15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17.
Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! Psalm 147:1
A few years ago we had some missionaries from another country visit our church to give testimonies. That Sunday, the praise band was just not quite on. While I can’t remember specifically what the problem was, Pastor Parker and I quickly debriefed before the missionary spoke and we both agreed that worship was not up to “our normal standard.”
Then the missionary started sharing, “That worship was wonderful today. What a blessing it has been to be able to sing praises to God with you this morning! In the country where we are missionaries, Christianity is illegal. We have to turn up the radio and sing our worship songs softly underneath so the government doesn’t find out what we are doing.” And then pastor Parker and I sunk a little lower in our chairs and asked for our serving of humble pie could be taken to go. Here we were judging the quality of the praise team based on some external standard instead of doing what have been designed and instructed to do: sing praises to our God.
Instead of singing at the top of our lungs, as we have the freedom to do here in our country, many of us stand idly by watching the praise team as if it is their job only to sing praises to God. Some of us judge the praise team based on their ability to play their instruments or sing. Some judge the song selection or style and wish that it could have been done more like Burger King, “Your way right away.”
But that is not what worship should ever be. Worship should never be is about our way; it is about God’s way. It is about being thankful. It is about letting the message of Christ dwell in us richly. It is about remembering God’s great story of love and redemption and anticipating that one day He will return to make all things new. Worship should always be first and foremost about God. How pleasant and fitting it is to sing praises to our God!
Ray Sanchez is the Pastor of Worship and Children’s Discipleship at FBC Weslaco. He generally likes his humble pie to go.