Lest we find ourselves too eager to change worship in order to appease our own obscure sentimentalism or narcissistic idea of what God really wants in worship, let us first consider what true worship actually involves. Here's a hint, it's not singing!
Therefore the supreme worship of God that a man can offer… [is] to hear and read the Word. On the other hand, nothing is more dangerous than to become tired of the Word. Therefore anyone who is so cold that he thinks he knows enough and gradually begins to loathe the Word has lost Christ and the Gospel. What he thinks he knows, he reaches only by speculation...”
Martin Luther - AE 26:64
I am amazed at the ideology that says, "man is the speaker and God is the audience." The reality is that it is the exact opposite. God is the one that speaks and we are the audience in worship!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! And it's when worship becomes me-centered, when it becomes my personal expression of love to God, that you get all sorts of goofy stuff going on because people are constantly chasing after the skirt of Lady Emotion. Moreover, why would I ever go to worship if it's about what I can give God. I suck. I've got nothing.
ReplyDeleteKyrie Eleison