Singing, Worship, and California.

Let me start by saying, my favorite way to connect and commune with my Father in heaven is through singing and praising Him through song. I met God in this place and I love to worship Him through music.

I am a worship leader.

I wrote a book on being a worship leader.
You can check that out here: Thoughts of a Dying Worship Leader

I love to worship God through music.

Got it?

Now, let’s continue.

I want you to look at something I’ve been thinking about.

Singing to Jesus equals Worship.
Worship doesn’t equal singing to Jesus.

Does that make sense? Here’s what I’m getting at. When we lift our voice in praise to the Lord, it is worship! Scripture is loaded with people crying out to God in song, it’s incredible.

Worshiping God through music is one the best blessings we’ve been given as humans.

Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.

Psalm 57:8-9

When we sing and shout to the Lord, it is worship.

And while singing to the Lord is worship, worship according to scripture is not just singing. It’s so much more.

Worship isn’t singing.
It’s much larger.
It’s much deeper.
It’s much better than just that.

As a Californian, I’ve had to wrestle with the guidelines coming out over the last few months from the CDC and our government. Like you I’ve had to look at myself and determine what I believed and what I thought was right.

It hasn’t been easy.
It’s been confusing.
It’s been challenging.

It was only a couple a days ago where I began to hear the Holy Spirit speak to me about something that I was seeing online and hearing from the mouths of believers. It came shortly after our elected officials passed the guideline stating that they would like to see the discontinuation of singing in all places of gathering, including churches.

Oh boy.

(cue online explosion)

Let’s just say that didn’t go over well for some, I know it didn’t for me. When I heard it, I was already coming off of a week of stress and a few days of feeling the pressure over what needs to be done to keep the church going and people ministered to.

When a team member of mine sent me the new order, I wasn’t mad, I was sad. I felt robbed. Honestly, my first feeling was despair.

But that’s when I also began to be reminded of real scriptural truths by the Holy Spirit. And what I began to notice myself saying and others saying were statements like this.

We aren’t going to be able to worship this Sunday.

Guess what?

That isn’t true.

(breathe)

Here was a thought I began to ponder as a worship leader. Who should take responsibility for statements like that?

If congregations, people of Jesus, collectively say statements like we aren’t able to worship, who should answer for that?

I think it might be me.

Why? Because of the title I’ve gone by for so long. Worship Leader.

Have I led people to a place where their worship lives in the 30 minutes of music on Sundays?

Have I, even if not on purpose, ushered people away from scriptural worship and into a worship that is dependent on certain circumstances?

I thought, Jordan, if music were gone, how would you lead worship then?

Listen to this passage in Romans 12:1-2. Paul is talking about worship.

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

There’s so much being said in this verse and this verse isn’t the only place in scripture that talks about worship, but for me it was a reminder about how God addresses worship and what moves his heart.

Our bodies.
Our whole self.
Our lives.
Our minds.
Our actions.

Our life, inside and out, offering to the Lord, that is the highest form of worship available to us in this life.

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:15

There is no one on this planet that can take worship away from us.

No one.

They can kill me, yes. But they cannot kill my worship.
They can shut churches down, but worship remains.
They can silence Sunday mornings, but worship will remain.

Why?

Because worship is the response of our lives to the love of Jesus. Our lives were meant to be models of worship.

Fountains of worship.
Lighthouses of worship.

I know it may pain you to hear this (it pains me), but as this pandemic continues it is quite possible that in the near future church buildings will be closed.

But may I encourage you with this, worship is never closed.

It was a door that was opened by Christ on the cross and no man can close it.

The ways in which we express our love for Christ such as singing, praying, gathering together and more, are all important. I don’t believe these forms of worship are gone, but you better believe they may get harder and harder to do.

If I can speak as a worship leader to you, from the context of Romans 12:1-2, I want to tell you that our worship is bigger than we thought.

The worship that moves the heart of God comes from your entire life.

We may (in California) be on pause from singing in church together, but those songs exist Monday – Saturday and God is still listening then.

May singing not stop Monday – Saturday because it’s stopped corporately on Sunday.

Let’s worship.

Singing is great, actually it’s better than great. But worship is bigger than that, maybe there’s something God has for us in this trial.

Maybe there’s something God wants to refine?
Maybe there’s a part of church God wants to remold?
Maybe there’s something in me God is trying to get me to see?

How about you?

I’ll leave you with this verse, it may seem disconnected from the rest of these thoughts, but it isn’t for me.

Reading it in these days, the summer of 2020, has changed the tone of the voice of Jesus as I’ve read it.

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

As we walk together through all this may we not forsake the call to worship with who we are and how we treat one another.

People are still watching, even now.

I’m still singing, not by myself, because I believe you are too.

I love you, I really do.