Worship Orientation

By Pastor Jarod Brooks

“Are we getting popcorn?” My wife and I ask this question every time we take the kids to a movie. Do we save the money and skip the snacks or do we experience a movie like a movie is supposed to be experienced? The funny thing is, we always get popcorn. You can’t not get it. It’s something you can certainly count on happening when it comes to going to the theatre. Speaking of, there’s a lot you can look forward to and expect: getting excited once you find your own personal seat, deciding what amount of angle is just right for your footrest, fighting the urge to visit the restroom even though you went before the movie, staying after the credits to see if there is anything hidden at the end, and talking about the movie all the way home. However, there’s one thing that I never expect to happen at a movie theatre. In fact, I’d be rather surprised if it did happen. What I don’t expect to happen is a deeply moving experience with the Holy Spirit, and there’s a reason for that.

God is all loving and never changing, always willing to spend time with His children. So, it’s not because of God that this doesn’t happen. Therefore, it’s reasonable to think that it’s because of us that we don’t break out into worship in the middle of a movie. Now, I’m not suggesting you start dancing for Jesus the next time you hit the theatres. You might get a few stares! I am saying that we can learn something from this thought experiment. The reason is simply this:

We aren’t always oriented towards God.

What do I mean by that? To “orient” yourself means to position yourself or align yourself so that you are directing your attention toward someone or something. This is why there are times when we feel like worshiping, and there are other times when we are stressed at work, engaged in interesting conversations with loved ones, or tired from a day of cleaning the house. Being engaged in other aspects of life isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and while we want to cultivate a mindset that’s always focused on God, it’s understandable to have moments where you are focused on other things. With that being said, when it is time to give God our attention, there are things that we can do that can help us do just that.

I once had someone ask me if raising our hands during worship was a requirement—of course, I told him that it wasn’t. I remember his response to my answer so well. He then said, with a newfound understanding of the purpose of hand-raising, “Gotcha. So it’s just a preference.” At first, I thought to myself, “Is raising your hands just a preference? That doesn’t seem right.” The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was more to it than that. I then said to him, “It’s a way to orient yourself towards God.” I explained to him that, just like you would stand at attention during a formal military ceremony or perhaps turn towards and give your undivided attention to a speaker, raising your hands is a way of positioning yourself towards God to give him your full and undivided attention. By raising my hands, I’m doing many things. I’m reaching out to him. I’m surrendering to him. I’m letting him know that he’s worth being acknowledged, and I’m not afraid to let people know I place him above all else.

That being said, it’s not simply raising your hands that achieves this. Take this same idea and apply it to bowing your head, kneeling at your seat, coming forth to the Altar, singing along to the worship song, or perhaps even praying out loud. These are ways in which we can place God at the center of attention. Take coming to the Altar, for example. Some people may be worried that people can see them up there.

Consider this: you can’t see them either. That means what they’re doing isn’t distracting you from your time with God. The main idea here is to get our entire being involved and take part in the worship process. Jesus said, in Mark 12:30, to love the Lord your God with all of your strength, and while loving God involves more than our time of worship, it certainly includes it.

Engaging ourselves in worship can help us prioritize God receiving the worship he deserves rather than preserving our comfort. As we begin to practice this discipline of worshiping with our strength, even when we don’t feel like it, when we do feel like it, it can become a natural response to the love and grace of God moving us.

I grew up in a football-watching household. As a kid, I often heard, “If you can get excited about a football game, you can get excited about Jesus!” Once you become more comfortable with worshiping God with your entire being, the closer you will draw to him and he to you. As your relationship with God deepens, you will slowly begin to worship with your strength out of love and affection rather than obligation. Your worship will start to become a response and not simply an orientation.

During a worship song, as you reflect upon God’s love and goodness, you’ll notice your hands start to rise in adoration, or perhaps you’ll feel a strong sense to kneel in reverence before a God who gave you everything. You might start to hop a little bit to the rhythm of the music in excitement for a God who saved you from death. You may even find yourself coming to the Altar before you’ve had a chance to second-guess yourself. You’ll finally begin to understand why, in 2 Samuel, David danced before the Lord...

…with all his might.