A Small Story with Big Implications

I want to tell a story. Just a small story. But one that keeps on coming back to me over and over again as I think about the importance of using your heart language to worship God. It is easy to say that music is meaningful to us as humans for the most part. And it is easy to see why music should be used to worship God. But for those of us who go to churches with music we enjoy, it is hard to imagine what it would be like to worship to music we don’t like, much less music we don’t understand. For many Christians around the world, this is their reality. And it is even accepted by them because they have been led to believe that their music is intimately tied to their sinful past. As a result, God becomes a foreign God. A God that cannot speak in their language. And a wall is placed between people and God that prevents them from being able to worship and understand God in meaningful ways. This story helps demonstrates the reality of “heart music.”

One evening, the power went out at the house (which is fairly common). Since we didn’t have enough fuel to use the generator, my host father and I were just sitting in the dark with our flashlights on. When I realized that my computer still had plenty of battery left, I decided to play some music from my iTunes to amuse us for awhile. I was picking and choosing songs, some were World music, some were more American, and I was trying to see what would catch his eye. After awhile he stopped commenting and was just laying on the coach, not paying much attention. Then I remembered how I had a multi-ethnic worship song by Izibongo that merged an Akyode-style song with Chris Tomlin’s song “Forever.” Not being a huge fan of Chris Tomlin, I had still listened to the song with interest because it was such an odd combination. I decided to put on the song and eagerly studied his face while trying not to give away that I was waiting for a response. There was no need to wait because the response was instantaneous! Seconds after I turned it on, my host father’s entire demeanor changed. He sat up and tilted his head and looked at me and realized it was in Gikyode. He ended up really liking the song, even though it was mixed with something foreign (aka Chris Tomlin). This struck me because I know so many of us Americans would listen to the song and write it off as weird because it is not exactly what we like to worship to. But for someone who has only had limited experience with worship music in his heart language, even a Chris Tomlin and Gikyode combination was exciting and wonderful. Furthermore, his instant change from unengaged to engaged when the music came on speaks volumes. I have witnessed the same reactions in church here multiple times. The worship team may play some Africanized English hymns but everyone sits in their chairs, unresponsive. But as soon as they switch to a local song/dance form in their language, everyone is on their feet, singing, dancing, clapping. It’s amazing!