Sunday, August 21, 2011

Do you wanna dance?

A friend and I talked about worship tonight. We talked about the importance of heart and passion in worship and how that can be conveyed to the congregation in a genuine way. This can take many forms but our discussion in particular concerned the performance vs. heart debacle in corporate worship.

When I first started playing guitar in adult worship teams at 19, I felt some scrutiny over how much my playing looked like a performance rather than worship. Granted, this was at a fairly conservative church so I mostly shrugged it off but I'll be honest; it stung a little. Not because it was a shot to my ego or skill set, but because it was a judgement of my heart.

You see, I love music. I love live music, the atmosphere, what it does to my heart, mind and soul. There is nothing in this life more powerful to me than music. That being said, when I worship I channel the passion I have for music. I move, groove, feel and dare I say? Dance!

I felt discouraged when I found out some people thought I was putting on a show instead of worshiping my God. It made me not want to worship. It made me want to hide who I was. Judgement like this can be a very dangerous thing, especially to someone young.

I hope you will resist judging someone for their actions without knowing the heart behind them. After all, when someone is dancing, grooving or getting into worship music on stage; they might actually be worshiping... just maybe.

This isn't some response to someone slamming me recently or judging me in any way, but more of a defense for those who like myself have been judged in this way in the past. May God bless The Church with a generation of worshipers unafraid to express the passion for Jesus in their hearts through dancing, shouting and grooving!

Psalm 149 (The Message)

Hallelujah! Sing to God a brand-new song,
praise him in the company of all who love him.
Let all Israel celebrate their Sovereign Creator,
Zion's children exult in their King.
Let them praise his name in dance;
strike up the band and make great music!

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