Cheap Worship or Cleansed Temple?

It has been some time since I have posted to this blog. Although life has been busy, I would blame my absence upon something much more significant----wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. I’m certain that for all of us, we have at one time or another found ourselves there. For whatever reason, God allows us to experience the harsh conditions of desert living to help in fulfilling His purposes in our lives. In my case, the painful journey of my soul over the last few months has resulted in a glorious resurrection of passion and love for Christ. This past weekend, I experienced my eleventh silent prayer retreat. As is my custom, I’ve learned not to have any particular agenda to fulfill; rather, I simply knew I wanted to meet with the Lord.

During my first day of retreat, I was directed to read Mark 11:15-18 concerning Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. At first glance, I pictured myself there with the Lord. I saw His face in expectation to worship the Father in the temple and then, suddenly it turned angry as He was greeted with the unholy activities taking place in the temple courts. With a righteous indignation, I pictured Jesus grabbing a whip, snapping items off of the tables and overturning them as He proclaimed, “This is a house of prayer!” That’s right Jesus! Get those people out of the temple who profane it by using it for the purpose of lesser things….oops! At that point, there were only two people I pictured in the temple: Jesus and myself. The bible tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). If we consider that thought for a moment, we have to ask ourselves, “If we’re the temple, then what is the temple’s purpose?” The Old Testament imagery allows us to understand that the temple was the place where God dwelt among His people. As believers, we understand that particular dynamic of Christ dwelling within us; however, do we ever consider the other function of being the temple? The temple was also the place of worship. When Jesus came to the temple that day, it wasn’t for the recognition that God was dwelling there. Instead, Jesus came to make it his place of worship and prayer. Yet, he discovered that the activities taking place within the temple was anything but glorifying God.

I wonder how many of us have a temple full of merchandise that doesn’t belong. How many times do you suppose the Lord examines His temple and sees only that we have made it into a den of thieves that steal from the purpose of our lives in worshiping Him?  We are created to worship the Lord----but what have we made of it? When Jesus entered the temple that day it still appeared to be the temple. All of the elements of Jewish worship were present, sacrifices were being made, and people were even engaged in worshipful activities; yet, the other things taking place in the temple is what drew the Lord’s attention. Jesus could have dismissed the buying and selling going on in the temple by recognizing that there were some areas of the temple that was experiencing genuine worship---but He didn’t! In fact, he accused the entire temple as being a “den of robbers” that stole from the true essence of what the temple was intended for.

As I reflected upon those thoughts, it became clear to me that I had things within my temple that hindered my worship of the Lord. These things go beyond the issue of “sin” and touch the happenings of everyday life. Believe it or not, our lives are not our own. We were not created to decide what we want to do with our lives. We were created for worshiping the Lord and anything else that falls short of that in our lives profanes His temple. In essence, anything in my life that would compete with my worship of God is nothing more than robbing God of the glory that is rightfully His. I discovered that I have a temple that is cluttered with worthless things that steal from God. I believe that if we were honest with ourselves, we might all discover areas of our temple that fall short of truly being a house of worship. It would be wise for us to understand that anything in our lives that cause us to be distracted from our relationship with Christ and anything that would cheapen our existence in glorifying Him is what Jesus desires to cleanse from our lives. When we allow Christ to overturn the tables in our lives and reveal all that does not belong in His temple, we will finally begin to live in that way that God intended us to live for Him.   

  

Worship in the Fast Lane

I have to make an honest confession. Sometimes when I sit in some churches I feel absolutely suffocated by all that is going on. It is as if a pillow is being smothered on my face holding me down as I try to gasp for a single breath. I have never taken amphetamines, but at times I wonder if many of our worship services have been suffering from an addiction to “speed.” Growing up, I hated roller-coasters; however, I loved anything that would spin me around to the point where it felt like I wasn’t going to be able to walk straight for a week. As I have gotten older, I have come to a startling discovery---I can no longer take the constant motion of spinning around! The proceeding migraine, nausea, and stiff neck have made me a huge fan of the simpler things in life. And like a mature adult who can no longer take the gravitational forces of amusement park rides, I have come to a place where I can no longer stomach the repetitive, going through the motions Great America theme park worship setting in the church today! As an occasional participant, I have to ask myself as I did when I stopped going to the theme park, “What’s the point?”

