236 A Passion for His Presence: When Worship Deteriorates
What is worship? Here are a few definitions:
Worship is the total adoring response of man to the Eternal God.
Worship is responding to all that God is with all that I have.
Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth.
Do you see some common threads? First of all, worship is an active response. There is no such thing as passive worship. Secondly, worship is to God. It’s not “me”-focused. It is ever and always a God-centered activity.
But what happens when worship deteriorates into something else? And how does that happen?
To help us answer those questions, we’re going to look at one of the darkest chapters in the Old Testament— a time when the worship of God’s people totally unraveled.
In Exodus 32, Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai to receive the law from God and had been gone for many days. The people started getting restless, so they went to Aaron (Moses’ brother) and asked him to “make us gods” to worship. So, Aaron created a golden calf and invited the people to worship it. The people’s worship of this “god” devolved into drunkenness and revelry. When God saw this, He was angry and ready to destroy them.
How did this happen? How did their worship so utterly deteriorate and what observations can we make related to our own worship?
1. Worship deteriorates when it becomes casual.
These people did not abandon worship or forget God altogether. They simply wanted to make Him more palatable, more controllable.
You might be wondering, “Did they know any better? What had their encounters with God been like before this?” Exodus 19 gives us a snapshot. God has given Moses instructions to gather the people to encounter Him. God’s presence was displayed through fire, smoke, thunder, lightning, and the sound of a trumpet. The holiness and fearsomeness of God filled the people with awe.
Could you imagine anyone in that crowd picking their fingernails or chatting with their neighbor? Would anyone dare critique the presentation? No! They trembled with holy fear because they realized they were in the presence of the Living God!
Friends, when we gather for worship, the same God is here! But all too easily we can lose our sense of awe and trivialize God by making worship casual.
Here are three ways you can begin to challenge the drift to casual worship.
Come prepared. We prepare for what matters.
Come on time. We prioritize what matters.
Come with a sense of commitment. Commit to worship with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Worship deterioriates when it becomes consumer-oriented.
The Israelites asked Aaron to “make us gods to go before us.” They focus was on them.
Consumer-oriented worship has its emphasis on what I want, what I get out of it. It sits back with arms folded and says, “Wow me.” It critiques worship as one might a show.
But real worship focuses on God and responding to Him as He deserves, not as we prefer.
3. Worship deteriorates when it becomes compartmentalized.
That is, it becomes disconnected from life. In Ex. 32, the people went straight from “worship” to behavior that was disgusting and dishonoring to God.
If our worship is simply going through motions, God is not impressed. Worship is meaningful to God only to the extent that it is the reflection of the authentic desires of my heart and an extension of my lifestyle on a day by day basis.
Text: Exodus 32, 19
Originally recorded on January 10, 1999, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN