What the Lakers showed me about worship, part 1

I don’t know that I love the Los Angeles Lakers because I can’t quite make an unconditional commitment to an imperfect NBA team [my SGV friends will appreciate that reference ]. However, I will say I like them enough to make an effort to watch them on television and even record their tournament games if I know I’ll miss the broadcast. I draw the line at buying a ticket to Staples Center, but that’s more of a financial issue. If you didn’t see game 7 last Thursday, I’m sorry you missed it! Amazing happened. To come back after being 13 points behind their biggest rival — and to wait until the last quarter to get it done — made a low scoring game unusually exciting. I even watched the award ceremony and the victory parade, which I almost never do…except for the time I actually went to their parade in 2002. Working at home has its privileges.

Something that has been consistently repeated in interviews over the last few days caught my attention and helped underscore what the Lord been steering me toward. All of the hype, combined with what I’ve been picking up at different conferences, has been re-shaping my idea of what a worship team is. What we don’t always see at a weekly worship service can be learned from the Lakers and their fans. Before you accuse me of heresy or unsound doctrine, let me explain… Continue reading…

In the Mott Auditorium, there was a large space in front of the stage before the seating started. As we were worshiping, people moved in to fill that space. Usually, I don’t like seeing people rush the stage during a worship set. It feels like a concert. And they weren’t just standing…some people were waving flags and dancing. When I’m pushed that far beyond my comfort zone, a part of me wants them to stop, even though I know I shouldn’t impose my issues on them. Not this time.

The scene reminded me of a picture I received about a week previous of throngs of people moving forward and waving flags and banners to lead the way and to proclaim who they belonged to. It was a very Narnia/Braveheart kind of feeling of going into battle and expecting victory. The Lord spoke within me to let me know that while I didn’t have to express my worship that way, He was really enjoying it. It was unadulterated adoration of our King and an anticipation of something great to come. It was a time of celebration, and instead of standing before the worship team, the musicians (worship team) were actually joining the flags and the dancers and everyone else as we collectively encircled the throne of God to express our praise in a variety of ways to honor a God worthy of more than just one expression.

I’d been in Japan for the first 4 months of my one-year term. A summer team from my home church came for about a month. We were in the sanctuary of one of our partner churches for a youth ministry event…nothing major, just a small group of about 10 Japanese high schoolers, college students, and young adults for a few days of teaching, leadership development, and general goofing off. During one of our worship sessions, we sang “Shout to the Lord”, and each person sang in their heart language. It dawned on me that we could worship the same God with the same song at the same time in our own way, and He could receive it all. Language and culture are no barrier in worship. I wonder if Heaven will be like that?

I can’t remember how many people the room seated (it was definitely in the thousands) or how many countries were represented. We were all singing the same song — I think it was “There Is a Louder Shout to Come” — and realizing, “this might be what Heaven will be like.” I know not every nation, tribe, and tongue was represented, but there were more in that space than I’d ever been exposed to at one time. There were probably some people there who were more concerned about catching their flight home and some who just weren’t in to it, but at least from where I was standing, it seemed like everyone was joined together in unison not for a cause but for a Person. So cool to experience just a taste of what we were singing about.

Hello! Thanks, as usual, for praying! To make things a little less usual , I thought I’d take advantage of all the Christmas music floating around and base a few prayer requests on some of my favorites. (If you like games, you can guess which song these are from.) For this week, can you please pray for:

• from our fears and sins release us freedom and forward movement in ministry that comes from confidence in Christ and a right relationship with Him; that He would raise more people from their fears about finances and the significant time commitment to go with us on an international trip
• hope of all the earth Thou art as we hit the common obstacles that small and growing ministries face, we will find our hope in God and in the knowledge of His call on our lives right now…and that we will be equipped to pass that on to people with whom we interact and serve
• dear Desire of every nation for worship leaders to strategically shape their ministry so all nations, including the US, will increasingly desire God (that’s actually the vision of WFI: musicians everywhere stirring the heart’s longing for God)
• joy of every longing heart for everyone involved in our ministry to know the joy of worshiping God in spirit and truth

Thanks so much! Have a great week!