Worship Belongs to Lovers

 "The future of worship does not belong to the most brilliant song writers, musical virtuosos, or gifted vocalists. IT BELONGS TO LOVERS." ~ Jeremy Riddle from, "The Reset." 

I read this quote over the weekend and it hasn't left me. I know this is true. I know this is true from my own relationship with Jesus. I'm a pretty task-oriented person. I can get caught up very easily in the business of creating, composing, doing, accomplishing. Those verbs are all very comfortable and set my heart at ease. I want to handle life well and my personal, fleshly litmus test is how well I can do at keeping order in my life and keeping up with the never-ending check list. I know in some ways God made me to be this kind of person and I know in other ways I've been raised to be this kind of person. But there are times I feel tired with this. I just want to...BE and not...DO. I want to love and be loved. I want to see and be seen, hear and be heard. I am learning this place of tired, is actually...RIGHT. It's the true starting place when I meet with God, instead of coming to Him with my "holy agenda". To be a lover is greater than to be a doer. 

I'm a musician. Not a brilliant superstar musician, but it's in my bones nonetheless. My life is lived with running theme music in my head all day long! Every situation has a song. I want to play it, sing it, listen to it, create it. I want to grow in excellence of this incredible gift from God. I'm a worshiper. I ponder worship.  I learn worship. I practice worship. I teach and encourage others in worship. If I remove all the tasks, the roles that I have, the responsibilities, the agendas, this is who I am at the core of my being. 

A musical worshiper of Jesus. 

But without love, I am a clanging gong, a clashing cymbal...nails on a chalkboard to the ears of God and those around me. Without love, I am a religious ritual without relationship. Without love, I am flesh and not spirit and truth. 

I am so grieved by what I see happening in the American church today. The divisions are vast and ungodly. The entitlement and idolatrous need to be right sits on a higher throne than Jesus these days. I'm waiting for the moment when Jesus shows up with a whip to turn over tables, and altars, and power point presentations, and political opinions and restores us back to Revelation 2 - our first love and the works we did at first when the gospel was simple, steadfast and not open to shift according to our cultural opinions and arguments. Worship has been turned to ourselves. The church has forgotten how to love, how to get low, how to lay its life down for another. The church has forgotten that we are just dirt without the Father's creative spoken word, Jesus' resurrection and the Holy Spirit's breath within us. When I remember this, I will do anything for Him, no matter the cost, no matter the understanding of His demands, no matter if I agree or disagree with His word. The gospel is simple: If you love Me, you will obey Me. (John 14:15).

But we're so busy. We're busy being right on social media. We're busy becoming musical virtuosos with our arguments and intelligence against other brothers and sisters. This side vs That side. We're busy writing words read by both the Body of Christ and the world that defame one another and cause people to choose to serve us, our side, rather than Jesus. But worship is 100% submitted other-mindedness. "Greater love has no one than this: that they would LAY THEIR LIFE DOWN for a friend." 

Love = my life laid down (SUBMITTED). Love = it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (OTHER-MINDEDNESS). 

Worship = my life laid down (SUBMITTED). Worship = it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (OTHER-MINDEDNESS). 

The future of worship belongs to lovers. Not the love that our culture and even portions of the church advertise - that fleeting emotion, love without expectation, love without truth, love without consequence, pain or growth. Not that perverted, weak worldly love. Love is power. Love destroys and restores at the same time. Love is jealous...jealous as the grave (Song of Songs 8:6). Love is as strong as death. Why? Because the lover must die to themselves to give it to another. This kind of love is sometimes felt but always chosen. The future of worship belongs to lovers. 

Jesus...

Won't You let me love You more?

        This is all that I desire.

Won't You let me love You more?

        This is all that I require.

Won't You let me love You more?

        This is all that I desire. 

Won't You let me love You more?

        Still more. And more.