Worship That Shapes Us

The strength of our theology shapes the depth of our worship and the depth of our worship transforms the core of what we believe.  This truth stems back to the time of the Exile when God allowed Israel to be scattered.  Up to the time of Exile, the people had a temple, a system of worship, and teachers to study the law.  After the exile all of this had been displaced.  In response, the people searched for a way to preserve their faith and what they believed.  This came in what we now know as the 150 chapters of Psalms.  The Psalms did not simply give them a worship book for Sundays, it gave them a way to learn what they believed and preserved it, no matter where they were.

We are the teachers of truth to this generation, and what we teach must create a space in which obedience to truth is practiced.

We are the teachers of truth to this generation, and what we teach must create a space in which obedience to truth is practiced.  What does this say to us now and what does it challenge us to do as we pastor students?  How are we teaching them to translate worship experience in to a transformational opportunity?
Here are some things to consider:

1. We must go beyond just an experience.  How can what we do and how we worship become transformational in the life of a student?  How do we take what happens at an altar or a worship service and translate it in to everyday life?  Our challenge is to teach students how to carry their “altar time” in the rest of the week.  This challenges us to go from simply creating experience to transformational moments.  It requires us to go deeper and take our student deeper as well. Simply being satisfied in how worship makes us feel is not enough, because that is not what worship is about.
2. It cannot be about worship unto itself.  Sometimes I think a tragedy of the modern church is we worship the experience worship. We like the goose bumps and we like the response.  Worship was never meant to be about us, it is about us coming before God as an act of humility. How are we allowing him to speak to us and transform us?   Our worship must move us forward.   Sadly, I can count too many times I have seen students who actively engage in “worship,” yet no life change takes place, no obedience to the Spirit is manifested, and no desire for Truth or a pursuit of holiness is developed.
3. Our worship must shape our theology.  Consider this, most students won’t remember what you said, but they will remember the song playing in their head.  Music and worship become a powerful tool in shaping the lives of our students and what they believe.  This puts great responsibility on us to examine what we sing, how we worship and what we teach week in and week out.  Is it offering depth?  Will it teach them? Will it alter their spiritual DNA?

John 4:23-24 states, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The true impact of worship is not found in how good it makes you feel, but in how much it changes you. Worship moves us to seek and implement Truth and causes us to become people dependent on the Spirit. It is not tied to a place or a song, but instead it is tied to a deep dependency on the Spirit leading us as we follow. Great worship doesn’t respond with loud noise and shouting, it responds through obedient action to what the Spirit is saying to us and calling us to do in response to our worship, after all true worship is how we live our life out in the everyday facets of our lives.

Let us worship and let it transform us. Let us teach our students to do the same.