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