Heavenly Worship

 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  Deuteronomy 6:5...."True worship liberates us from ourself."  Jack Hayford

The other day I was listening to a Passion Conference CD. These CD's always contain a lot of great worship songs, but there's one on this one that I've never been comfortable with. The singer is trying to paint the picture of what it will be like when all of His people gather to Him on that great day when all who are His are brought into His presence. His main lyric was, "We're gonna party!" Now, I get where he was coming from, and I know he was singing to a mainly young crowd. I also know that when we do come before Him, there will be much celebration, but even so, I think the premise behind this song speaks to much of what is wrong with modern worship. It is far too much about us, and far too little about Him.

Revelation shows us the picture of worship in heaven. Every part of those around His throne is given over to complete worship and adoration of Him. They fall on their face before Him, worshiping His holiness, giving Him glory and endless praise. They are consumed with this. Every fiber of their being is directed towards Him. A.W. Tozer wrote, "How can I, a son of ignorance and night, come into the holiest of holies in heaven and encounter God? Only by bowing in humble reverence to this awesome Holy One." It's not about a party. It's not about how much we're going to enjoy Him, how much pleasure we will encounter in Him. It's simply all about Him. It's not about us. We have deceived ourselves into thinking that the worship of the church is at least as much about us as it is about Him. Perhaps more.

How so? Look at the effort we go to construct our gatherings to attract people. Lighting, various kinds of visual effects.....smoke machines? What of all this points to Him and what points to us? Who are we really trying to please? Who are we playing to, singing to, even preaching for? Who really is being given the most honor in what we call worship?

I know this comes across strongly. I think it needs to. I spent time at too many conferences and seminars where I was told what I needed to do in the modern environment the church now found itself in. Being relevant became more important than being broken before Him. Being comfortable became a greater priority than being in awe. Being told what "props" I needed to do effective ministry became more important than cultivating the awesome presence of a Holy God. Somehow, the props became more important than His presence. To some degree, all of us, including me, came under the sway of this approach. We need to return to the true root of worship. It's not too late.

Too much of what we're doing resembles entertainment more than worship. Tozer said entertainment is what the church resorts to when His joy has departed from it. People overflowing in the joy of the Lord need no props or prompts to worship Him with all their hearts. I recently watched a video of an African congregation gathered in a barebones sanctuary displaying an exuberance in worship unseen in most western churches. No praise band. No line of singers. No effects. Just His presence and them in it. It was more than enough. It is always more than enough. May it be that we have the courage to at least bring before Him with surrendered wills, all that we do in what we call a worship service. Letting Him examine, reprove, and correct where needed. On that great day when I do come before Him, I don't want to be among those looking for props, parties, or smoke machines. I just want to be looking at Him. How about you?

Blessings,
Pastor O