INVESTING IN EXPONENTIAL WORSHIP
Call it your brand, your reputation, or image. How you see yourself is the spirit of the age.
We live in a world that says it values humility, yet in order to get ahead, it seems you have to engage in constant self-promotion. And how God sees you seems to be less important with every passing day.
All existential debate aside, the way people perceive you at worship greatly influences the reality you’ll experience there. And so, unfortunately, we humans do worship for a human audience. The perception people have of us is the net result of what we say, how we act, and how we worship. And this is generally governed by the way our presence makes people feel. The most profitable way of making our way in the world is understanding how our behaviors impact those around us---it is critical to our success.
The apostle Paul in Romans 12 teaches about spiritual worship. He warns Christians to conform their minds to the holy testing of their priorities and beliefs. You could call it a list of do's and don'ts, but I think of it more like a guide for finding our own measure of the real McCoy in own faithfulness. It's a guide for those who want to strive for living a life of genuine peace with God, and not just pleasing people. They're priceless principles for the transforming of our minds.
Simply put, this lesson is about worship being the total commitment of the total person for the total life. As you work through the verses you'll see that worship is active, it's about doing, and probably not about any of the things you would answer if someone asked you to describe your worship.
Real worship offers thoughtful confessing prayers to God. It's not about inspiring liturgy or splendid ritual, though these things can fill the spiritual fuel tank. that spiritual fuel is lost upon people who aren't living in genuine love. Their fuel tank has a leak. Real worship isn't about making large donations, honestly everything we have belongs to God. Real worship is not about singing majestic songs of praise, or listening to a sound sermon. Real worship happens when we confess sin, turn from that sin, and then offer ourselves completely and wholeheartedly to God. Confessions of faith should be the primary measure of a profitable church congregation.
So...let's look at these real McCoy worship actions. And look closely at the common thread, each action is about holy living, or holy thoughts, or holy responses to life's many challenges. This isn't a list for one hour of Sunday worship. This is a list given to the church and describing things that the church is getting wrong when they aren't promoting these things. And also notice that many of these principles are in regards to every day human relationships.
Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil.
Hold fast to what is good.
Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not be slothful in zeal for the Lord.
Be fervent in spirit.
Serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope.
Be patient in tribulation.
Be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony.
Do not be haughty.
Never be wise in your own eyes.
Repay no one evil for evil.
Live peaceably.
Never avenge yourselves.
If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
Overcome evil with good.
(The principles of genuine love from Romans 12:9-21)
The truth of this matter is that worship is every day. We are to offer up our whole life in our worshipful lives. This isn't something we can put on. We can't pick it up and set it back down when the need arises.
So what is it when it's not these things listed above?
Oh my goodness. There's so many things you might want to call it, but Jesus...Jesus called it by one word...
Hypocrite.
What did Jesus mean when he said that word? He meant, "they do not practice what they preach." You see? It's about what you're practicing. Jesus said, "Everything they do is done for people to see".
In this age we call it virtue-signaling. And our worship becomes that when it's not humbled by repentance and confession. That's why Jesus said, "those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Matthew 23)
Jesus describes a profitable worship in The Parable of the Shrewd Manager Luke 16:1-15
In this strange story, in a sort of backhanded way, we learn about using our gifts here and now for eternal reward. We learn about making friends for ourselves in heaven by using our resourcefulness here and now in our earthly worship. In this contrasting image of the shrewdness of the worldly manager we can see the value of practicing the principles laid out in Romans 12. Jesus used this story because he knows us and knew we'd relate. This is a familiar story about a man who practiced crookedly shrewd business in order to create for himself a comfortable retirement. Jesus knew that we all would understand that. And he said that we too must be shrewd in our worship. Not crooked worship, but shrewd. What does shrewd mean? It means employing a clever discerning awareness to our practices. It means understanding and using our gifts here and now for the kingdom to come.
Extra Credit:
Beware also false humility.
You see, no matter how hard we try, the enemy will creep into all our efforts. And he'll poison even the most staunch efforts. One way in particular is to convince us, indoctrinate us, into thinking that our humble worship is superior. That we are superior.
Look at me, and all my wonderful humility.
We see this A LOT in this age. It's a kind of “humble-bragging”. Especially at award shows, or in the inevitable social media Maia Kopa moments when a person of renowned slips up, opens their big mouths, and offends the woke people.
I read an article about this and picked up this quote, "False humility has become the default mode among celebrities, along with a no less terrible kind of false gratitude."
Times, Sunday Times
False humility, is pridefulness in disguise. Maybe even a mental disorder. Psychology Today says, false humility can be the manifestation of an inferiority complex.
Wow, we are a messed up species.
What does God see in us?
He sees his Son Jesus, if we are genuinely worshipping in spirit and truth. We're on thin ice, but there's hope for us all, hope in Christ Jesus.
God bless you all, now AND forever.
Amen.