The other day I heard a new song by Matt Redman and the only part I recall is one line: “The more I sing, the more I love you.” It made me think about all the dissention there is in the church about what type of music we want to hear and when in the service we want to hear it, why we prefer this kind over that kind, how we want to sing it, and who we’d prefer to lead us.
I felt sad. We become so focused on what, how, when – we have played right into the devil’s scheme in getting us to take our focus off worship and instead think about how we think worship ought to be. However, when we start thinking about how we think and feel it should or shouldn’t be, isn’t that becoming self-focused and not God-focused?
Worship is all about God. Emptying ourselves of the garbage within and focusing on our Savior and Maker. Ironically, Matt Redman got that message right as well, when he wrote, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You.”
If we are truly worshiping, we aren’t distracted by the issues that can tend to separate us within the walls of God’s dwelling place. Instead, we are gathered as one body, sharing in the presence of the One who brought us together.
I know the worship wars aren’t over. I still hear comments about how the worship leader was going much too fast, the song was too peppy, the words weren’t God-directed. I think we could make a long list of complaints about our Sunday morning worship services. But you know what that would say? We’re not worshipping. We allow ourselves to become so involved critiquing our services that we become distracted from the purpose of why we came to church in the first place.
As I listened to Redman’s song, I was touched by its simple truth.
The more I sing, the more I love you.
Clearly, if we are God-focused and not self-focused, we will grow to love Him more. In worship, we will focus on the words and what they mean and not who wrote them or why the new drummer keeps bouncing around. We will sing how great is the Lord and realize how small we are. That in itself defines the expression the more I sing, the more I love you.
We will be captured into His presence, singing holy, holy, holy. There will be no pessimistic attitude of picking apart everything that’s wrong with the music in the service, but we will find instead that our love for the Lord is growing. The words have the opportunity to become ingrained in our heart and soul as we sing. When we allow that to happen, we are ushered into His presence and there’s no going back. We can’t help but love Him!
Isn’t that the purpose of worship? Coming to a place where nothing else matters but the One we stand before? As we worship Him, we come to realize just who we are. We are nothing and He is everything.
