"Our fathers
worshiped on this mountain, and you [Jews] say that in Jerusalem
is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her,
"Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on
this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. "You
worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God [is]
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and
truth." (John 4:20-24)
"In Spirit and in truth
- so
this cuts to the heart of genuine Christian worship, the worship
that pleases the Father, the kind that He is
seeking, the quality and substance of worship that identifies "true worshippers"
from false? But is it not the case today, dear friends, that what seems more
important is the attainment of a
professional "worship leader" or "worship team," -
charismatic and talented
individuals who can stir a congregation to great emotional
heights, rouse the senses, and impress with their
vocal and instrumental ability? Has not the church suffered the
worldly temptation of permitting the worship of the Almighty and
Awesome God to be reduced to mere fleshly indulgence? It seems
to this observer (and forgive me for generalizing to advance my
point) that the focus on worship today is primarily on
its institutional expression, or
collective worship, rather than the intimate and personal
expression of adoration as the Holy Spirit brings us to a
personal revelation of all that our Lord is and represents.
We discover in this Scripture
a distinction being made by the Master between "true
worshippers" and false, between worship that is sought by
the Heavenly Father and that which is not. So it follows then,
that not all forms or manifestations of worship, even that
directed "in name" to Him is pleasing and
acceptable to Him. Not all of those who say they know the true
God of Creation and the Bible are in fact known by Him.
"Not every
one that saith unto Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father who
is in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that Day, `Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out
devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?' And then
will I profess unto them, `I never knew you: depart from Me, ye
that work iniquity.' (Matthew 7:21-23)
But I say
that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to
demons and not to God, and I do not want to have fellowship with
demons. You cannot drink of the Lord's cup and the cup of
demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table
of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:20-21)
For as I
passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this
inscription: `To the Unknown God'. Whom therefore ye worship in
ignorance, Him I declare unto you. (Acts 17:23)
Modern, Big-Church
Spectacle vs. True Worship
This devil-wrought delusion
whereby individuals are led to believe they are worshipping and
serving the True God when in fact they are worshipping and
drinking from the cup of demons is a dangerous one indeed. We
must be completely sure that such Scriptures are not referring
to
us. Are we?
What then, is
true worship? Is it only what has come to be known as the
'worship service' that precedes the sermon or teaching session?
Is it the 'entertainment' portion every Sunday morning or Friday
night, the part that seems so much more exciting, the 'singing
down' of God from His heavenly throne, the praising the roof
off? Important questions indeed, for have we not ultimately been
called and saved to worship, serve and adore our Eternal Lord
and God? Is worship not the natural response
of a creature who has been so mercifully saved from eternal
judgment and brought near to the very heart of the Creator.
From the Word we
discover that true worship is that which is spiritual (springing
from the Holy Spirit abiding within each child of God) and
truthful (directed at the true God as He truly is). In this we
see that there is no contradiction, as the same Holy Spirit that
enables us to apprehend spiritual things (infinity, eternity,
omnipresence, omnipotence for example, indeed all attributes of the
Most High), is also the Spirit of truth, the Counselor and
Helper without whom the twice-born child of God can attain
nothing of consequence. True worship can never be rooted in
group ritual or isolated from the truth of Almighty
God as revealed in His Word.
It can never find its source outside of the individual spirit of
those who have dedicated their lives to serving and obeying the
God of the Bible. If one does not enter into worship
with a worshipful heart, then all the loud praises and singing
and music in the world will not draw him nearer to the presence
of God.
Sadly, much of what is called
worship in the church today seems contrived and external - a
slick combination of Broadway-style production and old-fashioned
big-tent mood manipulation. Just as Hollywood has fine-tuned the
art of rendering audiences to emotional reaction at will, so the
modern church has discovered the assorted tricks and techniques
for reproducing such results in the pews. But is it worship, my
brother? Does it rise to the level of worshipful expression seen
in the Psalms and Prophets for example? Does it represent a
sincere prostration of the individual heart before a Being of
extraordinary and inestimable Power and Glory. Is it a personal and powerful expression of
homage and reverence directed at the true God, the only God, the
very Father, Son and Holy Spirit found in the pages of the
Bible - as He is and can only be? And finally, has such an
expression, however wrought, been informed and shaped by the
Spirit and Word of God, and not the best intentions or
machinations of men?
Idolatry of the Heart
Prohibits True Worship
Ezekiel
14:1-8: Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat
before me. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of
man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put
before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity.
Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? "Therefore
speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his
heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into
iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer
him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, "that I
may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are
all estranged from Me by their idols." " Therefore say to the
house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Repent, turn away
from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your
abominations. "For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the
strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and
sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes
him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire
of him concerning Me, I the LORD will answer him by Myself. "I
will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a
proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people.
Then you shall know that I [am] the LORD.
Perhaps I am mistaken here
(and I sincerely hope I am), but do we not see today a church at
large estranged from God in their hearts while at one and the same time swept up in what we may
accurately call "praise and worship mania"? Can a true and
estimable God, demanding sincere and exclusive devotion as He
does, present Himself to a people beset by competing loyalties,
idols and abomination? I think not. Rather, as we read in
Ezekiel, there is a resulting separation and alienation from
God and the things of God. No amount of singing, dancing, arm-waving, and hooting and
hollering will alter this. No talented and dynamic worship
leader can change this. And no perpetual ruminations of
"revival" without individual, heart-level, spiritual change
(both of the mind (doctrine) and the heart (character),
empowered by the Holy Spirit and informed by the Holy
Scriptures, will amount to anything but idolatry and false
worship. Indeed - if all of this be so, then one must wonder who
is benefiting or being blessed as a result of this misplaced
worship - is it God or men?
Bad Doctrine Equals Vain
Worship
In vain do
they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.
(Matthew 15:8-9)
These are perhaps the most
severest words spoken by our Lord, my brethren. And yet by all
accounts there are few who take them seriously. Worship today is more often
an emotion-soaked mood than an honest and reverential posture in
the presence of pure and absolute Glory. It is often allowed
by church leaders to become an orchestrated and unquestioned
experience, rather than the spontaneous and profound expression
of praise, thanks and wonder that grips the soul at the
revelation of Pure Life and Light!
Doctrine
and scriptural relevance of any kind is seen by many as
confounding and thus, limiting to such an experience. Yet our
Lord permitted no such demarcation between doctrine and worship.
In His eternal wisdom, bad doctrine implied vain worship, for
one cannot truly worship what one doesn't know.
Definition is, as we observe, important after all. It is not all
we have certainly, but it serves to inform and structure all
that we have and are in the faith, before God and each other. It contains
emotion when emotion spills over into the unreal and unspiritual. Mere sentiment
or sensation
is so much like the impetuous teenager who sees a sweet face and
cries out "I love you" with great passion and spontaneity. For
one to argue that it is the passion or the spontaneity of this
moment that proves the integrity of the love, would be
erroneous. And yet, this is precisely what is going on in the
modern 'Praise and Worship' movement. We need to be sure that
anything representing the true worship of our Eternal Lord is
not based on the inclinations of men or "big ministry" mood
manipulators who deal more in brash spectacle than the truth and
reality of
Almighty God.
Only Holiness Can Make
Worship Real
"First, seek the heart of the
Lord, and then you will possess a heart after God, passionate
and sincere, unencumbered by man-ordained traditions and
religious pretense." - unknown
It seems the theme of the hour
in "Christian" circles is worshipping God; and every church,
pastor, teacher and denomination in North America has their own
take on the most effective and "anointed" manner in which to
carry this out. May I be so bold therefore as to suggest that there can be no true worship
of the Most High and Holy One without holiness in the life of
the worshipper?
For all those with ears to
hear and eyes lit by the light of God, the Spirit affirms the
integral bond between holiness in the life of the believer and
the worship of a Holy God. For without the one, you cannot truly
have the other. Holiness makes worship happen as naturally and
as automatically as the wind kisses the water to make the wave.
It is not some mechanical or compelled response, nor can it be.
Many have tried to define
"holiness," both biblically and otherwise, and truly it is an
onerous task. Personally, I have most benefited from a series of
sermons delivered by A.W. Tozer on the attributes of God, one of
which offered a wonderful examination on His Holiness. Humbly and with the greatest of gravity, Tozer probed
behind the temple veil to enlighten his audience as to what in
fact makes God "holy," and unlike us in every moral and
spiritual aspect.
Truly, holiness is an ideal
and indeed, the highest one. It is certainly the state or manner
of "God-likeness" (or Christ-likeness if you prefer). It
encompasses both an uncompromised moral quality and spiritual
purity. It was the state Jehovah intended for ancient Israel,
and it is clearly presented in the New Testament as the ideal
for the Bride of Christ.
Holiness can in one sense be
defined as - the state of being
when a life is totally divested of self and wholly dedicated to
the plans, purposes and character of God. Holiness asks...
What matters to God?
What is in His heart?
How would He have me relate
to Himself and other human beings?
What does He think about
this?
What does He love and approve
of?
What makes Him smile?
What fills His heart with joy
and gratification?
What does He want for my
life, my time, my resources?
What are His values and
ideals?
How does He see me? The
world?
And I hope you see that what
we are talking about what could be called a "practical
holiness," not merely the mystical and sentimental variety being
stressed in the church today. It grieves me to see that so much
of what is called worship in the church today amounts to little
more than an affective (based on feelings, desires, emotions,
etc.) religious zeal; more psycho-social hoopla than a
spirit-informed response to the Lord. Please do not
forget, dear friend, that mere sentiment without substance
amounts to little more than magic and self-gratifying religion,
not God-glorifying, God-gratifying holiness. Continuing, we
should also stress what Charles Spurgeon did, when he
passionately taught that justification (the act of redemption)
without resulting sanctification (holiness in living), is
self-delusion, a self-serving (and hell-serving) perversion of
the doctrine of grace.
