Throwing Jesus Off A Cliff

If you consider yourself “human” (which I have yet to receive any hits on this blog outside the sphere of our planet), then we should never be surprised as to how people react when they feel threatened, hurt, offended, or angry. It’s not that I am advocating that some of those reactions are justified or warranted, but I am simply expressing the fact that when it comes to our humanity, all of us are capable of doing things which are beyond the confines of what we would consider “normal behavior.” For instance, take an incident which happened around two thousand years ago in which an unruly mob decided that they had enough of someone’s banter and they decided to do something about it. Unfortunately, this someone was Jesus. Luke 4:29 describes their reaction as being “They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff.” Apparently, the ministry of Jesus to his hometown synagogue did not result in the congregation having that “kumbaya” feeling that is so prevalent in the church of today. This is the “loving and kind” Jesus! The One who “would never say anything to hurt us and make us uncomfortable” Jesus! What could He had possibly said or done that would cause these callously violent individuals to throw Him off of a cliff?

When Jesus came to the synagogue, He announced the fulfillment of what the prophets of the Old Testament testified of who one day would come to install God’s kingdom on earth. As Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” (Luke 4:18), the statement and all of the connotations with it echoed the anticipated arrival of the Messiah. Jesus’ action to open and close the scroll and then sitting down, verified his authoritative claim of “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)----and this is where the problems began. The response was typical of a Sunday morning church crowd in many churches of today, “That was a nice message” and then “let’s critic the pastor!” Those in the synagogue “were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips” (Luke 4:22). There was a great sense of “wondering” why Jesus said what he said and furthermore, appeared to assign himself to the role of Messiah. Their response of “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” was more like our modern day response of “who does he think he is?” They had already heard the reports of what Jesus had done in fulfilling the Scripture which he announced from Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:23) and now, He began to expose the content of their faithless hearts (v.23-27).

As one reads Luke 4:16-30, the question of “Why didn’t they believe Jesus?” comes to mind. Sure, they knew Him as Joseph and Mary’s son, but they also heard of the teachings, healings, and the power of God that flowed through His life. Ironically, many in the church have heard the same stories about Jesus. They know all about who He is and what He has done, and yet, they still have so much unbelief! The problem is simple: “familiarity breeds contempt.” The church of today loves its comfortable and predictable setting. Ours is a world of enjoyable sermons that allow us to sit week after week in the church pew and never be confronted with the truth of needing to submit our lives under the lordship of Christ. We don’t see Jesus as the KING but we see Him as someone just like us and when He asks of us more than what we are willing to give, we no longer want “that kind of Jesus” in our midst!

The Jesus that came to Nazareth was an all too familiar face to those in the synagogue. Because of that, there was no room for Jesus to assert the authority of being Messiah in their lives. Jesus explained to them that those who understood the authority of the prophetic word and chose to submit to it were propelled into a life of freedom (Luke 4:24-27). Jesus said, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor” (Matthew 13:57) and the result is that Jesus did “not do many miracles there because their lack of faith” (v.58). Week after week the people of God sit in God’s house and many are not moved by the Spirit of the Lord. We causally stroll into our seats with coffee cups in hand as if we are going to an entertainment venue and we prepare ourselves to go through the same old familiar routine that we do week after week. We’ve mastered the art of being able to have our brain in two places of concentration at the same time (perhaps this is the only supernatural thing that happens in our churches) as we are able to simultaneously read the bulletin while absorbing the truths from the Word of God. We know that the Jesus of “our church” would never point out our weaknesses, flaws, and God forbid, say anything about our “sin.” And if by chance, He would venture through the message of the pastor or a word through the worship leader to “offend” us, then we do what all respectable mature children of God do-----throw Jesus off a cliff!

