April 30, 2012
When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? -- Isaiah 1: 12 (NLT)
Only the scheming of the enemy could take what should be the most humble experience in our walk -- the worship of our Holy God -- and turn it into what we see today. Worship today in the modern church has devolved into entertainment for the masses instead of a time of reflection for all God is to us in our lives. Blaring sound, professionally trained pride, and lyrics that demand things from God all permeate modern worship. And please, this is not about classic praise and worship such as hymns and modern worship. It is not about old school versus new school. It is about worshipping God and worshipping worship.
Because that is what a great deal of worship has become. Songs that reinforce the heretical "bless me" theology. Worship leaders taught to engage the congregation instead of engaging the Lord. Pastors who falsely teach that all forms of worship are pleasing to the Lord. Really? Then how do we end up with the following verses:
"I hate all your show and pretense-- the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. -- Amos 5: 21-24 (NLT)
I believe that a great portion of our modern worship has become noise to God, and not just because of the ear-shattering volume levels (God is not hard of hearing beloved). These verses from Amos should give us all pause because it highlights what is important to God and what is not. God wants our praise and worship -- no question about it. He wants our offerings but not at the cost of His Spirit. Not with the cost of hypocrisy. Note here there are two problems we need to be vigilant against when it comes to worship. One has to do with the worship itself and the other has to do with our lives outside of worship.
As to the actual acts of worship themselves we see God rebuking Israel for their show and pretense. That their festivals themselves were hypocritical. We also see this point in the key verse today when God appears incredulous at the ceremonious way Israel was approaching the worship of God. That the ceremony became more important than the worship itself. Can we relate or what? Parading through the courts of the Lord with flash and glitz. Enjoying the religious machinations with pomp and circumstance -- all for the Lord right? Wrong. I always imagine the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector when I think about this subject. The Pharisee represents a lot of the modern worship we see. Showy and braggadocios. Focused on himself instead of God. Sure he mentions God in his prayer but only in relation to himself. Beware anyone who starts out statements by praising God only to segue into a lot of "I" and "me" statements. That was the spirit of the Pharisee -- "Thank you God that I am not like this poor wretch over here-- Well beloved, in the courts of the Lord I would rather be the wretch because the wretch understands worship. It is not about singing the best and having the greatest musicians. It is not about entertaining the saints and drawing more people into the church building. It is not about the ability of the worship leaders and choir members but the availability of all of our hearts to be prostrate before a holy God. Look at the key verse! The courts we parade our proud selves through each Sunday are HIS courts. He did not ask us for ceremony but for humility. There isn't much humility in entertainment. There isn't much humility in songs that demand blessings from God or worse -- which teach false theologies. It should never be about us.
The other facet here is that our lives need to line up with our worship and quite frankly, they often do not. In the Amos verses we see God say that He would rather see a flood of justice and an endless river of righteous living. Perfection? Of course not. But what is happening too often is we come to church after living like the devil all week and then raise our hands to a holy God in a pretense of worship. I said this once before -- singing about the majesty of God when you pay little respect to it in your home or workplace is an insult to God. Singing "Friend of God" does not make you a friend of God. Understanding the sacrifice and faith of Abraham might get you close but the mere act of singing only proves that God gave you vocal chords. The issue is one of hypocrisy. God is much more interested in how we live our lives during the week than how we raise our hands on Sunday. When I know my heart is not right before the Lord praise and worship on Sunday becomes a time of great conviction not great celebration. It is a time of great repentance because without it -- I cannot come before my God and offer Him anything. Even if the week was ok and I come to praise on Sunday with an open heart before God He will still break me down to realize that I am nothing before Him. He is everything.
Worship is a time of joyous celebration about God -- not man. It is a time of humble contrition -- not showy spectacles designed to convey a level of piety that we do not truly possess. It is not a time to appear super-spiritual but rather super-lowly. It is not a time to be entertained but to give back a sliver of what God has given to us. It is not a time to demand His blessings but be thankful for all He has already blessed us with. Worship should not be an event but a natural outgrowth of our life lived before the Lord. Worship Him today and always!
Rev. Anthony
