The following is a weblog I wrote and
sent out 4 years ago this month in response to a phenomenon I had observed
countless times. People gather for a “worship” service to give praise to
God, but there are any number of things that end up taking priority over their
stated goal/task. Many people really struggle to keep it from becoming
all about them when it should be all about God and His glory! The problem
is likely not going away any time soon.
Allen Raynor Weblog:
“The Heart of Worship”
(May 24, 2013)
When you go to church do you worship? Many, all-too-often, do not.
We know that merely setting in a pew, standing, singing, bowing, the closing of
eyes during prayer, and listening to a sermon does not necessarily constitute
worship. These are merely tools to aid a process. True worship can
only take place in the heart and mind of the individual.
In worship we seek the presence of God. We do not merely pay lip service
to God or go through familiar motions and achieve genuine worship. While
many so-called “elements” associated with worship may be present, worship is
not limited to use of these elements. It transcends them all. A.W.
Tozer states, with characteristic bluntness, in his excellent book, Whatever
Happened to Worship? “The presence of God in our midst – bringing a
sense of Godly fear and reverence – this is largely missing today. You
cannot induce it by soft organ music and light streaming through beautifully
designed windows. You cannot induce it by any kind or any amount of
mumbo-jumbo.”
In Genesis 4 we read of Cain and Abel each bringing an offering before the
Lord. God accepted Abel’s offering, brought with a humble spirit, but
rejected Cain’s offering brought with a haughty, presumptuous spirit.
Cain was angered because his offering was not acceptable to the Lord. His
anger betrayed the true condition of his heart. Every week church-goers
gather – some in the spirit of Abel, yet others unknowingly in the spirit of
Cain.
People who genuinely worship on Monday - Saturday have little trouble worshiping
God at church on Sunday. Those who fail to worship God on those other six days
of the week struggle to do so on Sunday.
In order to achieve God’s acceptance in worship a person must really learn to
be dependent on God day by day and live in the spirit of trust, thankfulness,
and humility. Tozer links together a failure at worship to overall
failure of the work of the church. He writes “It is a serious and tragic
matter that a church can actually fail . . . The believers who remain will know
that the glory has departed. In Israel’s days of journeying, God gave the
visible cloud by day and the fire by night as a witness and an evidence of His
glory and constant protection. If God was still giving the same signals
of His abiding presence, I wonder how many churches would have the approving
cloud by day and fire by night . . . The witness of God and of salvation and of
eternal life is now just an uncertain sound. The monument is there, but
the church has failed.” (98- 99) It is difficult to imagine a church that is
truly, genuinely, and unmistakably worshiping together, yet failing as a
church. Successful worship is the exercise of Godly obedience. This
is the expectation of a normal, New Testament believer. Tozer asks the
question “What kind of Christian should be considered a normal Christian? . . .
Some people claim to be normal Christians when actually they mean they
are nominal Christians. My old dictionary gives this definition as
one of the meanings of the word nominal: ‘Existing in name only; not real
or actual; hence so small, slight, or the like, as to be hardly worth the
name.’ With that definition, those who know they are Christians in name
only should never make the pretention of being ‘normal’ Christians.” (105)
Many pastors are afraid to even preach on the subject of worship because many
these days equate the whole concept of “worship” with music styles and they
fear that feathers might get ruffled. Further, many pastors are
perhaps unaware of how little actual worship is taking place when the church
gathers for the event called, ironically, “worship!” Tozer went on to say
“Much of our thinking about worship reflects a willingness to exchange a high
view of God’s eternity for a short-term concept called here-and-now.” We must
always remember it is never to be about us, although to do so is an
ever-present temptation.
We are told unequivocally that we are to worship God in spirit and in
truth. We must want to worship the one true and living God from our
depths. Tozer writes, “The stark, tragic fact is that the efforts of many
people to worship are unacceptable to God. Without an infusion of the
Holy Spirit there can be no true worship. This is serious. It is
hard for me to rest peacefully at night knowing that millions of cultured,
religious people are merely carrying on church traditions and religious customs
and they are not actually reaching God at all.” (46)
Worship should not just be “a” way of life for a believer but should be “the”
way of life. There simply is no other way. God alone must be the
object of our worship and praise and it should be a natural, daily outflow of
our hearts which are saturated with an unquenchable affection for him.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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