Authentic Worship - 2

Just a few more thoughts to continue from yesterday:

• Control. Unfortunately this is a common problem with pastors or worship leaders who are very concerned about issues such as time, emotionalism, making everything perfect (there is a difference between being perfect and being excellent.) Some people simply do not want God to “talk” in church. The easiest way to “control” such things is to do everything yourself and exclude the whole body…and sometimes the Lord.

The worship service can be “over-programmed” where we dictate when, and how the Lord is able to speak. Some worship leaders come to the worship service with an agenda and are determined to go in that direction no matter what happens.

While it is certainly not wrong to have your service well planned and thought out, there must be sections of the service where we allow the Lord to manifest His presence and words.

• Tradition. Often we are bound to the way things have always been done and are unable to break free of traditions that the Lord might be drawing us into as a church body. (Tradition: the living faith of the dead; Traditionalism: the dead faith of the living.)

It is easy to sink into the same old patterns where we don't embrace any changes. I know God does not change (James 1:17) but we need to constantly be changing and become more and more like Him. That means we cannot "rest" solely in the liturgies and order of service that make us set in our ways - we must be open to the living flow of God in the meetings.

Authentic Worship Part 1: HERE

Authentic Worship 1

I am interested in a list of issues you all think are the greatest hinderances to authentic worship. I have some ideas and will start it off, but I want to hear from you all. Please
leave a note...or two, and help me to put a comprehensive list together.

 • Worship leaders who don’t lead—they just sing. There is a difference between being a 

"song leader" and a "worship leader."

• Focus on the music rather than the Lord. Sometimes we make the music more important

than genuine worship. We are looking for the next great song, or we are focused on the 

style of the worship music rather than being focused on the Lord.

• Faulty theological understanding of biblical Worship—many don’t fully enter into worship

simply because they do not know what heights and depths are available to them. Authentic

worship, and knowing God’s presence must become the ultimate goal of the Church.

• Time. So often we are simply bound to the clock rather than to a flow of the Holy Spirit.

The service (and God’s ability to speak) is controlled by time. While we do not need hours

in order to have prophetic worship, we do need to be willing to yield to the leading of the

Holy Spirit.

Authentic Worship Part 2: HERE