Music, Emotions, & Worship

Recently a friend raised a question about emotionalism in worship music. We want to make sure we’re actually responding to God in worship, and not just responding to music.  I’ve been at this for a long time, and have learned from worship leaders in a variety of denominations and settings… so here’s my take on it as a worship leader.Music, emotions, and worship are closely connected. My wedding songs, for example, flood my mind with emotion-filled memories, stirring affections and emotional connection with my husband… I can let these feelings lead me to worship my husband or worship the God who gave me my husband.So is it misleading to respond emotionally in worship to God? Not necessarily. God wants us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength… emotions and stirring affections are definitely part of that!A test I’ve used for myself is to assess whether I’m still stirring affections for God and declaring God’s worth (worship) in my everyday life, through words and actions… no matter if there’s worship music playing, and no matter who’s around. If I’m not, then yeah… I’m probably more responding to the music than to my God.

LEADING WORSHIP: Worshipping through Playing/Singing

As a worship leader and songwriter, I choose lyrics that help stir our affections for God, to help us respond to him in awe, reverence, gratitude, faith, love, etc.  I choose music that and melodies that help us connect with God through these creative elements. As a musician, I worship God through my voice and guitar, in a way that hopefully leads other people deeper into worship.  For example, as I hear the Holy Spirit emphasizing the power of God, I might crank up my overdrive and strum a big power chord, or I might yell out in spiritual warfare.  This connects the Spiritual atmosphere to the physical atmosphere… helping us hear and feel the Spiritual realities of a powerful God with us.

As I hear the Spirit emphasizing the tender affection of God, I might use a warm tone and play light picking that seems to surround us with sound like a lullaby, or I might sing gently, reminding us of the nearness of God.  As I hear the Spirit emphasizing the beauty of God, I might add some reverb and delay and play some nice swelling notes, or I might sing extended phrases that add some flair to a song. I’m basically communicating through my instruments what the Spirit is saying.Playing/singing from an attitude of worship can help us hear what the Spirit is saying through the atmosphere set by the music.  As I play, I picture the sounds going straight to heaven in adoration of who God is and all He’s done for me. My emotions are stirred, and my heart grows in affection for God. And I pray it’s contagious.I even believe emotional stirring through music helps in our commitment to the way of Jesus…as we respond to God, we worship;as we worship, our love for God grows;as our love for God grows, our love for people grows;as our love for people grows, we’re more likely to obey God in our everyday life;as we obey God, we live a lifestyle of worship… daily stirring affections for God and living out his calling to join Him in restoring the world with hearts full of love, peace, and joy!