If we truly want the answer of why we do not see more of the power of God in the church of today we may want to look at the depths of our own hearts. The Spirit of God is not being poured out in power because we do not allow Jesus to be the One who He claims to be! If we actually believed that He is Lord and King then we would cease doing much of the things we do. We would no longer remain the same people we have remained week after week in the church. There would be no such thing as “offense” and when we gathered together for worship, there would be a reverent awe that would fill the church rather than the smell of coffee and the chatter of the latest sporting events. People would not look bored out of their skulls but they would approach the throne of grace with humility, gratitude, and a love for Christ. Furthermore, all agendas would cease except for the one that says, “We just want to glorify our King.” In the end, we truly have to ask ourselves if we want Jesus to be the One who He claimed to be for our lives or are we content with believing something about Him that he never claimed to be? Jesus is not your “friend.” He is not someone who can stoop to that level of familiarity in your life. He cannot be reduced to just another face in the crowd of people in your life----HE IS THE KING OF KING AND LORD OF LORDS! And either you must accept that and respond accordingly or you will continually attempt to rid of his presence in your life by trying to throw Him off of a cliff. If you choose the latter, you will certainly experience what many are experiencing in the Body of Christ, “…he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luke 4:30).

To the Shame of a Rising Generation

As I am writing this post, I am still processing the events of the weekend in which I spent with 7,000 teenagers who demonstrated to passion to recklessly pursue God. One could make several arguments about some of the things that went on in this massive movement of motivating youth to take their place in the kingdom of God and some of what went on in that arena was in my opinion a waste of time (some of the “bands” chosen to play demonstrated nothing but a strong image of being like the world is an attractive endeavor). There is one thing, however, I still cannot escape and if you are an adult reading this blog, prepare to be rebuked (just as I was rebuked by the Lord)!

There was a moment on the final evening where the youth were challenged to actually abandon themselves and attempt to worship God with every ounce of their being. The speaker spoke of King David who unashamedly became “undignified” before the Lord in a holy pursuit of worshiping the Lord. It was a holy moment but it was full of passion! The place erupted with thousands of teenagers and adult leaders letting themselves go for the sake of simply telling Jesus, “With my entire being, I will love you! ----dancing, shouting, crying out to God as an army of worshipers who wanted to let the General of their Soul know that showing their allegiance to Him was more important than the dignity of their self-image. After things came to a holy hush, I was confronted with one of the most convicting questions I have been asked by the Lord in quite some time: “Why did they have to be motivated to abandon themselves to Me?” 

In that moment, I felt somewhat ashamed. Here is a generation of young people who sit in their churches week after week and seldom to almost never see the worship of adults with such unbridled passion. After all, we’re way to dignified and postured to look like fools in expressing our love to the Creator of the Universe. We like to convince ourselves, “I’m more of the reserved type.” I’ll simply respond with the truth, “You’re a liar.” You are simply more passionate about saving face in keeping your self-image than in losing it for the sake of worshiping God. Sure, many will claim that in the Acquire the Fire atmosphere the music and speaker serve only to “manipulate” the teens to have an emotional experience. If we were not created to be “emotional” in worship then why were you created with emotions? To repress them in order to not be so “radical” in demonstrating your love for God? 

The reason these teens had to be encouraged to “abandon themselves” fully in worship is because the older generation has not taught them to do so. Instead, we want a “respectable “ form of worship that seeks to maintain a “form” of worship but controls the “god of self” from being humbled and even “humiliated” before the One True God. The Bible is full of expressions of worship and yet we pretend that it is much like a menu at a fast food restaurant. We pick and choose the expressions that are comfortable to us and ignore the expressions that actually require a “sacrifice of praise” unto the Lord. Is God not worthy of the sacrifice of our dignity for the sake of giving Him all of ourselves in worship? Does not the Bible admonish us to “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, and with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind, and with ALL your STRENGTH”? (Mark 12:30). Our reserved-ness is killing the spirit of worship in the future generations. What will happen when the day comes as the Bible warns (see Matthew 24-25), when a radical line will have to be drawn in where your allegiance lies? If we’re ashamed to freely worship God in the safety of the Body of Christ----do we think we will stand up for Him with a sword at our throat? We are communicating to this next generation that “worship” is a concept of the mind and that we are not to be moved by God’s presence in a way that radically affects our entire being. We are communicating to this rising generation that Christ is not worth giving ALL to as they observed our posture toward this “GOD” that we claim we “love so much.” We have way too much dignity and pride to be moved with a passion for God to the point where we are visibly showing our complete abandonment to all of our common sense---and yet on a cross, Jesus hung NAKED and SHAMED so that we could even have the privilege to come into the presence of the Lord!   

Why can’t we just be honest to ourselves and to the generation that has watched us model “worship” before them? Why can’t we come to the truth that we really do not love God that much? Why don’t we simply tell them that there are limits as to how far we are willing to go in order to publically acknowledge our love and passion to a God who loves us passionately? We break the heart of God and we do not care! We are raising a generation of young people who will we overly saturated with head knowledge of Jesus, and yet have absolutely no clue as to how to worship and experience this relationship that we claim as being “so wonderful.”  Pastors who quench the expression of worship in your churches SHAME ON YOU FOR GRIEVING THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND SELLING OUT THE RISING GENERATION FOR THE SAKE OF MAINTAINING NUMBERS IN YOUR CHURCH! WORSHIP IS OFFENSIVE TO THOSE WHO DON’T WORSHIP! WORSHIP IS OFFENSIVE WHERE THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION REIGNS! 

2 Samuel 6:23 give us the result of what will happen to the future generation if we fail to model and express worship as it was meant to be before the Lord: “And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” Do understand the significance of this statement in light of King David dancing undignified before the Lord? Everything dies where free worship is hindered! There is no “next generation” to be raised up when we restrict the spirit of worship in our lives and in the Body of Christ. The lack of truly expressing ourselves in worship speaks to the fact that we are not worshiping. We are in control and if we are in control then we are still on the throne of our heart. I think of the old song, “Be careful little eyes of what you see…” and I realize what those little eyes have been seeing in the church….a pitiful picture of worship. We’re calculated, predictable, scheduled, and comfortable. And worse yet, we’re teaching a rising generation that “lip service” to our King is the most acceptable form of worship. After all young person, even if God takes everything from you in this life, at least you can still hang on to your dignity, as in the church today it is the most important thing. To this rising generation, I ask for your forgiveness in allowing myself to remain dignified in worship. To those I have led in worship for so long, forgive me for the times I have remained reserved and not allowed my passion to worship God to shine through my life. Finally, to my Lord and my God, I ask you to forgive me for allowing myself to be concerned about my image over Yours and may I never aspire to save my face for the sake of seeking Yours.

Welcome to the Masquerade

The concept of a masquerade party is an interesting thought when it comes to the Christian life. As people gather together at a masquerade party, they mingle while at the same time conceal their true identity by keeping a mask over their face. It becomes a world in which everyone is the same-----a room full of people who are playing a game of “guess who I really am.” The idea is to remain as hidden, inconspicuous, and anonymous as possible by not revealing too much about the person behind the mask. Otherwise, once you’re discovered, you have to reveal the person who was hiding behind the masquerade.  But what does this have to due with the Christian life? According to Paul, this is a very real scenario for believers to find themselves in the midst of the world they live.

The Corinthians were such a people who chose to live in the masquerade of the Christian life. Paul expressed that when it came to the difference between those who are experiencing life in the Spirit and those who remain in the world, that those without the Spirit were blinded or for our purposes, “masked” from seeing the truth. He writes, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The idea that Paul conveys when he suggests that those in the world are “spiritually discerned” is that they cannot make a proper judgment about the things of the Spirit. Much like a jury that enters a courtroom with no knowledge of what the details of a trial holds, so those without the Spirit have no clue as to what exists in the mind of God. God’s mind is hidden from them but the man of the Spirit has “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Like the Corinthians, we are probably thankful for the fact that we have the “Spirit” and we have been given the “mind of Christ;” however, does this mean that we are not ever “masked” from seeing the truth of God?

