As I ran this morning, I listened to the end of a soul-piercing book called The Reset. It’s a simple and pure call back to the heart of worship that is all about remembering Who we are worshipping.
When it ended, I searched for something else to listen to and somehow ended up with a live recording of a worship night at Teen Challenge. As I ran, the sweat and the tears ran down my face together at the sound of men singing loudly, passionately, and quite off-key to their Savior.
The purity of that worship was precisely what Jeremy Riddle is calling the church back to in his book. The sound of the rescued is a sound like no other.
In the words of our hometown theologian, Josh Baldwin, “there’s no sound louder than a captive set free.”
A songwriter that lived thousands of years before Josh understood the power of that sound. In fact, it was his declaration that inspired Josh’s popular worship song. He was the first to tell the redeemed to say so (Psalm 107:2, NKJV), but I think I love the way the New Living Translation says it:
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. (Psalms 107:2 NLT, emphasis mine)
The sound that is like no other isn’t the sound of right doctrine or perfected ecclesiology. It’s the sound of a rescued heart full of gratitude for the rescuer.
That’s why the recording at Teen Challenge was so moving. Those men didn’t care if they sounded good to us because they knew their worship sounded perfect to Jesus. He was their audience, and as they poured out their gratitude on Him, that pure worship sparked something deep within me.
When we withhold our worship, we diminish the body. So don’t hold back. Get comfortable telling your rescue story, and the next time you’re in a worship service with others who have also been rescued, sing about it. Lift up that beautiful, rescued, redeemed voice of yours and release the sound that is like no other.
You’ll be amazed at what it will shake loose in you and the others who hear it.
