Last Sunday, I tried to preach the concept of our WHY preceding our WHAT. Everyone DOES, but seldom do we think about our motivations for DOING. As Christians, our motivation is greater than anyone else’s.
We don’t applause at our church on purpose. Is clapping bad? Nope. The Bible talks about raising your hands, clapping, shouting and all kinds of other crazy “emotional” stuff that would make any good Baptist nervous! I like what Bro. Sam Davison said about that last week at the Church Planters Conference: “Am I into all that is called the ‘moving of the Holy Spirit?’ Nope. Emotion is perfectly okay when it’s based on one thing: TRUTH.”
The truth of what we preach, teach, and sing about is what drives our actions. You—more than almost anyone else—have a commitment that takes a big chunk of time. Granted, we enjoy singing, but that’s not the point. The point is that we DO it. And we DO it—even on the days (and seasons) that we don’t enjoy it—because we are serving God.
Our music is not a performance. Its purpose is not to highlight us or get applause. Our purpose is to aid God’s people in worshiping God. That’s the greatest WHY I can think of!
-Br. Ryan