The Art of Worship. Fred Bittner
about You, Jesus
Redman remembers writing the song quickly in his bedroom soon after the church’s journey together, with no grand intentions, by any means, for it to become an international anthem. He viewed the words simply as his personal, subjective response to what he was learning about worship.
But when Matt shared “The Heart of Worship” with Pilavachi, the pastor suggested making a few small adjustments to the lyrics so any member of the church could relate to it as well.
Amazed by how God has since taken the song around the world for His purposes, the songwriter smiles in regard to his own lack of foresight. “It nearly didn’t go any further than my bedroom. But I love that…”8
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus.9
As in the words of the song, we need to strip away the easy answers to worship, and start again from the beginning to build a perspective of worship. We build the foundation of worship by giving ourselves completely to God. The heart of worship is taking everything we do and making it about God. It is not about services and music, or even buildings. The heart of worship is living for God. When we live life as an act of worship, then the songs we sing and the music we share become worship as well.
So worship is not just what we do on Sunday. Worship is also what we do Sunday afternoon through Saturday. Our acts of worship through the week energize our fellowship on Sunday. Our life of worship makes Sunday meaningful. If there is no worship through the week, then Sunday may have some emotional meaning, but it will remain spiritually shallow.
The concept of worship through the week is one that must be clarified. In one of my early ministries, a certain young couple started coming to our church. We rejoiced when they gave their lives to Christ, and we were excited as they learned to walk with Christ. She was a stay-at-home mom and he was an employee at the local factory. To him, worship throughout the week meant that he carried his Bible and spent all of his time preaching to his fellow employees. This did not go over well as others had to take up the slack because he was not performing his duties. At one point, someone got tired of his preaching, grabbed his Bible, and threw it into the factory furnace.
Needless to say, he was confused about what it meant to practice the art of worship through the week. His words made no sense because he was acting as a bad friend, a lousy employee, and a terrible witness. He had to learn that acts of worship included being an exemplary employee, becoming a servant to his friends, and praying his way into their confidence. Once he learned what a life of worship was, he settled into a wonderful ministry at the factory.
The rest of this book is designed to help us understand how to expand our worship from Sunday to an everyday part of our lives. Art takes practice. Musicians will tell you that they became an overnight success only after years and years of obscurity. Artists painted over canvases that nobody wanted before they became famous. School bands sound horrible when they first pick up the instruments. But after practice, they hone the art of music and the results can be remarkable.
The art of worship also takes practice. We don’t all of a sudden decide that every aspect of life is now worship and expect it to work out. Israel practiced for forty years in the wilderness, and still struggled once they made it to the promised land. If we look at the book of Revelation, we see church after church that struggled with the art of worship. But do we give up on something because it seems difficult? No, we practice, fail, and learn from it so that we can be more successful the next time.
Each chapter helps us to view different aspects of life as acts of worship. Let’s take up the adventure and become artists in the ways of worship.
Try These Activities
• If you were going to get back to the heart of worship, what would you focus on? What are the distractors that have gotten in the way of this focus? How can you get back to the heart of worship?
• How can you do a better job preparing yourself to enter into worship? List three things you can and will do.
• If art takes practice, then what can you practice to make your worship a better experience?
Chapter 3: The Essential Role of Praise in Worship
“Praise now is one of the great duties of the redeemed. It will be their employment forever.” (Albert Barnes)
My wife and I have always been involved in small-group Bible studies. Most of the time I was the leader, but occasionally I was able to just be a participant. A church elder and his wife led one group that we really enjoyed. On one particular night, Brad began the lesson with a statement, “We live in a ‘whatever’ world. Whatever feels good, whatever gets you ahead of the other guy, whatever you want, go ahead and do it.” The group seemed to be tracking with Brad because they began to talk about things they could no longer participate in because of America’s declining moral code.
You could have heard a pin drop when I spoke up and said, “I agree with the ‘whatever’ mentality. In fact, I live by it.” You can be sure they challenged me to explain myself. After all, I was swimming upstream in rough waters. So I gave them my scriptural proof of living in a “whatever” world. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
As believers, our “whatever world” is different from that of those who do not know Christ. They focus on things that satisfy their earthly passions. We try to focus on healthy things that build peace in our lives. Our “whatevers” are things that bring glory to God. How does the Philippians text demonstrate this point? Well, let’s look at what we are called to focus on.
We are called to dwell on “whatever is true.” What is the ultimate truth in this world? It is the truth of God creating and working in this world. It is the truth of Jesus dying for our sins. It is the truth of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence helping us to live for our God.
What things do we consider to be “honorable,” or “right,” or “pure,” or “lovely,” or “of good repute,” or “excellent”? These words do not describe passions, which satisfy for the moment and then are gone. They don’t describe possessions or toys or promotions. All of these words center in the heart of Christ—his will, his teaching, and his truth.
Paul’s final ingredient in his “whatever” list was this: if anything is worthy of praise, then let your mind dwell on these things. Being worthy of praise is the capstone of all the other statements. When we live in God’s “whatever” world, we are living a life worthy of praise.
Hebrews 13:15–16 agrees with this assessment of a “whatever” world: “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (emphasis mine).
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