Fleshly worship is all about self, “thank you God for everything you give me.” Or “please give me this and give me that.” The modern praise songs are often focused on self and all we can get from God. It is reflective of the modern attitude that demands things from God without gratefulness that He gives us what we do not deserve when we trust in Him.
Even worse than fleshly worship based on what God can give us is obligatory worship hoping to appease God so He will give us what we want but won’t bother us too much the rest of the week. Obligatory love is the worst kind of love because it too is about fulfilling an obligation without any real love for the target of the false love. Fleshly love operates from a stance of entitlement, as though we deserve to have blessings from God as long as we “say those words” and “do that stuff”. If we do not see the blessings we become angry at God.
The authentic love and worship of God is praising Him for Who He is, for His attributes and marvelous love. We praise Him for what He has already done for us without expectation about getting more. We focus on Christ and Who He is and that He deserves, that is our praise and worship.
Before I was born again I attended the Catholic Church, choosing the shortest mass to be able to get it over with quickly. Then there was the Saturday evening mass, going the night before afforded us the freedom to have an entire Sunday to do other things. The focus was on getting the mass out of the way, obligatory, not love, not worship but appeasement of God. No one likes to be loved this way.
False worship is ritualistic, lacking in fervor and wishing it would end so we can get on with what we really wanted to do.
Since I have been born again I see many Protestant churches who operate similarly, there is a routine of events during the service, done pretty much the same way every week. The men in the pew barely sing, and they do not participate in the service, they come to sit and leave when it is over. No discussion of the things said by the pastor, no mention of the name of Christ in conversation, and often much chatter about the politics of the day or the ball team that is winning or losing.
Really the name “Jesus Christ” is added to the end of the service to make it seem like it was about Him, but it was not very much about Him.
Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
Isaiah 25:1
“Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.”
Habakkuk 3:17-18
“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
1 Chronicles 16:34
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.”
Psalm 63:1
“You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.”
When we worship God we want to elevate Him above everything and everyone else. We want to know His heart to obey Him, and seek Him for our lives so that we might glorify Him in all that we do. There ought to be nothing of self in our worship.
John 3:30-35
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony.
33 The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.
35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.
When our actions and attitudes are focused on Christ He will be glorified and not ourselves.
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