WHY
"WORSHIP IS ABOUT GOD, NOT ABOUT US" IS WRONG
This popular sentiment can often
define our conversations about worship. Here's why that's wrong..
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a
hundred times. I’ve heard pastors and conference speakers say it, too. You
probably know the phrase, or some version of it: “Worship is all about God!”
The crowd always responds with some measure of enthusiasm. After all, we are called
to make God famous, to proclaim His renown, right? But then, after I’ve made
that bold and seemingly noble statement, I’ve followed it up with a phrase that
carries the weight of a logical afterthought. Confidently I
would say, “Worship is all about God—it is not about us.” I know
what I’ve meant all these years. And in most ways, I’ve been wrong. Dead wrong.
So has everyone else who has said it—especially without qualification.
One time, when I said this as a
guest speaker in front of a worship conference of about 600 folks, I
pounded on the plexiglass podium for emphasis. (I’m not given to that; it just
felt like the right thing to do at the time.) “Worship is all about God,” I
said, “it’s not (pound) about (pound) us (big pound)!”
That last pound did the
trick—in more ways than one. A large glass of cold water, sitting on the inner
shelf of the podium, spilled as I hit the podium on the word “us.” It
tipped right onto my pants. From my belt to my toes, it looked like I had
wet myself! I stepped out from behind the podium, and the entire conference
burst into laughter. I was a living metaphor. And yes—the water was very,
very cold. God has a quirky sense of humor.
I’ve heard pastors, worship leaders
and very influential people communicate this same idea—that “worship is all
about God, it’s not about us”—in a hundred different ways. The intention is
good, and even seems Scriptural. But the problem
is that these ideas strung together convey something about human beings—and
God’s invitation to worship—that
is dead wrong. Especially if our Gospel begins in Genesis.
INCOMPLETE CHRISTIAN THOUGHTS KILL
True, God is great, and we are
flawed. But that is an incomplete thought. And incomplete Christian thoughts
kill.
Sure, worship is not only
about us, our preferences or the small spiritual paradigms we can build. But to
say that worship is not about us, our participation (I work hard to
serve it occurring every weekend), our preferences (I think God gave some of
them to me), or our spiritual paradigms (you have a unique design in your
life just as I do mine) is just wrong.
Since our Gospel begins in Genesis
1, specifically Gen. 1:26-27, let’s try this: “God is great, and we are
great in His image—yet now flawed to the point of death.” “Fearfully and
wonderfully made,” the Psalmist said (Ps. 139:14), Image Bearers of God (Gen.
1:27), the Lord says.
Yet we push God up into His heavens,
making Him so wonderful, and we so insignificant (Willard), that we actually do
violence to both the Story of God and the reality of worship. While I love
elements of Calvin (ever read his Institutes?) and
pieces of reformed theology (the greatness of God is so majestically told), I
sense a deep fear of human participation. We make things dirty. Messy.
Imperfect. Lawyer-minds, like Calvin have given many gifts to the church,
but their quest to codify faith into pristine theology has
often engendered a stark resistance to any language that implies we
have something to do with what happens in worship or in furthering God’s
kingdom.
If we change our cliched language,
our dehumanized language, we change our destiny. So to my pastor friends, and
my worship leader friends, we need to fix this at the root.
“WORSHIP IS NOT ABOUT US”—IS SIMPLY
NOT TRUE
Everyone knows that the hidden
message in this statement is: God matters; you and I don’t so much. We’re not
saying “we’re not the focus of worship.” Sure, we’re self-centered and fixated
on our preferences. That must be challenged. It’s the silent statement of
“who you are doesn’t matter—you should somehow objectively understand that God
is the important one here and you are … well … not.”
Yes, worship is about God. When we
lose sight of this, we become spiritual cheerleaders, doing religious
gymnastics to get God to show up when he sees how hard we work (Peterson). We
cajole and push our congregation to get them to express their worship
demonstratively so we feel like all our hard prep work was not in vain. It’s
dark. Once again, God is removed from being the Subject of the worship
sentence, who acts on us through the verb of love—to us being the subject of
the sentence and God being the recipient of our frenetic, psycho-spiritual
gyrations.
