I am afraid that there are too many people (in churches today) that are more concerned about their preferences than with worshipping and praising God. Mike Hartland, Director of Worship for LifeWay Christian Resources says this about worship:
“Worship is our only reasonable response to God’s revelation”.
“The idea is simple – worship is not something we initiate or conjure up for the purpose of convincing God to act on our behalf. It’s not an exercise that dictates a reaction from a deity, nor a personal discipline intended to produce tranquility in our lives. It’s not a philosophy or an approach to spirituality, nor a belief system among many belief systems attempting to bring meaning to our existence. We worship in response to our God, who has revealed himself to us“.
The paragraph below was written by a friend of mine. He is a great pastor and an even better person and friend. He brings out an excellent point about worship and praise of God.
“The word worship comes from two words. One is the old english word “worth” meaning worth and the other is the suffix “-ship” meaning the quality. For example, friendship is the quality of being a friend,. Sportsmanship is the quality of being a good sport. So worthship literally is the quality of ascribing or declaring worth. When we worship we are saying that God has worth, that He is WORTHY.
Worship’s first cousin is the word praise. To praise means to set a price on or attach value. The word “praise” comes from the latin word for price. The opposite of praise, in Latin, is the word for devaluation. So both praise and worship carry with it the idea of ascribing or declaring worth or value. SEEING AND SAYING THE WORTH OF GOD. Worship and Praise is our response to the WORTH of GOD. “Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.” – Louie Giglio
So your passion of your worship is directly related to your understanding of the worth of God in your life. It has nothing to do with how you feel, if you like the songs or the singers, if the music is good or bad. At it’s core, worship is a decision to respond to the work and person of Jesus by SEEING and SAYING His worth in what you say and how you live.
Drew Tankersley, Pastor – South Seminole Baptist Church
Be sure and check out Drew’s personal blog – Everything Is Borrowed
jasonlsneed.com 