So recently I read THIS article posted on Facebook. Thom Shultz is bringing up a great topic “Why They Don’t Sing in Church Anymore”. I love this conversation and believe that as a church we can improve. Though a few points he makes are worth addressing, the author is missing the true nature to our mime like worship: OUR HEARTS

He ends his own article saying “I’ve stopped singing…” If this is meant to encourage me to sing it doesn’t. We look to our leaders to exemplify worship for us. It is a trickle from the top. A true heartfelt worship does not become contagious if our own leaders mime expressionless words. That being said it can’t be left only to them. We are all in this together.  And we have no one to blame for our lack of gusto but ourselves. The following are some ways where we let our deceitful hearts limit our Sunday worship experience.

Consumerism is the biggest poison in our church today. “If I don’t like what’s happening, I won’t participate” If we continue to look at the church through consumer eyes we will always be disappointed. Though there are songs in worship music today that may be less than desirable to some either too contemporary or not contemporary enough. Whenever I attend a service with a song that I just have a hard time getting my heart into, I try my best to repent of “elitism” and pray that the spirit would move regardless, and that I would let these feelings go in order to respond in worship to the God who has given me Everything and who is worthy of my praise in whatever song I sing! Ephesians 5:21 Regardless of personal likes, at some point we have to find a way to set aside our preferences and worship hand in hand with the person next to us that may have different tastes. Because in heaven there will be no personal preference.

Secondly we are too content with being spoon fed in order to worship rather than acknowledging our individual role that we play in corporate worship settings. We should be praying (both corporately and individually) for the spirit to move and to break our own hearts towards worshiping the Lord. Just as Psalm 32:3 says when we keep silent about our sins we waste away. When we don’t make prayer apart of our worship we hinder our experience. Before we walk into the building on sunday we should say a prayer something like this: “Lord remind me that I need you and that you are worthy of my praise. Forgive me for the ways that I lack in worshiping you wholeheartedly. Spirit move in me to remind me of what is true.” If repentance isn’t a part of your service. Make it a priority to lay down your sin at the feet of Jesus before you walk in. Because He is ready to receive it and has vowed to forgive it! Otherwise we will walk in distracted with weighed down hearts and this is the hardest point of entry into true heart felt worship of our living God.

Most importantly we are out of practice. We should be worshipping the Lord in song and through the reading of His word throughout the week so we don’t walk into church cold and expect the circumstances of our services to “get us there”. Worship leaders work really hard to set up the mood in order to lead others into heart felt worship singing, but if we leave it all to them we will be disappointed. Because in the end the circumstances of our service try though we may will be imperfect and will fall short. Only a practiced heart is able to worship the Lord in a manor worthy of His praise. Psalm 1 encourages to plant ourselves by streams so that we will yield fruit and gain practice!

All that being said, isn’t it miraculous that every sunday the Lord chooses to teach us new things, regardless of where our hearts are? Let’s worship that! The fact that the Lord choses the broken church to move His purposes and to carry out his will. What a great picture of the Gospel!  He is redeeming all over the place! We are but broken cisterns yet he choses to fill us and that is what we should be moved by every sunday!!!