The Worship of Art

Singing. Lord’s supper. Prayer. Sermon. On Sundays. And worship is over.

 

Somewhere along the course of the Church’s history, we’ve slotted worship into those four categories, mashing them together as “church.” The one most associated with worship, I think, is singing. We say worship team, and everyone knows we mean the band.

 

Why are those the only ways we worship? For an infinite God, that’s a small selection from a pool of infinite ways to worship Him, isn’t it? If we take on the mindset that God created everything—which He did—that means everything can bring Him glory, one way or another. I don’t know about you, but that excites me.

 

As I write, sometimes heavy Biblical concepts become clearer. Or the emotions missing in the summarizing descriptions in the Bible become sharper as I build similar situations in my story worlds, exploring those emotions. I relate more to the people in the Bible stories. As I write about a character willing to give up his life for his friend, I better grasp the weight of Jesus’ love and sacrifice. And that moves me to worship.

 

Seeing God in the things I love reminds me He cares about those things too. He made them, after all. It gives deeper purpose to the things we do, whether for work or enjoyment. Art, athletics, hiking, photography, whatever.

 

When you get in a place that opens your eyes to God’s power, beauty, or love—when you find something that pulls you into His presence to praise Him—you’ve found a way to worship Him. And I think that’s cool.

 

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God created everything…that means everything can bring Him glory, one way or another.

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