“Future Worship (Essentials Red Fall 08)”
“For:The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt”
In John 4:23 Jesus states that:” Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
God wants mercy rather than sacrifice, love and truth rather than lip service. He is not unconcerned about form but instead adamantly passionate about the condition of our heart in Worship (1 Samuel 16:7). The Church has gotten so fixated on the art of assimilation that we’ve hindered freedom of expression in love and humility.
In church history and modernly we have often “boxed” Worship to reflect one culture and one expression. We get stuck in certain times and spaces, not allowing the emerging culture to influence the Worship Arts.
There is no doubt that God created to us to Worship corporately and individually. We must understand that we were not created to Worship the same but to Worship simply in Spirit and in Truth. This is Our Kings main concern, that we approach him in honesty and bring true offerings of love and adoration to His throne.
I think of the well known story of Cain and Abel. Although Abel may have been a Shepard and brought a “better” offering of meat, it was not the meat that God was concerned about, it was the attitude behind his offering. Cain’s offering would have been joyfully accepted by the Lord had his heart longed to please God with an offering of Love.
It is difficult in a culture of “survival of the fittest” (when indeed it’s the survival and abundant life of the humble!) to realize that we were meant to complement not compete with each other. The Arts are supposed to build upon each other, inspiration inspiring inspiration, not to destroy and take the place of others creative works.
Our example is heaven, and if our prayer truly is that Gods will be done here on earth as it is in heaven, we must allow room for the worship arts to flourish with out hindrance from our personal preferences. As we look to the future, we should dig up the jewels of the past, clean and purify them with humble hearts and than let them propel us into the rich, abundant, joyful celebration of future worship.
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