Worship- Soapbox rant

From Consumer to Consumed from Dan Stevers on Vimeo.

I get so frustrated sometimes with people's concept of worship (with myself mostly.) We live in a time where "Worship" is exploding, its everywhere- Heck, even Skillet and Kutless gave up Metal for an album or two to get in on the action . ( It may even have its own award at the Dove awards.) It is generally defined by what kind of music we like and what personality moves our emotions the most. In leading a worship gathering I cant tell you how many times I have heard people say that they hate it when we break up "worship" to have people greet each other. If you think about the logic on that it's pretty goofy- basically, the concept is- this time of music is when I connect with God and when you have me connect with other people if ruins my worship mojo. I know that this is a pretty broad stroke but it does show the consumer mentality that is running rampant within the body of Christ. I love what Matt Redman's church did when they realized that people were worshiping the "worship" and the leader's style- they cleared the stage and got into the word until they felt that they could use music as ONE of the forms of worship, and could worship with a genuine heart in all area's of life- not only when the music was just right.

I believe that the worship God enjoys the most is not when our emotions are being cajoled and our senses are being tickled, but when in the difficult and mundane times of life we call "You are God, and I will worship you" (without a guy in skinny jeans and a scarf with a guitar is crooning in front of us.)

OK so this may be a little harsh, (hope you catch the sarcasm and satire,) but I want to challenge myself, and anyone else who is willing, to begin to look for awkward moments (ADD moment- visualizing the most interesting man in the world, having an awkward moment, just to see what it feels like) to worship God. Can you imagine how someone would react if they just finishing cussing you out and you fell on your knees and started shouting praises to God, or the people who observed it. Or when you are enjoying a great burger at In & Out you start sharing with your friends how great God is. God's heart would be extremely full and proud of his most prized possession- you!

I think we all would agree that Worship is not about us, but the question is- do we just say that because we are supposed to, or do we live it?

(Can I possibly use any more parentheses? even got a few two finger quotations in.)