Saturday, July 02, 2011

Worship Like You Mean It?


I just...don't know. Really?!

5 comments:

SabrinaTheArizonaDesertRose said...

One gets the impression that they're worshipping being a rock star vs building one's house upon the Rock.

Anonymous said...

I get the impression one worships through playing music for the Lord...like me. I totally relate to this. "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise." Psalm 33:3

Darlene said...

So what exactly do "they" mean by "like you mean it?" And is the implication that not doing it their way is not "worshipping like you mean it?"

Jim said...

I guess if you are not having an intense experience, then you are not worshipping?

Fr. David said...

Anon,

I suppose my original reason for putting this up was due to the damage the guitarist is doing to his instrument in the name of "worship." Worship of God -- praise, adoration, etc -- is not destructive, but rather constructive. Destruction of idols which impeded proper worship is one thing; screaming into a microphone and destroying a guitar and calling it worship is another.

Orthodox liturgy, when done well, is a beautiful, symmetrical, service that deliberately uses ornate beauty, crafted by men's hands, to glorify God. That is can be plodded through and "not meant" by people who don't know why they do what they do (though ignorance in no way implies insincerity) or through sheer indifference does not mean that the worship itself is insincere, just that at times the people who engage it are (though God is judge and, God knows, I fail to live up to the beautiful image of our liturgy).

As I've heard many times, worship can't be dead or alive (dead ritual and all that); it can only be true or false. Our calling is to worship like we mean it, but to do so in a true way, according to what has pleased God within the Christian faith community for 2,000 years.