If you lead me Lord, I might follow . . .
October 20th, 2005 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection, Theology
I was at a worship workshop at another church here in Fort Collins, and the wife of the main speaker said this during a question and answer time: “Christians are the biggest liars in the world”
Think about the lyrics of the songs we sing from week to week at church:
“Everything we have we bring With all our strength, O God, we shout to our King!” “There’s no shadow of turning and I am yearning Where can I go but into You . . . . . . Everything I am wants to be like You, Jesus” “Every move I make, I make in You.” “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold . . . I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land . . . I’d rather have Jesus than vain applause . . . I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame” “Jesus, you alone shall be my first love . . . . . . You alone will be my passion” “I surrender all to you, all to you . . . . . . all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss” “Oh my one desire is to be with you” “Here am I, all of me Take my life, it’s all for thee” “I will love you Lord forever” “In all I do, I honor you”
I’ve had numerous people talk with me about songs like this, people do feel as if they are lying when they sing them at church, and know that tomorrow, they probably won’t honor God in all that they do. My first response is for them to read Romans 7:18-23:
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
We are saved people, no longer seen as sinners by God. He sees us as righteous in Christ. These songs aren’t so much boasts about what we’re doing for God, I think they are our hearts proclaiming, in faith, what we are really saying to God, even though our actions might not always line up with what we’re saying. And if our hearts don’t line up, we can even pray and confess as we sing these songs, asking God to change our hearts so we can sing songs like this in truth. “God, this is where I want to be . . .”
I have the desire for right actions, and my heart really does want to pursue these things for God. I know that I can’t ever fully measure up until He comes back to claim his bride, but in the meantime his grace covers me. So I think we sing these as songs of yielding and of intent. If we changed words to “I’ll try to honor you,” maybe God would see that as us doubting his ability to change us to allow us to fully worship him. The emphasis would then switch over to our efforts, and off of God’s transforming grace. By saying these things, and meaning them from the heart, we display God’s Spirit working in us, rather than actions that our own will and strength produces.
Put this A.W. Tozer quote in context with singing these songs in worship:
“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything.”
I guess we can use the same argument if a song we are singing says “I bow down,” or “I lift my hands up,” and we are just standing there, singing. I think though that we are too easy on ourselves, and we should display outward physical actions in response to what we are singing. But that’s an entirely different post for another time . . . for now, take notice of what you are singing. Each line we sing can be powerful, transforming, and intentional, or it can just float around as a warm fuzzy for an evening. Don’t be sloppy in your worship.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2005 at 8:14 am and is filed under Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection, Theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
So true!
Christians don’t tell lies, they sing them