Worthless influencers make me worthless

Even though church-age believers are not required to live by the Levitical Law, reading the Old Testament is a good habit for us to maintain.  Paul said that the Old Testament is full of examples for us church-age believers to follow (1 Corinthians 10:11).  One powerful lesson we can learn comes from the author of 2 Kings, as he describes why God punished His chosen people when he allowed the Assyrian Empire to subjugate and exile the Israelites:

2 Kings 17:21-23
When the Lord tore Israel from the house of David, Israel made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.  Then Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit grave sin.  The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them.  Finally, the Lord removed Israel from His presence just as He had declared through all His servants the prophets.  So Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland to this very day.

The land God had promised to Israel could only be kept by following God’s commands.  From the founding of the nation, God had warned them not to fall under the influence of the surrounding nations and to not abandon their relationship with and worship of God.  If they took that path, God warned that they would be removed from the land and placed into exile.  It would be easy for us modern-day believers to wag our fingers and shake our heads at Israel’s situation.  They were warned, right?  How could they fall like that, if they knew how great the consequences would be?

A little earlier in this same chapter, the author of 2 Kings gave a more detailed synopsis of how it all went wrong throughout the 700 years since the nation of Israel made their covenant with God:

2 Kings 17:7-15
This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they worshiped other gods.  They lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and according to what the kings of Israel did. 

The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right.  They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city.  They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.  They burned incense there on all the high places just like the nations that the Lord had driven out before them had done. 

They did evil things, angering the Lord.  They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.”  Still, the Lord warned Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commands and statutes according to the whole law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through My servants the prophets.”

But they would not listen.  Instead they became obstinate like their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God.  They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors and the warnings He had given them.  They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.

Israel’s heart was divided.  Throughout the centuries, they picked up their cues from the culture around them, rather than solely trusting the guidance God had given them.  Eventually, they looked just like those God had warned them to not be like.  Everywhere they turned in society, there was another “god” for them to follow or worship.  The Old Testament is chock full of prophets telling the people to return to God, but despite numerous warnings, God eventually followed through on His promise to remove them from the Promised Land.

This is the phrase that struck me as I read this passage: they followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.  There’s something about that description that just stings.  Israel’s situation was completely self-inflicted.  They made the choice to follow worthless idols, to imitate the culture around them, and to live a lifestyle that was contrary to what God had called them to. 

They became what they worshiped.  They became what they imitated.  They became what they followed.

This example makes me stop and ask a few penetrating questions:

Who or what am I following?
How quickly does my hand reach for my phone in the morning?
What am I compulsively checking for in my email, text, or social media accounts?
How much of my time do I allow for social media each day?
Which news organizations, streaming channels, or podcasts influence my daily narrative and activities?
What apps/games do I immediately open if I have time to kill or I need to wait for something?

Are the answers to the above questions leading me toward better or leading me toward worse?
In comparison to God’s direction for living our life to the fullest…which answers to the above questions would He consider worthless?

These are hard questions.  These are difficult stare-at-yourself-in-the-mirror questions.  While God did not abandon the Israelites, He was willing to remove blessings in order to get their attention.  From their example, we see that God takes our value very, very seriously.  He does not want us to become worthless, and so it matters greatly who and what we allow to have influence in our lives.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

I hate feeling dumb

Man, I hate feeling dumb. 

When we are in the presence of someone who confidently, calmly knows their stuff, it can be intimidating.  I know I’m not the smartest guy in (most) every room.  That’s pretty easy for me to recognize.  What’s quite a bit harder to deal with in those situations is when I begin to feel sub-standard, my almost immediate urge is to show the person that “At least I know something!” or “Look, even I have something to contribute!”.  For whatever deep-seeded reason, those feelings are there and I have to deal with them.  Call it pride; call it an inferiority complex; call it whatever you want…the reality is that it rarely goes well when I give in to the urge to pipe up.  When I do, I know I come off as weak and needing of validation…which even further demonstrates the superiority of the one “in the know”.  But the flip-side is keeping silent, but that can leave me with feelings of inadequacy.  I would suspect there are at least a few others out there who can relate to my struggle.

I wonder if the Samaritan woman who Jesus met at the well in John 4 also felt that way.  Throughout their conversation, Jesus has pointed out several things that either she personally, or the Samaritans as a group, did not know.  Things like the gift of God, where worship takes place, how worship should take place…and these topics were in addition to Jesus revealing that He was aware of her failed marriages and sinful choices.  Although she actively participated in the conversation, it’s clear that Jesus is the one “in the know”.  After hearing about all the things she did not know, the Samaritan woman eventually replies with something she does know:

John 4:25
The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ).  “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

I wonder if she was tiring of their conversation, or if she was just unsure of where this strange experience of speaking with a Jewish prophet was leading to.  She believed that the Messiah was coming…someday…and He would end all the bickering and confusion about living a real, spiritual life.  And since only the Messiah could do that, perhaps she thought there wasn’t a point in any more talking about husbands or worship or other complicated questions.  Maybe she was trying to wrap up the conversation by contributing something that she did know for sure…but then Jesus’ reply changed everything:

John 4:26
Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am He.”

