This article was part of the interactive Song DISCovery CD in the fall of 2005
The Service of Worship: Our Physical Acts of Praise
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a clanging cymbal and a resounding gong.” (1 Cor 13:1)
What do you think your talent is?
Stop. Take a moment to consider this. What talent has God given you that you’re most appreciative of? What gift do you have that He has used to bless, encourage or even challenge the hearts of others? And how does it make you feel to know that our Great God chooses to use your gift in the furthering of His kingdom? Are you humbled? Are you proud? Do you feel burdened by your talents, or do you sail smoothly through life because of them? Does your gift help you to worship God more or rely on Him less?
Now, let’s take this a step further. What would your world be like if your God-given gift was taken away? Would you still want to worship Him? If so, how would you worship Him?
Changing Perspective
I’ve spent most of my life thinking that writing, playing and singing were my “physical acts of worship,” and that “spiritual acts of worship” were the things that happened inside my heart as a result—praying, listening, waiting and so on. Boy, was I wrong. I’ve come to think that the most challenging aspect of being a Christian musician is the ease with which I use it as a crutch in my worship experience. Let me explain.
Several times during my music career, I’ve found my heart posing the question, “Ginny, what would you do if there was no music? If you couldn’t sing, write or hear songs anymore, how would you worship?”
This question begs a deeper answer than I want to give. I used to be able to brush it off by saying, “Well, there are plenty of ways to worship God with my life. If music ceases to be one of them, I’ll find some other way to praise.”
That answer is only satisfactory until I consider exactly what I’m admitting to. Essentially, God has given me a life—a life complete with an alert mind, a beating heart, limbs that move and hands that can serve—and all I offer back to Him is one talent?
Giving It All
Our God is jealous. He doesn’t want part of us, He wants everything we have and more. Offering everything we are to Him is our “spiritual act of worship.”
The ultimate example of a life of worship is Jesus Christ. He was a brilliant preacher—He spoke wonderful truth with perfect authority. However, His preaching was only one of the many ways He brought glory and honor to His Father. He worshiped by being loving and patient with the countless people who needed Him, by being faithful when He found Himself completely alone in the world and by sacrificing His life on the cross for His Father and for us.
The Perfect Example
When I look at His life, the lights of understanding begin to go on. I’ve often thought of the “spiritual acts of worship” in very introspective, reflective terms—praying, singing, meditating, listening and waiting. Christ’s life awakens me to the idea that seeking God’s face is as much about physically serving, sacrificing and laboring as it is about prayer, meditation and song.
In this season, worshiping with my life has meant spending a good chunk of time serving in a world where music isn’t part of the equation. The vehicle for this service is a foundation I started earlier this year called The Fingerprint Initiative. The mantra by which this ministry operates is “Bringing hope to the world, one touch at a time.”
God serves us by leaving His fingerprints of love, hope, beauty and peace on our lives. Worshiping Him is not only about asking for and receiving those wonderful gifts but also about being so moved by what He’s done that we serve others in His name.
For our first year of existence, we have adopted the theme, “Holding Little Hands: Bringing Hope to Children.”
One Story
We serve kids in local communities by interacting with them in their school settings and helping to provide for their needs, and we serve kids around the world by raising support for and praying for them. At this moment, one very special set of three children is on my heart. They live with their loving parents in government housing. Because of severe health conditions, both parents have grown disabled enough to need the assistance of wheelchairs. Their current housing conditions don’t allow for their wheelchairs to fit through the doors of any of the rooms, so we’ve been working with Habitat for Humanity to raise support to build this wonderful family a home where the parents will have the freedom and ability to, once again, handle all family responsibilities.
This family’s story has several unique twists. First off, they have, over the past few years, lost the ability to do the work at hand—be independent and responsible for every aspect of their children’s lives. They could say that the Lord has taken their “gifts” away, but instead, they continue to worship Him with what they do have. Secondly, the Lord has sent a wonderful church family who worships Him by serving them. They have worked many long hours and sacrificed much to help this family get what they need to live.
Perhaps the most challenging twist of this story is that the family resides just outside of New Orleans, LA. Hurricane Katrina thwarted our plans to build them a home this October. It also washed away the homes of many others. Our task at hand will be to serve the little community of Covington, Louisiana, the way that our wonderful Lord serves us—by touching their lives with fingerprints of His hope, love and mercy. It will require pleading with Him on their behalf, sacrificing our time and our funds, and working until hope is restored to the community. None of this work has anything to do with music, but it will be every bit as fulfilling. Most importantly, my prayer is that the Lord will reveal Himself through this work— to those I serve as well as to me. I pray that He will continue to cause me to put down my crutches and worship Him in the truest ways.
“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.” (Romans 12:1)
