"From worship that is insincere with shallow words and thoughtless prayer, may we be free."

Hymn: “Eternal God, May We Be Free” – Michael G. Dell (1959-    )

Tune: CANONBURY

This hymn-line written by somebody ten years younger than I is so on-target, it makes me shudder! And since this one is going up on a Sunday morning, I thought it was particularly poignant. I’m not sure it appears in any book other than The Baptist Hymnal 1991, but it should!

In the worship war discussion, the one thing that comes to the surface most often is authenticity of those who plan and lead worship – whatever the musical style – whether contemporary or liturgical – whether dancing the aisles or standing and kneeling. Therefore, this request of God that our worship be sincere is exactly where we should always begin. I probably took most everything about my music ministry pretty seriously, but when it came to worship planning and implementing, I was about as sincere as they come.

Shallow words. Hmmm. When selecting hymns and anthems, I always look first at the text; then I move on to see how the music sounds against the text. I never want to put anything in the mouth of a worshiper that they don’t believe or shouldn’t believe. In my humble opinion, fluff and filler just have no place in worship-singing. For sure, if the text is too deep to get your mind around, it won’t work in the corporate setting; those are more likely to minister to us as devotional literature when we have more time to reflect on the depth. Dr. Louis Ball taught me over the years that the congregation should be able to grasp the basic meaning of the text the first time they sing it—subtleties later.

The last thing Dell encourages us to stay away from is thoughtless prayer. Our conversation with God (whether aloud or silent) should not be throw-away moments. Like the rest of our worship, the prayers should not be insincere or shallow. I personally prefer to write out my public prayers when I’m called upon to lead in worship; maybe that’s why I’m rarely invited to do so! Rambling, rote… yea even thoughtless are not the kinds of prayers I want to lift-up in worship.

So do you think I am prejudiced toward this hymn-line? You’re dang right, I am! This should be the prayer of all of us who congregate today to participate in the highest hour of the Christian week – whatever the worship style. I hope against all hope that those who have put the services together have already approached their job with this kind of prayer.

Insincere, shallow, thoughtless – not good worship words, wouldn’t you agree? Go thou and do un-likewise!

Originally posted August 4, 2013