In the very next breath, Paul states to the Corinthians, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly…” (1 Corinthians 3:1). In other words, Paul just explained that the “spiritual man” knows the mind of Christ while the man in the “world” does not and his rebuke tells the Corinthians that they are also blind to the things of the Spirit.  This was the major reason for all of the dysfunction in the Corinthian church. There was fornication, division, disorder, power struggles, prejudices, and an inability to understand how the Spirit was to function in the midst of the church body. The real issue in Corinth was that although they were “Christian” they chose to dress themselves up with the culture that surrounded them and thus, entered into the masquerade! If you continue to read the Corinthian story, you will discover that although they began to address some of these situations, 2 Corinthians reveals that false teaching begins to enter into the church (see 2 Corinthians 10-12). How does this happen? Simple. If a people in a church do not refrain from worldliness, they are unable to discern falsehood from the truth and the result is the embracing of things that are not from the Spirit of God.

Have we ever stopped to wonder why week after week and month after month churches continue to merely exist in what feels like an endless cycle of familiarity and routine? Corinth, as charismatic as it was, continued to “do church” in a way that they felt they should and yet, the Apostle Paul recognized that things needed to change. In our day, if someone suggests that we are “off track” or that what we are doing in our churches is not “spiritual” we tend to dismiss that individual as being “judgmental” or “legalistic.” After all, how dare they suggest that we cannot understand what God wants us to do because we are being too worldly in the overall environment of the church! No one should have a right to challenge the “freedom” we have in Christ-----isn’t that what we say? Forget the fact that some of those “freedoms” we dearly hold on to are products of embracing the worldly culture around us. Forget the fact that those “freedoms” we relish in are patterned after the philosophies and attitudes of worldly thinking. We simply want to believe what we want to believe and unfortunately, even if we don’t have the mind of Christ in the mix, we still believe in our right to believe it!

The problem, however, is that we have forgotten an all too important truth: we can still grieve the Holy Spirit of God. We can try to rationalize or justify our worldly tendencies just as the Corinthians did and pretend that what we are doing is right on track with making us the most spiritual of people. We can continue to taint our reputation as followers of Christ by presenting to the world a Jesus who is into all of the worldly activities that we pursue. After all, Jesus being free, would definitely sit himself down in front of a violent sex-laden “R” rated movie or relish in the music of our culture that celebrates much of what breaks the heart of God. The Corinthians sought this pseudo-expression of Christianity by believing they could worship in God’s temple while also enjoying the worship at the cult temples. This is why Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are “the temple of the Holy Spirit” two times in the book (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19). The context of his first usage includes that idea that we need to be careful as to what we build our lives upon as he warns the church that anyone who causes “division” in God’s temple, God will “destroy” him. Does worldliness cause division in the Body of Christ? Does an attitude that infects a congregation which suggests “don’t judge me and allow me to keep pretending that my sin is perfectly acceptable” bring unity to the Body of Christ? This is why perhaps Paul had to remind a second time in the context of engaging in the temple cult worship that God cannot be joined with the world---the two cannot co-exist.

