The Song By B.A. Timmons
I
chatted with a friend after the Sunday morning service. We were discussing the worship portion. There are many different thoughts on what worship should look like. Some churches have a song leader, some have a praise team, and some like the congregation to lead out or at least request songs for worship. A suggestion was raised: Perhaps we should work with the people God brings us. If we have no one in attendance who is gifted in leading music, then we do without a leader. If we have a gifted individual who can lead, then we go with that. And if we have a whole group of gifted musicians with hearts for worship, then perhaps we worship with a praise team. There’s no rule we have to always do it the same way every week. We take who the Lord provides, allowing those He brings to use their gifts, while at the same time giving the whole group the opportunity to bring a song. The friend went on to say that the important thing is that we all sing the same song in unison. We all know what beautiful music sounds like. We may not appreciate every style, but we know when a group of people are singing well together. Now this is where it gets interesting. We aren’t just talking about singing songs in a church gathering here. We are talking about singing THE song. And what is that song? It is basically the heart of God. It is the song that emanates from His Being. It is His desire, His essence, His passion. That is the song we are to sing, and we are to sing it together. Certainly the Lord takes pleasure in worship during a gathering of believers, but what we do when we gather is also a picture of what believers are to be doing constantly.
We are to be singing His song all week long, not with our voices, but with our lives. If we declare that worship is all about one hour of singing on a Sunday morning, then we have missed the mark. Just as there are different voices and instruments, there are many different ways believers express His song. I may not express His song at all like another does. I may sound and look completely different. But as long as I have my eyes on the Conductor and I’m singing the same song as everyone else, then the music will be beautiful. I needn’t worry myself with trying to get others to sound like me, because they aren’t meant to. My wife and I have two daughters in the school band. We have been to many performances. I may not know much about being in a band, but one thing is obvious. The members watch the conductor. They do not look at each other and question what the other is doing. The clarinets do not look crosseyed at the saxophones because they make a different sound. One might say that God, in His great wisdom, invented music for a purpose. It is beautiful in itself and can be used to express our hearts toward the God we love. But perhaps it goes much deeper than this. Perhaps it is also a visible and audible picture of the Body of Christ—the living and breathing embodiment of the Spirit of God—singing His song. Everything the body does is a part of that song. It will be beautiful if the Church walks in the Spirit; but not so beautiful if the church walks in the flesh. That is the work of the Church, putting itself in the position of learning that song for the world to enjoy. wolc.org | readthemanna.org | March 2013
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