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Genuine???
Here we go with another post two in a row. I promise this wont turn into a routine. One because Im too lazy and two I just dont like to write or share my thought very much.
I used to be very wary of people asking questions about worship being genuine. Questions about people liking the way the song sounds, or if its their favorite, or why do people’s hands go up in only certain parts of a song. And for the most part I still am. “Dont judge a person’s heart” is what I always think. If worship is a response, or a an effect, to God’s action, or cause, in people’s lives, then how can you judge a person’s worship if it is their response and not yours. (That was a poorly written out way of me trying to sound like an english major… I hate english) But today in chapel, the question of genuine worship popped into my head on its rare occasion.
The last thing I want to do is sound judgmental, holier than thou, or a know it all and it may be very difficult during this next part.
ACU like to get into routines. The same songs will be sung over and over again and unless cued by the worship leader or its a song that everyone knows and loves, student wont stand or sing out, or be expressive in their response to God. I know first hand being a worship leader in Moody and the feeling of defeat when you feel that you have not led students well when students arent responsive. So I dont blame the leaders for repeating the loved songs to the students. But what happened today in chapel was praising the leader for picking a song that everyone loved. I’ve been told that instrumental worship is nothing but a concert or a show and that why CoC people dont like it, But what happened today, and what happens a lot of the time is, an applause and condoning of a show.
So is it possible to worship to a song that you dont know? Or in the awkward silence between songs? Or when the person next to you is way off key or obnoxiously belting a harmony because they know they are amazing? Or when you are forced to go to chapel 55 times a semester? I think in true genuine worship you can, because it should be a response to God not to the song. That is something called idolatry and its scary to think that it is mixed in with our worship.
I am just as bad at this. I am a perfectionist when it comes to leading, so when the set that I am leading is going wrong, I lose focus. If someone else is leading and they aren’t striving for perfection I lose focus. I also love music and everything that goes into worship music and its easy to get lost in that and lose focus. So this post is about me just as much as it is with the ACU students and everyone else.
What needs to be done to change this? I honestly have no idea. But if the revolution I want to see happen in Abilene and at ACU is going to happen, I think this needs to change.
Thought, inaccuracies, concerns, threats?