The overall problem of the masquerade is that we have come to believe that “who I am” in Christ is the finality of the Christian life. While I believe that “who I am” in Christ stands at the foundation of my faith, it does not eliminate the importance of “what I do” as a believer. We have masked ourselves in the church for too long from the truth that “WHAT I DO” affects “WHO I AM”----because “what I do” affects my ability to hear from God, please God, and ultimately worship God. Jesus and the apostles have made something abundantly clear in Scripture: the worst place to be in life is in being someone who knows who they are in Christ and yet chooses not to live in a way that shows they are in Christ. We may be “free” but God still holds us accountable for WHAT we do (1 Corinthians 3:11-16, 6:9-19). If we want to continue to embrace the “ways of culture” over the “way of the cross” we will discover something when we come to the end of that journey. We will find that we have been caught in a masquerade that has hidden us from an abundant life in the Spirit. We will discover that we have missed God while attending the ball. We will experience the pain of realizing that “we thought” we were heading in the right direction only to end up lost in the woods when the passenger that was with us all the time was telling us where to go. It’s time to remove the mask and see ourselves for who we are. It’s time to stop hiding behind the disguise of a worldly faith and accept the truth of WHO WE ARE TO BE in this world-----a people who are holy, separate and commanded to “come out from among them” so that God can receive us as “sons and daughters” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). If we fail to do so, we will never come to the place in our lives where we can discern the difference between the precious voice of the Lord and the voice of the world that seeks to deceive us.

The Beautiful World of Surrender

As I was driving this morning on my way to work, I was confronted with a question from the Lord that I believe we seldom ever want to think about or answer---“When will you surrender all?” It was one of those “out of the blue” moments where as I was turning the van into a parking lot it was as if the Lord suddenly appeared in the passenger seat and said, “By the way, when will you surrender all?” Take a moment and consider that question for yourself. Now, take even a longer moment and think about it in all honesty, considering your life in light of Scripture, and in examining all of the things in your life that truly do not matter. I can imagine that like myself, if you’re reading this blog the many excuses for justifying the stagnant, secular, and selfish pursuits in your life are starting to come to mind. In fact, we have become the experts of creating our own definition as to what “surrender” means according to God. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, I can already hear my flesh asking, “Did God really say…?”

I find it interesting that in all four gospels Jesus makes this statement to his disciples, “for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, see also Matthew 10:39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, 17:33, and John 12:25). What does this tell us? The obvious answer is two fold: first, Jesus most definitely said it and secondly, it must have been something of great importance to us if all of the gospel writers included it in their witness. The problem, however, is what we want to do with Jesus’ admonition to “lose our lives” for His sake. The word “lose” in this passage carries the idea of “putting out of the way entirely or abolishing.” When Jesus points out that the man who wants to “save” his life will lose it, he is referring to the idea that this person is saving himself from suffering and danger while doing everything he can to preserve or rescue his life. In essence, Jesus gives us a picture of a person who is doing everything he can to avoid the life of suffering that comes from truly giving our lives to God. The suffering I am speaking of is one that comes from the denying of one’s flesh. The flesh, when it is denied, desires desperately to be rescued safely back into its comfortable place of indulgence and control. Although God gave man dominion, man wants to rule! He is not satisfied with being the “manager” of what God has given him in life; rather, he would be more comfortable being the “dictator” over all that happens in and to his life. This is the struggle of humanity-----the struggle to maintain control.

We could sit here and argue over what exactly Jesus was trying to say when he submitted that we need to “lose” our lives. We could pretend that He is not interested in the everyday activities of our lives such as what we watch, eat, listen to, and how we use our time. We could convince ourselves that Jesus is only concerned with our “surrender” when it comes to our “spirituality” and that our physical lives are our own to do as we please. Jesus, however, said that “if a kingdom is divided against, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24).  When Jesus spoke those words, he was explaining that it is impossible for two ruling influences to be in power at the same time in one’s life. Jesus was accused doing things by the authority of Satan while at the same time, manifesting things in his life that could only come from the authority of God. The most important thing we should note is this: we cannot have our lives both ways. Either God is God in our lives or someone else is seated upon the throne of our hearts. The ultimate proof of this is seen in our willingness or unwillingness to surrender to the Lord. Ultimately, one needs to consider what the chief goal in life actually is: is it to live for one’s self or is it to completely live for Christ?

Many of us would say that it would be to live for Christ; however, our claims are tattered with the notion that we only live for Him in a way that we still get so much of the say with what we do with our time, energy, and resources in this life. In other words, He is our source to the kingdom of God but we remain our own source while on this earthly kingdom. For me, one of the most amazing statements that Jesus made was “by myself I can do nothing…” (John 5:30). Jesus did not simply come to earth to live a good and sinless life to die on a cross-----he also came as an example to be followed or as He put it “the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6). Jesus demonstrated that in all He did, He did only what His Father told Him to do (John 5:19). Did that mean everything He did in life He considered His relationship with the Father? Scripture DOES NOT suggest otherwise! We are the ones who suggest to ourselves that there are areas of our lives where we can call the shots or as I call it, “having our own little kingdom apart from God where we can rule and reign.” Whatever gave us the idea that we have the option that we can do what we want when we want and still follow Christ? Does that mean I have to consult God about things as simple as eating my three plus meals a day? Would we have any weight problems or food related illnesses if we did? If we consulted the Lord for every penny we spent would we have financial issues in our lives? We think we can make decisions a part from God but as Proverbs so eloquently puts it “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25).

I in no way have “arrived” in this pursuit of surrender----and it is a pursuit! My life is surrounded by the things that give me a false sense of well being and help me avoid the unnecessary suffering of my flesh. If I get bored, rather than finding pleasure in God I find something to entertain me. If my flesh is hungry after I had just eaten a substantial meal, I calm it’s suffering by feeding it what it doesn’t need. I am not trying to promote asceticism but I am trying to help us consider how much of our lives are under our control rather than the control of the Spirit of the Lord. Surrender is more than a lofty ideal in the Christian faith. It is the expected ideal for fully experiencing the fruit that comes from knowing Christ. Jesus said, “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Our own initiatives in life result in “nothing” of value in this life or the next. We must be intimately connected to Christ in all that we do in life. Doing that, however, is only found in the difficult task of surrender. We can do many things in the kingdom of God but there is no greater expression of worshiping the Lord than to give Him all of our lives. This is a day-by-day and moment-by-moment choice; however, it is the ONLY WAY we can truly become all that God has intended us to be as it is the ONLY WAY we can come to know the true riches of becoming like Christ in all that he did. I have a long way to go but go I begin to enter into the beautiful world of surrender.  

Prepare for the Coming Storm

      The Great Tornado Outbreak of April 3, 1974 was a day in America which many will not forget. One town in particular, Xenia, was about fifty miles from where I lived as a child and if you are a student of weather history, you will have no problem recognizing the name of that city as it became known for enduring the most powerful and deadliest tornado in history. Thirty-three people died in Xenia alone with thousands injured. A wave of mass destruction was all that was left in that town. Although nothing could have prevented the obliterating damage in the wake of the aftermath, the thirty-three people who lost their lives possibly could have been saved. The most amazing part of Xenia’s story for me rests in one oversight by community officials----there were no warning sirens installed. Image how different things may have been for the families of those who had lost their lives had someone been able to warn them of the coming destructive storm.

     Like a siren that sounds when a coming tornado is on its way, the only thing that will save us as a people from reaping the consequences for the lukewarm ways of the American church is a return to a radical life of worship before the Lord. For too long we have muddled our way through the Christian faith and have compromised all that is sacred and holy for the sake of comfort, convenience, and crowds. We have lost the essentials of truth, spirit, humility, sensitivity, prayer, holiness, and the fear of the Lord. We’ve replaced these things with relevancy, entertainment, compromise, strategies, and the need to build our own kingdom in the kingdom of God. There is however, a storm that is brewing on the horizon and life as we know it, in comfortable and complacent church of America, is about to experience a wave of unprecedented destruction which will destroy the very foundations that we have placed our false sense of truth. 

