sharing on worship

Sharing by Shaun Lim on 19th August 2009 on the nature of worship:

Can our worship ever be ‘bad’ and unpleasing to God? Yes; 1 Samuel 15:22 says “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the voice of the Lord?" Saul disobeyed what God told him to do, and kept the best Amalekite cattle and sheep to sacrifice to God instead of destroying them. The sacrifices offered by Saul in this case were unpleasing to God because he was just sacrificing for the sake of it and for getting the approval of Samuel, without the true intention to glorify God. Worship offered to the Almighty that is half-hearted or hypocritical is worse than not worshipping at all. Revelation 3:16 – Because you are lukewarm – neither cold nor hot – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Hindrances to worship today:

1. Lackadaisical approach to worshipping
o Blessed environment in ACS(I) – worship sessions held weekly at Chapel, FireAC daily worship, other instances – worship becomes very “normal” and not exciting and refreshing each time
o God being omnipresent and with us always, at our beck and call, so to speak
+ He has offered us this privilege, but we as puny humans end up treating him and time with him lightly
o When we worship, we meet God! Yet we sing for the sake of singing and repeat some memorized words to a memorized tune – not transformed by it!
o Worship is praise and honour offered to the Almighty, to worship lightly and mechanically borders on blaspheming His Name
o Ancient times – only the High Priest allowed to enter the Holy of Holies – awesome glory of his presence
o God is the same yesterday and today – He is still the same God who struck 70 people down at Beth Shemesh in 1Samuel 16:19 for looking into the ark of God
+ God is Love but He is also Holy – if we don’t feel humbled by his presence, we have not come into the holiness of God

2. Peer Pressure within the ACS(I) Community
o Irony – often the peer pressure is more to appear holy and Christian, rather than to be persecuted for Him
o Within Christian communities of FireAC, BB or CF, pressure to worship and be Christ-like just because the rest of the community is doing so
o Usually a positive effect because there is accountability in Christ as a group
+ but may lead to people being coated in a “shiny plastic shrink wrap” of holiness, covering an inside decaying Christian soul
o Worship Him for the true intention of doing so and for Him instead of for your peers to see

3. Emotionalism in worship
o Lack of faith in worship – lack of faith that God will come, that God will be in our presence, that God will touch our hearts
o Resultant attempt to engineer ‘holy feelings’ by increasing the volume of the music, singing more emotionally stimulating songs like Power of Your Love, arranging different songs to configure the atmosphere
+ Feebly plays on emotions to take the place of God in our worship
o Often confusing emotions with the Holy Spirit – worship then becomes events of secular high rather than communion with God
o Worship should just be about you and God, not about anything else – music and songs are an aid to an end, not an end unto itself
o Very important because it is very easy to lapse into this – both are intangible feelings which we may often mix up whether deliberately or accidentally
+ Worship is not about the music or the quality of the singing etc – have faith that when you worship, God is there – and He will be there.

4. John 4:24 – God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth
o Worship in spirit, not in our physical senses and body
o Sense God and worship him in the Spirit man, to sense him in the Spirit rather than to worship with merely our tongues and music, or seek to hear, see, feel or touch God tangibly
o Body as three parts – body soul and spirit. Worship through our mind, emotions and body, but it is our spirit that worships Him and communicates with the Holy Spirit
o Worship near him, not from afar – in times past, Jews worshipped through their High Priest and as sinful man as holy God, separated by sin
o Jesus’ death tore the veil and has He has become our High Priest forever, and we may enter into his presence – enter into his presence and delight in his love each time we worship!

He does not seek worship as such. God is not so insecure that he requires worship in itself, but He desires worshippers whose hearts are surrendered to Him. The reason that he desires this is so that He can have the relationship with us that He has always wanted; an intimate relationship.