Making Sure We Worship God and Not People

Several years ago, I was in Starbucks working on a sermon

while listening to a long playlist of songs by Whitney Houston. Whitney was one

of the greatest vocalists the world has ever known, but listening to her music

years after her tragic death was overwhelmingly sad, especially "The

Greatest Love of All." She confidently and beautifully sang, “Learning to

love yourself, it is the greatest love of all.” If you know the details of her

life, you’ll know that Whitney never did learn to accept herself the way God

made her. For my part, I think we helped destroy her by worshiping her instead

of the God who made her and gave her that wonderful voice!


We are worshipers. We can't help it. We need to put someone or something high

on a pedestal for worship. It's wired deeply into the fabric of our being by

the God who made us for Himself. Our sinful nature denies God the worship he is

due, but it cannot suppress our worship instinct, it can only re-direct it. It

can only misdirect it. When it does, it generates an endless appetite for idolatry,

destroying both us and our idols.


The long list of destroyed idols in America is as tragic as it is endless: Jim

Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Britney Spears, Mike Tyson, Anthony

Bourdain, Michael Jackson, Prince, Justin Bieber, Bruce Jenner, the Kardasians,

Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and many more. We talk about the "tortured

artist," but perhaps we need to speak about the "tortured

idols." It's not without good cause that the most famous star-making show

in America for years was called "American Idol."


Hear me clearly: I'm not judging these people. It’s our fault for worshiping

them. Neither can I simply point the finger at the world, for we do the same

thing in the church with our celebrity pastors. Several years ago, pastors John

Piper and C.J. Mahaney both had to step down and take leaves of absence for

being prideful. Who wouldn't be prideful if they were elevated and praised as

much as those men were? I don’t even need to make a list of the celebrity

preachers who fell into grievous sin and crashed hard from the pedestal we

placed them on.


The fallen world has always worshiped idols, and they always will, until Jesus

comes again. But the church should know better!


Here's what we need to do: Stop worshiping people! I know that's easier said

than done. Sometimes we just can't help it. We admire someone. We've been so

blessed by their artistry or their ministry. We've been so inspired and

affected by their gifts in one way or another. But we MUST recognize the rising

feeling of awe and wonder in our souls as worship. We must repent of that

idol-worship, and we must redirect that worship to God.


I'm a pastor, and I've spoken in front of people hundreds of times in my life.

I know how good it can feel to have people looking up to you, hanging on your

every word. I know how tempting it is to stop loving people and start needing

them instead. I know how easily we can slip from serving others out of love for

God to using others to serve our own egos. It's a dangerous and deadly drug,

and it can leave you feeling so cast down after the rush is over that you look

for something else to scratch that itch. I think that's why many pastors

struggle with internet porn.


So, here's what we all need to do: Worship God! We need

to begin each day looking to the Lord, acknowledging our dependence on Him and

His Lordship over me. We need to be broken in worship before Him before we can effectively

serve others in love in His name.


Here's some practical advice for how we might, by God's grace, turn away from

worshiping others and back to worshiping Him:


1. If you love reading Christian books more than reading the Bible, especially

books by a particular Christian author (because you just love the way

they write!), take a break from reading their books for a while. Begin your day

with a healthy dose of Bible reading.


2. Pray for pastors and church leaders instead of praising them. You can thank

your pastor for preaching God's Word, but also let him know you're praying for

him, and then make sure you do faithfully pray for him, daily.


3. Pastors: Make sure your elders and fellow church leaders have the freedom to

hold you accountable if you start acting like an egomaniac. Don't assume you

won't; assume you will. Tell your elders or church leaders to directly confront

you if you start acting prideful, and make sure you are ready to receive their

counsel. If you serve as a lay elder or church leader, you have a

responsibility to Christ to guard His flock from power-hungry, self-driven men!


4. In worship, if you find yourself half-hearted in singing and praying, just

waiting for the message - showing up late, checking your phone, not singing,

etc. - check yourself and repent. You are in church to worship God, not to hear

a message from your favorite speaker.


5. If you're tempted to skip church because your pastor is away and a

substitute will be preaching, don't do it. Make sure you attend! Again, you go

to church to worship the Lord and hear from His word, not to hear an

interesting talk from a powerful speaker.


6. We need to make sure our worship services are covenant encounters with the

living God, and not just a rock concert followed by a motivational

speaker. The more churches adopt entertainment-driven models of worship -

stage lighting, smoke, performance worship, etc. - the more we are making the

people on stage into "American Idols." Covenantal worship is a

dialogue between God and His people, not a show for an audience.


7. We should probably have a mental list of the people we're tempted to worship

and regularly pray for them, thank God for them, and ask God to check our

hearts against idolatry.


We belong to one God, He who created us and redeemed us at the highest price.

Let us worship Him alone! 


Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,


  for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!


Why should the nations say,


  “Where is their God?”


Our God is in the heavens;


  he does all that he pleases.


Their idols are silver and gold,


  the work of human hands.


They have mouths, but do not speak;


  eyes, but do not see.


They have ears, but do not hear;


  noses, but do not smell.


They have hands, but do not feel;


  feet, but do not walk;


  and they do not make a sound in their throat.


Those who make them become like them;


  so do all who trust in them.

- Psalm 115:1-18, ESV


Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom

that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship,

with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. 

- Hebrews 12:28-29, ESV