The most natural expression
of holiness in the human spirit is obedience, which is driven
perpetually and powerfully by a spirit-borne desire to be like
the personification of holiness, the Lord Himself. To be holy is
to be a purified and consecrated thing, dedicated solely and
unequivocally to the purposes and manner of God. This is what
holiness meant to the Israelites and it is, I believe, what
Peter was thinking when he wrote...
1 Peter
1:15 - But as He who called you is Holy, you also be holy in all
your conduct, because it is written "Be holy for I am holy."
"Holy in all your
conduct"...sounds most practical to me, real street-level stuff.
It may also be helpful to remember what was engraved on the
vestments of the Levite priests in the Old Testament...Holiness
to the Lord. We too are a type of "holy priesthood,"
representing a Lord and God who is quintessentially and
perfectly...holy.
In 1 Chronicles 16:29 and
elsewhere, David sang... "Oh worship
the Lord in the beauty of holiness." In Zechariah
14:20-21, it is written that "In that day 'Holiness
to the Lord' shall be engraved on the bells of the horses," and
that "every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the
Lord of hosts." How perfect and wondrous the universe
will be when every person, beast and thing will again be
dedicated exclusively to the design and integrity of the
Infinite and Perfect God, when order is restored to that most
tangled garden.
The gospel presented by Paul
is a message promoting holiness throughout. In Romans 12:1, he
beseeches believers everywhere to
"present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed
to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God."
Our lives are to be
consecrated to the service of God. From the moment we accept
Jesus Christ as Sovereign and Shepherd of our lives, we cease to live to
ourselves so that we might live solely to Him. Our "bodies" are the
vehicle for all moral activity, through which we fulfill our
identity as either self-serving, godless people or authentic worshipers of
the Living God. And it is holiness that is the truest mark of a
life devoted to God. And holiness can never rightly be measured
by esoteric or ritual observance, but in the discipline and duty
of everyday moral experience. This is the true worship of God,
when we finally remember that we have been chosen by Him as
ambassadors and representatives of a higher kingdom.
So we can conclude that
holiness is founded on the fact that, as Christians, we
represent Jesus Christ, who is Holy and who is God. Holiness
then, is a mark of identification, a badge or seal,
communicating to all the world that we belong to, and represent
the Holy One.
Romans
6:19 - For just as you presented your members as slaves of
uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so
now present your members as slaves of righteousness for
holiness!
Often in the New Testament
holiness is coupled with righteousness, and portrayed in
combination as the sign of the new birth. Jesus taught at great
length about the conduct required of the "new man," about the
need for exclusive devotion to the Holy Father, about where our
heart-felt commitments should lie. Many other passages (that I
encourage you to wrestle with) present holiness and
righteousness as deep-rooted, concomitant outgrowths of the
sanctified life. Moral purity, sanctity, cleanness in the "inner
vessel," integrity of word, motive and conduct...all these
represent what one is. They do not operate at the level of
feelings and emotions, although they decidedly influence the
realm of the emotional.
Hebrews 12:14 goes so far as
to pronounce that without holiness..."no
one will see the Lord." Serious business, this thing
called holiness. Which is why it is so strange that in modern
Christendom it is more often represented as a kind of garb that
we put on, much like a pair of pants or shoes; why music and
song and chanting and every form of mass emotive experience is
seen as being able to arouse "worshipful" qualities in those
participating; why sanctification is redefined as some kind of
split-second, on-the-spot transformation rather than the
life-long, moment-to-moment, often quiet transformation of a
heart committed to a Holy God.
"Instant Holiness Now
Possible" is the banner message of the hour, differing little
from the claims of instant weight loss or a happy marriage. Or
perhaps even more subtle and subversive to the truth are the
countless "christianized" psychology messages emphasizing the
need for layered or step-by-step behavioral change. Seven steps
to experiencing God, three things you must do order to be
physically healed, 12 steps to breaking the chains of
addiction…all so neat and tidy my brethren, but none of it scriptural, none
of it ordained by the author and Finisher of our faith.
Beware, dear reader, for
holiness can never come in a bottle or a manual, but only from
the Holy One Himself. And it returns to Him, and glorifies Him
(herein lies true worship),
as others see His holiness reflected in all that you say and do
and represent. It flows out from His very essence, transforming
your life in very practical ways, and it leads you to your knees
and to prayer and to that quiet contemplation of all that He is
and represents. When the Bible refers to the "beauty of
holiness" it knows of what it speaks, for indeed holiness is
beautiful, more beautiful than anything our eyes can render, or
our poetic insights can attain.
It is, after all, holiness
that makes worship real and honest. All of the wonderful
spirit-breathed sentiment springing forth from a reconciled heart, the peace and
consolation, the unrecognizable joy, the priceless order that
results as our lives become synchronized with the original plan,
the passion of meaningful service - I for one will take all of this over
the artificial and momentary arousal being peddled in the big
church on the corner. For I need no drunkard's morning-after,
and the hollow sense of longing that it brings. I need no
drug-like stupor with all of its carnal side effects and
insatiable need for more. What I need is to
be holy for He is holy, and this, my friend, should be true for
all of us.
