this to be merely cultural, behavioral, social or emotional packaging but still.... I like what I like. I don't like what I don't like.

It's easy to be a lop-sided worshiper. All emotions with no thoughtfulness. All intellectual and reflective with little overt emotional expression. Some of us like clapping, jumping and shouting. Some cringe at such lively activity and yearn for solemnity and the awestruck quietness of liturgy and silence. It's all good and it's all biblical.

Pastor Rigo talked last Sunday about being a team player, a team member, a 'through thick and thin I will rise or fall with my team mates” participant in my church. So, if that's who I am, then it's not really about me and what I like or what I need. It's about who we become together. And then to go one step further, it's about what we're doing together. We're thinking a lot as a congregation these days, looking around our community and asking ourselves what we can do to “build our church”. Or to help our church grow. Or meet the needs of the people in our neighborhood. “What can we do that would draw people?”, we wonder.

Jesus is saying here that if he dies and then is lifted up to return to his father in heaven, he will draw people to himself, himself. So it's not just us talking about Jesus, or singing about Jesus or preaching about Jesus that does the drawing. It is only His presence that melts hearts and heals wounds. Only he can break down protective barriers inside of us and between us.

So what does the church look like where Jesus is the star attraction? Where all eyes are fixed on the cross and not on the singing or the preaching or the programs? Am I willing to relinquish my personal worship “style” in order to allow Jesus to be lifted up? Am I willing to stop doing or requesting the things that satisfy my own personal likes and dislikes to allow people to focus on Jesus? What does that even mean?

The fact that I have been given some responsibility to lead in the areas of music and service planning does not give me the freedom to do only what I like and use only the worship ingredients that I enjoy.

I would appreciate receiving your ideas, insights and comments on this topic.