     The prophet Ezekiel cried out to his people that “The end is now upon you…” I believe that even more as our nation digresses into moral filth and political corruption, his statement rings true. Jesus promised in Matthew 24-25 that there would come a day when the “end” would be evident. I believe wholeheartedly that we are in the beginning of these days----deception, wars, hatred, and false prophets. Paul echoes this by adding that in these “last days” will be filled with people who will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God---having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-6). It doesn’t take a genius to see the increasing evidence of these things taking place in our world today.

     Worship comes down to a simple transaction which takes place in our lives: we worship which leads to knowing God more which leads to a greater life of faith. Hebrews 10:6 states “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” We cannot please God unless we have “faith.” Faith in turn, is more than simply believing something “about God;” rather, it is a belief “in” God which translates to how we live our lives. In other words, if I have faith in God I believe God, and if I believe God, then I will live my life in complete obedience to God as I truly see Him as Lord and King. 

   There is a storm that is coming very soon. A few years back, the Lord impressed upon me that I needed to “prepare for the coming storm.” Since that time, our country has drastically changed. We can now see the severe storm clouds on the horizon and they appear to be approaching us fast. More specifically, the Lord made it very clear that His people need to learn to live by faith in order to endure the fury of this coming storm. If we as His people who claim to worship Him cannot live in a way that reflects our full trust, hope, and confidence in Him when life is easy, then how will we weather the storm when it bears down upon us? I cannot help to think of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:24-27 concerning the two men who chose to build their houses on completely opposite foundations. This speaks to our faith and in essence, Jesus is asking His disciples, “What will you choose to build your life upon?” 

     This is why worship in spirit and in truth is critical for the people of God. Our faith will never be anything of substance unless we come to a place where we intimately know that One who we need to place our faith in. It is only through true worship where we can discover the depths of knowing God. A half-hearted attempt which is focused on other things will never get us to a place where we can find the revealed heart of the Lord. For too long, the church has made “faith” an easy acquisition which costs the buyer nothing more than a simple prayer and weekly attendance to Sunday service. Rather than examining the reality of our anemic faith which is evidenced through the lack of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our midst, we make ourselves feel better by convincing ourselves how much God loves us. I will not dispute our need to know of His love but somewhere along the way, knowing of His love should cause us to forsake all that is of this world and passionately pursue His presence with a relentless desire that will stop at nothing to simply “know Him!” 

     This is ultimately where worship in spirit and in truth leads---to a place where God is everything and we are nothing. It is a life that is completely “enamored by His presence, humbled by His grace, captured by His endless love, and consumed by His embrace.” This is the cry of a heart that is desperate for God and will stop at nothing to find Him. And this is the place where faith begins. It’s not a matter of “believing” God. It is a life that has come to know the Lord so intimately that you see no other reason in all of life to seek satisfaction, provision, and passion from any other means or any other place. It is the simple expression of saying “I have all I need in Jesus.” 

     We will never come to that place unless we begin to put ourselves in a place of knowing God in greater depths. Worship should be all of life. All that we do, say, think, and believe should reflect the truth of God and the Spirit of God living within us. We need to come to grips with the notion that “there is nothing good that lives in me”----except for Jesus Christ. Why are we so afraid of this truth? Why are we so afraid to proclaim this in our churches that we are indeed unworthy, miserable and wretched people within ourselves? Rather than believing that the harsh reality of ourselves would turn people “off” to the notion of Christianity, perhaps it would make us realize the incomparable worth of our salvation resulting in a greater faith in the only One who brings any value to our lives! 

     We need to prepare for what lies ahead. We need to find ourselves in the center of the heart of God knowing that we are holding on to all that He is. The time has come to let go of all that has held us back from knowing the Lord as He desires for us to know Him. Otherwise, we will have run our race in vain. We will become like that man who built his house on the shifting sands of life only to be washed away in the coming storm. Our faith will be tested and tried beyond what we have ever experienced in this country. When that day comes the truth about and the spirit of your worship will be made known. When all is said and done, what will be said of your life in regards to how you worshiped the Lord? 

