1-21-19 Worship Music

Not gonna sugar coat it – I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with worship music.

Growing up, I sang hymns in a Baptist church.  Those songs didn’t mean much to me at the time because we sang them every week and there was never anything new.  Same hymn book, same songs, year after year.

Fast forward to a couple years ago.  I’m now an adult raising children and my tune still hadn’t changed.  The songs on the Christian radio station and at church are no longer hymns, long gone is the organ and piano, more than one person is behind the microphone leading worship, but now there was a new problem.  People are raising their hands in church while singing!  I love the new sounds of the guitar and drums at church…but those hands in the air?  Such a distraction!  I can’t focus on the words on the screen because there are people that are so excited about the songs that they are putting their hands in front of all of those important words.  And no matter how many times the same chorus is repeated in a worship song, they just keep waving those hands.  It is so hard for me not to pass judgement on these people.

But why do we judge others?  I’ve learned over time that judgment happens when we don’t have all the facts.  Judgment is just our opinion in the moment and is usually formed without much thought – a knee jerk reaction.  We make unfair judgments about people’s parenting skills in line at the grocery store (what if that family spent thousands of dollars just to get that child due to years of infertility issues?), we judge other’s character by their appearance (what if that person is overweight because of a medical condition they can’t control?), and we make quick judgments about strangers in situations after reading one short online article (what if the reporter truly is biased and not giving accurate details about the crime?)

On the other hand, belief systems are built based on facts and truths.  Once I took a long hard look at the difference between the words “judgement” and “belief”, I realized that I needed to first learn the facts about praise and worship music.  Then I could stand firm on my beliefs (as opposed to just making judgments).  Plus I needed to have a ready answer for my kids if they asked why the people at our church raised their hands during songs.  I don’t know about anyone else’s kids but wow, mine sure do ask “But why?” a lot.  We can no longer just say, “Because I said so!”  They want to know the “why” behind everything.  And so do I.

And so I began my quest.  I talked with many – and I mean many – Christians over many months.  I quickly realized something.  I was dead wrong about praise and worship.  The next time you want to know the “why” behind something, ASK QUESTIONS!  I found out that some people hear from God through worship music.  And when I say hear, I mean hear deeply.  They are taken to a place during a worship song where it is just them and God.  Words are coming out but they are in a comforting place with their Savior.  Sometimes they cry, sometimes they don’t sing at all, and sometimes they put their hands up because they are just in awe of how awesome their God is.  They’ve been in the valley and the mountaintops and they realize how holy He truly is.  Plus I found verses in the Bible to support it.  In 2 Samuel 6:14, it says, “David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.”  If David was so full of joy when he was dancing, I just couldn’t picture God up in Heaven looking down at him and saying, “Please stop.  You might be distracting others with your joy.  That’s a bit much. Please put your arms down and stop moving your feet in excitement.”  After all, don’t we all snap our fingers or clap our hands at a concert?  How was raising hands in church any different?

Another thing I found out about during my search for understanding was why many worship songs have lines that repeat over and over.  I realized lyrics from popular worship songs and songs from hymnals both have choruses and lines that are repetitive.  And the reason for this is the same reason we all learned our math facts using multiplication flashcards – the more we repeat something, the more it sticks in our minds.  Guess who listened to Michael W. Smith’s song, “Surrounded” the other day and was completely agitated with how many times we sang the line, “This is how I fight my battles”?  The same person who was singing that line 4 days later after I had someone I love hurt me with their judgmental words.  It was a line of comforting words that got me through that pain, all because I’d repeated it over and over and it had gotten stuck in my memory!

See this is the thing…when I make worship music about me, then I will always be distracted by those hands in the air. But look at it from this perspective.  Think about how brave those people are!  Hand raisers in church are saying to the world, I don’t care how stupid I may look or how judged I may be.  I can no longer sit still – I must raise my hands in worship.  Who am I to judge any of that?  Yes, I might be distracted.  But what if the person standing next to me had such a bad week that they are literally holding on by a thread?  What if that person with their hands up is so in awe of their Savior at that moment that they can’t even stand still?  Who am I to judge?  What goes on between each person and their creator is not my business.  Each person has to give an account for their actions – not other’s actions.  Just our own.  And who am I to judge anyone after all the mistakes I’ve made in my life?

So the next time you see someone’s hands go up, instead of passing judgment, try closing your eyes and apologizing to God for all the things you’ve done wrong during the week.  When the same lines in a song repeat over and over, instead of getting frustrated, start thanking Him for all the things He’s done for you.  Then worship music will become only about worship – not about how comfortable or happy we are.  It’s not about us at all.  It’s always about Him.  Always.