This summer, the Lord lovingly challenged me to deepen my worship life.  In June, Pam and I had the privilege of going with Gary and Sally Moore to hear the Nashville Symphony.  The weather was beautiful and the fellowship was sweet as we dined outside the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.  As we were seated in the concert hall, the evening commenced with usual tuning of the instruments.  The conductor soon appeared and the room filled with the sound of polite applause.

Having directed choirs for the last twenty two years, I watched the conductor intently to try to learn.  As the first piece began, the conductor’s attention was riveted on the musicians as he drew the sound out of them.  As the piece continued, I realized that he did not even have a score of the music!  As the evening flowed, the breadth of conducting techniques used was expansive.  From animated hops (I kid you not), to broad sweeping motions of his arms, it was clear that he was consumed.  He conducted with his whole body: at times with his fingers and at other times, with his hands.  He conducted with his elbows, with his arms, with his upper body, with his head, and even with his eyebrows during the repetitive rhythms of Ravel’s Boléro.  At times he leaned back against the rail of his podium and at other times he bent over forward almost embracing the musicians in front of him.  He used his entire body in this act of conducting.

As I sat in amazement, Romans 12:1 came to mind: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” [NRSV].  The Amplified version intensifies the appeal using the language “[I] beg of you… to make a decisive dedication of your bodies (presenting all your members and faculties) as a living sacrifice… which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.”

I left the symphony hall inspired by the conductor’s example.  I also left lovingly convicted by the Holy Spirit, realizing that sometimes my worship has consisted of mental assent to God’s worthiness to be praised coupled with a disengaged heart reposed in self contentment.  It is a painful contrast to what John Wesley said: “True Christian faith is more than mental assent to Scriptural truth; it is a disposition which God has wrought in the heart.”

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