Jesus is most glorified when gifts in music are used for His glory, but as wonderful as music and singing are, they are not worship.
Or at least, worship is not limited to just singing and music. When we think about worshipping God, the first thought is people coming together in a hall with sound system and lights, singing songs together and lifting their hands in the air as a band and some really great singers praise from the front.
And while we do worship God with songs, the problem arises when we start thinking "I can't worship God because I'm not a great singer or I don't feel able to throw my hands up like that." Well, the good news is God doesn't require anyone to be a great singer, to know all the lyrics, to put their hands up, or clap in rhythm for it to be true worship of Him.
I have a friend who for a season was constantly bugged by other members of the church because every time it would come to corporate praise and worship, he would just stand in the back with his two hands in His pockets and hum the tune of the song being sung. He was told how he had to start being more expressive by lifting his hands and singing louder. Kneeling in "God's presence" every now and then wouldn't hurt either.
But when this friend of mine wasn't humming a tune like a statue, he was sharing the gospel with his employees, helping the poor with social projects, reading his Bible, discipling and loving his family and faithfully serving as a volunteer in church services. I can only imagine what those other people were doing when they weren't crying to the tune of a catchy worship song.
1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Worship is a lifestyle, not something that we do for thirty minutes once a week. Worship is simply the expression of a heart that is full of gratitude and awe at the splendour of God. When our hearts are in a position to worship, everything we do becomes worship, not just our singing and dancing.
And I'm not saying that worshipping through music means nothing. I'm not saying that we shouldn't clap, lift our hands, kneel and sing to God. Yes, we express worship when we sing songs and raise our hands, but only when our hearts are in it, and when our lives follow suit. All singing and music without a heart that is full of God's praises isn't worship. It's just singing and music. And all singing without a godly life marked by expressions of love for God and our neighbour is just hypocrisy.
Worship is a heart condition that trusts and praises the fullness and wholeness of Christ and lives every single day and does every single task unto God because of who He is in our life.