What is the point of what we do in the worship service today? Why do we sing the songs that we do and why do we go to such great lengths to execute every element of the service to flawless perfection? Is it so when the band strikes the last chord and the preacher has articulated his final point we can all go out the church doors going “WOW! Can’t wait to get back on this ride next time?” We hail the creativity of our services that are filled with the latest music, riveting dramas, state of the art videos, and of course, a relevant, felt needs message that is sure to keep you wanting to come back for more. But at the end of the day, what has really changed? Sure, we’ve gone through Sunday’s religious ritual with excellence and have found a way to captivate the local audience but when the curtain closes, has anything really changed? 

       

It seems that many of our worship leaders spend more time emulating the latest worship leaders by trying to mimic every nuance of their latest songs or trying to perfectly fit their weekly song selection as another creative element to seem like the service was led by the Spirit than they do in actually leading people into the throne room of God. I know, as a worship leader, I can hear the arguments of “We’re doing this for the Lord! If the world does things with excellence so should we!” I believe that to be true, but by whose standard of excellence. I’m sure that when Paul said “Be excellent in all you do” he would have much rather preferred that those involved in the worship ministry be much more excellent in prayer and the spiritual disciplines rather than being able to perfect the latest guitar lick that would send the song over the top. If we’re worshiping right, then why is everything staying the same week in and week out?

The answer is simple: We’ve come to accept worship in the fast lane---more energy, more drama, more technicalities, and more creativity which drives worship to being an event of captivation for spiritual thrill seekers. And just as it is so easy to race to the amusement park and enjoy the rides without even thinking about the hundreds of people you pass along the way who are not as fortunate as you to spend a day in the park, we have missed the bigger thrill along the way of giving those less fortunate a taste of what we have taken for granted.

When worship becomes about the worshiper the spirit of religion reigns. Religion seeks only to serve the individual and not the God of the individual. When we come to this point in our worship, the greater blessings of God are missed and the overall power of the church is diminished. We can have what we consider “great worship” in the church but in the end, if it only results on an introverted experience of our faith, then in essence, our expressions of worship means nothing as it has not changed us to the point of changing the world around us.Worship in the fast lane is a dangerous place to be. With all that we are doing in the worship services, have we also forgotten the bigger picture that screams out to us that “There is something much more than ourselves!” We can continue to live under the impression that we are touching the heart of God, when in reality, if through our lives His heart is not touching those around us---the sick, the poor, the lonely, the afflicted, and oppressed----we’ve missed the exit to where the ride of worship was intended to take us. I’m sure that in their habitual fasting God’s people in Jerusalem in Isaiah's day(see Isaiah 58) felt as if they were accomplishing something great. And just as there is “nothing new under the sun,” I cannot help to think that we also step back and relish at the heights of what our attempt to make worship better has made us feel like. I believe the real question mimics that of the prophet’s:

“Is this the kind of worship which I have chosen? That a man would delight himself for a Sunday in the midst of exceptional music, professional multi-media, riveting drama, and relevant felt-needs messages in order to sing the praises of his church and be ‘wowed” in the name of excellence?”

And just like the prophet Isaiah, I will “shout it aloud” and “raise my voice like a trumpet” to declare that the day of introverted, self-centered, amusement-based worship practices must come to an end as they are not acceptable to the Lord! We need to return to the heart of worship that will return to us the purposes of God for His church. We are to finish the work the Lord began while we wait for our day of deliverance--- and that work is to live out our worship before the Lord so that we declare to the world that is missing out on the pleasure which we have been privileged to enjoy: 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:18-19

Why is God Hiding From Me?

 After taking a week off from the blog, I have struggled to figure out what’s next? A few week’s ago, I attended my annual pilgrimage to Green Bay for my yearly silent prayer retreat. As much as I want to “move on” from my incredible encounter with the Spirit of the Lord and begin to walk the journey which he has placed before me in this upcoming year, I cannot get past the convicting truth which He has brought to my attention---and yes, you guessed it, it is a truth I will now share with you. Two years ago at the retreat, God had me focus on the story of Hezekiah and the purification of the temple. And while he reminded me that that time is now in preparing my temple and that I should not be negligent in doing so ( see 2 Chronicles 29), apparently he was not done in teaching me something through this powerful passage of Scripture as He brought it to me this year once again.

