“Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice” (Psalm 51:16-17, The Message).

I love all the places where I go for worship services. I especially love how the level of musicianship is stellar at all these places. The singers and band are always on point. In fact, they’re better than a lot of what I hear on the radio these days.

That can be both a good and bad thing.

Flawless performances in worship don’t mean anything if there’s no heart in it. Sometimes, talent can be a hindrance to worship if we end up worshipping the experience of worship rather than the God it’s supposed to be all about.

When I think of worship, it doesn’t begin and end with singing. Sure, that’s an important part of it but not all of it. Worship isn’t an activity only for certain environments on certain days of the week.

Worship is doing whatever you’re doing for the glory of God, no matter where you are and no matter when you’re doing it. Can you worship by scrubbing toilets? If it’s done for the glory of God, then yes. Can you worship by folding and stuffing envelopes? Again, if you do it for God’s glory, absolutely.

I’d go so far as to say that if you haven’t been worshipping in your every day living throughout the week prior to the worship service, you can’t really expect to worship then. Worship is a lifestyle and a mindset, not an event. It’s the daily offering in view of God’s mercies of your bodies — your talents, your passions, your activities, your desires, your occupation, your thought life — as a living sacrifice to God. Worship is not just praise through music, but true worship always leads to praise. A worshipful lifestyle can’t help but sing.