The Unmistakable Pain of Worship

We live in a world of convenience and comfort. For several years now, the Western world has developed a myriad of items that serve to make our lives more tolerable, pleasurable, and comfortable. On any given day and at any given time, we can find something that will alleviate our discomfort, dissatisfaction, displeasure, or disinterest in whatever we are experiencing. Whether it comes in the form of a pill to cure a headache or comes as a pocket-size device that entertains our boredom, we seem to have discovered a way to challenge one of life’s greatest enemies: pain. Although Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33), we assume that he didn’t mean that we could make that “trouble” much more tolerable. In fact, we try to do whatever is possible to avoid any pain that might be associated with that trouble. While many consider the modern day cures for our “trouble dilemma,” a positive step in the progress of mankind, I believe that it is having a detrimental and damaging effect upon the church. 

For some reason, there is a trend in the church that aims to ensure that people are “comfortable” in the church. We in no way would desire that people would have a “bad experience” during a worship service on Sunday morning. After all, we want people to be “happy” and hopefully, become a regular attendee of our congregation. If anyone does have a “problem” with what is taking place, we will jump through hoops to make sure that whatever “pain” they are experiencing can be soothed so that they will not walk away offended. At this time, you’re probably thinking, “Well, yeah, of course we cannot have a congregation full of offended people who find church a rather unpleasant experience.” For the most part, I would agree; however, have you ever asked yourself, “What if it is God’s desire to inflict pain upon someone?” Would God do that? Absolutely!  

I recently heard a Chip Ingram radio broadcast in which he challenged me to rethink yet another dynamic to the life of worship. He brought to light the fact that God asked Abraham to circumcise every male associated with his home (Genesis 17). As Chip explained, “this was not a pleasant experience.” In fact, it would have been a very painful experience. As Abraham was to enter into “covenant” with the Lord, the Lord required that he first go through “pain.” This does not compute to the modern day mind sitting in the modern day church overflowing with the modern day conveniences for living. We have come to picture worship as being a tender, solemn, make me feel good with goose bumps experience. After all, if it doesn’t feel good, it must not be God. Yet, if we read Scripture, we find that worship at times is a bloody, painful sacrifice that is anything but comfortable. When Paul admonished the Romans to present themselves as “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1) what image did they picture? They would have pictured a priest holding on to the head of a lamb and slicing the animal’s throat with a razor sharp knife.  When Jesus said, that “unless you take up your cross” (Luke 14:27) you cannot be my disciple (which also infers you cannot worship me), what did those hearing think? They knew crucifixion to be the most gruesome and painful way for a man to die----and Jesus was asking for them to do the same in following Him. These images were the closest things that the New Testament writers could describe in relating metaphorically a picture of the difficult side to a life of worship. As we worship the Lord, there should be a continual event of “tearing off the flesh” from our lives----and this can be a rather painful experience.

Consider the sun for a moment. There is nothing like the gentle glowing warmth of an early morning summer day. There may be a slight chill in the air and when the sun’s rays beam upon you, suddenly, everything feels cozy; however, if you remain in the sun throughout the day and experience the brilliance and fullness of it presence, the result will be rather painful as you will acquire a “sun burn.” The same can be said about enjoying the light of sun. We can look around at the beauty of our world due to the light the sun provides but if you have been sitting in a dark room and suddenly step outside on a sunny day, it becomes an uncomfortable experience for the eyes. It is much like when God shines His glory upon our lives and we suddenly find ourselves in the fullness of His presence. Our flesh will painfully “burn” and when he shines His light on the dark areas of our lives, we will experience discomfort in trying to open our eyes to what he wants to show us. If our experience of worship is not taking us to these places in our lives, then we are far from approaching the throne of grace. In other words, our worship experience has become a comfortable religious routine rather than the pursuit of God and His glory.  This is why I remain adamantly against the notion of “seeker-sensitive” worship. Yes, by all means, provide “seeker-sensitive” evangelism, but worship is the pursuit of God and if you are living in sin, coming into the presence of an awesome and mighty God should be a fearful and unpleasant experience (Exodus 20:18-21, Hebrews 10:25-31). Even within ourselves, the fleshly areas of our lives should not find “worship” a pleasant experience. Instead, our flesh should feel as if it is sheep going to the slaughter. I’m sure when Abraham suggested to his household of adult males that they were to be “circumcised” that there was not much rejoicing going on that day----yet their obedience to go through the painful ritual resulted in worship before the Lord.

We must keep in mind that the predominate image of worship in the Bible is “sacrifice.” Jesus expressed this several times but encapsulated with the thought that “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Among this statement and many others that suggest “losing one’s life” is something that has to be considered along the journey of worshiping the Lord. We act as avoiding the “pain” of what true worship sometimes brings to our lives is an optional endeavor reserved for those who are “radicals.” What many do not realize that the “pain” which the Lord inflicts upon our lives is a “healing pain” that is necessary for us in order to truly experience Him as He intended. The act of circumcision that Abraham endured only brought him deeper into the covenant relationship with the Lord. God brings us to places of pain in worship so that He can remove the sickness of our souls and give us the freedom to be what we were created to be in worshiping Him. Worship isn’t always a bed of roses…sometimes it’s a stick full of thorns that remind us that when it comes to grabbing hold of God, pain will be inflicted upon our flesh. When that happens, we will come to understand the unmistakable pain of worship.

