Worship

For people who call themselves Christians, worship is pretty important, isn't it?

Worship means that it's time to put on our nice(ish) clothes, pile into the family vehicle, and head to the church building.

Worship means that we pray, sing, give, remember the Lord's death, and study a portion of His Word (as we should). 

Worship is one of those things that most Christians are GOING to do, no matter what, right?

No matter how bad the fight was with our spouse on the WAY to worship, we are going to worship.

No matter how tense our relationship is with the person sitting three rows behind us (and it can get pretty tense, can't it?), we are going to worship.

No matter how many times we may have (or haven't) studied our Bible and prayed during that same week, we are going to worship.

No matter how many opportunities we have missed to serve or tell others about our God, we are going to worship Him. 

Worship is pretty important to us, isn't it?

In fact, for some it seems ALL-important. 

Sometimes it is the one (and possibly only) characteristic that defines our faith. This is why, instead of asking people to tell us about their faith in God, we say, "Where do you go to church?" 

We adopt a set of beliefs, show up to worship (in a certain way) a few times a week, and - for some - that might just be it. 



Is worship this important to God? 

Is this what God wants? 



Has God elevated worship to the point that our participation in it will "erase" everything else that may be going on (or NOT going on) in our lives? Or have we done that?

The Bible has answered this question for us. Consider the following Scriptures:

1. Amos 5:21-23 - "I hate, I despise your feasts [worship], and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies [worship]. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings [worship] and grain offerings [worship], I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals [worship], I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs [worship]; to the melody of your harps [worship] I will not listen."

2. Matthew 5:23 - "So if you are offering your gift at the altar [worship] and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift [worship]."

3. Matthew 15:8-9 - "This people honors me with their lips [worship], but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

Allow me to make a few observations about worship, based on these passages:

- Worship is simply not as important to God as our hearts and our lives. It never has been. 

- Worship can become detestable - and vain - in the sight of God if our hearts and lives aren't right before Him.

- If we have conflict in our lives with other people, or if we aren't living lives that glorify and honor God, those things need to be a higher priority than our worship.

You might say, "Jeremy, am I supposed to just get up from worship and go have that conversation with that person three rows behind me??" 

Um, no.

You were supposed to have done that before you sat down. 

And the worst news is, if we haven't done that, our worship may not be accepted by God. In fact, He may hate it. 

Think about this: if we were as dedicated to keeping our relationships and day-to-day lives in line with Scripture as we are at keeping our worship in line with Scripture...

What a concept, right? It just so happens that it isn't my concept; it's God's. 

A truly "scriptural" church isn't just scriptural because it worships God correctly (although that's part of it). It is scriptural if it follows the rest of Scripture when it comes to the rest of our lives. 

After all, the Church is the people...not just the few hours a week when we meet to worship...right?

It doesn't do us any good, as God's people, to worship "scripturally" and live "unscripturally". 

So, before you put on those nice clothes, pile into the family vehicle, and go back to that church building...take a moment to think about these things. 

Is there something we need to do differently before we worship God again?

Is there someone we need to talk to?

Is there something we need to pray about? 

God wants us to do these things before we worship Him.