Worship Language
By Grant Gaines
Albert Einstein is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant men in human history. Graduating from high school at the age of 15 because his teachers reportedly remarked that there, “was nothing left to teach him,” Einstein went on to change the world as we know it with his incredible discoveries.
But do you want to know who Einstein thought the true genius was? You! In fact, he thought everyone had a sense of unique brilliance that just needed to be refined in the right field in order to be revealed. Einstein believed that some people are brilliant in the sense that they can use the same ingredients as the rest of the world but make a meal that just simply tastes better. He supposed that some people are geniuses because they can look at the same spreadsheet as the rest of the company but make a decision that no one else could make. According to Einstein, if you put people in the correct situation and environment, they can all excel. This belief spurred the intellectual mega-mind to proclaim, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
I believe we can learn a thing or two from Einstein’s quote. You see, just as a fish was created to swim, we as humans were created to perform a certain task as well–most importantly to worship God. But just as Einstein’s silly illustration suggests, I believe that we, like the fish in his quote, have the tendency to do things that don’t align with what the Creator had in mind.
Of course there are the obvious examples of humans behaving in ways that are contrary to our God-given design such as using drugs, premarital sex, and abusing our bodies. But would you believe me if I told you that it is possible to worship in a way that is not in line with how God uniquely made you to be? Let me explain.
In 1995, Gary Chapman published a book titled “The 5 Love Languages.” In as brief a summary as possible, Chapman discovered that there are five distinctive love languages that a person can possess. These love languages are: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving/giving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. According to Chapman’s extensive research, each person is uniquely wired with a different combination of love languages. This means that every person you know receives and extends love in an original way.
For example, Nancy may show and feel love through gift giving and quality time while Neal feels and receives love through words of affirmation and physical touch. It’s important to understand what your love language is so you can know how you can best display your love to others. It’s equally important to know what your spouse, family member, or friend’s love language is as well so you can truly bless them. Otherwise you may be giving them gift after gift after gift because that’s how you feel and show love, but it may have no effect on them because they don’t share your love language.
So how does this have anything to do with our worship of God? It is actually quite important.
For one thing, it means that God didn’t make every person to show their love for Him in the same way. Many express their love through words of affirmation which is the number one way most people believe worship looks like-song and music. This gives you the freedom to worship God in a unique way. In fact, the Bible is very clear that our worship does not come solely through song but also through obedience (John 14:15), sacrifice (Romans 12:1), and helping others (2 Corinthians 9:12).
Maybe your love language is acts of service so the number one way you can display your affections for God is to serve the homeless because God is glorified just as much in your sweat as He is in your song. If your love language is gift giving, maybe the best way you can relay your love for God is to give a generous gift to someone who is having a tough time. The bottom line is that the possibilities to worship God are not restricted to a church service and a music stanza-the possibilities are endless!
My prayer in writing this is not to discourage you from worshiping through music, but rather to encourage you to take your worship beyond the Sunday service and into your everyday life.
If you don’t know what your love language is, click on this link to take a short quiz to discover how you can creatively worship God: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