Being Distracted to Death

Distractions! They are all around us. As of late, my life feels bombarded with circumstances, issues, and focuses that make me feel as if my life is ebbing away into a purposeless abyss. It is as if my heart longs for being in the presence of God and yet, it seems as if I cannot get there. Although I attempt to seek the Lord on a daily basis, my mind is continually being pulled away by all of the other happenings of life. While many would excuse that as simply being “real life” in that we cannot expect to go through life and not have other things that are not “God” at the forefront of the our minds at times, I would offer another explanation. From the way I read Scripture, God never intended for us to be distracted by the cares of this world. In fact, he warns us that it is possible that the life he offers us can be “choked out” by the “worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth” (Matthew 13:22). Maybe that’s how I feel, like the life of Christ in me is being choked out by all of the other things I am dwelling upon in my life. The rigors of day to day life have taken their toll and I have caught myself thinking about so many other things that truly do not matter when compared to what Jesus Christ offers me.

I know that it sounds as if I am “burning out or backsliding” but in all honesty, that’s not the case. I am simply suggesting that I am sick of all of the things in my life that I have discovered which are competing against Jesus in me! Song of Solomon says it best in reminding us to “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom” (Song of Solomon 2:15). In the beauty of this intimate relationship between two lovers, they had to stop for a moment and realize that there are things that can potentially damage their relationship. They weren’t concerned with the “big things” like an “affair or abuse;” rather, they recognized that relationships are ruined by the slow and subtle things that come into our lives almost unnoticed. In surveying a vineyard full of fruit, one would hardly notice if a few grapes were missing off of a vine. You could look across that lush growth of your labor and not notice the weeds that were beginning to work their way up the vines to choke the life from the plant. Unfortunately, it is only after the destruction is noticeable that many people take action.

I cannot help to consider the several warnings of Jesus in reminding his disciples that when the “Master” returns he wants to find his servants “doing” what he is has commanded (Matthew 24:46 and Luke 12:43). What is it the Lord expects us to be doing? Did he intend for us to get so involved in the everyday affairs of life on earth that the thought of Him is just another aspect of our lives that we have to juggle in our busy schedules? Did he intend for us to make our own plans as what we are to do with our time, money, and resources in this life (see Matthew 25:14-30 to answer this question)? Hebrews 12:1 reminds us that in the race of life that we are to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” How do we do that? By “FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS” (Hebrews 12:2). The servant who is not doing what His Master has commanded him to do has his eyes fixed upon the wrong focus-----and this is what distractions aim to do.

For me, I had to be confronted with the convicting question of “why?” Why do I choose to fix my eyes on others things? Why do I choose to look toward other things in life as if they are more important and interesting than Christ? Distractions are one of the most effective tools of the enemy. If he can keep our eyes fixed on this world and “distracted” from keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, then we will be “hindered” and “entangled” in our lives. This world offers so many things that will compete for our attention and affection; consequently, when we feel like God is not addressing certain needs in our lives---for pleasure, peace, and prosperity-----we naturally turn our gaze to anything else that appeals to us. The Master, however, has commanded that we be faithful. We cannot afford to neglect our “vineyard” because we are tired and bored with looking at the same fruit day after day. The little foxes seldom come to the vineyard where there is no fruit. Rather, they wait until the fruit is ripe for harvest! Proverbs 4:23 reminds “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” We need to be mindful of taking care of what God has given us in this life. We will find ourselves in great danger of ruining the work that He has accomplished in us when we begin to look at His abundant blessings as being nothing more then “common” items that are associated with being a “Christian.” When we are easily distracted by what this world brings our way, we in one sense are telling God, “You’re not enough to hold my attention. I just have to look at this thing over here that is by far more interesting and important!” Believe me, as I write this, I stand guilty of doing this more often than not.

Distractions should indicate an important truth: God is not having His rightful place in our lives. When things take us away from what God has called us to be and has called us to do, we are experiencing life without Him. Our focus moves away from making Him the center of our lives and we make whatever “distraction” we are gazed upon to be the thing that drives us. By doing so, we leave the fruit of our lives vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. How does a godly man or woman fall into sin? It wasn’t because their eyes were “fixed upon Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” Each time we choose to look away from God concerning the issues in our lives, we place ourselves in a potentially dangerous situation of having a thief come to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) what God has done in our lives. Remember, in one split second life can become a tragedy; however, to those who will “fix their eyes” upon Jesus and “watch and wait” for their Master, they will never “fall and receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11).