Ecstatic Worship!

If you have attended a charismatic or Pentecostal church, you must have seen this one person (or more) who was so enraptured in their praise, adoration and worship of God that they were crying or kneeling or even lying prostrate. Or maybe, as a friend of mine who is unfamiliar with this church phenomenon describes it “… they were so into it that they passed out!” ……hey, maybe that was you in that state of Spiritual ecstasy. And then you may have also noticed other members of the congregation (maybe you) sitting or standing quietly by sometimes also worshipping quietly and sometimes watching the ones whose inward worship is being manifested in outwardly. These people who do not seem “into it” might actually also be deep in prayer and worship but without the emotion or the physical excitement. Now, having attended church a great portion of my life, I have been both an observer and a participant of this phenomenon at different times.

See, I have been listening to this particular song of worship to God – essentially a love song to God. The Singer tells God He is worthy of praise and He goes on to praise the attributes of God! Now, I don’t know whether it is the music or the lyrics or the fact that this song is in KiSwahili (I think that will be one of the languages spoken in heaven!), but this song seems to transport me to another place and another time! A place of ecstasy and love where the sweetness of the love of God almost becomes tangible…..ooohh, I cannot describe it but it is a place where everything and everyone else ceases to exist and the moment seems frozen in time. Now, worship songs and music seem to do this to me. However not all songs do and even the same song might not elicit such a reaction all the time. I started wondering how it is that some people experience such depths of feeling while some do not. This is definitely not a measure of one’s love for God or commitment to God since even secular music can affect one’s emotions or composure. How two people could be worshiping God and in the same place, with the same atmosphere and yet one seemingly gets so “into it” and the other one stands quietly by. And this has led me to thinking about how and why this happens. Of course, I cannot not go into any theological or doctrinal discussions as those are too lofty for me.

OK so here are my thoughts;
1. Could it be because of their emotional make-up? So people are very expressive and some are not. A good example in the Bibles is when David danced so hard as the Ark of the Covenant was coming back, that all his clothes fell off. Now, his wife Michal was very embarrassed by his un-kingly behavior and she rebuked him for that outward show of emotion. So for some, this is by nature and some by upbringing. For example I know that many African men were brought up to believe that real men do not cry! And especially not in public! So maybe this extends to public worship.

2. Could it be because of their religious background? – some people were brought up in churches where any show of outward emotion was frowned upon, or even not allowed and an usher would quickly whisk away such a person. For these, true worship is a personal and quiet meditation. Some people however grew up in churches that were loud and full of action. (I have attended a church where worship time seemed chaotic – people shouting and laughing, jumping up and down and running all over the sanctuary, with the drum and the organ playing). Of course this would be totally distracting to the one who worships silently.

3. Could it be because of their Spiritual standing (and I am not in any way suggesting that anyone who has a relationship with God must show it in a physically expressive way). But maybe there might be someone who is not moved because they do not know the one that they are worshipping. How can you worship one whom you do not know? How can you get into it if you do not have a relationship with God in the first place? One could try to force themselves or even work themselves into a frenzy but if they have do not believe in Him whom they are worshipping then they are just playing games and that brings me to another thought…

4. Could it also be that some of us are just going through the motions, doing what we think should happen in a service….think of the times that you have lifted you hands in Church when the preacher told you to and you did it – not knowing or asking why? Could it be because of lack of knowledge? Some people have no clue what is happening! So they become puzzled and somewhat fearful observers.

5. Could it be a product of the moment or the time and the atmosphere of the service or fellowship? Or maybe it is a result of something else, something greater than the human mind can comprehend. I like to think of it as in individual touch by God in a personal way…..

Whatever it is my friend and however you experience and express your worship of God, I wish you a touch of ecstasy by and in the love of God.

Ok, I know that I may have gone in way over my head in this blog - but that is what happens when you have an overload! I attended a great Christian Conference in VA early this month (same one Kim attended – see the previous blog) and it was wonderful….can’t even begin to write of all the things that I learnt and the social aspect of it. I was overfed in every sense of the word!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Rom 12:1