08 June, 2016

Worship Questions

A couple of days ago I started the morning off with a thought that began to just consume me. I posted the following on Facebook:
"Sometimes I find myself wondering how our approach to worship would change if we really comprehended that we are there to worship GOD, rather than for ourselves." After posting that, I just could not shake that train of thought and I continued with another post, "My mind has been racing on this all morning, and I find myself wondering how many things in our "worship" service would change, what we do and say. How would even our approach toward preparing at home before we left for church. I don't think people would be so flippant about the church attendance. If we really "got it" that we were going to bow down before the God of all creation, I think we'd be there every time the doors are open. I think we'd prepare ourselves physically and spiritually before we ever left home. I think we'd be there early knowing that the place would be packed and we might not find our favorite seat because if people really understood that "church" was not about us, but about worshipping God Almighty, NO ONE would dare say, "I don't need to go to church today". Our self-centered approach to worship, the "I need a touch from God" approach is so backward and it has created the mindset where people don't "need" church. That's because it's not supposed to be about what WE need, it's supposed to be about stopping what we are doing, humbling ourselves before God Almighty and saying "How great Thou art!" 


A couple of other people commented and my mind kept racing, until I followed up with this last thought: "My mind just won't stop on this thought. It hit me a moment ago that when people "skip church" or when people say "I don't need to go to church" they are actually saying, "I have no need to worship God" which literally means, "God, you are not worth my time today."

It's been two days, and my mind still keeps going back to this train of thought. I had someone accuse me of making those posts because I was trying to guilt others into going to church.  If people would just get over themselves and pay attention! They just are not listening or thinking this through. Going to "church" (as we call it) is not about us. It's not about impressing someone with our presence or how much we give or what we do. It is about acknowledging who God is. It is about truly recognizing that the is the God of all creation; the first and the last, the Almighty... and that we gather to worship Him. It should be that we go to give him honor, glory and praise, not to see what we can get. As I said, when we say we are "too busy" to attend church, what we are actually saying is that we are too busy to acknowledge God and obey His commands. If we are totally honest, we will be forced to admit that MOST of what we do in "church" is more for us than it is for God. Jesus said in His Word that if He is lifted up He will draw all men unto Him. But we spend more time singing songs to make us feel better, demanding sermons that make us feel good about ourselves and so on. I wonder... how would things change if we reversed this and truly worshipped God?

No comments: