As a pastor and worship leader, I often get saddened by many in the western church saying that modern worship is too much about “me” and not enough about “God”.
I understand the ideology behind it, and there are songs and lyrics that are so self centered that they miss the mark.
But undoubtedly, there is a place for worship songs that have to to with “me”, particularly ones that speak of YHWH’s never ending, powerful and passionate love for us.
• We live in a world that tells us we are never good enough, and that we have to constantly hustle and outwork everyone to find success.
• Our self worth and self appreciation is guided by a celebrity worshiping culture, materialism and unGodly ideals.
• Our addiction to social media forces us to compare the entirety of our lives to everyone else’s highlight reels.
• There are too many legalistic “christians” who constantly tell us that our sin is more powerful then Christ’s promises and forgiveness.
• We are conditioned to believe we have to prove ourselves over and over to gain approval, acceptance and understanding.
I could go on and on, and I’m sure you could add a few bullet points as well, right?
The truth is, Jesus loves us so fiercely and unconditionally, and His love NEVER fails. We don’t have to prove anything, we don’t have to do outperform and outgive, we don’t have to live up to another human’s standard of holy living.
We need to give our hearts to YHWH, King Jesus, the Creator of the universe, and completely surrender to Him. That’s it- we give it all to Him, and fall into His never ending, never failing love.
And when you do that, you won’t want to sin- in fact you won’t want to do anything that will make you feel His love any less. The more you pursue His will, the more you will understand His mercy, His grace and His peace that passes all understanding.
So YES, there is a place for worship that is focused on who we are in Christ, and how much He loves us. And I encourage you to allow these songs to not only inspire you, but to let the LORD heal you through the lyrics and purpose of them.
We are all walking wounded; broken relationships, rejection, poor self esteem, feelings of inadequacy, never being good enough or worthy- these are NOT from our King! He loves us, just the way we are, and He has plans to RESTORE, HEAL and GROW you into the person He created you to be.
Enjoy this song, “I am the One You Love”, from Elevation Worship’s new album, LION. I pray it hits your heart as it has mine!
brianwheeler716 