The worship theology seems
good and noble, but is it?
So yes, worship is about God. But to
say without conditions “It’s not about us” does not ring Scripturally,
experientially, traditionally or reasonably true (anyone notice Wesley’s Quadrilateral sneaking in there?).
Worship is indeed for God
alone, and not for us—but we both have something to do
with worship happening—God and us. From Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation’s
“Come, Lord Jesus,” we are invited to participate with God in the grand
relationship that is worship. When worship spills out into the streets,
strengthening the poor and defending the weak, it has truly become a great
dance with the Creator.
Something rises in the heart of
God when He sees we are engaged with Him in life-to-life exchange that is the
activity of worship.
Worship has everything to do
with us. God makes it so.
WHEN WE DESIGN:
- local liturgies,
- musical environments,
- visual environments,
- room environments,
- sound environments,
- service orders,
- worship sets,
- instruments, architecture, messages, class materials, programs and parking lots …
… and more for engagement with God
and His story, God must certainly be delighted! God must say “Yes! They
are participating with me in this lavishly expressed, mutual love relationship
that is worship! That was my original purpose in creating humankind in my
image! We revel in this relationship together, and bring gifts that nurture our
shared life!”
YOUR PREFERENCES MATTER
Wait a minute. Now we’re on touchy
ground. Have you ever heard someone say, “It shouldn’t matter about what music
is playing, or how loud or soft it is! It’s about God and worship. Your opinion
doesn’t matter!” I’ve heard a few iterations of that over the years.
That, from my perspective, is also
wrong. Yes, when our preferences become prejudices, that’s a problem. When a
60-year-old feels called to a community where 30-year-olds are leading worship,
there is much grace that must be shown for the sound and music preferences that
can radically differ across age groups.
But we are creational beings.
Aesthetics matter. For that reason, it is good when churches work hard to
create different kinds of worship environments for different seasons of life.
Yes, we need to worship together. But we also have preferences that can serve
our unique stage of calling and life.
When our little church in St.
Stephen began an early morning Celtic liturgy service upstairs while the band
rocked in the service below, it was a gift to my wife. She wanted some quiet,
some reflective space, in the middle of a challenging season of life. The
recited prayers came alive to her, and I was glad she had a fresh opportunity
to find her voice—her preference—in worship.
Yes, we should be together in
worship and show abundant grace. Yes, we can’t always accommodate everyone’s
preferences (so we hand out ear plugs). But to say your preferences don’t
matter? That is “uncreational”; we are wired differently and have different
experiences. The fact that I love ambient worship spaces and my wife prefers
“normal” music is a good thing, a God thing, and one to be navigated with
grace. The fact that we both appreciate immersive silence (Darrell Harris)
brings us together.
WORSHIP WORK IS ABOUT US
Whether it was the ancient Israelite
choirs and bands of David’s day (who rehearsed the musicians?), Jesus breaking
bread and sharing the cup at Pentecost (who set the table?), or the disciples
worshipping together in the upper room (who wrote and taught the songs?), or
the Body of Christ for thousands of years creating spaces, songs, patterns,
readings and more to facilitate our receptivity to the Spirit’s forming us into
Christ (who has designed our great body of worship work?), it all
mattered and still matters.
Worship is all about God, yes—and
yet He then makes it also about us. We then do our worship work, and
make it about Him—serving those who have gathered. He is the Subject of the
worship sentence, acting on us as the Objects of His love—and then we in turn
respond. That response is not only “all God” moving through us. It is our gift
as His beloved creation to create beauty, rhythms and tools of worship.
We have worship work to do, and if
Christ is sitting at the center of our efforts, we will serve our communities
well.
Question: Have you heard the title
phrase before, or used it yourself? How has that shaped you and others as
worshippers? 
