Christ Centered Worship

Who is worship for? Is it for us or is it for God?



This question is a tricky one. We were made to worship God but we as worshippers do get

something out of the process. When I attend a worship festival, I spend hours singing songs about God

and when I leave I feel upbeat and refreshed. But was I actually worshipping? Our purpose on this earth

is to worship the Lord and bring glory to his name. All that happens is designed to bring glory to God.

Just ask the Psalmist and you’ll see how important worshipping the Lord is.



The problem we often run into, and that has become more apparent in the advent of

Contemporary Christian Music, is where our center of focus is when worshipping. Worship has also

become more and more about what I am “feeling.” I’m having a bad day today so I’m going to listen to

this worship song to make myself “feel” better. I went to this worship conference and we sang some

awesome songs and now I “feel” so much better! This puts the focus on us and not on God.



I have recently been challenged to take a closer look at the Christian music I sing in regards to

worship. I was surprised to find that many songs I considered “worship” songs are actually not about

God at all, they are about me. The lyrics describe a bad situation and how “I” cried out to God or “I”

decided to trust God. I find this quite often in Contemporary Christian music. I will use one song in

particular as an example. I saw this used at a church once during the worship service (not Valley Chapel),

and I did think it helped focus the congregation on God. The song is “Hello, My Name Is” by Matthew

West. The song’s chorus goes like this:



Hello, my name is child of the one true King

I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, I have been set free

"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing

Hello, my name is child of the one true King



Now, at first it seems like a Christ Centered song but look more closely at the lyrics. “I” is used in some

form 6 times in just the chorus. The focus of the song is not on God but on me and what is happening to

me. Yes, God was involved but ultimately I’m singing about myself.



Now, am I saying this is a bad song? Absolutely not! There is definitely truth in it! We are

children of God and He has saved us. Am I saying that all Contemporary Christian music is bad? Nope.

There are songs that I believe God has used to minister to me in rough times. Should we never sing

songs that use the word “I?” Definitely not. We are in relationship with God and so when we sing about

Him we are probably going to allude to ourselves. I am simply trying to draw our attention to where the

focus is. When we worship, our focus needs to be 100% on the Lord. When we are worshipping we will

absolutely get something out of it. We will become closer to Him and have joy from the experience, but

these should be secondary to the real goal of giving glory to God.



In his book Ancient-Future Time, Robert Webber says: “We are the disciples whom Christ has

called in the twenty-first century. . . . We are called to turn away from self-love and self-service, to

abandon a life lived for self-gratification or self-glory, and to serve God as an epiphany of the self-giving

service of Jesus. True spirituality longs for, seeks for, and wills this abandonment of self so that Christ

may become present through our work, our lives, and our relationships, manifesting his power.”

Where is our focus when we worship? On God? Or on ourselves? Take this week to pray and ask

God to reveal to you what areas of your worship (and life) you need to re-focus on Him so that you can

be drawn deeper into a relationship with the Almighty.