Just What Are You Shouting About?

"Now, singing Shout to the Lord, once again, your American Idols..." First thing that went through my mind when I heard that was, "Wah, must be some black mama gospel song." And then the into came and my ears perked up! Now that's a really familiar tune! In case you are still wondering, YES YES YES! Last week's American Idol closed with the contestants singing Darlene Zschech's Shout to the Lord! It was incredible hearing it on national TV. I told my dad, that's probably the only time you will hear a worship song being broadcast over Singapore national TV.

Rare as it might be, I couldn't help but marvel as these words were blasted out "Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King!" Imagine the number of homes that this program broadcasts to. It was like an international declaration of praise to Jesus! Wow! A few things crossed my mind at that instance. Imagine a day when we could go to singing competitions and belt out our favourite hymn or praise song and wow the judges without anyone (namely Simon Cowell) calling it indulgent. I do believe that's what we call culture transformation and I do hope I can see that in my lifetime... [+]

Looking at the contestants, I wondered too how many of them meant what they sang the way they did with their individual performances. I realised that to most of them, this might have just been a new song for them to learn and perform during the results show. Is Jesus truly their Lord? Is He really their tower of refuge and strength? Is He yours? We do that sometimes too, don't we? Learn a new song and perform it on Sundays. I'm guilty of it myself. There are days when my mind is just so distracted that corporate worship turns into a vocal exercise.

Last Sunday was kind of that way. With the anxiety of finishing my thesis project deeply stuck like chewing gum in my mind, it was an uphill climb trying to mean what I sang. Times like that, even the deeply moving scenes of the Passion of Christ lose their impact. So I prayed. Actually, I prayed for the person beside me, whom the Lord showed me was feeling the same way. I knew each word that I blessed him with was a word meant for my own heart. And that prayer was all I needed to experience a breakthrough. It's strange how God works isn't it?

So what am I saying? We were made to worship God. That's our primary calling! To give Him praise and worship. But to fully appreciate that, we need to be intentional with out choices. Choose to worship Him. Choose to focus on Him. Choose to depend on Him. Choose to obey Him. Despite your circumstances or emotional feelings. That is going to be the crucial difference between an American Idol singing " Shout to the Lord" and you, a child of God bringing a smile to Jesus' face. Indeed, nothing compares to the promise we have in Him.


Joshua Teo