Worship Like A Ninja: Stealth Worship
Posted by Guest | Filed under think.
There’s a question on our new Elevate “business” cards that says ‘Wanna worship like a ninja?’. We’ve never really taken the time to talk about what that means to us here at Elevate, but when we ran across the following post from our friend, Russ Hutto, we thought it described our thoughts perfectly. So read, think about what it means to you, and discuss in the comments below. Oh, and go ahead and click through to Russ’ blog and get to know him…he’ll be moving our way soon! Without further ado…
Worship: a response to God.
We know the word. It conjures up images of cathedrals and sanctuaries; pipe organs and pianos; guitars and choirs; heavy, musty hymnals and lyrics plastered on screens or walls. In this day and age the term worship has become almost synonymous with the time of music we share on Sunday gatherings at church, or at the very least the actual Sunday gathering itself.
I believe there are 2 general categories of worship: Vertical and Horizontal.
Vertical is easy. It’s just loving God with everything we’ve got. Singing, praying, studying, living our individual lives in a manner that brings HIM honor and glory. It’s the response to who God is and what’s He’s done.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Jesus reiterates this kind of worship when He quotes the verse in Deuteronomy, when asked what the greatest commandment was. Jesus says, in Matthew 22:37:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
When we sing a song of worship to God, we’re worshiping vertically. It’s to God and for God. It’s pretty simple. I think, in general, the church at large has this one down. We come in to our church buildings, Sunday after Sunday and sing our songs of worship to Him. I think that once a week, God is pleased with our songs, but also experiences a bit of bittersweet sorrow, because for 99% of us, it stops there.
After the last song is sung on Sunday, and we head out the doors, making a beeline for the nearest all you can eat buffet, we typically rush right back into our weekly routines and keep God (and our worship for Him) on the back burner until next week.
Stealth Worship
This is actually my favorite “form” of worship, if you could call it that. I love teaching on it. Sharing about it. And trying my hardest to live it out. I’m not perfect, but it is definitely an adventure!
Stealth Worship is worship that happens underground, behind the scenes. But at the same time, it can happen every day and in the middle of a crowd. It is worship that should be unseen, yet seen by all. Ok, ok…I’m speaking in paradox now, but it’s actually a very simple concept when you think about it…yet maybe a bit harder to implement.
Stealth Worship is also known as Horizontal Worship. An offering of worship (a response to God) that includes other people. No, I’m not just talking about standing next to someone and singing a worship song. I’m talking about SERVING.
Serving.
Service.
Servant.
These are words that convey what stealth worship is all about.
Think about it. In Mark 9:35 Jesus teaches that if we wanted to be great we should strive to be the servant of all. Jesus came to serve. His very life was an act of serving, even in His death. He put others before Himself. So should we. Our aim shouldn’t be to draw attention to ourselves, yet Jesus said so himself that we should let our lights shine before men so that they would see our good deeds and give glory to God! So, in a sense, it’s about deflecting the focus from ourselves to others, which ultimately brings honor to God.
When we serve others, when our focus on LIVING out a whole life worship includes putting others before ourselves, we’re actually worshiping God. It’s called horizontal worship because AS we’re worshiping God vertically, we are serving others horizontally, which IS indeed an offering of worship.
Stealth worship is a response to who God is (in the same way that vertical worship is) except that it is expressed by loving others, serving others.
A big component of stealth worship can be found in Matthew 5-7, when Jesus turns everything upside down and basically takes the religious elite to school. Stealth worship is what we do when no one is looking. It’s what happens the other 6 days of the week. When no one but our Father in Heaven sees us. It’s when we’re alone, pursuing God in our “prayer closets.”
If that’s the case then how can Stealth Worship also be serving others out in the open?
Because it’s not about being seen by people, though we will be if we choose to serve others. It’s all about the posture of our hearts. When I lead worship from the front of a church, my prayer every week is that I’m there to help someone express their worship with the collective group in such a way that they don’t get to during the week. My prayer is that they learn about a worship expression they might not be familiar with, but that allows them to express their worship alongside others freely. My prayer is that our time of musical worship is like a redbull for the congregation, that it gives their worship “wings.”
I don’t pray that it would be the most intense, deep, radical, earth shattering worship experience for myself. I don’t pray that I could “feel” God in a way that I’ve never felt, so that I can have an experience I’ve never felt. I don’t pray that God would come and speak to me and teach me every revelation in His Scripture, so that I can grow in leaps and bounds from one Sunday to the next (though those prayers aren’t necessarily bad things).
My focus is on OTHERS.
As a worship leader, I find that my primary act (offering) of worship on Sundays is not the actual Vertical Worship that I’m offering to God, though at times, it can be sweet. My primary offering of worship on Sunday mornings is SERVING. I’m there to serve others. I’m there to worship Horizontally. That doesn’t mean that I don’t worship individually at all. Of course, I do. But it’s my focus that matters.
The other 6 days of the week is when I, personally, dig into the things of God. During the week is when I lock myself into a quiet place (a room, the shower, etc) and sing my guts out in praise to Him. The bulk of my spiritual worship expression happens BEHIND THE SCENES.
Which is Better?
They both are. Better. Whaaa?
Yep. I think God created us to respond to him in both ways. So both of these “forms” of worship are necessary for us to live WHOLE LIFE WORSHIP. The fact that Jesus goes on to say that we should love our neighbors as ourselves (and that that commandment is the same as Loving God with everything we’ve got) proves that God wants our focus to be in 2 places (for the same purpose).
The expressions of our worship should happen in two different directions (but both ultimately ending on glorifying God).
- Vertical: our individual direct worship to God.
- Horizontal: serving others, which IS direct worship to God.
Russ Hutto is a friend and blogger from Valdosta, Ga. He designs wicked awesome blogs & pretty much rocks at anything graphic design wise. He’s also musically talented, and if you scour his blog you can hear some of his stuff. He, his wife, and his dog will soon be moving to the St. Simons/Brunswick area.
Tags: ninja, service, stealth, worship
One Response to “Worship Like A Ninja: Stealth Worship”
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Russ Hutto Says:
July 28th, 2009 at 4:57 amHey I know that guy's dog!
Thanks for the guest post! Can't wait to worship with you guys!