Boom.

Mic drop.

This was a paradigm-shifting statement.

I bet you could hear a pin drop.

By learning that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah…everything in their conversation that seemed strange to the Samaritan woman suddenly made sense: 

If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water…

Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.  But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again.  In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life…

Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth…

All the things she didn’t know were clarified because of what she now knows – that this man, Jesus, is the promised Messiah.  Only the gift of God would know about her past and present transgressions.  Only He could offer eternal life from one drink of His living water.  Only the Messiah would be able to explain everything.

Jesus was the one who was “in the know”.  However, He did not lord it over her or chastise her ignorance.  Instead, He gave her the one thing she needed to know: Him. 

Her life was forever changed because of it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Jesus said you must

The word “must” is a big deal.  When God says we “must” do something, we need to be paying attention to what that something is.  In this case, Jesus is teaching the Samaritan woman what worship toward God should look like.  Watch for what Jesus says true worshipers “must” do:

John 4:19-24
“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know.  We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.  But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.  Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Notice that Jesus is giving instruction for worship, but He also says the Father wants to be worshiped this way.  But what, exactly, does it mean to worship in Spirit and in truth? 

First thing Jesus says is that God the Father is spirit.  The essential reason worship of God must be spiritual is that God is a spiritual being, not a physical idol.  Worship of a spiritual God requires spiritual worship, not just going through certain acts and motions of worship at a special location. 

Secondly, Jesus says that God the Father must be worshiped in truth.  The Greek word for truth (aletheon) is a compound word, consisting of a + lanthano – when independently translated means not + keep secret, not + escape notice, or not + be hidden.  Therefore, truth is found in what God has revealed about Himself.  This means our worship should be in accordance with what God has told us about Himself and in line with what He wants…not just whatever chords or lyrics give us an emotional response.  If we must worship God in truth, then people cannot simply worship God in any manner that seems attractive to them.  We must worship Him as He, by the Spirit, has revealed that we should.

When Jesus said that a time is coming when worship will not be on Mt. Gerizim or in Jerusalem, He was throwing out all division points between the Samaritans and the Jews.  Worshiping in spirit is in contrast to how the Jews worshiped physically, via ceremony and letter of the law.  Worshiping in truth is in contrast to how the Samaritans worshiped in ignorance. 

Both the Samaritans and the Jews were concerned that worship of God was done right.  However, they believed that focusing on the where the worship occurred would give them the closest relationship with God.  Jesus corrects this thinking and tells the woman that worship of God the Father is no longer confined to a specific location, but worship rightly done will focus on how – in spirit and in truth.

So how does all this relate to us modern believers?

Looking at Jesus’ teachings after this encounter can give us some help.  “In Spirit” can also refer to The Holy Spirit, which Jesus later sent to assist believers in the church age (John 14:26).  “In truth” can also refer to Jesus, since He is The Truth (John 14:6).  Putting this all together, true worship is in step with The Holy Spirit, with Jesus, and aimed toward God the Father.  This makes our worship a trinitarian event – we are interacting with all three persons of the godhead!

And yet, still today, some people worship God in religious ignorance.  Ritual activities and tradition have become so comfortable for many believers that their own spirit is not engaged during worship.  And unfortunately, a lot of modern worship services are so focused on generating an emotional response that they do not stay true to what God has revealed about Himself.  Jesus shows us the correct way to worship – in Spirit and in truth.  If we want authentic, real worship…this is how we must do it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Is our worship ignorant?

When we get together at our church locations, do we know why “we do what we do”?  Seems like most, if not all, churches have the same basic steps in a worship service: songs, announcements, a sermon/talk, prayer.  Do we do these things – and typically in the same order each time – just because it’s tradition or is there some other reason?

The Greek word for worship (proskyneo) means to “pay homage or show reverence to someone”.  That would be a pretty open-end definition, if it is all we knew about “worshipping” God.  So, is there a “right way” to worship God – or at least a “better way” of doing it?

During their conversation at the well, the Samaritan woman presented Jesus with the biggest hot-button culture question of her day – and it was about worshipping God.  The Jews and Samaritans took the topic so seriously, that over the centuries, people had even died over it.  While we could brush off their dispute as something that was an issue long ago, Jesus’ answer raises a few questions for us, as well.

John 4:19-20
“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain [Mt. Gerizim], but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

As we saw last time, Jesus didn’t choose between her Option A or Option B, instead Jesus chose “neither”:

John 4:21-24
Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain [Mt. Gerizim] nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know.  We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.  But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.  Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Jesus said the Samaritans worship what [they] do not know or fully understand.  Earlier in their conversation, Jesus point out that she didn’t know the gift of God (John 4:10).  From what Jesus has said, we can see that it is possible for people worship God in religious ignorance.  But why would they do that?

