809. Overcommitting to God in Worship

(I’m not going to lie, if Becky and Joanna had not turned in a guest post, I probably would have just linked to the angry, public letter the Cavs owner wrote about LeBron James leaving his team last night. It was classic. But when someone breaks up with you, it’s not time to write a letter, it’s time to start doing P90X and getting all hott with two t’s to make them jealous. Rookie move. I digress. Becky actually dragged her kids from Rhode Island to Massachusetts to hang out with my family when I was in town. I am a huge fan of her. I loved this guest post and hope you do too.)

I have a confession to make. I’ve lied in church. Before you stop reading and declare me a heathen, I’m pretty sure you have, too. More specifically, we’ve sung lies. I’m sure many of you know the scene well…

The sanctuary lights dim, the keyboardist has appeared out of nowhere and is now playing softly, and it’s just you and Jesus, slow dancing in the pew. Your eyes are closed, your arms hang loosely in the air, and you’re swaying gently back and forth. Just you and the Savior, having an intimate moment.

Right now, you are loving Jesus a LOT. Like two fingers twisted together–you’re tight like THAT. In this moment, you want to give God absolutely everything. Your heart and your life and your dreams and your crock pot–they are not enough to promise when you are loving Him this much. You need something incredibly big to show God how important He is to you.

You need a song that expresses how much you are committed to the Lord. When…hark! What does that lady worship leader start singing? Oh, these words are just right; they express so beautifully everything on your heart:

“I would wrestle a million hungry wild jackals for You, Jesus / And I would walk barefoot over sharp broken glass / For just one moment with you, my Lord.”

Wait, what? You would have to be crazy to sing something like that in church.

But don’t we overcommit to God all the time in our worship songs?

Sometimes I want to stop singing and say, seriously? You would dance a thousand miles for Jesus? I mean, I can run about 13.1 miles, but that’s pretty much it. After that, I’m done…on the couch, feet up, drinking Gatorade. (They never mention replenishing your electrolytes in these songs, but that’s so key if you’re going to be traveling a thousand anything.)

Jesus is all you’ve ever wanted? I’ve seen you at Starbucks three times in the same day, brother–it seems coffee is also something you really want.

You would go to the ends of the earth for Jesus? Better start saving, because air tickets to the ends of the earth cost more than all the Puma sneakers in Jon’s closet.

But who needs a reality check when it comes to worshipping the Creator of the Universe? I say, if we’re going to overcommit to God, let’s go big. Really BIG! None of this sissy “singing unending songs” or “swimming to the ocean floor.” Those are entirely too easy. Let’s do some ginormous, glittery, spectacular overcommitting here.

And so, SCL presents:

Worship Lyrics Mad Libs.

Play along by filling in the blanks of one or more Mad Libs in the comments!

1. _______________ (Personal pronoun) would ____________ (motion verb) a _______________________ (number with lots of zeros)  __________________ (measure of distance) because of Your __________ (adjective)    ______________ (attribute of God)!

2. _______________ (personal pronoun) would ___________ (verb Mixed Martial Artists tend to do) a _______________ (large number)    _____________________ (terrifying animal, plural) for You, ______________ (name of God)!

3. Every _________________ (hour/morning/day) for the rest of my life, I will ______________________________ (impressive, time-consuming action) for Your glorious ________________ , (attribute of God) _______________ (name of God)!

Alternately, if telling the truth is more your style, how about some super-honest worship songs? What are some lines we could use in worship about our commitment to God that don’t involve lying or even the slightest bit of exaggeration?

4. _____________ , (Name of God) _____________ (loosely specified time in future) I will _______________  (really easy action) because You are ______________ (attribute of God) .

5. Because You are _______________ (attribute of God) , ____________  (name of God), I will give You my _____________________ (small item, commonly found at a garage sale) .

Bonus challenge: Write a song full of Worship Mad Libs and post a video of you singing it.

Have you ever felt this way about some of the songs we sing?

(For more great stuff from Becky and Joanna, check out their blogs, Becky’s blog: www.howtohospitality.com - Joanna’s blog: www.joannamuses.com)