If you have a few minutes, check this out. I doubt you can make it through the entire video. I couldn’t.

For those who don’t want to sit through a YouTube video with no music, here’s a brief explanation of 4’33”:

4′33″ (pronounced Four minutes, thirty-three seconds or, as the composer himself referred to it, Four, thirty-three) is a three-movement composition by American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992). It was composed in 1952 for any instrument (or combination of instruments), and the score instructs the performer not to play the instrument during the entire duration of the piece throughout the 3 movements (The first 30 seconds, the second 2 minutes and 23 seconds and the third 1 minute and 40 seconds). Although commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence", the piece actually consists of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed.[6] Over the years, 4′33″ became Cage’s most famous and most controversial composition.

Now, your first thought might be, “that’s stupid.”

I think it’s genius.

You see, my favorite type of music is live music. Whether it’s a live album, or (on occasion) seeing a band or bands live, it’s the dynamic of there being so much more going on than just the sound coming from the stage.

I think that’s what draws me even more to worship music. When I hear the crowd singing along, to me, that’s part of the music.

That’s not participation. That’s collaboration.

4’33” is like a flasher opening his jacket to show you his junk. It’s impossible to NOT hear the crowd shift uncomfortably at the prolonged silence. They’re as much a part of the orchestra as the strings or drums or horns.

So, the next time you worship, sing loud. Louder than you did the last time you worshiped. Don’t worry about missing words or notes.

It all sounds the same to Him.