The Samaritans worshipped in ignorance because they acknowledged no prophet after Moses – other than the one spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:18, and they regarded that yet-to-arrive person as the Messiah.  Because of this, they rejected the rest of the Old Testament and had mixed in pagan concepts with their faith.  They stunted their ability to worship and know God fully because they cut themselves off from God’s Word.

In contrast, the Jews accepted all of God’s revelation in the Old Testament, therefore, they “knew” the God whom they worshipped.  What the Jews knew, however, became something all too familiar.  By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish worship of God was outwardly religious and extremely formulaic.  Instead of looking to walk with God, the first century religious leaders were much more interested in enforcing “perfect living” according to the 600+ laws of the Old Testament as well as following all Jewish religious traditions.  They would rather debate the fine details of the law, instead of taking action to help their fellow Jew.  Jesus routinely called them out for such behavior.  Even though they knew God’s Law and could recite it line-by-line, they still doubted that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  In their familiarity, they began to focus on themselves rather than God.

Thinking about the times your church family gathers together to worship God or when you worship God on your own:

·       Do you know the God you worship? 
·       Have you looked for God in all His revealed Scriptures, or are you ignoring some parts?
·       If you do know Him, has your worship become stale or formulaic? 
·       Are you just going through the Sunday morning motions, because that’s what your family is expected to do on Sunday morning?

Think about your answers.  Talk to God about your answers.  It’s ok to wrestle with any thoughts or feelings that come up.  If you need help processing, ask a mature believer.  And next time, we’ll look at what Jesus said our worship should look like.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Religion, politics, and worship

Don’t talk about politics or religion, we’ve always been told.  However, we’re even less inclined to talk about our flaws, which can make politics and/or religion a distraction topic to get away from talking about our own failings.  During His conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus revealed that He knew all about the intimate relationship failures of her life.  However, she quickly changed the subject:

John 4:19-20
“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

She deflects from the personal statements of how she has dealt with her deepest thirst and shifts to political/religious differences between Samaritans and Jews.

However, Jesus doesn’t get upset with her when she tries to change the subject.  Jesus allows her to steer the conversation away from her life choices and into the (taboo?) topic of religion and worship.  And this is not just any religion discussion topic…this was THE TOPIC that represented the conflict and strife between the Samaritans and the Jews.  This was the ultimate combination of politics and religion in the area: Should followers of God worship Him on Mt. Gerizim or in Jerusalem?

Look at how Jesus replied:

John 4:21
Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”

Jesus answered her deflection question, but not as she expected.  He didn’t choose between her Option A or Option B, instead Jesus chose “neither”.

We’ll look at Jesus’ full answer in future posts, but we need to stop here and address a bias we have.

It would be easy for us modern believers to dismiss their cultural debate between Mt. Gerizim and Jerusalem.  Why get all hung up over where someone sings praise to God?  Why fight (and even kill) someone over where they pray to God?  Why hate and despise a distant blood relative because how they worship?

It would be easy for us to think those things…but it would be hypocritical to do so.  Modern churches have split over the color of the sanctuary carpet.  Modern believers have gossiped and spread rumors about other churches because they made coffee available at their services.  Modern believers have had significant fights over every aspect of worship – hymnals, organs, pianos, clapping, guitars, drums, lights, projector screens, fog machines, visual illustrations…and the biggest one of all: contemporary music vs. traditional music.

Believers have gotten down-right nasty with fellow believers who do not worship with their preferred style.  Old familiar hymns vs new songs has been a hot button topic longer than you and I have been alive.  However, I think our divisions have more to do with preferences rather than the true intent of worship.  Even back in 1908, Marcus Dods made this observation:

Rich music, striking combinations of color and of architectural forms, are nothing to God so far as worship goes, except insofar as they bring the human spirit into fellowship with Him.  Persons are differently constituted, and what is natural to one will be formal and artificial to another.  Some worshippers will always feel that they get closer to God in private, in their own silent room, and with nothing but their own circumstances and wants to stimulate [their worship of God]; they feel that a service carefully arranged and abounding in musical effects does indeed move them, but does not make it easier for them to address themselves to God.  Others, again, feel differently; they feel that they can best worship God in spirit when the forms of worship are expressive and significant. 

But in two points all will agree: first, that in external worship, while we strive to keep it simple, we should also strive to make it good – the best possible of its kind.  If we are to sing God’s praise at all, then let the singing be the best possible, the best music a congregation can join in, and executed with the utmost skill that care can develop.  Music which cannot be sung save by persons of exceptional musical talent is unsuitable for congregational worship; but music which requires no consideration, and admits of no excellence, is hardly suitable for the worship of God…The other point in which we all will agree, is that where the Spirit is not engaged there is no worship at all.

As Jesus told the Samaritan woman, location and politics and religious tradition aren’t the keys to true worship.  That is no longer our road map to encountering God.  Our worship of God should be of good quality, and through it, we should be engaged with God.  Let’s not worry so much about how others’ worship looks, rather we should be asking ourselves if our worship’s focus is on God and our connection to Him.

Keep Pressing,
Ken