Authenticity
Matt Lockwood and Brendan Prout
Feb 11, 2015
One of the things that shows who we are, is the authenticity of our worship... and I’m not talking about the time we spending singing a few songs on Sunday morning. As the song by Matt Redman says, “everyone announces what they adore.” We can’t help but proclaim what it is we ascribe worth to, every day of our lives. So if we profess to desire to worship Jesus authentically, but He is nowhere to be found in our lives other than one day of the week, when we gather together as His Church, that’s a pretty strong indicator of where our hearts are really at.
We believe that worship has to be real. It has to come from a heart that is devoted to God. It has to be honest and true and faith-filled.
For those of use who lead from the front, living lives of authentic worship daily is what empowers our leadership when we stand before a congregation, no matter what it’s size and no matter how many of us there are on a team. Without authenticity in our own worship, what gets brought before the church each week becomes shallow and overly dependent on professionalism and performance. With authenticity, our ‘performance’ becomes a part of our worship – a desire to do our very best because we love God and we love our church. Jesus said, in John 4:23-24, that God looks for people with truth in their worship – authenticity, honesty, faith.
When Paul and Silas were locked up in prison, their worship was authentic, because it wasn’t based on their horrific circumstances but their faith and relationship with God. When the woman broke the jar of perfume over Jesus’ feet, her worship was authentic because it wasn’t based on show (“Hey, look at me, look at how much I love Jesus!”) but on her deep gratitude, knowing that the change in her life came about through undeserved grace. In the midst of being stoned to death, Stephen worshipped God authentically, not because he was trying to make his killers feel guilty or to annoy them, but because right there he saw God and his revelation of God overwhelmed his pain, humiliation and fear.
Authenticity doesn’t come because of the situation but because of your response to the revelation of God and your relationship with Him. Keep pursuing and desiring God!
Matt Lockwood and Brendan Prout
Feb 11, 2015
One of the things that shows who we are, is the authenticity of our worship... and I’m not talking about the time we spending singing a few songs on Sunday morning. As the song by Matt Redman says, “everyone announces what they adore.” We can’t help but proclaim what it is we ascribe worth to, every day of our lives. So if we profess to desire to worship Jesus authentically, but He is nowhere to be found in our lives other than one day of the week, when we gather together as His Church, that’s a pretty strong indicator of where our hearts are really at.
We believe that worship has to be real. It has to come from a heart that is devoted to God. It has to be honest and true and faith-filled.
For those of use who lead from the front, living lives of authentic worship daily is what empowers our leadership when we stand before a congregation, no matter what it’s size and no matter how many of us there are on a team. Without authenticity in our own worship, what gets brought before the church each week becomes shallow and overly dependent on professionalism and performance. With authenticity, our ‘performance’ becomes a part of our worship – a desire to do our very best because we love God and we love our church. Jesus said, in John 4:23-24, that God looks for people with truth in their worship – authenticity, honesty, faith.
When Paul and Silas were locked up in prison, their worship was authentic, because it wasn’t based on their horrific circumstances but their faith and relationship with God. When the woman broke the jar of perfume over Jesus’ feet, her worship was authentic because it wasn’t based on show (“Hey, look at me, look at how much I love Jesus!”) but on her deep gratitude, knowing that the change in her life came about through undeserved grace. In the midst of being stoned to death, Stephen worshipped God authentically, not because he was trying to make his killers feel guilty or to annoy them, but because right there he saw God and his revelation of God overwhelmed his pain, humiliation and fear.
Authenticity doesn’t come because of the situation but because of your response to the revelation of God and your relationship with Him. Keep pursuing and desiring God!
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