How to Worship During a Pandemic
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to practice following Jesus during a global health crisis. No one? Great.
I remember a seminary professor saying something to the effect of, “if you removed all the staff and buildings overnight, then you’d get a glimpse of what the church—i.e. the disciples you’ve actually made—looks like.” Well, that scenario is almost our reality. We are still able to engage one another through video, phone calls, texts, and letters (!) in the mail. But the day of being in the same space again to sing, pray, hear God’s word and respond is still unclear.
What should we do in the meantime? What aspects of the gathering of believers should continue? What things should stop or change? And how?
Why is this important in the first place?
We are commanded to sing. Psalm 95:1–2 - Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! (ESV)
We are compelled to sing. Revelation 4:10–11 - the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (ESV)
We are filled with the Spirit when we sing. Ephesians 5:18–19 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, (ESV)
We are engaging our whole selves with the truths we are singing. Psalm 28:1–2 - To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. (ESV)
We exercise faith when we sing. Psalm 13:3–6 - Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. (ESV)
What is the goal?
Put simply: the glorification of God and the edification of our souls. It’s not to sound great, or even good. It’s not to be as un-embarrassed as possible. It’s not to aspire to be a better singer. The goal is to remember who God is, what He has done, and have our whole selves respond to that reality. Satan would love nothing less than you to be confronted with the person and work of God and do nothing with it. Giving our worship through song—even in this season of isolation—is genuine warfare against the darkness.
Practical help
Believe you can grow - Think of this as a muscle that you can exercise or a spiritual discipline that you can grow in. Like prayer, bible reading and memorization, sharing your faith, fasting, etc., allow yourself to accept that you might not be great or feel uncomfortable singing to Jesus. Just like in all of those disciplines, allow the Spirit of the living God to grow you.
Remember who you’re singing to - You’re not on the shelter-in-place version of The Voice. God isn’t going to give you a rundown of your pitch, timbre, tone, etc. God genuinely doesn’t care how well you sing. Let that serve as an opportunity to exhale a bit. That said, He does care that you give Him the honor He is deserving. Rest knowing you’re His kid, and He loves it when you offer a heart of praise.
Ask God for help - This might be more difficult than singing out loud for some. Simply pray something to the effect of, “God, I desire to honor you, to bring to you both my prayers and praise. I need your help right now.” Make your heart’s desires known, then step back and see what God does.
Turn the volume up - You might be frightened by the sound of your unaccompanied voice. You’re not alone, it is a vulnerable thing, and that’s OK! Singing with others is one of the great joys and gifts of gathering together to worship! But now you’re in a spot where it might be you and few others, you with some roommates who don’t share your faith, or even just you by yourself. We don’t want to be so self-conscious when boldly approaching the throne of grace to the point we disengage. We want to engage ourselves in the reality of God’s presence and truth. The volume button is a tool. It’s meant to help you engage in whatever you’re doing. Just like anything you have with a volume button, there’s such a thing as too loud and too soft. Exercise your own judgment and while you’re figuring that out, say a prayer of thanks to God for our great Audio team who serves us in this way when we gather together:)
Experiment muting your/other’s mics - Many of you are experimenting with singing in smaller groups with varied results. If it’s working for you, by all means, keep it up! All the video conferencing tools we have available are proving to be essential in this season. But none of them were designed to facilitate each and every voice singing in unison together at the same time. For that reason, if you run into issues, perhaps consider muting your mic or other people’s mics in your group. I just joined in a call with other pastors/leaders in the Bay Area where we sang and prayed together. Like the volume button, a microphone is a tool that you can use or not use as needed. Exercise your own judgment!
Sing outside of Sunday - This point is for those who don’t really sing at all. God invented singing, and singing is such a good and human thing to do. For some reason—and I’d like to say more about this someday—our western culture today, by and large, doesn’t feel comfortable singing. That’s not true of every culture or every time. But, I’d say that’s generally not true in today’s western culture. Singing is good medicine for the soul. Singing to Jesus is eternally good medicine for the soul. Build a habit of singing in this time of sequester (your neighbors and roommates can send their complaints to singingiswonderful@gardencitysv.com). Do this—especially singing to Jesus—and coming to sing together on Sunday won’t feel as out of the norm.
Go for it! - Take a risk! God is honored by our faith. Romans 4:20 - No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, (ESV)
A word to unmarrieds
Maybe you live by yourself, maybe you live with some roommates. Your songs are being sung to God. Don’t lose the profundity in that simplicity. Our songs and prayers rise to God as incense:
Psalm 141:1-2 - O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
Would you use this season to sing to Jesus and build deep communion with a God who wants to have deep communion with you! Have a deep and abiding fellowship with a holy God!
A word to those who are married
Whether there are kids in the picture or not, one of the most Christ-exalting things you can do in your marriage is to exalt Christ together. Who doesn’t want to hear their spouse confessing sin, exercising faith, basking in Christ’s forgiveness, chasing after the Lord, and humbly asking for help? Husbands, lead your wives well. Display a humble heart that cares more about honoring Christ than how you sound or what you look like. Use this time to lament, give thanks, and praise God together and allow God to grow your closer to Himself and together as you do!
A word to those with kids
Families, I cannot overstate the importance of disciple-ing your children in singing. Your kids are just as new to a global pandemic as you are! And in this season, you are the worship leaders in your home. If there’s a Christ-following dad in the picture, this begins with you! Set the pace for your family.
I ran across this quote (I wish I could remember who to attribute it to): “Our corporate worship either affirms or denies everything we believe is true about God.” Now, that context was meant for the greater gathering of the church. But it can be applied to the family as well. One of my favorite commentators says the following:
"They who pray in the family, do well. They, who read and pray, do better. But they who sing, and read, and pray, do best of all."
- Matthew Henry
Families, what if—in this frightening and uncertain season of our lives—we led each other to lament well, to sing songs of uncommon praise, and to give thanks even though the outlook is dark for so many?
Finally
What is God doing during this pandemic? He’s tirelessly working. He’s bringing about His Kingdom. He is calling people to repentance. And He is singing over YOU:
Zephaniah 3:17 - The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (ESV)
Our great God loves His sons and daughters. And He longs for others to respond to Him in faith. Let your serving both serve as an act of faith and as an active witness in this season. Let’s sing ‘together’!