As I bring this series to a conclusion, I want to make one final statement. First though, let’s look back at the five things we talked about.
To put it simply, I don’t care what you do. You can clap along with the music, raise your hands, sing out as much as you want, but whatever you do needs to be worship directed at Him. It’s not about us, it’s not about what we do, it’s about our response to Him. If worshiping means that you stand there with your hands in your pockets, mumbling the words to yourself, and you are directing that towards God, then worship that way. If it means that you are exuberant and emotionally active in the worship, then worship that way.
I don’t think God cares really how you act out your worship, I think He cares that you worship, that you engage with Him emotionally, engage with Him intellectually, and work out your worship. The way that I worship, the songs that are meaningful to me, the physical and emotional reaction I have to worship are different from yours. The main difference is that I have a microphone and a guitar and tend to work it out in front of people one day a week. However, I can’t lead where I’ve not been, so worship during the week is vital for me.
I hope that we’ve learned something from this short series on worship. To think that Wesley wrote this over 200 years ago and it still applies today is amazing to me. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and we can learn much by paying attention to what they have written and said. Let us never think that we know more about what true worship is than another person. None of us will know until we join that great choir in heaven. Until then, raise your voice and lift your hands in praise to our King. Or if you don’t want to do that, stand there and gently sway back and forth. Whatever you choose to do though, make sure that it is focused on Him. Don’t let others, especially worship leaders, define the way that you connect with God. Make that connection with Him every day of the week and let’s see this world turned upside down.
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