King Hezekiah was a great king and we typically think of a man of faith and a man who trusted the Lord in all he did; however, we sometimes forget about what Hezekiah’s life also produced-----a Manasseh, who was considered to be among the most wicked of Judah’s kings. One has to wonder how such a man of “faith” was inept in making a impact upon his son. Although Hezekiah was a “good” king, he was not without his issues. The end of Hezekiah’s reign did not fair well as his “pride” became his downfall (see 2 Chronicles 32). After God has miraculously healed him and delivered him from the hand of the Assyrians, Hezekiah had allowed pride to enter his heart and caused judgment to fall upon the nation. The end result of his life was a Manasseh.

What causes “Manassehs?” I believe the answer to these things is found in Hezekiah’s dealings in purifying the temple in 2 Chronicles 29. Like Hezekiah, many of us have a passion for the church. We have a passion for worship to take place in the Body of Christ. We long for God to move among his people and we will do whatever it takes to see the “temple” where we worship purified and blessed by the Lord. As Hezekiah began the process, however, he ran into an interesting problem. While there were “Levites” who were more than ready to be used of God and were consecrated to do so, there was a lack of priests to finish the job. 2 Chronicles 29:34 states that “The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their kinsmen the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more CONSCIENTIOUS in CONSECRATING themselves than the priests had been.”

At first glance, we may think “What’s so bad about that?” However, when we consider the implications of what that points to, it is rather convicting! The Levites were individuals who were “set apart” for the service of God. Like many of us, we have an area of our life which we have set apart for the service of God. It may be being a member on a worship team, small group leader, deacon, or an usher. Regardless of where it is you may serve, many of us do a great job of making sure that our “service” to the Lord is a consecrated aspect of our lives. Hezekiah’s service to the people of God as “King” was something that he did extremely well in leading the people of God. He understood that as king, he needed to be obedient, trusting, and faithful to the Lord. We would not dispute that concerning our own lives as well. Being in a ministry at the church requires that we also be “consecrated” in fulfilling that ministry.

The priesthood, on the other hand, speaks to something much deeper that Levitical ministry. The priesthood was a life-long calling. It was more than a ministry but it was indicative of the person----they were the “priests” of the Living God. In other words, Levitical ministry is something you do while the priesthood is someone you “are.” I believe that in the church today, we have many who are consecrated in “doing” their ministry, but few who are “consecrated” in all of life! Hezekiah, while being a great king, failed miserably as the priest of his home. He did “kingship” well, but what about his personal life when he was away from the throne?

It is not difficult to the parallels in this story. We have churches full of people who serve the church well in what God has called them to----but what about their lives outside of the church? Are they living consecrated lives? When the TV goes on at home, is the temple remaining “consecrated or are we allowing things which compromise our priesthood? Does our “holy” conversation at church sound like the conversation we have behind close doors in the security of our homes? Do we serve our family like we treat the people we “minister” to with the same passion and respect? Or is home a place to take a “day off” from the grueling task of being “consecrated?”

True worship can only take place in a purified temple. If we fail to keep the temple truly consecrated, then God will do something incredible----he will “hide” from us” (2 Chronicles 32:31). By removing His presence, he will reveal the truth about what is truly in our hearts. Unfortunately, we discover that despite the fact that we serve Him faithfully in the church, His presence remains elusive. Could it be that because we do not see the need to have all of life consecrated unto Him that the process of having a purified temple cannot be made complete? Its not that God does not want to make His presence known to His people but it is because we have yet to live in a way where we act as if we truly desire it. The real fruit of our live will not be measured by the service we do in the church; rather, it will be measured by the person we are at all times before the Lord. Yes, Hezekiah was a great king, but he failed at the more important role of being the priest of his home. We must remember, despite his great faith and trust in God as a king, the Lord didn’t measure his legacy based upon how he served----but in who he was. For Hezekiah, he saw the ever-so-important role as being King of Judah, but lost sight of seeing himself as a person in need of God in all areas of life and living in such a way where his life was consecrated for the full-time service of worship.