 

     The radical call to worship is one that says “He must become greater and I must become less” (John 3:30). It is the forsaking of one’s life for sake of living life for Jesus Christ. We’ve made it too much about ourselves, we’ve stolen center stage and we have forgotten our First love to love lesser things. I can only be a voice which calls forth a hungry people who would desire to forsake the things of this world to enter into another world---one of Spirit and of truth. As for me, this world can no longer hold my affections nor can it any longer demand my attention. Time is too short.

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

Is Jesus Better?

The Song of Solomon is an often neglected and mistreated book of the Old Testament. Theologians have labored in finding its significance and preachers have abused its context in making it mean what it does not. Some have even developed end-times theologies based upon the “bride paradigm” and believe that the book unlocks mysteries that promote a deeper and more intimate relationship with Christ. In reality, the Song of Solomon is a poem about two lovers who celebrate the joy their marital relationship. This however, does not mean that there are no parallels that reflect upon our relationship with Christ. After all, we are the Bride of Christ and He is the Lover of Our Souls. Paul explained in Ephesians 5 that marriage is a reflection of one’s relationship with Christ. It is our earthy institution that best explains our heavenly relationship with Christ (v.31-32). With this in mind, the Song of Solomon provides some challenges for the reader in the area of evaluating one’s passion for Christ.

One verse in particular, brings a great deal of conviction when I ponder its implications in my relationship with Christ. The author writes, “How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others that you charge us so?” (Song of Solomon 5:9). The woman in this passage was passionately seeking after her lover and begged for her friends to join her in the pursuit of finding him. Their response in our vernacular would have sounded more like, “What makes him so great? What makes him so different that you’re asking us to join you in your pursuit?” I believe that this is a fair question for those friends to ask. After all, it is the middle of the night and the woman is asking her friends for quite a commitment on their part. Although we would most likely not ask our friends to help us chase down someone who we are madly in love with, we would ask others to consider following us as we follow after the Lover of Our Soul----and this is where this passage begins to convict.

As Christians, we make certain claims about Jesus. We believe Him to be the most important part of our lives. We believe His Word to be true and that He keeps that Word. We believe Him to be our strength, sufficiency, comfort, joy, and even our Healer. We believe that He is God Almighty and that He is to be worshiped with all of our heart. The problem lies that when others look at our lives, does our example answer the question of “How is your beloved better than others…how is your beloved better than others that you charge us so?” We make claims that we are worshipers of Jesus, but do the actions, attitudes, and activities we choose to participate in reflect those claims? I can say that living for Jesus is “better” than choosing to live for this world but if my life does not look any different from those choosing to NOT live for Christ, then who am I kidding? This extends well past the idea that “because I go to church” I show how much Jesus means to me mentality. A passion for Christ that screams “HE IS BETTER THAN ALL ELSE” is something that needs to be a part of every fabric of my life---otherwise I live as a hypocrite. Jesus did not claim that He was “the way for some of life, the truth for only what I choose to believe, and the life when only I want to act like someone who loves Christ.” No, He said He is “THE way, THE truth, and THE life!” (John 14:6).

In George Barna’s book Growing True Disciples, he conducted a study which discovered that for the most part, professing Christians are no different in beliefs, actions, and attitudes in life than non-believers. And yet, these same Christians also make the claim that “Jesus is better than all else.” The simple truth is that we cannot claim to be “following after Jesus” while living as those who do not follow after Jesus. If Jesus is “more” than all else in this life, then our example would fully promote that. We would not be focused upon the priorities of pursuing wealth, materialism, fashion, entertainment, success, and questionable indulging that identifies us with worldly living. Rather, we would show with our lives that Jesus has “another way” of living. Those who choose to follow that way will easily be able to answer the question of “What makes Jesus better than the life I already have?” In fact, they won’t have to speak a word to answer that question as the life that passionately pursues Jesus will be evident and DIFFERENT from anything this world has to offer!