CONNECTING TRUTH TO A MELODY

I have been on a journey of becoming what I call a "belief focused" Christian. Practically, what this looks like is when my experiences don't line up with the word of God, instead of asking myself "what am I doing wrong?" I try asking Holy Spirit, "what am I believing wrong?"

Good conduct does not produce grace. In fact, a conduct-focused lifestyle is a law-based approach to life that will inevitably produce frustration. Good beliefs, on the other hand, position us to receive the grace of God by entering into the relationship God has called us to, relating to Him as sons & daughters and operating from this place of positional authority (Eph. 2:8, Gal 3:26, Gal 3:5).

In my journey of faith, I have asked God for tools to eliminate lies from my belief system and get more of His truth in my heart. One tool I have been immensely thankful for in this process is declarations. Saying the truth out loud is one of the best ways of capturing it and keeping it inside of me. As my friend Steve Backlund often says, "It's hard to believe a lie, while speaking the truth."  Declarations are a powerful and practical weapon for combating lies and advancing in faith.

This simple tool seemed too easy when I first heard it because of my bent toward equating spiritual breakthrough with my conduct. However, I have experienced first-hand the transformational results of intentionally speaking the truth out loud. This practice can propel us in faith and is in fact a form of Biblical meditation (http://biblehub.com/hebrew/1897.htm).

 MELODIES OF THE HEART

 Recently, God has been speaking to me about the heart and its part to play in this process of growing in faith. While transformation begins with renewing our minds with truth (Rom 12:2), believing happens when this truth gets inside of our heart (Rom 10:9). Sometimes it seems there is a process of metabolizing truth from an informational reality to a more "revelatory" reality that burns within. When truth gets into our heart this is when we begin to receive "revelation"--we experience a "conviction" or "heart response" to that truth and faith takes root. At this point we become dangerous to the enemy because we begin to walk in true authority, becoming convinced of who we truly are in Christ.

As I've grown stronger in my faith, I've noticed a direct correlation of the effectiveness of my declarations to the amount of emotion I attach to these declarations. When I say something that is true as a matter of routine it doesn't have the same effect as if I stir my heart to connect with what I am saying. There are plenty of Christians that can quote scriptures for days but walk in little real authority. Authority is realized when a Christian is convinced in their heart that they are a child of God.

When it comes to the heart and communicating with it, spoken language is not necessarily the best avenue of contact, though this is still an important tool. The heart is often reached through things like music, poetry, and art—beauty. In social communication we know that the tone in which we say something can be just as important as the content of what is spoken. The correct tone can give a message wings, while conversely, the wrong tone can cause our message to fall flat.

"The language of tones belongs equally to all mankind, and melody is the absolute language in which the musician speaks to every heart." - Richard Wagner

This concept of a “heart language” all started to come together for me when I read scriptures like this one:

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Col 3:16 NASB

Before when I would read this I would think it was odd that Paul would admonish us to “teach” one another with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” But then it clicked. I realized that the moments with the Lord that were most “educational” in a transformative sense, were the ones in which He connected His truth to my emotions—or to my heart.

I’ve since come to believe that the most educationally beneficial thing you can do as a Christian is worship from the heart. In some church services, times of corporate worship are thought of as a “warm-up” or an appetizer for the main course “meat” of the word coming from the pulpit. It’s important to understand that corporate singing is not simply a fad—there are very good reasons for this practice being a deeply ingrained part of most church liturgies… Check out this great scripture:

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;” Eph 5:18-19 NASB

Something powerful happens when we connect truth to the beauty of a melody. Suddenly that truth on our lips can reach a place inside of us and those around us it didn’t reach before. It’s as though the melody in our heart gives the truth wings. As an experiment try saying the chorus of any popular worship song in a normal voice but then sing it from your heart. Pay attention to the feeling you experience while doing it.

This dynamic is something I’ve been experimenting with in corporate settings during recent meetings I’ve led. I’ve noticed that people are often afraid to sing in front of others, especially if it is a spontaneous song from the heart.

Here’s what I’ve found. When Jesus speaks of the type of worshiper the Father seeks, He says that these worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” John 4:25

I suddenly understood this scripture in a different light while digging into this subject of singing from the heart. Though I’ve felt I had some grasp on what Jesus meant to worship “in spirit,” I always had wondered what He meant by worshiping “in truth.”

And it dawned on me… worshiping in truth is worshiping in vulnerability– worshiping from a true and real place. In fact, the Greek word for truth is synonymous with the word reality (I’ve heard that these are translated from the same Greek word). I am shocked by the freedom I’ve seen people enter into while singing songs from their heart publicly to God. What happens in this moment is people are left exposed and vulnerable. They may think to themselves, “I hope no one laughs at my song!” But in this moment their heart is uncovered to connect to God (and others) in a special way. They are putting their heart out there for all to see—including God.  This is a vulnerable and risky undertaking in which we surely need a community of love to experiment in.  But, such risks produce precious unforgettable moments in which the Holy Spirit can kiss on an entire congregation.

The next time you sing a worship song, sing it with the understanding that your heart is growing in connection to the truth on your lips. Melodies are a powerful tool we can use to connect to truth as we “cultivate faithfulness” in our hearts to God.