All About Worship: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 11)

By Dale Reeves

 

The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life
Louie Giglio
Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2009

I”ve had a calling on my life to be a lifelong worshipper of God since I was a little boy sitting in Sunday evening services at Clovernook (now LifeSpring) Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Back in those days, David Lang led us in singing the great hymns of the faith””all of the verses””and to this day it”s amazing how the lyrics of those hymns are tucked away in my brain. They often rise to the surface during a season of seeking God in prayer, needing just the right word for just the right moment. That is the power inherent in the words we sing in praise to the Godhead, three in one.

When I was asked about my “must reads,” my mind immediately went to great books that deal with worship, not just in singing, but as a way of life. Among the titles in my library, I love the books Facedown and The Unquenchable Worshipper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship (both by Matt Redman), as well as The Way I Was Made: Words and Music for an Unusual Life, by Chris Tomlin. For this article, I have chosen to feature a small but mighty title, The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life, by Louie Giglio.

A passionate communicator and innovative thinker, Giglio is the founder of the highly successful Passion Conferences. He also leads and shepherds sixstepsrecords, a worship label committed to cutting-edge, God-focused music, home to such lead worshippers as David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, and Matt Redman.

I love Giglio”s premise in this book: “You, my friend . . . are a worshipper! . . . Every day, all day long, in every place, you worship. It”s what you do. It”s who you are.” He goes on to point out that we cannot help but worship . . . something. If we choose, for whatever reason, not to worship God, we”ll worship anyway, simply “exchanging the Creator for something he has created” (p. 9).

The book challenges me to question what I give value to, what I ascribe the highest worth to. And, whatever I worship then becomes the driving force for all I do. Giglio continues, “Simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money, and your allegiance. At the end of that trail you”ll find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what”s of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship” (p. 11). In subsequent chapters, the author deals with issues like why worship matters so much, what God wants most for us, how to become the “true worshipper” Jesus spoke of with the woman at the well, and how to worship both from our lips and our lives. The back of the book features a skinny guide of relevant questions that can be used for group discussion.

If you”re a leader in the church, you don”t have to be a worship pastor or a talented musician to be a lead worshipper. You really don”t have a choice. Others from within the church and without are watching how and what you worship, not just during the singing on Sunday, but in your everyday life. And that”s why this book is a must read!

 

Dale Reeves is acquisitions editor for adult ministry resources at Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio.