Dirty Dangerous Worship

Oct 19, 2010

Recently, I've been confronted with the question of worship and what it's "supposed" to look like. Having been raised in the Methodist church, saved in the Baptist, sanctified and spirit filled in the COG, and delivered from religious bondage by the Vineyard, I've encountered a LOT of different worship styles. While I don't think any one particular denomination or group has cornered the market on what worship is supposed to look like, I've come to understand clearly what it is NOT.

The very definition of the word worship is a surprise to most - WORSHIP is a verb. It's something you DO, but it's also something you feel. It's also a noun, because true worship is something you ARE. . .not merely a description of an action.

Worshippers are people who "display reverance or adoration, as to a diety." Ummm. . .ok. Translation - worshippers are believers who offer a sacrifice of their being through the act of reverance AND adoration, not simply one or the other. Worship can only take place in ONE form however - in truth. Jesus spoke clearly about this, saying that only those who worship in truth will know Him.


There comes a question about styles of worship, and while I do think that largely worship is up to the individual, there is one aspect in which I think there can be no compromise. We must worship the one worthy of our praise in the same manner, mindset, heart offering in which He gave Himself to us - passionately,  unabashedly, unrelenting, and without reserve.  John 4:24 says this, " But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Not should, or ought to, and not as we feel like it, but MUST worship in spirit and in truth. Whoa.



The other night, I had the opportunity to experience worship while others seemed a bit put off by the music choice. Frankly, I didn't let it bother me much once the Lord began to speak to me. The music was edgy, raw, and rather dirty in a sense. There was no lovely melody, no sweet harmonies. It was banging, thumping, the rythyms undulating through my spirit and awakening something altogether primal within me. The thump of the drums, the panicked strumming on the strings, and the cracking realness of the vocalists took me a place far beyond the confines of our gathering room. It was in that place that He spoke to me and said, "Wanna come get dirty with Me?" Hahahaaa - we all have stories of our Jesus moments. Most of them are purely g-rated - butterflies and pink skies, meadows and mountaintops. How often does He ask us to go get dirty with Him?



So I went - He took me back to a time in Columbia when I was at MOW at the old church. Peter Steyne and Toby Trull were banging out the walls on the drums, Joe Cash was smoking his guitar, and there were more shofars than I could possibly count. There was a frantic energy as the worshipers of God began to touch heaven with their praise. . .and then it happened. It was gradual - a few of us began to feel really warm, and then noticed others sweating heavily. Within half an hour, the temperture was over 100 degrees with over a hundred bodies packed into a small space. The A/C had gone out during the hottest summer on record. But. . .NOBODY LEFT. Not a single soul left the oven like room we were all in. Rather, the pressing in took on a new life altogether, and our praise became a sacrifice like it had never been before. People were sweating, dripping; the dirt from the carpet and the stickiness from children's hands made us dirtier still. Makeup melted off, hair fell, and body odor ran rampant. . .but so did the Holy Spirit.



I joke that that was the night Danny Steyne baptised me, b/c quite literally he drenched me when he leaned over me and spoke the words of the Father's heart to me. The anointing oil of that night was the very ESSENCE of the lovers of Christ, coming out of and off our bodies.


Worship. . .like many other experiences in life. . .isn't meant to take on one persona and remain that way. There are times for "quietly sitting with hands folded" types of worship, and there is a time for "dirty, dangerous worship." I prefer the latter, but that's just me.


What I do know is that regardless of the worship style you like, what can never be compromised for our comfort is this - we must passionately pursue the heart of the One who passionately died for us. If I offer my praise b/c it's simply my responsibility, I fail to give a sacrifice. A sacrifice is something that costs me something; my pride, my dignity, my time, etc. If it costs me nothing, then it is not a sacrifice. . .and it does not reflect  HIM at all.


I only want to be like Him - even if it means I have to get dirty in the dangerous places.